Advanced Portfolio Critical reflection

 

Advanced Portfolio Critical reflection

 

How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

My research began with Daniel Chandler, who says that genres tend to be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as themes or settings) or of form, structure and style which are shared by groups of texts. However, I was also inspired by John Grierson’s definition that the documentary genre is ‘the creative treatment of actuality’; this is my favourite quote, most visible in “Night Mail”.  From this I knew that I would have to follow the common conventions such as interviews, montage editing, use of music to create mood, and use of archive photos or footage, but that I would also have to be creative and try to add something new from the genre.

In my documentary I used all of the expected conventions: interviews as a foundation with archive footage over the top; light hearted music to contrast with the topic of mental health to create a positive feel. I took the most from my research into Sergei Eisenstein, “The father of montage”, as I based my whole preliminary task on a montage sequence “A day in the life of an Ellesmere College boarder”. Then in my final production I used montage through archive photos as a representation of mental health being compared to a mountain to provoke an emotional understanding in the audience beyond the facts. I got modern conventions such as an interviewee walking onto set and sitting down informally before their interview from modern documentaries such as “The Social Dilemma” and I used this in my documentary “Boys Don’t Cry”, as this approach breaks the fourth wall and creates realism. For my social media I looked into movie promotion pages such as Venom, and decided Instagram was the best advertisement site for my product, mainly due to age being 15 – 25 as my target audience, so I copied the layout and conventions of this.

 

How do your products represent social groups or issues?

The social group represented in my documentary is men, and the issue one of men’s mental health. depression, anxiety and even autism. The primary age group which it targets is 15 to 25 men, and I feel my audience will be able to relate to my interviewees. The title is “Boys Don’t Cry”, which plays on the stereotype of masculine emotional repression, however in this documentary there are men being open about their feelings, emotions and explaining to the audience how everyday life feels.  They honestly explore the feeling of isolation and the feeling of social isolation in contrast with the stereotype of external happy family life. The settings I used were a bedroom and a living room, to encode that mental health is part of everyday life, and no place defines it. I wanted it to be clear that no one question can sum mental health up, nor one situation, nor one time in the day. This will help audiences be able to relate and their understanding will come from the heart as well as head. The young men are represented as vulnerable but also positive about their open feelings, much as “Movember” encourages sharing of feelings as well as doing something positive. Men’s struggles with mental health is now a more open topic and in this documentary I tried to show it in a different light as being more widespread than people might think. The social media page (Instagram) will draw attraction to this with the black and white photos representing the deeper darker feelings of a man.

 

• How do your products engage with the audience?

My primary target audience for this documentary are aged 15 – 25, preferably male, but females may watch for education/surveillance (Blumler and Katz). It will be released to a mainstream audience though Netflix. My product will engage with the audience initially due to the time we are in as of Covid-19, where many people are struggling with mental health in these times. The first shot is in a bedroom, a safe place all my target audience have spent a lot of time in over lockdown. The interviews jump straight into the deep end keeping the audience with relatable feelings and constant contrasts between two different forms of mental health. The non-diegetic sound is uplifting, a warm background music to make the audience smile and encode positivity. Intercutting during interviews to contrasting images or archive footage keeps the audience engaged throughout the documentary. The colour and mise en scene are subtle and subdued, matching the emotions being spoken about by the interviewees. The archive footage involves mountain biking and wake boarding, which is the fastest growing sport in the world, keeping the audience interested and relating to hobbies they have. My branding though Instagram and a magazine interview with GQ targets my audience age and gender, showing previews and quotes from the documentary and creating initial interest and knowledge of the documentary and what the topic is. Finally my product has a segment on ‘Movember’, a worldwide trend and charity, as many of my audience will have grown a moustache or are aware of the charity making them able to relate.

 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

A brand is a set of associations that a person (or group of people) makes with a company, product, service, individual or organisation. In this case it is a set of associations made with a product. The initial sense of branding will come from the production title its self, “Boys Don’t Cry”. The topic is made clear, being men’s mental health through the focus on photos of men, and attracting men with mental health problems or people closely related to it through family members and friends due to their association with the topic. The social media site is Instagram, with the account is based completely on the production, giving an insight through behind scenes photos and information, still shots from the documentary and an introduction to the main interviewees within the documentary. All of the above creates promotion for my product through excitement and anticipation. My magazine is focused partly on the production/documentary and partly based on me the producer, writer, director of “Boys Don’t Cry”. By promoting the producer, it also promotes the product and offers a male role model to the audience. Finally, the use of Movember, the biggest men’s health charity, provides a branding link through the use of the recognisable logo. This also enhances the ideology that men’s mental health is a series issue but with a positive suggestion that we can all do something to improve the situation.