Genre:
Researching conventions of genre were essential in allowing us to be aware of how we were going to use/develop or challenge these conventions. The conventions we show in our sequence:- A convention of romantic dramas is that there is initially a lot of ambiguity; the audience only tend to see who the main character is without any background context. "Silver Linings Playbook" is an example of where this method is used in a film similar to ours; although slightly different the effect obtained is the same. In "Pulled from the Rough" we show our main character asleep with no dialogue or movement, this identifies Jess as being the central character in our film. In "Silver Linings Playbook", they fade into footage of the main character's back with a voice over from the main character; this shows the audience that the person in shot is an important character, but doesn't give us a lot of context yet.
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| "Pulled from the Rough" opening compared to that from "Silver Linings Playbook" (David O. Russell, 2012) |
- The protagonist will tend to be in conflict with themselves or with other characters. This can be seen in our product with Jess. She is conflict with (1) herself as she changes herself to try and get over the death of her boyfriend (2) Alex as he does all he can to help her get out of her rut, Jess is constantly in conflict with him as she rejects his help countless times. In "Now is good" Tessa Scott has conflict with her father as she goes against his wishes and lives her life to the fullest, even if it includes doing things which are illegal.
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| Tessa from "Now is Good" (Ol Parker, 2012) |
- Inspiration for Jess came mainly from "Tessa Scott" in the film "Now is good" (A British Teen Drama)
- As well as "Tessa", we looked at "Anna Fitzgerald" from "My Sister's Keeper"; she is a girl who was raised to be what can only be described as spare parts for her terminally ill sister. She is in conflict with herself as to whether or not she should stand up for her sister when she challenges their parents.
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| Anna from "My Sister's Keeper (Nick Cassavetes, 2009) |
- Another reference we looked at is "Holly" from "PS I love you", both Jess and "Holly are going through mourning and initially react in the same way i.e. isolating themselves by staying in their beds alone.
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| Holly from "PS I love you" (Richard LaGravenese, 2007) |
- Inspiration for Alex came from "Adam" in the film "Now is good".
- As well as from "Finn Nelson" in the television programme (teen drama) "My Mad Fat Diary", he is very caring for his best friend Rae and is always there for her whenever she is having a hard time.
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| Now is Good Alex (Left), Tessa (Right) |
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| Finn from "My Mad Fat Diary |
- Generally because the characters in a romantic drama go through a variety of emotions, the score used fluctuates in terms of volume and pace according to how the character is feeling. In our piece when Jess' emotions reach their peak the music reaches its peak, the pace and volume both increase to reflect Jess.
The track used in "Pulled from the Rough"
This is the full uncut version of the track; in the opening sequence this was shortened.
"Remember Me" would be an example of where a score which adjusts according to the character's emotions is used to enhance the scenes mood. This was used as inspiration for our track and the concept of having the music change according to the characters emotions was taken into account when it was being created.
The track used in "Remember Me"
(Allen Coulter, 2010)
Narrative Structure:
When conceptualising the narrative for our product, we applied various theories:Todorov's theory of equilibrium:
The disruption is triggered when she has to go back to university for the start of a new term. She begins on a downward spiral, drinking, partying and skiving off her lectures.
Alex steps in and pulls her onto the correct path by making her realise she isn't being true to herself.
Jess returns to her normal self and becomes much closer to Alex.
The two become a couple and decide that the best way to honour her boyfriend's death is to plant a tree in their back garden.
Barthes Enigma Codes:
These enigma codes were set up which allow the narrative to continue to flow smoothly
- Why is Jess upset with Alex?
- What is the Jess' relationship with Alex?
- What is the off screen event that they are talking about?
- How will she react to being forced into the world?
Levi-Strauss' theory of binary opposites:
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| Alex is Energetic as he barges into Jess' room and begins shaking Jess. Jess is Apathetic as she wallows in her despair. |
Form:
In our media product we chose that it was best to conform to the expected form of film openings, because it is a sound method adopted by many films that ensures the audience understand the film opening. As can be seen below, we ensured to introduce institutions i.e. production companies, characters and setting; this makes sure the audience are aware of what is happening.
What "Remember Me" did What we did in our sequence
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| The diagram shows similarities between our film and "Remember Me" which is of a similar genre |
Style:
Titles:
Our titles are very simple; they were designed to reflect the film's nature and the actual name of the film.
The main title from our film opening "Pulled from the Rough"
The font used is elongated, this represents Jess being pulled out of her personal darkness, out of her rut. Essentially being "Pulled from the Rough".
The main title from the opening of "Remember Me" (Allen Coulter, 2010)
The title appears bit by bit and doesn't stay for long, this gives the appearance of memories.
The main title from the opening of "Submarine" (Richard Ayoade, 2010)
The title is spread over multiple lines/levels; there are multiple levels to the main characters mind as well as his emotions constantly moving to different levels. Similar to a submarine, constantly sinking and surfacing.
Grading:
In the scenes in Jess' bedroom we used two different types of grading, each to convey different things.
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| Dark grading in our film |
For the shots in the dark, we chose to add a blue-ish tinge to the footage. This gives her room quite a cold feel, as though at the moment Jess is devoid of all feeling. As well as this, it is a convention of films in general that night shots are tinted with blue to shot it is night. What makes it specific to our genre is that Romantic Dramas use shots in the dark frequently as it conveys the characters inner emotions or lack of.
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| The Quiet (Jamie Babbit 2005) |
Inspiration was drawn from Jamie Babbit's "The Quiet" that also uses this type of grading when the main character is sat all alone with her mind running ragged.
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| The grading in our film |
The shots when the lights are turned on in her room are graded in a way that makes Jess look unkempt. The contrast was increased to make Jess seem much paler in this section of the film, it shows that she has turned into a very cold person and is emotionally drained. "Submarine" is an example of where this is used.
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| Submarine (Richard Ayoade, 2010) |
Our piece conforms to many of the forms and conventions set out in media products that are similar to our film opening in terms of genre, narrative structure, form and style . We felt that if we were to stray too far from these conventions, then it would in fact have a negative impact on our piece and lead to the audience becoming confused in regards to the narrative. That is the reasoning behind many of our choices seen in our film opening and is what drove us when coming up with the entire concept.
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