Evaluation: Question 1

Evaluation: Question 1

For our A2 Media product, we wanted to incorporate the codes and conventions of a Drama film without fully conforming to them. To achieve this, we created a lead character that subverted gender stereotypes and created an unexpected ending with a twist. Aftermath follows the lead character, Georgie, attempting to overcome her PTSD after returning from the war. The plot conformed to Drama conventions as it deals with emotional and relatable issues that are relevant to the affairs of our modern society. However, while Dramas usually reach a satisfying conclusion, our film doesn't have a happy ending and leaves the viewer questioning what might happen next. Thus, the film inhabits some aspects of a Thriller.
Genre:
We decided that for our film to successfully achieve the conventions of a Drama, we would have to choose an appropriate setting. This is why we chose the premise of Georgie returning from her tour in Afghanistan and readjusting to her domestic life. This would give us the opportunity to reflect the relatable emotions of loss and anxiety that Charlotte experiences due to the death of her partner. Despite the fact that PTSD is a common disorder that many people experience, it is not a topic that is always highlighted by the media and we wanted to raise awareness of this fact in a respectful and informative manner. Our film largely conforms to the stereotypes of a Drama due to it's central focus of one character and the realistic hardships and struggles that they face. Our film could be largely considered a hybrid-genre as it also includes flashbacks to the war. However, these flashbacks are only brief and we felt that it would be more appropriate for our film to be categorised as a Drama due to it's specific pivot on mental illness and relationships rather than the battlefield. Some of the main conventions of Drama films that we conformed to in our film were the inclusion of realistic characters and settings (Doctor Sullivan and the counselling room), watching the main character develop and progress (Georgie's realisation that Charlotte is in fact an hallucination), the focus on a conflict within oneself or between two characters (Georgie's refusal to let go of Charlotte) and a happy ending (Georgie accepting help from her psychologist).

Our film could be considered to subvert Drama genre conventions in that it does not have a 'typical happy ending.' A similar subversion can be seen in The Green Mile (1999) that sees a prisoner guard form a friendship with a wrongly accused inmate, only to have to watch him be executed for a crime he did not commit. Furthermore, we took inspiration from the psychological horror Jacob's Ladder (1998) for the character of Charlotte, as both of the leads turn out to be dead. Although, our film wasn't a horror, it's important to reference Jacob's Ladder (click here for the trailer) as it helped us to understand how we could create an effective twist.

Our film adopted some aspects of the Thriller genre.

My original hairstyle before we refilmed.

This year we were more comfortable as a group when dealing with the technical areas of our course, such as maintaining continuity throughout our A2 film. This year our film had to be roughly five minutes which caused the time we spent filming to become longer. This made it incredibly difficult for our film to remain continuous, as there were more chances that some of us might change our appearance (for example, a haircut or colour change), before filming could be completed. This became a problem for us when we realised that we had to reshoot some scenes.
In the original shots, my hair was long and curly with a bright pink hue. But by the time that we discovered that we had to reshoot these scenes, my hair was three inches shorter and the pink in my hair was fading drastically. To wait for my hair to return to the length and colour that it had been in the original shots would have took too much time, so we refilmed these scenes and eradicated the chance of this problem occurring again, by making me wear a hooded coat and purple scarf for the rest of the film. An example of continuity errors in real life products, can be seen in the film Commando, where after chasing down Sully, the yellow Porsche is left destroyed on it's left side until Arnold Schwarzenegger drives away and it is suddenly fine.

My final hairstyle for the refilm.

Our film both subverts and conforms to the typical conventions of a Drama. We stuck to the key themes of exhibitng real life situations, realistic characters and intense interactions between our two main leads. We wanted our film to be familiar to our audience so that they would know what to expect and feel an emotional attachment to our characters. We achieved this through creating a flashback scene that would reflect to our audience that the characters had both been witness to the horrors of war and establish a relationship between them that the audience could become intrigued by.

A shot from the Flashback sequence that shows a gun to Charlotte's head.

