CR: Critical Reflection

 LINK: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19aT3vYh07doP6sTxmuC6m-y2l0cS8gRzGzMERPoE1YM/edit

Critical Reflection 

Aice Media Studies A Level 

How do your products represent social groups or issues? 

My product, Shattered Bonds, represents social groups and issues in many ways, however there were two ways that were represented the most. Shattered Bonds shows how it's very difficult to make a trio friendship work, as there will always be a duo in a trio. Many people struggle with this reality on a daily basis and it is not a fun reality. Shattered Bonds engages with the idea that friend groups, mainly consisting of girls, aren’t as friendly as people believe they are. In many cases there's a constant fear of one being fake or secretly hating each other behind their backs. In Shattered Bonds we highlighted exclusion. Exclusion is one of the biggest signs when it comes to a struggling friendship and in many cases Kendall, who is played by Natalia, is being left out. You can see actions of exclusion in scenes when the girls are spending time together without her, sharing pictures of just them on social media, carpooling to school, and forming a visibly strong bond. This leads into my next issue, jealousy. In Shattered Bonds jealousy stemmed from the feeling of being shut out by those who you trust and admire. Kendall clearly voiced her feeling of being replaced, however it went unnoticed by her best friend Ellie.  Due to the lack of attention being placed on Kendall she began to act out in manipulative and hurtful ways. Kendall couldn’t handle the fact that Ellie had more in common with Olivia, therefore, her jealousy left her judgment clouded which is why she ultimately ended the life of Olivia. In the last scene we see Kendall smiling at the funeral for Olivia, this was because Olivia was finally out of the picture and Kendall could reclaim her friendship with Ellie. This was how my product represented social groups and issues. 

How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of “branding?”

The movie, website, and postcard were the components of my production that came together to form a brand identity. They collaborated to include a recurring theme in order to provide a feeling of branding. Due to Shattered Bonds being a murder mystery I wanted to include the common conventions, therefore I made sure to add themes of blood and colors that consisted of red, black and white. In the movie, there was a theme of dripping blood. Thirty seven seconds into the film, the idea of dripping blood was used to emphasize the production's title. We included the dripping blood to give the audience the chance to foreshadow that something bad may occur. In the website I used dripping blood in the very beginning and more towards the end. At first glance when you see the website you see a bloody hand, I thought this was a cool element to add as it creates a sense of mystery and foreboding. There is also bloody splatter when calling attention to social media. I wanted that part to be captivating because that's where the audience will obtain most of the information on the production. In the postcard I used dripping blood on the backside because I still wanted to stay on theme. 

The next element we used to contribute to branding was the same color scheme. I focused more on the colors red, black and white because I felt that those were the colors people most associated with murder and thrillers. I used the colors black and white in the film by using them in all of the flashback scenes and most of the title sequences. Shattered Bonds, which was the title of my movie, was the only title sequence that was in red text. On the website I only used those three colors. The background of each section was in black. The black background looked the best because it allowed the brighter colors like the red and white to stand out more which gave a more pleasing visual effect. We used a mix of red and white text to describe the different features of our movie. For example we chose red text for the quotes and white text to describe the producers. In keeping with the theme of "Shattered Bonds," on the front of the postcard we used the white and hints of gray to represent shattered glass. On the front there were also splattered dots of red representing blood. The back of the postcard used a black background and features of red dripping blood. I wanted to keep the back of the postcard simple because that was where the QR code would be placed. This was how a color scheme and a recurring theme of gory blood contributed to branding.  

How do your products engage with the audience? 

My products appeal to the public in different ways. Starting off with the more creative aspect, the post card and website are not what you would typically expect to see, which is why they are so appealing to the public. This is because they both promote the film using dark colors and horrifying features. This is a perfect representation of what Shattered Bonds is all about. The movie engages with the audience by using dark ominous music and a wide variety of angles and shots. The different shots, sounds, and costume changes makes the movie more enjoyable to watch. Shattered Bonds also grabs the attention of the audience because the movie almost acts as a guessing game. Shattered Bonds keeps the viewers on the edge of their seat for mainly the entire film, and the murderer is not revealed until the end, giving the audience time to try and solve the mystery beforehand. Tension and confusion are important characteristics of a murder mystery and I believe Shattered Bonds achieved that. My product, Shattered Bonds, captures the audience's attention by relaying an important message. I believe that when producing a movie it's important to base it on a message that the viewers can relate to. Shattered Bonds touches on struggling friendships and the difficulty when there's multiple people in a friend group. Although this may seem like a simple problem, it can really impact the lives of the younger generation. This struggle is more prominent in teenagers, but it can affect people of all ages and genders. It’s important to understand the effects of someone struggling in a friend group because while everything may seem okay, someone always feels left out and who knows how they will express their emotions. 

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

I used a simple technique to promote my movie but before we chose exactly how to do it my group and I needed to conduct research. I first looked up what type of promotion created more buzz around the world, however since my group and I are in highschool some tactics were difficult. The popular tactics were meeting with agencies, entering competitions, and social media. My group and I ended up choosing social media as it was the most convenient and we have grown up with it and know the ins and outs. Natalia has a decent following so she used her platform to popularize our movie. Everyone in the group contributed, we posted clips to TikTok, and behind the scene photos to Instagram and SnapChat. We used social media to our advantage in two different ways. The most beneficial way we used social media was to look up inspirations for the website and postcard. I looked up popular movies like Smile, Glass Onion, Murder Mystery 1 and 2, and Happy Death Day. My group and I looked up websites for these movies to get inspiration for ours, and to make sure we followed common conventions. The common conventions we used were dark colors that represent death or blood and horror like photos. The next way we used social media was to post the link to our website and postcard to allow people to gain more information on our movie. Our movie created a lot of suspense and confusion which is a common convention of thriller movies, and Shattered Bonds 100% achieved that goal. The use of dark ominous music and black and white filters achieved the effect of mystery which is an important feature to murder mysteries. 

Ultimately, filming was extremely fun and I'm going to miss filming with my friends and our group. It’s really been special making memories. I’ve had the best time in A Level Media Studies!

word count: 1428