Reflection On Shot

Shot Description

This is a medium close-up two shot showing a teenage male and female together in the setting of an old fashioned building facing a stage/platform and a cupboard with a large cross upon it. The shot is taken from behind at a straight angle, to give a rear view of the characters and make the audience feel like they are within the building. The focus of the shot is the two bodies are both sitting on separate chairs, however it is a soft focus to show that the setting of the shot is also relevant to the genre. Along with this, there are no bright colours within the shot, reflecting the negative mood of the characters. The light is natural to show that the film follows the daily lives of the characters, and their placement- separated by chairs, yet in each others arms- suggests that they have come to the setting together, and appear to be upset - alluding to the genre of teen drama.

How I achieved the shot

In order to achieve the depiction of this genre, I selected a large, empty school hall as the setting of the shot in order to highlight the fact that the characters are distressed and alone. Furthermore, I felt that a shot from behind of the characters would be more effective as it makes it appear as if the characters are looking up to the elevated platform in front of them for the guidance from somebody.

What is successful about the shot?

One of the successes of the shot is the use of the crucifix in the corner effectively alludes to their desperation. The use of medium close up was also essential as it enabled me to reveal the age of the characters and their relationship, however not reveal their faces, to leave the viewer anxious to identify the two troubled figures.

Possible Improvements

I believe that in order to make my shot more effective and clear as to which genre the film is, there are a few improvements that could be made, the first of these being the alignment of the shot,  if the framing was adjusted, it would be more clear of the size of the building, making the setting more clear. Another improvement would be to give the characters props to show what sort of people they are, eg. bags to show that they are on the move. Furthermore, the characters postures could be adjusted to reflect their roles in the film more clearly, eg. the male with head in hands, also, the image could be saturated to reflect the negativity of the story-line.