Evaluation

Evaluation

Positive

For my practical I made a drama film, which focuses on the issue of teen pregnancy. My film is largely inspired by Daniel Montanarini’s film ‘Arrival’ (2016). I used the idea of someone contemplating whether to keep their baby or not. The film matches the use of using voice over and dialogue, which helps separate the real life with the character’s own thoughts, it also allowed me to have the character say any of her thoughts and feelings, helping the audience understand the situation more. Just like Montanarini’s film I placed situations that made the character change her train of thought and how she was going to deal with the situation. With this film I did follow the three act structure, however the ending is left on a cliff hanger, and the audience can only guess her decision. In the beginning (first act), we first see an empty bathroom and everything is normal. It soon pans to a pair of feet. After cutting to the title, we see a girl holding a pregnancy test, and that is where the first catalyst is. To begin with she considers keeping the baby, even though she knew her mum wouldn’t be happy, but she thought she had the love of her boyfriend. The second act begins when two girls enter, and the plot worsens for Megan. We find out that they are her friends, and one of them has been with Megan’s boyfriend. Once the girls leave, Megan is determined to have an abortion, which may have been caused by the sudden heartbreak that has made her make rash decisions. The third act begins when she nearly leaves the room and wonders if she could actually go through with it and that she should have someone by her side. The film ends on a cliffhanger as we don’t know who she has rang, her mum or her boyfriend? The aim of this film was to not make the audience feel a happy or bad for her, but rather to observe and understand a hard situation that a teenage girl is in. And although it is about a teenage girl, I think that this topic can be understood by thousands of women who have gotten pregnant when it is not the right time for them, and finding it hard to find someone that can support them through a difficult time. That is why I made it into a monologue film because someone’s thoughts are raw and pure, not changed to please the receiver.

Another inspiration from other short films is Over (2015) by John Threlfall. I liked the way he used long takes in his film. Although I didn’t do this to create suspense, it certainly does make the viewer to only focus on the characters, and truly listen to the monologue. Later on in the film when the girls leave the bathroom, I keep the shot running even though nothing is happening. I did this to give a breather, as well as a chance to process what has changed the plot line. Just like Threlfall’s film, I kept the background of the scene natural and nothing that could distract the viewer. On the wall behind the character there is a poster that encourages people to talk about their worries, and that parallels with the situation that the main character is currently facing.

Another short film that was inspiration to mine, was Slap (2015) by Nick Rowland .I liked his use of mirrors throughout his film. Such as when the mirror is smashed, we can see the distortion of the character and how he’s confused and that his head is all over the place. Like his film, I also used mirrors in mine. I include many shots where we are behind her and can see her reflection in the mirror. Doing this we cannot avoid seeing her changing facial expressions, and her mood changes on what she is thinking of at that time. I did this because it makes the film more interesting, and shows the duality of her decision. 

One of the short films that also a inspiration to me was Tight Jeans (2008) by Destiny Ekharga. I liked this one, not for the plot but more for the visuals. In the plot nothing much does happen, which does relate to mine as it is very monologue driven (hers was dialogue driven). But the visuals is what I took from the most. In Tight Jeans, it was a grey council estate with the characters in bright clothing so that they stood out. I took this idea but swapped it. Megan is in the grey/black colour clothing, with bright walls of purple around her. This help shows how the situation has effected her mentally compared to the world outside of that, showing that she is trapped from the more colourful and happier state that she was once in.

A tv series that also helped in the plot line is Skins (2007-2013) a show that focuses on teenagers throughout the two years of sixth form. One of the characters called Jal finds out she is pregnant. Before telling her boyfriend she is constantly going back and forth on how to tell him, and if she should say that she wants to keep it or if she wants to have an abortion. Even though she has a bright future ahead in her music career, she does decide to keep it. It is not until her boyfriend Chris dies that she makes her change her mind, and she has an abortion. Although my film is not as dramatic in the change the plot line, it does use the idea of using an event to change the characters decision.

For the micro elements I tried to keep it as close to life as possible. I used my schools bathroom to get that school setting, using no added lighting as I didn’t want the film to look artificial or perfect, the overhead natural lights make it seem like this scene could relate to anyone. The dialogue was not done perfectly, but that was to make sure the characters talk how actual teenagers do. I took some inspiration from how I and other people my age I know talk. And when writing the script I didn’t overthink what is being said, instead letting it flow naturally. The only thing I focused on was making sure that what was said made the plot line move forward, and makes the main character change her line of thought. I asked my cast to dress how they thought their character would look like. This meant Sasha (who played Megan) wears a jumper and jogging bottoms, which signals that she is trying to keep herself as comfortable as possible. Nush and Deana (who played Ashley and Ruby) dressed up more, portraying a type of mean girl esque way about them. This helped signify that they had no worries and are just going about their day.

To evaluate, I liked how I have managed to portray both sides of finding out being pregnant. It involves disbelief, excitement, sadness and anger. The topic of abortion is sensitive as it can divide people, so I kept the moral/religious aspect of it out of the script. I did find making this type of film hard to make, as I wanted to keep it captivating as possible, which was hard to do, as the film is mainly monologue with few moments of on screen dialogue, and is set in the same, small location so it slowed down the pace of it more. If I was going to make this film again, I would change it so there was more movement, and more dialogue. Perhaps involving a conversation between Megan, Ashley and Ruby. However, I would keep the cliffhanger as I think involves the audience more, and would make them think about who they would of rang if they were in her situation.