We followed this war flashback, with a melancholy title sequence that showed the inside of Georgie and Charlotte's home together, establishing their relationship beyond the battlefield and making them more relatable to our audience. The use of shots of various household objects, such as flowers and photographs, highlight that Georgie and Charlotte are a couple and gives their situation a sense of normality, increasing the empathy of the audience, as they realise that this couple are just like them. In many ways, these two juxtaposing scenes are 'binary opposites' (Levi Strauss) as the flashback deals with anger and action over a foreboding soundtrack, while the title sequence conveys loss and isolation through sombre, piano music. We wanted to ensure that the fact that Georgie and Charlotte were a young couple with their whole lives ahead of them was emphasised as a way of reflecting the tragedy of Charlotte's death and Georgie's PTSD. We achieved this through showing the characters with their mobile phones, referencing pop culture (Georgie is frequently seen in a Bambi pyjama top to showcase her naivety) and dressing them in fashionable clothing. This would increase the dramatic impact of the ending and move our audience emotionally.

The Title Sequence that establishes the home life of Georgie and Charlotte.

Nonetheless, there are moments in Aftermath when we don't conform to the conventions of Drama, as our film dosen't reach a satisfying conclusion. Usually, in Drama films there is a sense of resolution for the characters and equilibrium is restored. For example, in Good Will Hunting, the main character suddenly finds his life thrown out of balance when he passes jail time in favor for therapy sessions. At first, these therapy sessions are met with apprehension by the lead character and he refuses to cooperate. But towards the end of the film, she finally opens up to his therapist and begins to make improvements to his personal relationships. For our ending, it is left ambigious as to whether Georgie finally accepts that Charlotte has gone and whether she begins to battle her grief. In subversion, we left the ending open and invited our audience to decided whether Georgie overcomes her PTSD and finally moves on.
We did not add any 'parody' to our film because we wanted to make sure that it maintained it's serious tone. We decided that we wanted to film Aftermath from the perspective of Georgie as we wanted to make the audience feel sympathetic towards her and draw attention to some of the stigmas surrounding PTSD. We felt that challenging the stereotype of soldiers having to be incredibly strong and emotionless was important as many people forget the impact that being a first hand witness of war can have on an individual. We did some research into how PTSD can affect a person's day to day life in order to be able to reflect this correctly and sensitively in our own film. We discovered that many of the one in three individuals suffering from PTSD, regularly re-experience their trauma through flashbacks, nightmares and physical sensations such as sweating and nausea. We filmed mostly using  hand-held for the nightmares in order to reflect Georgie's anxiety and increased the saturation to heighten the surrealism that dreams have. We took influence from Forrest Gump in the respect that the film continually shows Forrest revisiting his past from the comfort of a bench.

Forrest Gump's non-linear narrative was an influence through it's theme of 'reflection.'

We wanted to keep Charlotte's status as to whether she was alive or dead ambiguous by not revealing her death until the very end. However, there are subtle hints throughout the film that Charlotte isn't alive. These hints composed of nightmares, breaking continuity by having Charlotte appear in one place and then suddenly in another and further by other characters being unresponsive to Charlotte's exsistence. We could confirm through feedback from our audience that they 'suspected Charlotte might not be real' from the beginning but were not completely certain until the film's end. This aided us in noticing that we had been successful in creating suspense and intrigue from our audience, which had been one of our main goals and finally, that our film had been enjoyable and entertaining. 

Is our film entertaining?
Richard Dyer's theory of entertainment states that the consumption of Media can counteract feelings of loneliness, boredom, absence, inadequacy, discontentment, social tension and abstinence. Dyer believes that films supply us with energy, abundance, community, intensity and transparency which are all key factors to aiding an audience to feel fulfilled when watching a film.
Energy:
Dyer believes that an urban lifestyle, alienated labor and consistent hard work are all pressures on society that as individuals we individually seek to adhere to. Dyer believes that entertainment gives individuals the ability to practice 'escapism' by watching characters 'act out' their desires. For example, Dyer states that the media uses energy in their films to inspire their audience and increase their energy levels. Films achieve this by showing characters showcasing their power through passion and physical activity. Star Wars (1977) achieves this as it shows a farm boy taking control of his destiny and going on a daring adventure that includes fighting for a larger cause. Our film achieves this by allowing the audience to become involved in the main characters journey to recovery and acceptance through the use of close ups and point of view shots. Furthermore, we supply the audience with physical energy by using music and fast paced editing to reflect the dangerous and thrilling atmosphere of the battlefield in the film's flashbacks.

