MEST 2 Evaluation

Ladan Abdulle

2,033 words

MEST 2 Evaluation

In this evaluation essay, I will be assessing the production I have produced with my team which consists of the members Sunny, Mandev, Rashida and I. During the course of this period we have produced a psychological thriller based on the lives of a group of teenagers, which eventually comes under destruction as a murder takes place within the group. Although we have chosen to base our film production on the ‘Urban Life’ topic, I believe that our film has elements of several other topics such as the intensity found in the ‘Modern-noir’ topic and aspects of the topic ‘Friendship’.

Prior to creating the extract, I decided to conduct some research into arthouse cinema and this has contributed significantly in the finalised product. I have looked into several arthouse films such as ‘Run Lola Run’ and ‘La Haine’ which have influenced our work greatly. By doing this research I had a better understanding of how we could experiment with interesting camera shots to create affective cinematography and how to play around with editing to create different moods which have been demonstrated well in the arthouse films I have mentioned. In terms of the narrative of the film, ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ were major influences as they are both psychological films. This helped us to come up with an interesting story line that incorporated elements of the themes that run through both films. I had to also refer back to institutional research which I have also done to make sure the film corresponded to the brief. I discovered that the guideline for a 15 certificate is that no theme is prohibited; however it is more based on the frequency of specific components such as violence and strong language which creates the jump between a 15 certificate and an 18 certificate. To ensure that the film work followed the guideline of a 15 certificate I made sure that the script included some form of violence and strong language. As a group we also carried out audience research and asked our peers what their opinions were on our film idea, as they were our prime target audience in terms of age. The feedback was mostly positive with some advice given on how to create an interesting plot twist that would engage the audience a bit more. I believe that the thorough research carried out prior to starting the project was valuable as it allowed us to have a better understanding of how we wanted our film to look and this enabled us to move a step closer to creating a good quality film extract.

In terms of target audience, we aimed to secure the niche arthouse market (core audience) while also having some form of appeal towards the mainstream audience (secondary audience). The psychographic groups (Young and Rubicam) that our audience belong to vary from the explorers to the mainstreamers. The audience demographics for our film extract itself 16-25 year olds and on the lower spectrum of the social classes whereas the typical audience of an arthouse film would often be those of an ABC1 class aged 25-55 because arthouse films are quite experimental and break the boundaries compared to high budget, multiplex cinema aimed films. Therefore, an arthouse film would most likely be watched by someone who has greater knowledge of their surroundings and those who are cultured. I kept this in mind when writing the script and made sure that it was experimental and thought-provoking so it could appeal to the niche market audience. I also made sure that it would appeal to a younger audience too i.e. 16 year olds who aren’t necessarily from an ABC1 background and who do go to multiplex cinemas, by ensuring that a sense of familiarity was created between the characters and the audience. I believe that the choice of aiming an arthouse film at a mainstream younger audience while also having the traditional niche market as an audience itself is quite experimental. There are some advantages by trying to aim our film at an alternative market (mainstream audience) as our film can be an introduction into the world of arthouse cinema as it still does have the elements of a typical arthouse film. However, a disadvantage would be the idea of losing some of the niche market audience because the film may not seem ‘arthouse’ enough. Nevertheless, I believe we created a firm balance between arthouse and mainstream films.

In terms of the film extract, I believe that our arthouse film met the key conventions of a typical psychological thriller as we were able to create several moods through our filming techniques. The script itself was suitable to be classified as a psychological thriller as I made sure that the events that took place were unexpected and suspenseful such as a film of this genre would have been. The films extract ends at disequilibrium (Todorov) in contrast to the typical new equilibrium that is reached as the victim is murdered rather than being saved by a hero (Propp’s theory). When it came to the actual filming, mise-en-scene was very important as it allowed us to build onto our characters personas. For example, with the costumes we made sure the protagonist wore black clothing, as the colour black has connotations of evil. The location we used reflected onto the typical suburbs within London, which creates familiarity with the audience. We also experimented with our camera work to create an effective and artistic cinematography.  For example, the opening scene is one continuous shot that follows a character; this was an inspiration from the Copacabana shot in ‘Goodfellas’. We also used the vertigo shot, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock to keep up with the creativity which is a basis for arthouse filming. The vertigo shot was useful as it contributed to creating the unsettling scene we were aiming for. The P.O.V shot was also vital to portray the scene from the view of our characters; this allowed the audience to get an insight into the characters emotions and thoughts which therefore allowed us to show the antagonist’s dysfunctional mind. With the editing, we used different filters such as a light blue filter to create an atmosphere which has connotations of isolation; this was useful for the murder scene in the woods as it created a tense atmosphere. A time lapse was also included as a transition to imply movement of the characters from one scene to another rather than just cutting to the next scene. With the sound, we used alternative indie music to link back to the arthouse theme rather than mainstream music for the opening scene. I believe we were quite successful with our filming; however we could have improved upon it by having more professional props. Nevertheless, arthouse films are mostly low-budget and for the sake of artistic visuals therefore it can be justified. 

