CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION 1

1.CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION

HOW MY FILM OPENING USED OR CHALLENGED CONVENTIONS

Deconstructing our Film Opening :

Audiences need to grasp rapidly the genre of any given film. Ours is a psychological thriller which exploresabusive relationship between a teenager girl and her father, developing a Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Next we created out own BBFC Certificate. We did this on Photoshop, we used a template of the rating 15, using this we copied a black box and pasted it onto the original name for this certificate. Then we changed to font of the text to be much larger and become bold. We also changed what was on the film certificate, such as changing the nudity aspect to become strong language and disturbing scenes.

The beginning of our production features our production company ident for Insight Studios. It features an extreme close up of Elsa’s (Thea) eye blinking. This features an extreme close up as we are going into her mind, to see what is happening, her split personality and abusive dad. Our production company came together to create this particular movie about a disturbed psyche. We used Final Cut pro, to add the words ‘Insight’ and ‘Studios’ separately to ensure that they appeared in at different times.

An important convention of film openings is that they introduce the protagonists and, usually, antagonists, very early on so that the audience knows who will be at the centre of the narrative. It was important that we establish that this teenage girl has split personality and other issues. We are able to see how she is friendly with her mum, whereas when her dad is brought into the picture her face completely changes. When we also see the dad later on, we see the shocked expression on her face.

For Levy-Strauss, narratives work most effectively for audiences if they use binary opposition. Therefore, our protagonist is positioned against the antagonist, her dad, who is a threatening figure.

The visual codes of the thriller genre are embedded in our mise-en-scene. Low Lighting creates a sense of jeopardy and the domestic location creates realism: our film opens with a very ordinary family life, Elsa coming home and being greeted by her mum. However, it is easy to start seeing cracks in this family. The home is a generic home, and when Elsa’s walking into her house, we are almost invited into the home with her. The wine cellar shown later on, is creepy and disturbing, creating a tone that there is a sinister undertone to the rest of the production.

Visual and sound codes, non-diegetic sound, thrilling intense, sound layers. For example, in our film we open with a conversation between the mum and the daughter presenting a normal, friendly household. This sets the tone for the rest of the opening as one which is normal. However, then we move on to a voice over, and the voice over is used to start to add tension, and create a sense of being uneasy. It involves Elsa reading a book, slowly and seemingly uncertainly. The long drawn out monologue changes the tone from a cheerful household into a place that seems to hold secrets.

Part Two- How does it present social groups?

I used Pinterest to show our social group for our film, 'Fractures'. 

                We used addiction as a part of one of our social groups because it is an important feature as many young teenagers have been affected in today's society. For example depression and anxiety are increasingly common due to social media as people become more self aware and look towards medication to help which leads to this addictive nature. 

                The location of a Cellar is used to create tension and to heighten the atmosphere. The rustic and eerie look of this setting involves the first viewing of the controlling father, this atmosphere reflects the relationship between the two. 

               Teenagers issues is a major factor within our film opening. As I mentioned in the addiction board, many mental illness have been arising. These issues have been portrayed within our film opening showing the effects on the protagonist, Elsa. 

               Our film present the social group of Dissociative-Identity-Disorder. It is the main concept of our film opening, this disorder is very rare this which engages the audiences as it is a unique topic. The DID characteristics can be displayed quite haunting which further creates the psychological thriller genre.

                A psychological thriller genre can be very popular to all demographics: this can be due to the story-line, editing and background effects. The definition of a 'psychological thriller' is a thriller subgenre that focuses on the unstable emotional or mental states of the characters, often in combination with elements of mystery, suspense or psychological horror. This statement completely mirrors our film opening as these characteristics are present within our film. 

              Authoritarian parents are a common feature in film, e.g Matilda and Tangled. This concluded the characteristics of the child to either having positive or negative mental state. This engages the audiences sympathy towards the character e.g Elsie which heightens the emotional attachment towards her.