Question 1
How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
To begin with, some aspects of „Demure” use expectations of audiences about horror movies to make sure that the story isn’t too strange and hard to grasp. It shows a small glimpse of the struggles of a young man, but in a symbolic and abstract manner that is specific to thrillers. Through this, our film opening also addresses several social issues, related to the representation of youth in media and to general attitudes towards them in society.
Conventions such as the overall darkened light, the cold hue and the old, abandoned location are used to create the appropriate mise-en-scene for the film opening. Included in this are the props that we used. All the objects, the bed, the shelves, the couch and the table were all old and ragged, creating the opposite feelings that a home should convey. For example, the bed he sleeps in should be a place of comfort, the denotative meaning of a bed is that of relaxation and peace, but in our film opening, the connotative meanings of all the props that make up his home oppose the expected, conventional ones, his bed is a thing to be feared, it is the home of all his nightmares and terrifying visions.
Also, the music we used plays an important part in creating the generic feeling of a horror movie because it is dark and unsettling and suggests mystery. Furthermore, different editing styles and shots work as conventions of horror genres and subgenres. For example, we used jump cuts for several segments to give the sense of uncertainty and chaos that the character experiences. Many of the shots are handheld, also adding to the personal struggles of the boy.
One aspect of our film opening that can be seen both as using and as breaking conventions is the plot. Even if only two minutes of the it are presented, the story somewhat unfolds as a complex series of visions and dreams. These types of dream scenes are often used in mysteries or horror films to create a personal connection with the character and share a general feeling of distress. However, because such a short part of the plot is shown, the audience might find it difficult to follow and understand the correlation between what they see and what they hear from the character. This is why the strange and unsettling behavior of the character can be considered as being against the conventions of storytelling and movies in general.
„Demure” breaks several other conventions both artistically and technically. For instance, all the names of the opening credits are written with small letters, this is meant to bring as little attention to the names and keep the audience focused on following and understanding the behavior of the character. Using small letters for the names also fits the story in a subtle way because the character is shy and insecure, he too feels small.
When it comes to sound, several conventions are broken. The greatest challenge to conventions is breaking the fourth wall at the very beginning of the film. The character directly addresses the audiences, looking into the camera and speaking about his struggles and questions concerning his life. At the very end of his short monologue, the character stops moving his lips but his voice can still be heard. The infidelity of the sound is meant to suggest that the words he spoke might have been only inside his mind, adding to the surrealism of the film. This is another aspect that breaks the conventions of storytelling, the audience knows right from the beginning that the story they are about to see and hear is not a usual one. The narrator is the character himself, and yet he is not omniscient, he doesn’t know what’s going on, what’s happening to him. So because the character doesn’t know the story he is telling the general feeling of uncertainty extends to the audience. The music we chose for the soundtrack is slightly conventional to horror movies, yet the sounds that mark key moments in the cuts are more unexpected for the audience. We wanted to catch their attention by using strange, inexplicable noises, which are also highly helpful for the surreal theme.
Moreover, the character’s accent is not American or British, he has a strange, east European accent. Firstly, this gives a more realistic feeling to the film, the character addresses the audiences the only way he can, he is genuine and desperate. Very similar to this is the way that a lot of young people try to get help or express their opinions and get their issues out through vlogging. This is a highly popular practice among today’s youth. They directly address the audience by looking into the camera, even though they don’t truly know or see who they are, hoping that someone will listen and maybe understand. Secondly, we did not wish to change his accent because we wanted to suggest that the action doesn’t take place in a Western society. He does speak English so that the movie can be more accessible to audiences around the world, so that more people might understand him, but the location isn’t made completely clear because what we wanted to present can happen in any country. This also makes the social issues and groups represented in our film opening more relatable to the audiences, because no restrictions are put on what, who, when and where it takes place. It refers to youth in general and how they are mostly marginalized and rarely helped appropriately when going through the most complex and confusing period of their lives. This again is what vloggers mostly talk about, they raise different personal and social issues about the young people of today’s society and the struggles they go through, most often alone and unaided. More specifically, it is suggested that the main character may have some mental disturbances or psychological problems which have clearly not been treated or even acknowledged by him or others around him. We can see that he might have come from a decent background, as his clothes are not in the worst state, but somehow he has come to live alone in an abandoned, derelict place, still clearly quite young and without any help or support. This can address both the misconduct of parents and families in general, and the failure of agencies that are supposed to look after, help, or even treat youth that might have difficulties adapting and living in today’s rapidly changing society.
