Evaluation My aim for this creative investigation was to create a short film that reflected my film knowledge and skills and also reflected the films which I chose to focus on. My three focal films were Beastly, The Lucky One and Dear John and I chose these because they were of the same genre of Girl Online and because the three female protagonists were similar. For my short film I decided to focus on adapting a book called Girl Online written by YouTuber and blogger Zoe Sugg, aka Zoella. This is quite a recent novel and is a story that I really like and thought I could use as part of my work.

Genre was a main part in my creative investigation as it was included in my question as I was looking particularly at the romance adaptation genre. Even though I filmed what would be an opening to a film, researching films of a romance genre helped me understand how to begin the narrative through the use of micro elements. As I have filmed what would be an opening to a film, I have started to develop a narrative which is basically; Penny, a teenage girl, wants to start and anonymous blog and as the narrative develops she overcomes happy times and challenges that can threaten what she has with her family, friends and her identity.

The theorists that I chose to focus on was Laura Mulvey (male gaze) and Tessa Perkins (stereotypes). As I have focused on females in my creative investigation, I have used Laura Mulveys theory and links well with my investigation as I am focusing on how females are represented. She states that women are sexualised for the visual pleasure through the use of Mise-en-scene and camera movements with other factors contributing. I wanted to see if the films that I had chosen reinforce or challenge which, in my opinion, I think they challenge her theory. Tessa Perkins theory is based on stereotypes which are made by people being prejudice. Looking at her theory, I wanted Penny to be represented in a slightly stereotypical way as a young female as I wanted her character to be relatable to the audience.

Textual Analysis of my own work:

CinematographyFrom research, I was able to identify the conventions of a romance/drama film in terms of cinematography. For example, the first shots of my sequence are of Hull which are establishing shots to show the audience where this film is set and also when (the present day). I also used a number of over the shoulder shots to show Penny typing up on her laptop. I thought this looks effective as it looks like we are looking over Penny’s shoulder whilst she is typing.Close-ups are also a convention that I chose to follow, using it to shoot parts of town such as the water, her typing on the keyboard and on her face. The close ups allow the audience to see more in detail of what is going on. From looking at the images below, I have incorporated one of the films that I studied, Dear John, into my own sequence by using a similar style in terms of cinematography. The first image is an establishing shot which sets the scene and the second image is like the establishing shot but has the main protagonist in the frame. I like seeing this whilst watching Dear John therefore I used it in a similar way in my own film but with my own style on it.

Editing

When considering the editing techniques, I used simple edits that included speeding up certain cuts and the simple edits to put the image together. As part of the romance genre, the conventions of editing are quite simple, realistic edits which help convey the realism of the film. I chose to follows this by only using simple edits to make sequence look realistic as well as interesting. I used continuity editing to show Penny and there journey through the day, starting off in town where she is taking her blog pictures which then she is seen at home where she starts to type up her blog. Also, as part of the genre conventions I chose to use fades between certain clips to have that smooth pace to the film which also matches well with the beat of the music. I noticed in the three films that I researched and others that fades are used quite a lot to show a different scene ending/beginning or to have a smooth transition between one shot to the next, such as a montage edit. I also adjusting the speed of certain clips such as people walking and cars passing on the road, speeding the clips up which looks effective and interesting and shows time passing in a faster format.

Sound

For sound, I was much undecided at the beginning of the research and planning, not knowing whether I should include diegetic sound or to have a soundtrack playing through the full sequence with a voice over. I decided to use the idea of having the soundtrack playing throughout the sequence and have a voice over too. For the soundtrack, I had chosen the instrumental version of Taylor Swifts Blank Space at first as I thought the beats of it would go well with my ideas. During the editing process I felt like the song did not fit into my sequence as I was putting the footage together, therefore I changed it to a backing track which is used in a lot of videos on YouTube to put in the background. This music was more fun and exciting which really suited the sequence that I had. For the voice over I used my friend as, due to time a

Mise-en-scene

Location, costume, make-up, props and lighting all come under Mise-en-scene` and is an important part in the romance genre. Looking at costume and make-up I wanted to make sure that I portrayed Penny in the correct way as I wanted to challenge the theorists that I have studied. The theorists that I studied were Laura Mulvey with the Male Gaze theory and Tessa Perkins with the stereotypes theory. I wanted to portray Penny in a way that did not sexualised her but also represented her as a young female. For the shots in town she wore black coat, leggings and boots with a white jumper which her bags which challenges the theorists that I have studied as she is not dressed in a sexualised way which represents her in a positive way. When she is in the bedroom she is wearing black leggings and a sleeveless top which can be seen conforming to Laura Mulvey’s theory as she is showing her body but she is not doing this in a sexual way. The top itself is a loose fit therefore not emphasizing her figure. Penny’s hair and makeup is subtle and natural to make her like a positive role model for girls who would watch this films if it was a real film product. Looking at my three focal films, the female protagonists follow a similar dress code of casual clothing and minimal make-up with a simple hair style.

In terms of location I chose to shoot in the Hull City Centre because it follows conventions of a romance genre. Urban areas, especially town centres, are quite conventional which I have seen in films such as Bride Wars, 2009, and The Devil Wears Prada, 2006. I also the girl I am using in my films bedroom. I thought it was important that I used her bedroom as it reflected her personality and is a good representation of a young girl’s room. Choosing to shoot in a bedroom rather than another room such as a Living room was because I have seen in films such as Another Cinderella Story and What a Girl Wants they include the bedrooms if the girls which help the audience understand their personalities.

How does your film reflect and develop the findings from your research and planning?

How does your film conform to the appropriate technical and generic codes and conventions (in terms of camerawork, lighting and mise-en-scène)?

Does your blog and film demonstrate a good approach to time management?

I have taken a lot of effort to make sure my blog look good and reflect my work in a positive way. Before this academic year, I had never used Tumblr therefore I found it important to learnt how the use it. I learnt the basics of what I needed to know through both friends and the internet which allowed me to customize my blog and know how to add posts. I would say overall my blog and film does have a good approach to time management as I have planned a lot in the process. For example I received feedback on my film which therefore pushed me to get it finished, taking into consideration what people have said.