Title Of Film: Our group thought long and hard about the title of our film, and we agreed we wanted to steer clear of conventional and unoriginal titles. During the previous year of media studies, almost every group’s thriller had a typical one word title that was bland and cliché. The group last year tried to incorporate a long-winded title but nothing seemed to stick, so they went with a one-word title also. This year, our film was much more developed and thought-out. We agreed that an interesting title would be needed to catch people’s eye because of the unusual nature of our plot. I researched other films with longer, interesting titles and found that members of the group that hadn’t seen them were more interested in them than ones with simple, one word names. We all felt that films like ‘The Butterfly Effect’ (Dir. Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber, 2004), ‘Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind’ (Dir. Michel Gondry, 2004) and ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 2002) caught our attention much more than uninspired titles. After careful deliberation we settled on ‘Existence Of Christian’. Not only does the title create enigmas throughout audience members, it can also be seen to have a double meaning. Not only is Christian the name of the protagonist, it is also the name of a major religion. Our film has many hidden unanswered questions woven beneath the surface and the protagonist questions his existence and the meaning of life very much. The title could therefore also allude to the existence of God and whether people are right to believe in Christianity. The fact that we had spent much time naming our film showed the commitment our group had to the cause as we didn’t want to settle on a boring name like most other groups have. We feel that if all the short films from our media class were advertised to the public, ours would be seen by the most people as the title and the general story are far more interesting than all the other stereotypical products that have been produced.
Setting/Location: For our short film this year we had more locations than we did for our opening to a thriller last year. While only one location was needed for shooting before, this year our film was slightly more complex and required different locations to explain the story and set up for the finale. The main set for filming was group member James Moss’ house. This was used more than we expected at first, because as filming went on the group discovered that James had many places in his house that were very suitable for the mood of our film. The room in the house we were the happiest about was the bathroom, as it turned out it had all the features we had envisioned this important scene would contain. The scene was the opening and closing scene where the audience first sees a body in the bath, and at the end discovers why it has happened. The room was just the right size and was the correct colour to keep the film fresh. A scene containing a bathroom does not particularly challenge forms and conventions of real media products, as many films have used them – mainly horror/thriller films. The most famous of these is the famous shower scene in ‘Psycho’ (Dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1960). Though not a particularly original setting, we feel that the way we have executed this scene does develop forms and conventions of real media products as no one in the group could recall any film with a similar premise or camera shots to the ones we have used. We feel that the bathroom scene is probably the most important scene in our film and is our controlling idea and the main thing that people remember about the film.Costumes and Props: Unlike last year in media where the choice of costume took a lot of time, this year the clothing was chosen quite early on by the group and we all agreed on smart suits with ties. The props on the other hand were a different matter. As the group went through many drafts at the start of the process, props came and went and no one could decide on something good that would stick. During filming however, the ending of our film was altered slightly and the need for a fake suicide note seemed like an interesting idea. After filming the scene, we were happy with how it turned out, but there was a lingering dread in the back of our minds that the use of a suicide note was too cliché and unoriginal. I personally feel that the use of a suicide note uses forms and conventions of many real media products, and perhaps something more original would have sufficed. After much of our film was so fresh and dissimilar over other products, the use of the suicide note felt slightly stale.
Camerawork and Editing: We were very happy with most of the shots in our short film, as we had planned them carefully and many ended up just as we had envisioned them in pre-production. One shot we were excited about was the steady cam pan from the plug socket to the bath in the bathroom scene. We believed that this shot would definitely challenge forms and conventions of real media products. Sadly, when it came to the actual filming of the shot it turned out to be much harder than we first thought. This meant that the shot wasn’t as smooth or flowing as we would have liked and slightly took the tension away from the scene. The shot may not have paid off as well as we hoped, but it is still very original and will hopefully inspire others.
Title Font & Style: The credits for our film was one of the final things we thought up for our product. This wasn’t because we didn’t feel they were particularly important, but because we found it hard to find a font that suited our films tone and style. After our poster had been completed however, the font and use of lower case letters at the start of the words followed by upper case letters caught our eye and we decided that this would be a good technique to use in the credits of our film. Not only does it catch people’s eye, it also keeps the same typeface throughout the marketing strategy showing that we can keep consistency throughout. We feel that though this isn’t a brand new idea, not many films use it nowadays and it can still make the film look different and complex, so it develops forms and conventions of real media products.Story & how the opening sets it up: After the bathroom scene, the story of our film is set up by the conversation between the patient and the psychiatrist. This scene shows the complexities of their relationship and how the fragments of the patients’ mind are slowly being dissected by the psychiatrist – leading up to the events at the end. This scene took a lot of planning as a script had to be written and the actors had to learn their lines. We also wanted to make sure that this scene showed the tension between the two characters and how under their thick skin they both feel a piece of themselves missing. We felt that the scene turned out pretty well and we were pleasantly surprised by the two actors performances. Thanks to the setting of the scene we feel that this is another scene that our film will be remembered for. Though a conversation between two people in a pretty normal room is nothing special and has been done many times before, we feel ours is fresh and keeps the viewer’s interest throughout, meaning that it develops forms and conventions of real media products.
Genre & how the opening suggests it: The genre of our film is a mixture of a mystery/ psychological thriller. Our film and ideas in general went through many incarnations genre-wise, but we felt that a thriller was something we were all very familiar with and felt we could tell the best story within the confines of that genre. The group thought that the best way to guide the audience into the tone of our film was to immediately show the body in the bath. We agreed that this would immediately show the audience the kind of events that will follow and prepare them. Another way we thought we could go was that we could have begun with a totally different tone to the film itself and put people on edge and off guard. Either opening would have been substantial but neither challenges forms and conventions of real media products because they have been done so many times before. But we do feel that our opening is interesting and will immediately grab audience’s attention, so our opening most likely develops forms and conventions of real media products.
How characters are introduced: Excluding the figure in the bath, both characters are introduced during the conversation in the psychiatrist’s office. We as a group agreed to introduce them at the same time to show the audience that they’re both on the same level, neither person is above the other and that they are both in the same state of mind. We did many posts about the back stories of the characters and the way they are bottling up emotions deep inside them. The way the characters are introduced does not particularly challenge or develop forms and conventions of real media products, but we feel the back story and psychological insight into each character does develop forms and conventions of real media products.
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