Question 2
Question 3
“Demure” begins by bringing the audiences in the story, as the main character directly addresses the camera. We tried to offer a personal image of what his state of mind is like, and get the audience engaged from the very first shot. The fact that the first thing they see is the character’s eyes makes the experience even more personal and genuine. He is talking to them, as mentioned before, as a narrator even if he doesn’t know how the story will unfold, in this way he invites the audience to figure out the plot along side him. The more emotional aspect of this sequence is transmitted through his voice and the way he is pleading for their attention and help through his eyes.
Throughout the film opening, there are also other more technical aspects that keep the audience’s attention on the action presented. The jump cuts are a subtle way of focusing on shots that might otherwise be too long. By using this editing technique we emphasized key moments of the story, indirectly telling the audience to pay attention to them. Overall, the shots, angles and cuts are either: from unnatural angles, very short and quick, or simply strange and confusing. We tried to use a wide variety of shots, camera movements and angles, this helps a lot with preventing the audience from becoming disinterested. However, we did not use more than necessary so that we don’t confuse the audience more than might be expected from a surreal film.
The sound editing is also a big part of the experience we created for the people that might watch “Demure”. The low humming, and dark music adds to the general tension and unwelcoming atmosphere, while the metallic beats are constantly playing to add to the disorder and chaos. We also used them to mark more aggressive and quick cuts, and a more terrifying sound, taken from a David Lynch album, for the beginning and the end of the dream episode.
There is also another, rather different, method in which our film tries to reach its audience, and this is the ways in which it is relatable. Mainly, the character we present is highly relatable to many young people around the world. Because the problems and struggles we present are so general and apparently vague, it is highly likely that the audience will associate what they see with personal issues they might be going through. Also, movies and TV series usually cast older actors, over twenty, to play young teenagers, we avoided this, our actor being precisely the age, seventeen years old, that we imagined our character being, even more, he might look slightly younger. The way he is dressed is also very generic, and can fit to the way many teenagers dress.
There are various ways of relating the issues raised by our film to the audience and thus promoting it aswell. Online, we could have an official site for the film, with more interactive and fun components, like fake quizzes about mental health, or ones to test how much you understood from the plot. On the other hand, we can have actual information from help centers for young people, such as call centers, or written support and suggestions of how to get better and feel better depending on whatever might be troubling people that saw the film. This can be extended a lot, to parenting advice and support for example. Also, the film could have official Tumblr or Instagram accounts where people could share ideas, thoughts and images and feel part of a community that might understand them.
On the other hand we wouldn’t like to use conventional marketing strategies. For example, information about the actors would not be made available. The characters are those who the audience can understand whatever they want from, if they see them as a real person, the actor’s personality might hinder this relationship between the audience and the character. We don’t feel that it is necessary to have a large marketing strategy, we can also rely on our film being passed on from one person to another so that those who see it are really interested in the topic it presents.
If we were to consider our film opening would be an actual full feature film, there are several ideas and limitations we considered when distributing it.
The most suited way of sharing it with other people would be private screenings - having few, carefully selected, guests that wish to fully enjoy and understand the film. It could also be distributed through unconventional venues, such as art galleries, like the one in which we filmed, The Paintbrush Factory. This is an art gallery that promotes different types of artistic endeavours, such as performance and theatre. We could show our film here and even have Q&A sessions, or have the audience interact even more with the creation of the film by having them act out some more abstract scenes. Moreover, we could have screenings our film in small, underground clubs. For example, in our home city there is a club, called “Flying Circus”, that has weekly screenings of cult movies and less known directors and films.
We would like not to make “Demure” available online as we believe that this might ruin the experience of watching it. It is very different to watch this movie in the familiar comfort of your home or to live it with others by your side in an equally strange location. By only making the film available in carefully chosen places we can control the feelings and the experience of the audiences more effectively. Also, by controlling distribution we can make sure that the film is not acquired illegally online, reducing our profits. We do not look to make a lot of money from our movie because this is not a film meant to sell to a large audience. We simply want to send a message in an artistic and appealing way, even if only few will understand what we try to express through it, those who will can truly be marked by it. These type of independent productions don’t need a big budget to create, however, if we wish to extend for further projects we could look for help through crowdfunding programs online, or independent supporters and donors by applying to festivals and contests that look to find and support new talent.
How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
Question 4
I always expected to use many, different programs and media when working on a project like this, so I tried to have a wide variety. We used a lot of props and hardware during the actual filming, software and online programs were both used before filming and in post-production.
