Q1

Our film storyline in simple terms involves a young girl losing her mind. It starts off where she is completely normal then things start going missing. This symbolises the deterioration of her mind. It eventually ends where she tells the audience that she has three mental disorders and that this can be controlled, however she let her mind win and she has lost all that she had. It is conventional for the psychological thriller genre to show continuity throughout the film within shots however, but to have less continuity throughout the narrative. This can be shown in a number of ways by just leaving an important clip out till the end that ties the whole narrative, or by flashbacks for example.

My second year film is continuous as we specifically have sound bridges and shot reverse shots. Shot reverse shots can show the reactions and facial expressions that are happening throughout the conversation. In this shot reverse shot we can see that the camera is looking up at the dark haired character whereas when the camera is on Alex, the camera is looking down on her. This belittles her and makes her seem insignificant. It also makes it clear for the audience that they are looking at each other. We have chosen to do these shots so that the conversation runs smoother and the cuts seem less noticeable to the audience. 

We also show continuity through using match on action. This is shown when Alex clicks her phone and then later picks it up in the next shot. Sound bridges are used by taking the audio from different clips and overlapping them so that they start before the video is seen. 

It is also continuous in the way that the days are ordered in the correct way. This gives the audience a rough idea of how long the film is all together and how much time is taken up throughout the start to the end of the film. It gives you an idea on how long it took for Alex to deteriorate.

We have challenged conventions of continuity however by not starting off with an establishing shot. We use establishing shots later throughout the film, however, but we have started off in a white room showing the video diary that Alex Taylor has done. She is introducing herself. It leaves the environment to be imagined until an establishing shot is shown later in the film. Even though we have challenged the stereotype, we have also used the stereotype in the way that we have a female protagonist.

Tom Ryall's theory of genre says that 'genre provides a framework of structuring rules, which act as a form of guidance over the production of filmmakers and the reading/understanding of the audience'. This basically means that there are certain iconographies, representations and ideologies representative of that one genre. Tom Ryall believes that if people recognise the genre they will gain entertainment from spotting the codes and conventions that relate to the genre. I think that this theory does apply to our film as our character is representative of a person who has psychological problems. Our character has three mental illnesses which means that this is also the framework of the narrative and this is what is emphasized in our film.

Todorov's theory of equilibrium states that at the beginning there is a natural state of equilibrium, which then suffers some problems which is then returned back to a new state of equilibrium. 

I think that our film does fit this theory as it does off in a state of equilibrium, which then gets affected by an event (the start of her disorders and illnesses) and then is returned to a state of a new equilibrium (the end when she realises and warns people hat they can do something about it). Todorov believes that the narrative goes in a circular motion in which I believe our storyline does. At the start everything is normal, then her mental disorders make things disappear. This represents the mental deterioration of her mind. It is only in the event of her doctor sending a letter to her that she actually realises then creates a new equilibrium in which she tells the audience that they do not have to go down the same route as her. I feel like we have strayed a bit further than the actual conventions of the genre in the subject matter of the actual film. I haven’t heard of a film that actually focuses on three different mental disorders. The new equilibrium isn't an exactly nice one as it leaves some of the storyline open to interpretation by the audience. 

We do not use any pastiches or parodies in our film as our film is more of a serious film and battles with real issues that the everyday society does have to deal with. Having any pastiches or parodies in our film will defeat the object of the storyline seeming real and relevant to the worldwide community. We do not think that our film would improve its quality either by adding parodies and pastiches into it. I think that parodies and pastiches work well more in a comedy film rather than a psychological thriller, this is the exact opposite. If we added parodies or pastiches it would make the storyline become less serious and realistic which would make the audience want to switch off our film as soon as they see something funny.