Evaluation for ‘The Revenge’

For my creative artefact I created an action sequence “The Revenge” which had to be completed in 20 key frames. The aim was to represent the protagonist as a stereotypical hero, who has dominant characteristics and overcomes his bullying problems. It was essential that I incorporated key ideas that I researched as part of my planning. For example I wanted a slow build up to the defeat of the weak antagonist by showing the transformation of the hero, which I found was common in my research. 

When creating my production I took ideas from the films that I analysed in my textual analysis essay. I wanted to represent the development of the protagonist, so I focused on using technical elements directors used in the films researched. For example the use of fast paced high tempo non-diegetic background music that heightened the atmosphere. Also the use of low angle shots similarly used in Mission Impossible series showed a clear difference between character dominance.  In terms of content I feel I was successful to portray action and shift of power, something I realised was common in Iron Man (Tony Stark). For example I used extreme close up shots of the protagonist to show his facial expressions and let the audience know what he was thinking about.

I decided to focus on bullying as the main issue where the narrative is set around, therefore my teenage audience could relate to bullying as its common issue in today’s society. Through this I was able to show the development of the male protagonist and send a positive message back in society about saying no to bullying. I got the concept of bullying from Batman Begins on how the antagonist tortures and tries to overpower Gotham city. Similarly I used the same idea where the bullies try to steal and control the vulnerable protagonist.

During my research I found limited development in the representation of the protagonist. It was interesting to see how the same stereotypical concept of the hero always defeating the villain was portrayed through different types of actors in the films. Theory of binary opposition was evident as there was always good vs evil between the hero and the villain. I studied a range of films e.g. Mission Impossible (1996), Mission Impossible Rogue Nation (2015), Iron Man 3 (2013), Batman Begins (2005), and The Terminator 2 (1991).  Analysing these films allowed me to gain an idea of how the audience sees the protagonist, therefore I chose to only have male characters to in my key frames so the audience could focus on the dominant characteristics. The cinematography directors used within their films influenced me to use similar style. In particular I used high key lighting to emphasise the masculine physique of the protagonist similar to The Terminator where he’s represented tall and big. Also I used an over the shoulder shots, which gave a realistic prospective from the protagonist which I picked up from The Terminator. I included key conventions that I researched from the films studied, such as building up an enigma for the audience about the mysterious person following the protagonist. I wanted to build up suspense, which was successfully done through the chase sequence and the background music.

I represented the protagonists as a countertype in the beginning of my production, as a vulnerable and weak character. This is because I wanted to show the development of the protagonist from start to end. I also did this to show my audience a more conventional side of the character and to show the shift in power. It was important that I included similar type of characters to the films analysed in order to convey the themes and messages of the action genre. I feel I was able to show excitement and danger in my production through characters expressions and the chase sequence. Also the key theme of Good vs Evil and binary opposition was clear from the beginning of my narrative.

As part of my research and planning I created a portfolio, which consisted of a location report, scripts, casting consideration, synopsis, and treatment. All of this was helpful as it gave me guidance and reminded me of all the aspects to cover in order to convey the development of the protagonist. It was important that the final production was suitable and appealed to my target audience, and conveyed conventions of an action genre. My target audience consisted of male teenagers mainly as the main characters in my film are males, also it’s based upon bullying which the target audience could relate to. Character profile highlighted the skills of actors, which had a potential role in my production. In terms of choosing a character I auditioned different actors, which allowed me to test the characters confidence and get to know about their personality. At the end I chose to have a stereotypically muscular protagonist in contrast to the skinny small antagonist. This was common in Batman Begins as the antagonist was seen physically weaker and vulnerable. Also when planning I had think about mise-en-scene and how it could affect my overall production. For example I had to choose costume, which was, reflected the personality of the character and the type of background they’re from. With my antagonist character Tyson Burns he was wearing a black hooded jumper and a snapback which made it clear to the audience that he was from a low-class background and trying to conform to stereotype of a teenage youth in society today. I also had to consider the location of the production, much of my key frames are set in the back school car park where it’s isolated and empty. Second location is side road where the chase sequence starts from, where the natural lighting highlighted the characters expressions. I took inspiration from The Terminator when planning the shot list in order to convey excitement and danger, I used long and over the shoulder shot to build up to the chase sequence. The flashback scene consisted close up shots to show the protagonist feelings when being bullied by the antagonist. I took this from Mission impossible as it was used to focus on the characters expressions. Overall the planning and research allowed me include the element of action and excitement also helped me organize and deliver the message to my audience.

My target audience was young teenagers aged from 16-30 years old, therefore my film certification was 16 as the production included action and fight sequences.  I wanted my audience to have an emotional attachment to the protagonist who gets bullied, but then he develops confidence and changes. I decided to name my production “The Revenge”, because the male protagonist takes his revenge by confronting the two bullies.  I included Todorova’s narrative theory of Equilibrium and disequilibrium. Disruption was caused when protagonist gets chased by the antagonist and flashback sequence where he gets bullied. New equilibrium is formed at the end of the narrative when the hero overcomes his weakness, this was typical in the films I researched.

In conclusion my planning and research was beneficial as it allowed me to create interesting and enjoyable action sequence. I was able to explore my thesis and show the development of the protagonist from being bullied to getting revenge on the bullies. I got positive feedback from the audience that I showed my production as a test to see if my key frame was enjoyable and easy to understand. However, if I had the chance to change my artefact I would have changed the location to an alleyway/park from the car park because I believe an alleyway is a convenient location for a fight sequence to take place. I could have added fast paced shot and editing that would have given the audience a burst of adrenalin.  Overall the mise-en-scene and cinematography was important for the success of the production.

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