Several audience pleasures (uses and gratifications, Katz and Blumler) can be provided to the audience through watching our film extract. For example, the target audience can have a sense of familiarity towards the characters because they know what it is like being in a friendship group and hanging out therefore they can see themselves reflected within the film, especially with the location being an urban London suburb. The audience can also experience forms of escapism as they experience entertainment. For the older middle class audience they can be educated, as they can see what the typical lives of teenagers are in a London suburb (apart from the murder). Overall, I believe that filming our film extract went quite well.

Within the representation aspects of the film extract, our cast consisted of ethnic minorities. The use of ethnic minorities for characters such as the protagonist who is Asian, defied the idea of the majority of roles being played by Caucasians. The fact that all the characters are teenagers immediately creates a negative image of them as teenagers are often assumed to be ‘getting up to no good’, which can be linked back to Medhurst’s theory of shorthand identification. In terms of gender representation, the victim is female and the typical representation of females being vulnerable victims is reinforced in contrast to the protagonist who carries masculine and powerful traits. With the protagonist, we created an alternative image of teenagers as the protagonist is represented as being mentally unstable and dysfunctional, which is quite a plot twist as he comes across as being charismatic and normal while still carrying his masculine traits of power and authority over others. This however only reinforces the negative image of teenagers unfortunately, but to a point where his murderous actions are unexpected.

With my print work, I aimed to match the key conventions of a typical arts centre/cinema brochure by applying my research skills into brochures such as the BFI’s to reproduce a professional product. For example, I have found that a majority of brochures use bold colours and follow a scheme throughout which I have applied to my own work by making sure the colour scheme and font were consistent. I believe that my contents page was particularly detailed as I created a geometric outline for my image (Image 2) which I then layered to create the effect it has. The use of different font sizes for the pages and the subheadings was an inspiration from a magazine. I followed the conventions of a typical double page spread for my version and wrote in column sections. To make my spread have a modernised theme I used quotation brackets to give my quotes a cleaner look (image 3), the use of bold italics was a useful feature I found on Photoshop because it made the subheadings seem edgier. The use of sponsorship logos and social media links gave my front cover a sense of legitimacy.  Perhaps I could have improved on my print work by using a fuller image for the front cover (image 1) to fill up the page a bit more, however I do believe that the current image gives it a simplistic and clean look and allows the texts to be readable.

If I had done the third brief I would have created an online film blog that fitted the theme of the film in terms of appearance, and it would be regularly updated with content such as behind-the-scenes and also some form of user-generated content to engage the audience. I would have used social media and viral marketing such as Ben Drew did with his ‘Ill Manors’ campaign as a strategy to creatively drive visitors to my film blog because much of today’s society is on some form of popular social media. It is also much more efficient and cheaper than running a website or using billboards.  By doing this, a larger audience would be exposed to the film and information of the film would be spread more quickly.

If the film extract was to be extended into an actual feature length film, I would aim for there to be some form of cross-promotion with other institutions, such as the arthouse film ‘A Field in England’. By releasing the film across all forms of media platforms i.e. TV, VOD, and at cinemas on the same day, the film will gain recognition thus increasing the audience interest, such as Ben Wheatley has done. This would also create synergy with each platform, while also allowing each platform to have its own addition benefits i.e. extras/behind the scene on DVD’s. I believe this is a successful strategy as releasing the film across all platforms will bring in a wider audience and will push each platform toits ultimate advantage

Overall, I believe as a group we have met the original brief quite well for our film work as we incorporated different styles and techniques to make sure our film was experimental and captivating. If the film product were to be put into the media market place it would be quite successful as it would appeal to two audiences, arthouse and mainstream. In conclusion, I believe we worked well as a team to produce a good quality film extract that would be suitable to be exhibited at an arthouse cinema.