AS Film Studies: Evaluation

Questions:
1. What were your aims?
2. What codes and conventions identified in the textual
analysis were used in the artefact?
3. How were the planning materials used in the
construction of the artefact?
4. How successful was the artefact in achieving the aims?

My task for the Unit F632 was to create an artefact. I chose to create
9 key frames for my artefact from which my audience would be able
to tell a clear narrative throughout. I also had to complete pieces of
paperwork, such as a: location report, a screen test etc. to go along
with the key frames. My creative artefact narrates the story of the
protagonist, Bl East, trying to get her dream job in the city, but
having to handle discrimination against the colour of her skin and
her gender, especially by her would be boss, Mr Stains, whos the
antagonist. This follows Levi Strauss binary opposites theory as it
places a white against a black and a man against a woman.

With my artefact I aimed to make sure that the protagonist within

my key frames convey a similar theme as the protagonists in the
two films that I referred to in my textual analysis 12 Years a Slave
and Suffragette. This means I had to show how blacks and women
are treated by society, and how they have to show hope, to get
anywhere in a workplace. However, unlike those two films, my key
frames are set in modern day. The antagonist, Mr Stains, is a
dominant white male. The protagonist, Bl, is a black female whose
face is not shown fully until the last key frame. I did this to create an
enigma.

In my textual analysis I pinpointed certain codes and conventions

that I then used in my creative artefact. One specific thing I was
able to determine was that the use of symbols can be used to
represent messages about the themes and protagonists. I realised
this in my textual analysis of Suffragette through the use of
colours, as the director has created symbols through the colour
schemes of the clothes worn by the character. In Suffragette the
colours worn by the protagonist, Maud Watts, in the
opening scene, and in the most part
throughout the film, are a white shirt with a
dark coloured skirt, hat or coat (or all of the above)
to contrast the white. The white shirt that Maud
Watts usually wears symbolises her pure nature and
represents the hope that she conveys.
However, the black (or dark coloured) coat; hat; or skirt that she
wears shows a juxtaposition, as the dark colours symbolise how
society thinks shes impure as
she joins the Suffragette
movement, it also
foreshadows later dark events in
the film, such as her arrest,
and the danger she puts herself in.
I added symbols into my creative
artefact through
cinematography. The genre of my creative artefact is a drama, and a
common convention of a drama is the use of cinematography to get
close up shots of the characters to show the emotion they feel.
However, in my creative artefact I used a lot of over the shoulder
shots and point of view shots, until the final shot; which was a close
up. I did this to create an enigma which also follows the conventions
of a drama as it allows the audience to see the struggle that the
protagonist is going through, because she has no identity until the
final shot, which represents how women are seen as almost
insignificant by society. I also use the rule of third to represent this
enigma as in most of the frames the protagonist, Bl East, takes up
as little of the shot as possible, if any of the shot. This leads up to
the final close up which represents the theme of hope, as my
protagonists facial expression is emotionless, which represents her
defiance.

One of the other conventions I pinpointed in my textual analysis was

the use cinematography in 12 Years a Slave. The use of a lot of
shots (especially wide angle shots) capturing a group of slaves, also
represents an enigma. However, unlike Suffragette in 12 Years a
Slave the director creates this enigma by showing a group of
slaves, which conveys the lack of identity slaves had in society at
the time, and how they were seen as just a group of labourers.
Which follows the conventions of a drama as the shots are a symbol
of their struggle. The portrayal of the theme of hope was shown
through the protagonist, Solomon Northups, facial expressions. This
allowed the audience to see his look of belief and determination,
especially in the later parts of the film,
similar to my creative artefact as the last
shot is a close
up. In my
creative
artefact the
theme of hope
is convey
through the colours worn by Bl East and
the colours of the surroundings. An
example of this is throughout my creative artefact purple and gold
are worn by Bl which symbolises that she is of quite a high class
and that she is in a dominant position over some people in society
already, which is a countertype of genders as it is usually men seen
as dominant in society. Also the white of parts of her room; the
subway; and the reception symbolise the theme of hope.

I put a lot of thought into my production before embarking on

creating it. In made sure I had thought out the mise-en-scene,
narrative and cinematography before I created my artefact. One key
feature that I focused on in my planning was the locations used for
artefact. Which I mapped out through my location report. This
meant I had to make sure that all the locations was easily
accessible, but it still had to be able to convey some of the themes
of my narrative. Therefore, I picked locations with a lot of white
which represented hope. In some of my frames the white is tainted
with other colours which follows Levi Strauss binary opposites
theory, as it places white (hope) against dark (hopelessness and
negativity). My locations also allowed me to follow my shot list
easily; as the locations were very spacious which allowed me to get
the variety of shots I needed to construct my narrative. My location
followed the typical conventions of my creative artefact which
included props such as landline phones and paper work which
matched the office environment.

Ultimately, I feel my creative

artefact was successful in
accomplishing its aims. I was
able to successfully use symbols
to represent the fact that Bl
conveyed hope, and was able to
use cinematography to create
an enigma which follows the
common conventions of my
chosen genre as it shows the
protagonists struggle in society. However I do think I couldve used
a wider range of shots to show how black women, such as Bl, are
really seen as low down in society, even in modern times. For
example, I couldve used low and high
angle shots to exaggerate her
weakness or powerlessness, much like
the directors of my chosen two texts
did.

Word Count- 1,100