HW1b - Reflections on my Film Still

1) In what way can your film be described as signifying your chosen genre?

The chosen genre for my film still is a teen school drama/action crossover. The teen school drama aspect is signified in the following ways:
- The age of the character in shot; she is clearly of the age of a student.
- The lanyard that we see is often part of school uniform.
- The idea of conflict and fighting between students is conventional of the genre.
The action aspect is signified through the clear violence in the shot; which we see from the hand around the throat; as violence is typical of the action genre.

2) How did you direct the shot to achieve the desired effect?

I took the shot outside as the high key lighting coupled with the brick wall is a typical representation of school playgrounds in other existing teen dramas. Furthermore, I had open space on the left of the shot to try and give the sense that there is no one else - no one to help - though the desired effect did not come through how I wish it had. I employed an over the shoulder shot for this still purposely, doing this means we can only see the victim's face, this means all we see is the fear in her face thus emphasising the danger of the situation. Also this style of shot makes the audience a bystander thus engaging them and making them feel helpless/powerless to help.To further enhance this I used a mid shot in order to direct focus on the victim's facial expressions. Finally, I set the shot against a brick wall to show that the victim has nowhere to run, thus emphasising how helpless she is.

3) How did you intend the audience to 'read' or interpret your still?

My intentions were that from this still alone the audience would already learn a great deal about the film. I wanted them to immediately understand that this was a teen school drama and that there was a clear victim already established in this shot.

4) What is successful about your shot?

I believe the most successful aspect of my shot was the character portrayal as there is a clear victim and clear bully. I believe other successful aspects are the shot choice and and lighting as they worked well together to highlight the danger and helplessness of the situation.

5) What would you do differently in hindsight?

In hindsight, I would have both characters in an easily distinguishable school uniform in order to connote the teen school drama genre even more clearly. I would also have my characters in the centre of the shot as having them on the side did not deliver the desired effect and as a result the empty space simply looks like wasted space and the result of poor framing.