Homework: Reflections on film stills

The film still

1. REPRESENTATION OF GENRE

Our chosen genre for this film still was teen comedy/drama, a genre often set in schools exploring the interests of teenagers. The mise-en-scene makes this genre evident in the film still: lockers, a key feature of school settings, are at the forefront of the shot, and the characters are teenagers. The facial expressions of the characters are also important in establishing our chosen genre. They are smiling, indicating a positive relationship between the two characters, and they are looking away from the camera but not directly at each other while still clearly having a conversation, giving the impression of a casual relationship between them. Relationships are an important aspect of our chosen genre and are commonly featured in these films as a significant part of teenage life, and with our characters and setting, we were able to represent this.

2. HOW WE ACHIEVED THE EFFECT

We achieved the effect of creating a film still appropriate for our genre with the framing. The film still is a medium shot, allowing the important aspects of the setting to remain visible, e.g. the lockers, but there are no distractions in the background or foreground, enabling the audience to focus on the relevant characters. A medium shot was the best shot type to use because it isn't so close up that we can't even see the characters and the setting, but it is still relatively close up, creating a feeling of intimacy between the two characters and identifying the relationship that they share and the conversation going on between them at that moment. Also, as well as their facial expressions, the relaxed clothing and posture of the characters emphasises their young age and suggests casual themes and relationships, often evident in teen comedies. Another way we achieved the effect is through the use of lighting. The natural light coming in from the windows allowed us to create a shot with relatively high-key lighting, but not too bright or artificial to be distracting, giving the movie a light-hearted feel, typical of teen films. 

3. SUCCESSES OF THE SHOT

The framing and lighting both contribute to the success of our shot; we would not have been able to represent the genre without these. The framing and lighting establish a sense of light-heartedness and indicate the relationship between the characters - this was crucial for accurately representing our genre. The setting is also successful as it clearly shows it is set in a school, typical of teen films. The way the characters are presented, through posture, clothing, looks and facial expressions, is also important to the representation of our genre and contributes to the success of the shot.

4. WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY

If I were to retake the shot, I would include more action in the background to further establish the setting of the school and teenage theme. Usually, in teen films when characters are in a scene together in the school hallways, the hallway is not empty - it is filled with other students and teachers, usually background extras, further emphasising the setting. Two students in a film would not normally be having a conversation in an empty corridor - this creates a feeling of isolation and possibly eeriness or secrecy. In our shot, the two characters could be having a conversation about how to solve a murder mystery, for all we know. However, I don't think this is massively important as the characters are smiling and relaxed and the lighting is bright, creating a casual, light-hearted feeling that distracts from any sense of eeriness created by the empty corridor. Furthermore, with the limited time and cast that we had, we would not have been able to change this at this time. Also, the film still is a medium shot and we would not have been able to see much in the background anyway.