Film Studies Evaluation

For our film studies unit, we studied three theories (Freud, Lacan and Mulvey) and how they applied to film making. After we analysed films with regards to these theories, we had to create our own piece using one of them. Me and Lewis decided to making a short film focused on Lacan's 'Lack' theory, which is based on the idea that we always lack something in our life, and this lack is what drives us to achieve more and better ourselves. However, we chose to focus more on a negative side of the theory, showing a young girl's obsession with social media and The Kardashians due to her lacking that life style.

We shot in a few locations including: classrooms and study centre in college, streets in Nuneaton and a shopping centre. We chose these locations because we wanted to show the girl amidst other members of the general public to emphasise how obsessed she becomes with her phone and despite all these people being around her, she still is being absorbed by her desires. I chose to use music from the 'Gone Girl' soundtrack because the film is about the media and how it portrays people, which I thought linked well to how the Kardashians relate to the media. The music also gives off a feeling of eeriness and uncertainty, which i thought worked well because there's something unusual about people being consumed by updates on other people's lives.

There is a scene where the girl is in a pitch black room, only illuminated by her phone light and computer, which we originally chose to shoot because we thought it would make for an appealing set of shots, but we realised it also works in the context of the video as it can be seen as her social media being the only thing that matters to her, and the only thing providing her with any illumination on her life. The dark also works in the sense that she is surround by darkness, relating to her 'lack' of being happy and having the life that she is so obsessed and fascinated by.

There are elements of our video that could have gone better, one of which being that the narrative isn't as strong as we first intended. I think we achieved the feeling of obsession and desire very well but the original 'lack' isn't as clear. The film starts with her getting a notification and getting hooked on the Kardashian's social media, but it would have worked better with a few scenes that show her being unhappy which could lead to her resorting to obsessing over social media. Also, the ending could have been stronger. Due to a lack of a strong plan for the ending, the film comes to a climax with the protagonist revealing that she has gotten the same piercing as Kylie Jenner, after posting pictures of the family on her wall and going through photos of them on the internet. We intended for a more intense ending, but I think this one suffices and gets across the same message.

All in all, I think we did well to split our roles and create a piece that reflects the core components of the chosen study, with just a few minor elements of the video that could have been executed in a more clear manner that would convey the message better to an audience that is not initially aware of the theory.