A-level Film Studies - Coursework Evaluation
1500 words max (you must include your word count at the end)
You should create 3 sections for your evaluation (see the 3 boxes below)
Each section should be 500 words in length (approx.)
WORD COUNT- 986
Comparison with professional short films
Evaluate and analyse your short film in relation to the professionally produced set short films
Whilst generating my ideas for my film I was drawn to the short film ‘Over’ due to its being in reverse chronological order. This is what inspired me to create my film in the way that I did with its unconventional narrative. ln ‘Oover’ the narrative makes the audience feel like an almost detective as the film unravels itself. I applied this in my film as I liked how it immersed me into the film, especially the shock at the end which explained everything. In the sense of editing I really liked how it jumped from the main story to the pieces of evidence which further helped us to try and figure out the story. I therefore decided to use jump cuts to create confusion as the audience are trying to figure out what’s happening with the psychological state of the main character.
In regards to cinematography I really liked how Oover used close ups and static shots. I used a couple of close ups when showing the death of my character as well as the final stage of her downwards spiral which I think was very effective. One of my favourite shots in my film is where I walk backwards from the tent, making sure to keep it central until I finally stop. This is where it develops into a static shot showing the isolation of my character, really emphasising how alone she really is.
Critical approaches
Apply one or two of the following ‘critical approaches’ to your short film:
In my short film I decided to have an unconventional narrative. Whilst I did use the three act structure, these acts weren’t in the correct and expected order. This postmodern element affects the audience as it creates a sense of confusion throughout. I decided to do this as I wanted my film to make the viewer have to think about what’s going on. By using jump cuts and flashbacks I was able to give snippets to the ending at the very beginning which I think was very effective as it makes you curious as to what could've happened. The chaos of the film is supposed to represent the downwards psychological change in my main character, I deliberately made decisions that helped to confuse the audience such as the scene where it shows her dead right at the beginning and then alive in the next. In the traditional sense act 2 would be act 1 as it sets up my story but as it's in the middle it acts more as a flashback. I didn’t want to create the idea that this film could be a happy camping story which I think I did successfully.
To also break convention I broke the fourth wall in one of the end scenes. My main character looks directly in the camera, whilst she herself doesn't speak, her thoughts do. I decided to approach this in that way in a means to immerse the audience into the experience she is going through. Everything I have done is to try and create that immersive experience. The fourth wall is what separates the film world and the real world, when it’s broken it generates a link between the character and audience in a way that wasn’t there before. This link can then help the audience to understand the character more than they did before which helps them comprehend what is actually happening within the film itself. If people don’t make the links as to what’s happening they may not fully be able to understand which you could class as a flaw within the film project. However I don't think this should be an issue for the most part, because even if people don’t understand that's kind of the whole point. I didn't want my film to be conventional as I think that's boring and uninteresting in many senses. This film is chaotic to represent chaos of people and emotions.
In the means of narrative structures I did use the three act structure as explained above but in a way Todorov's theory can also be applied. There's a sense of equilibrium when she’s walking through the field, that gets disrupted by her frustration and isolation. This is when we as an audience see it getting worse but as she fights with her being and self, physically and mentally, the disruption is fixed when she is dead as everything is once again calm. This isn’t to say that Todorov’s theory can be perfectly applied in the right order but there are elements of it that can be found
Preferred and alternative readings
Analyse how specific micro-elements help to generate both preferred and alternative readings of your film:
The preferred reading for this film is that isolation and loneliness can be detrimental to people's health and wellbeing, and that you should take care of people you think are vulnerable instead of letting them slip away. Throughout the film my character is alone and that loneliness is what causes her to lose her sanity. She’s in a place that's desolate from any kind of infrastructure at all, which is represented by the deserted field. The limited nature around also helps show and emphasise the isolation. These things all make the audience feel for the character as maybe they know what it feels like to be lonely. The degrade of her mental state is designed to make the audience feel sorry for her as well as kind of scare them by showing how badly she’s been affected. The preferred reading for this film is that the audience should have a sense of confusion surrounding the understanding.
I suppose an alternate reading could be about the negatives of camping. For example how it's cold and boring. As well as being dangerous if you’re alone which is what my character was. Other than that I don’t think there’s that much of an alternate reading as whilst it seems like a complicated story, its actually quite straightforward if it was in the right order. I think that people may get confused on the narrative structure which could be how they get any alternate readings.
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