Critical Reflection

My product represents a common social issue between teens. My product’s targets those who have been through heartbreak. Many of them are looking for that relationship that can brighten their life up. Unfortunately, the film world shows an unrealistic view on relationships where it is all “rainbows and sunshine.” The film world also portrays the lead up to relationships being easy and simple. With this misconception, teens tend to enter relationships with an expectation that does not match with reality. They also enter relationships knowing that if there is a heartbreak in the end, they will come back easily with the stereotypical “glow up” and be okay. Since the media world shows that happiness involved with a relationship and the “happy ever after” after the heartbreak, they don’t emphasize the difficult post heartbreak process that many teens go through. It is very common, but unfortunately isn’t talked about as much as it should be. My product uncovers the process of post heartbreak and shows the painful, but true events that take place. The main character uses genuine emotions she’s had from when she personally went through these stages and how she coped through it to portray her part in the film. This relates to real life events and issues for many teens and represents the social issues that people go through with relationships and heartbreaks. Since teens are misguided in the world of relationships due to the media world, my short film opens the doors to the reality of heartbreak.

The elements of my production work together to create a sense of “branding” by conveying a message that the five stages of heartbreak are more common than seemed to be and that it is okay to be going through them. I wanted to make it known that it can be difficult, but that the audience can get through it if they have the same situation. The camera angles were picked to capture the emotions. For example, we use eye leveled close ups to capture more facial features that emphasize the feeling. The mis-en-scene was picked carefully to help the audience connect with the characters more. I used props that are daily items like blankets to show them as items that give comfort. The main character walks around her house with a blanket when she felt most comfort. The products’ sound and editing even took part in branding my product because I made sure the characters’ tone and music used for the background will match to the feeling and impact it should give on the audience. I picked a song that is well known for creating a relatable feeling when describing the obstacles that the singer passing during their life. This not only engages with the audience because of how popular the song is, but also emotionally. This sets the tone for the approach I will take with the other elements. The elements in production were a large factor in creating a sense of branding which helped the film become better.

With the product I have created, it engages with the audience on an emotional level. It is very common in teens to go through a relationship and for it to end in heartbreak. Some can be longer and some can be shorter, however, the outcome becomes the more difficult part that isn’t shown in the media world. With my product, I have allowed audiences to view the hardships and aftermath of a heartbreak on a screen which isn’t often shown today in the world of film. Since this isn’t common to find on television screens or even in theaters, it will grasp the audience’s attention and witness events that may feel very familiar to themselves. This product will allow audiences to understand that they aren’t alone in undergoing these difficult times. For instance, my product goes through the five stages of heartbreak which is more common in life than seemed to be. My group and I cover denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance within our short film and show the emotion that comes with these stages. For many teens, the more noticeable stages are denial and depression after heartbreak. Many struggle to believe and/or doubt they will make it to the acceptance stage. However, everyone can reach acceptance, but this can differ to people and their situations since everyone will be different. My product will be interpreted in many ways based on who is watching, but hope it will impactful and encourage others to fight if in a similar situation.

The research I found informed me on my products by understanding how to engage with the audience more. It taught me how to grow a deeper connection with viewers and how not to approach the short film. This meaning that I had to use genuine emotions and not exaggerate the feelings or actions taken by the actors. For example, in the media world, some directors choose to include scenes that may seem unrealistic compared to the real world. This causes a disconnect to the audience. In addition, we noticed that the stereotypical storyline within films are the “happy ever after” ending with their significant other and/or the sad breakup that leads to the main character finding another better person. With my product, I wanted to take a different approach and challenge conventions by showing the process of heartbreak that films do not normally show. My product is different because it will not be the stereotypical film and show the difficult side to heartbreaks. However, this will allow the audience to engage and connect more to the short film. Teens can learn different ways to cope or even that it is okay to be going through these difficult times from my product. We wanted to send a message that it is okay for it to take longer than others and that it can be more difficult for some than others. With that being said, we challenged the stereotype by not showing the happily ever after, but to also send a message.

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cj9GbcUj1wzfj_HnN4OeKFdiexcqiiPX5pfrMOawS1o/edit?usp=sharing