Abundance:
This particular factor addresses the lust that society has for material things and the security that comes with having enough to spare. It could be inferred that audiences watch films in order to fill this void of luxery and use the character as a way to experience what possessing lots of money and expensive materials would feel like. A keen example of this would be Pretty Woman (1990) where Julia Robert's character gets to experience the advantages of having a disposable income when she is hired as an escort for Richard Gere. Because Julia Robert's character is relatable and comes from a working class background, the audience is able to use the character as a voyeur, from which they can imagine what their lives could be like. We achieved this feeling in our film through depicting Georgie as a everyday character who suffers from a common illness that many people might not feel comfortable openly discussing. By watching our film, the audience gets to understand the effects of PTSD by providing information for non-sufferers and learn to appreciate that they don't have to endure the effects of this disorder. It will also aid those that have the condition to feel less alone as they can relate to our lead character.

Julia Robert's character goes shopping in the film.

Community:
Community allows audiences to be brought together through the films they watch and create a sense of togetherness by opening them up to discussion. Community further provides comfort for individuals that may not have an active social life and struggle to find time to relax with friends due to their hectic schedules or social anxiety. A sense of community is showcased in our film through the support that Georgie receives when discovering that she is unable to move on from her partner's death. The help that the therapist, Doctor Sullivan, provides indicates to the audience that they should never be afraid to ask for help and that there is always someone that we can turn to. Arguably, Charlotte's existence and the persistence of her memory to not be forgotten highlights to audiences that it is very easy to isolate ourselves and withdraw into our ourselves. Memento (2000) is a clear example of this sad truth, as it shows the main character consistently doubting the people around him and even himself due to memory loss.

Intensity:
Humans crave excitement. Intensity refers to this pleasure, that can sometimes be lost when caught up in the daily routines of life. By consuming thrilling or adventurous media products, audiences can supply themselves with a quick 'buzz' and substitutes for any lack of excitement in their real lives. A film that shows a clear example of intensity would be Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) as it follows a young man's thrilling journey from a World War II soldier to a fully fledged superhero. These events are entirely fictional and not possible in the real world but the film's non-stop action, special effects and feel good atmosphere help to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and entertained by stepping into a fantasy scenario. Our film is similar in that it has a hint of magical-realism, as despite the film's realistic topic and relatable characters, Charlotte is actually just a hallucination that Georgie has due to her grief and the fact that the audience can see her on screen is to prevent them from realising this twist too early in the narrative. Our film further provides intensity, through it's flashbacks. These scenes are more action packed than the rest of the film and hit at violence and chaos, aspects of war that most of our audience won't have ever experienced before.

Transparency:
Georgie isn't very open about her PTSD which results in the relationship between herself and Charlotte to be very fraught and strained. Charlotte's presence is not only used to establish a relationship for Georgie nevertheless to provide the audience with a reason for Georgie's erratic behaviour and a device for understanding how complex the effects of PTSD can be. This is an example of transparency, the definition of being honest and effectively communicating with others to oppose the manipulation that individuals experience through being involved in politics and witnessing advertising. We relied on Charlotte's presence to help our film be understandable so that the audience wouldn't become confused by watching Georgie interact with herself and give them an insight into how PTSD can look/feel. We wanted our film to aid in helping end the stigma associated with mental illness by supplying them with a character with a 'strong' career so that they could become better involved about how the disorder affects a wide range of people, both male and female. To ensure that we did this correctly and effectively, we researched into the topic and wrote notes on the blog that we could reference when filming.