CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, using genre was important to establish our films style and narrative to an audience who would appreciate
it most as well as challenging conventions to maintain the viewers interest and create enigmas/twists.

SETTINGS
Short films normally have very few settings therefore we
have one main setting and one very short scene in
another. Our setting is minimal to stick to art house film
conventions and the white box set fits to our surreal
genre.
Originally our set was thought up to look like a room in a
dolls house. We took influence from photography of
minimalistic antique furniture sets which were already
set up in the studio space which we intended to film in
but later decided the set was too confusing and we were
creating a surrealistic film that a more minimal and
adaptable set with few metaphorical props would make
our narrative easier to understand.

AUDIO/VISUAL STYLE:
We have used both parallel and contrapuntal music to
crate meaning and atmosphere within our film:
The Nursery Rhyme:
- Use of a nursery rhyme allows our narrative to become
clear straight away while also hinting to our twist.
Nursery rhymes are associated with innocence and
children which creates an eerie twist to our main
narrative. This could also hint to the doll coming alive as
the child enters and at as a warning signal to the viewers.
The echo effect added also makes the chimes sound
more relatable to the type of sound typically heard
within a thriller film. This music is contrapuntal and
conveys that something is not how it should be right
from the films start.
The Beating Music:
The beats within the music help to build the tension as
the idea of the doll being controlled at one time of the
day is revealed. This music is parallel as it matches the
increase in tension on screen.
The recorded voices:
We do not have any voices during the video recording as
we wanted to highlight how these voices are not coming
from the doll and raise questions. The doll also cannot
talk and this will also help to highlight how she is
controlled and her emotions are not her own. She
represents the young girl and does not exist herself as a
person with emotions. Voiceovers are commonly used
within art-house short films and we used this to create
the voices she hears inside her head. We also created an
echo effect on this to help the atmosphere, match up
to surreal film conventions and make the sounds more
thought like.
The Piano Music:
Piano music is typically used to create ambience and
emotion within short films and for ours we used it to
achieve the connection of contrast between the doll
being seen as a pretty child toy vs. the emotions trying to
look like this creates. This sound contrasts with the beat
of the previous music which was tension building and
because this music is dark yet slower with a more
elegant tone to it, this changes the overall atmosphere
effectively to a more reflective, calming mood. Bringing
the tension sown allows us to be able to build it up again
closer to the end. This music is both parallel and
contrapuntal. It is eerie to match up to the atmosphere
but it is also fairly calm compared the fits of crying we
see the doll going through visually.

ICONOGRAPHY
Sticking to conventions of art-house/surreal films we
have used props as representations of the narrative and
the characters emotions:
The mirrors are a metaphor for the three main ideas
within our film;
The idea of self-reflection, thinking about who you are
as a person and whether you like that person or not.
Obsession with self-beauty, wanting to look pretty
based on what is popular within the media. Having a
destructive paranoia with the way you look and how you
think others see you.
The reflective personality (bipolar disorder) how she
feels really happy or the complete opposite, completely
depressed. The reflection of herself is the opposite of
herself, as is the way she sees herself and how she feels
because of this.
The TV set:
This was our way of linking the issue of warped beauty
directly to the media as this is a current and relevant
issue, particularly for our less mainstream audience. The
TV represents the way the media says young girls should
look and the way the doll reacts (bipolar~) shows how
badly this is effecting their generation. We also found
this an ironic idea to include as it is being shown through
the form of media.
The Clock:
The clocks represents one of the main messages to so
with our narrative about how the doll is only herself at
one time of the day and how the little girl controls her at
3 o clock when she plays wither.
This is also a representation of how we are running out
of time to make a difference as more and more girls
views of beauty becomes warped.
MEDIA QUESTION 1B: GENRE
INTRODUCTION:
For A2 media I was a part of a group who made a surreal, arthouse-thriller film entitle Reflection in which we used
many genre conventions to make our hybrid genre recognisable.
WHAT IS GENRE?
Genre is based on the many similar narrative
elements which build up the typical structure of
an individual group of films. A genre consists of
a particular theme which the viewers expect
and recognise the film by. These generic codes
are what creates a genre. Overall, genre helps to
group different types of films through the use of
setting, theme, narrative and character types.
WHAT FILMS CAN BE COMPARED TO YOUR OWN BASED ON
GENRE?
Eraser Head: David Lynch
Eraserhead is a surreal film which also features a protagonist with
a bipolar disorder displayed in a very similar way to Reflection.
Eraser head is in black and white, as is our film, and uses many
bizarre, unrealistic sets to show the metaphorical characters. The
doll in our film could be seen as similar to the character of the
radiator lady in Eraserhead as she is the creation of the sufferer of
the bipolar who uses a lot of metaphorical movements to show the
visualizers feelings.
We took inspiration from:
Inside A short, surreal, thriller, art-house film with a very similar
theme based around mental health and what the main character
sees in their mind.
The Queue A short surreal comedy which used change overs in
black and white to colour to represent location changes into/out of a
more surreal world.
DID YOU CHALLENGE ANY GENERIC CONVENTIONS? HOW
AND WHY?
Todorovs Theory of Equilibrium (short film convention)
Equilibrium, everything is normal
Disequilibrium, a problem occurs
New Equilibrium, problem is solved and everything is back to normal
although specific changes are noticeable (a lesson is learnt)
Our narrative starts off eerie and it is clear everything is not how it
should be. From this point the problems are shown through separate
section in the film as the tension rises and the problem increases.
The problem continues to increase up until the doll freezes and falls
to the floor and is silent again. However, this would not be seen as
the problem being solved so therefore our narrative does not fit to
Todorovs Theory of Equilibrium. Our ending twist also does not fit to
the theory as it create another question and further problems.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BOTH
PRODUCERS AND AUDIENCES?
Producers:
Producers can then target advertising at the
specific audience for the genre.
Producers look into which genres are more
popular at the moment to predict which type of
film would be the most successful.
Genres come with generic codes and narratives
which the audience expect so the producers
know how to please and surprise their audience.
Audiences:
Genre helps an audience to define their taste in
films and to be able to base how much they
would enjoy a film on its genre.
With the industry creating so many films, the
sorting process allows viewers to understand
which films out of the hundreds released they
would enjoy the most. Without this sorting
process this would be impossible.
An audience is able to understand what the film
narrative will consist of before they even watch
it so will understand its context at a far quicker
pace.
SHORT FILM CONVENTIONS:
Few characters, we included one main character and another at the twist within the film. This allowed us to build the
connection between the audience and our main character to give the film optimum impact.
Few locations, to keep the audiences focus on understanding the narrative and not have their attention absorbed by a
fancy backdrop or set, we used a white box set which brought focus to the metaphorical values our props had and portrayed
the narrative clearer.
A twist, this is possibly the most important part of a short film as it leaves the audience interested and makes them think
about the film even after it is finished. Our twist was the reveal that a small child was controlling the doll and therefore lead
to many possible scenarios the audience could take from this. This also fits to art-house film conventions as they often have
multiple meanings.
A relatable situation/idea, this is typical of art-house films as they are often sued to bring attention to current and relevant
issues. We focused on the effect the media has on the way girls view themselves and the negative effects this can cause.