The more practical aspects of this project were the technologies we used on location, for filming. We had one white continuous light for digital video production that we used for every shot; we also moved it around and tried to create effects of moving shadows with it for the dream scenes. We used two cameras with 18-55mm lenses and one tripod, a Sony alpha DSLR and a Canon 700D. We had many props too; some we brought from home (like all the things that made up the bed), and others we found there (the coffee table and the sofa). Later, we also used an iPhone 6s to record the main character’s voice. The laptop we used for editing was branded Lenovo. We had to keep all the footage on an external drive because it took up a lot of space, and we initially wanted to use a different laptop but it’s processing power was smaller than the one we finally used.
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The software programs and online platforms we used also played a huge part in the creation of this project. Firstly, we began by using our blogs to monitor our progress. On them we uploaded text, images and links. To put up videos we had to first upload them on YouTube, which I did as unlisted content, to keep it private. All the videos on my blog are embedded in this way, including the final version of “Demure”, it is an easy and safe way of sharing our work. For the target audience questionnaire we used Google Forms to create it, Reddit and social media sites, such as Facebook, to distribute it and get as many responses as possible, and Piktochart to illustrate the results. This was probably the most complex part of our film opening development; it also encompassed the most online platforms. Furthermore, we also searched several sites for fonts to use for the credits, and YouTube to look for music to use in the soundtrack. The last site we used was WeTransfer for sharing the finalized versions to each other and to those we wished to get feedback from.
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For editing, we used a 30 day trial version of Adobe Premiere CS6. It was the first time either of us used it, but it wasn’t hard to understand; we had no difficulties in working with it. The program had all the features we needed, sound level editing, color correction effects, text overlaying the images and various transitions both for video and sound. An example of transitions that we used are cross dissolve, both for sound and image. I also adjusted the level of specific segments of the soundtrack, according to what was needed, and used fade in and fade out effects for most sounds to have a clear and continuous overall effect.
To sum up, we used many different technologies, online and offline, when working on “Demure” throughout the whole process. We managed to integrate, combine, one with the other to reach certain goals, like using online sites and editing software to get the best, informed result.
Throughout the production of Demure I managed to acquire skills I either didn’t possess at all or not at the level at which I am now. Before working on this project I had no experience in film making, besides my preliminary work, this sort of made me feel very behind compared to Ruxi who already had acquired a certain set of skills regarding film making from different projects she had worked on in the past, but throughout the shoot and the production I managed to catch up . I think that when it comes to a partner I couldn’t have chose a better one, Ruxi didn’t just help me with understanding the whole process , but also kept me motivated at all times in order to reach my potential .
My love for films started when I was very young as I was always a very creative person who loved arts in all the forms it could take. This passion for movies always kept me interested yet critical about all the films I ever watched. For us being able to have a final result that I we are able to be proud of is something very new as neither of us are auto sufficient people .
My skills didn’t just develop from a technical point of view ,but also really strongly from an organizational point of view as we had to organize our own time in order to meet certain self-set deadlines and also be committed to documenting our progress on our blogs each step of the way Moreover we had to organize ourselves to go to the Paint brush factory everyday in order to finish filming and work in shifts so that we can put all the shots together. Another skill that I really feel I strongly developed is teamwork as me and Ruxi discussed everything in depth before making any decisions or changing anything in the film opening. When it comes to this what really helped was the fact that the three of us were very close friends and we were all on the same line most of the time. On the other hand it was quite challenging for me to really properly listen to other people’s opinions ,but I managed quite well . I believe Ruxi and I were very efficient when it comes to the entire production as we worked really well together and completed each other perfectly.
For me the biggest challenge in editing was putting all the jump cuts together as it was very time consuming and as I also encountered a few slight technical difficulties because of my laptop .
Overall I believe that this was an amazing experience for me on many levels ,not only as a possible future filmmaker, but also as a person in general.
How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
For this question i decided to film myself following the conventions of a regular vlog as i believe that vlogs are a very personal way of sharing information with other people. And as the purpose of them is sharing personal experiences i thought it is the best fit for this question.
For this question i decided to make a montage of a few scenes that weren't used as they may be considered "bloopers" or behind the scenes footage ,
For this question i decided to use voicethred as i tought it would the best fit as i could present pictures and have an oral explanation of this issue .
I decided to present this answer through an audio explanation as i believe that the complexity of the answer is more important than the way it is presented when it comes to this question .