Creative Critical Reflection: Draft 1

Question 1: How does your product challenge conventions and how does
it represent social groups or issues?

The Reckoning Fallacy challenges thriller conventions because ,usually, a normal physiological thriller includes conflict but in the mind but this film challenges this and has both conflict inside and outside of the protagonists mind and the conflicts are usually simultaneous. This almost overkill of conflict makes the film reflect even more danger and builds grater tension as a result.  Another way that The Reckoning Fallacy challenges conventional thriller codes is by its use of the main character, Georgia. Georgia is portrayed as the protagonist but then is revealed to also be the antagonist as she, ultimately, also the antagonist alongside her bully, Jacob. This challenge contributes to the confusion that our opening leads to and therefore also helps to build the tension and suspense that the opening leaves its audience with. Because the protagonist is a female, this further challenges the thriller conventions as the main character of a thriller is usually a male. This also advances the confusion that builds towards the end of the film as females, and particularly Georgia, are portrayed, stereo-typically, as fragile and weak but the turn of events follow Georgia portrays almost the opposite character traits. This creation
of confusion also creates an uneasy atmosphere which moreover develops the tension.

The Reckoning Fallacy deals with the major social issue of bullying. It show how bullying, in these times, goes far beyond playground teasing but extends to the ‘safety’ of your own home. It shows the unfortunate reality of bullying and how it becomes consuming and isolating to the victim. Georgia is shown at home and at school
experiencing bullying; it depicts her surrounded by people yet totally by herself at school, and the many negative comments directed to her on a social media platform at home all by herself. Through two lower
angles, both when she goes to pick up her belongings off the ground, we see Georgia literally drop to the standard and into the ‘box’ of what her bullies have set for her. This represents how victims of bullying often drop themselves into what their bully’s say they are and begin to believe the words of their ridicule. The long, slow
journey towards the end of the wharf represents the, often, tedious journey of the victim and ultimately, in this case, Georgia’s end of sanity. The big rippling ocean represents the extent of Georgia’s
sanity from the constant bullying as it is unpredictable and can change from a calm flat surface to huge tumbling waves in a matter of half an hour.The Reckoning Fallacy also attempts to depict the social
group of women and their authority. This is also shown through the high and low angles in the bullying scenes and the over the shoulder shot of Georgia with Jacob dead. The angles show who’s in authority at
the time and when Jacob is seen in authority Georgia is seen picking up books clearly hurt but however when Georgia is seen in authority over Jacob we see him clearly dead. This represents how usually when
women try and take supreme authority, as shown by the dramatic angle off the wharf, it ends in utter chaos and is taken way too far. But when a man has authority it is still not acceptable but it is far better than when women take authority.

Question 2:How does your product engage with audiences and how would
it be distributed as a real media text?

The Reckoning Fallacy engages with audiences in many ways; firstly it
relates to our teenage target audience because our main actors and
actresses are teenagers/young adults so immediately the audience will
feel a connection to the film’s actors and therefore the film itself.
This also extends to the events that occur during the film, as we deal with issues such as bullying, school
and social media- these are all familiar to the younger demographic to a large extent. This engages them as it relates strongly to common situations in their lives. Furthermore, The
Reckoning Fallacy is more interesting as it displays these situations
in a different, more dramatised light adding suspense and dangerous
feel which only makes the film more riveting so the audience is even
more engaged. The use of editing effects, such as the flashes before and
after flashbacks, and flashbacks themselves, engages our audience
further as the effects are intriguing and, in cases such as the flashbacks, almost unsettling.
This is engaging as it draws the audience in because of the uncertain
atmosphere not only the editing- but the editing alongside the
soundtrack- creates, in so that the audience cannot even take their
eyes off the film for a second. Lastly the strange mise-en-scene of
the wharf setting can be extremely engaging as it is an uncommon
environment for a lone teenage girl to be found at night. Also the almost
tranquil setting of the wharf coupled with the suspenseful music
causes discomfort towards the audience forcing their interest onto the
film.Realistically our media text, The Reckoning Fallacy as it is now, would be uploaded
to the popular video sharing webpage: YouTube, from there it can be
easily viewed and distributed to other media platforms by sharing.
YouTube is the easiest and best platform for our media text as it is
free to upload to such account. Furthermore, YouTube allows anyone
with internet access the ability to view our film free of cost. The
handy feature of sharing for YouTube also allows our text to be
distributed to other popular websites such as Facebook; this allows
our potential viewers to increase significantly as the potential
number of people that can view it increases. Also, if our film was created as a full length film, to be viewed at the
cinemas it would be extremely beneficial for the film's trailer to be
played before other thriller movies at the cinemas as it allows
potential audience members to become aware of another thriller film
that would be of interest to them. Another benefit would be to upload the trailer to YouTube, for reasons said above.

Question 3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

My production skills developed greatly throughout the making of The
Reckoning Fallacy. Our main camera operator, Ashlee Rimmer, allowed me
to hone my camera skills and have a go taking a few of the shots off
the wharf when filming the dead body floating, as the angle was too
high for her to reach. Because I also doubled as the director it
challenged my ability to not only get a clear shot but also direct the
actor in the water whilst doing it quickly for the actor as the water was freezing!
Also having a go working the camera in the classroom setting as I
learnt the hard way about focusing each shot. My team helped my
production skills grow by allowing me the opportunity to have a go
with the camera even though I was not as proficient as them. Another
massive learning curve was audio as our audio equipment decided to not
function the second day of filming which meant we had to record voice
overs for the wharf scene. This included us playing around with the
recording of audio in post to ensure it not only sounded clear but
also legitimate. Audio was also a difficult task as we wanted an
almost chorus of negative comments to create the ‘voices’ inside our
actress’ head. For this we tried a few different methods so we could
have multiple intensities and volumes. This developed my production
skills as it opened my eyes to the possibilities of post-production
effects and, how sometimes having something done in post can actually
make the film more realistic and add to the suspenseful atmosphere
wanted. The biggest challenge that developed not only my production
skills but my whole team’s, was the absence of a team mate who
unfortunately fell very ill and was unable to aid us further in the
post-production process. The result of this was a little rearranged of
tasks meaning that it was now my responsibility to make the credits.
My limited skill on Photoshop left me with next to no clue on how to
even start on the credits. After a few YouTube tutorials and trial and
error attempts I was able to create our opening credits. Although they
are very basic, the simplistic credits are effective and go with our
overall film. Creating and placing the credits allowed my skills on
Photoshop to grow tremendously. Another major challenge for our group
was making our logo, even after our study on logos we had no idea
where to even begin. After some discussion we decided on a simple idea
that included us not only playing around with lighting equipment but
also premier pro.Keeghan did an awesome job combining our ideas and executing it for the group. This grew my production skills as it taught me how
to use different techniques with standard equipment. Lastly, probably
the most important way my production skills grew, was how to work in a
team. Whenever you work in production you must be able to communicate
with your team properly. At first I found it difficult to pitch my
ideas to the rest of my team but as the year continued I was able to
express what I wanted and incorporate everyone’s ideas more
efficiently and effectively.