CR for Dear Mother

  

How do your products represent social groups or 
issues? 

The film Dear Mother represents a common social issue that occurs in households. The social issue is verbal abuse. More specifically verbal abuse by a parent to their child. Most parents do not realize or notice that the words they are saying to their child is abuse. Verbal abuse is not taken as seriously as physical abuse since you cannot physically see the damage it is doing. However, verbal abuse does do some mental damage. The damage caused by it, can actually last longer than physical scars. This social issue is very common in black households because it is categorized as tough love but it is not in fact that. This social issue has been going on for years because not a lot of awareness is brought to it. Nowadays, this social issue is worse because social media. Some parents even take it to the extreme and verbal abuse their own child on the internet. The film showcases how much words hurt and can bring so much pain hearing it come from a parent.  Also, it shows how it can lead to other issues like depression, suicidal thoughts, etc. The social group that is represented is teenagers. The teenage stage of a person’s life is most crucial because it is the foundation of that person’s adulthood. Teenagers are very fragile because of the adjusting from going to childhood to adulthood. Adding a verbal abusive parent to the mix can destroy a teenager confidence and ability to prosper in their life. Verbal abuse just leads to many different bad outcomes for bother the victim and abuser.

 

How do the elements of your production work 
together to create a sense of ‘branding’? 

The brand identity of the short film is created throughout all the pieces of media created like social media accounts, a website, and a postcard. The research of films led to the production of mine. In order to make the brand identity of the short film called Dear mother noticeable, I kept the same light color scheme throughout my production. The color scheme of my website is light and bright vibrant colors. The images I used for the website are also in color, sticking to the theme this reinforces and creates branding of the short film. Then, the postcard has the same color scheme. It includes a light pink color, colored pictures, and simple sentences. To make sure the brand is noticeable in the social media accounts, I used the same color scheme. The most common colors used are white and light pink. Which are, the same colors that feature on the postcard. I also used the same font on my postcard, that I used on the website. To make sure the short film stands out on the postcard and the audience knows it’s Dear Mother, I used a zoomed image of a mother and daughter. This way it makes it the first thing people notice on the postcard. Similarly, to the website and postcard, used the same color scheme for the social medias. I decided to make the short film full of color and not black and white. This way it gave the events happening in the short film noticeable and a consistent brand. As all the production work consists of light and calm colors, the audience will relate to the social issue showed in the short film. This creates brand identity for Dear Mother and encourage people to watch it. The color scheme is the most obvious and main factor that creates a sense of branding for the film. Also, the name of the film creates a sense of branding. The film which is named Dear Mother goes along with the running theme of light colors. This is because usually that is the type of colors related to a mother and daughter relationship. Light pink usually is associated with the female gender. Also, that color can represent the characteristics of a loving and caring mother.

 

How do your products engage with the audience? 

The film is an attention grabber throughout the whole film. It feels like if you miss one part then you do not understand why that happened next in the film. The film contains a lot of the drama genre elements. Having dramatic music and enhanced sound keeps the suspense which engages the audience. People that have short attention spans will refocus their attention on the film because of the events occurring like a teenage daughter running away from home. Also, the social issue that is being shown in the film will increase the audience to watch the film fully. Verbal abuse is a serious issue and people know that so they will respectfully watch the film. To grasp the audience attention in the middle there is yelling going on even some whining that leads to a cry. This will play on the emotional aspect and pull on the audience heart strings so they will stay interested. Moreover, the plot of the film and the solutions to the conflict in the film being unpredictable draws the audience attention by it being unexpected. The props also play a part because of the dramatics it adds to the scenes of the short film. The short film overall is just a very interesting topic which means engagement of the audience is sort of a guaranteed type of thing.

 

How did your research inform your products and 
the way they use or challenge conventions?

 

My research informed me about the elements of a short film. Then, researched the elements of the drama and action genre of films. In order to understand the different elements needed for these types of genres I conducted research on existing drama films and action films which was then interpreted into my own work. Using the drama and action elements crying, yelling, and loud noises were added to the short film. The enhancement of sounds like doors shutting and footsteps adds to the dramatic genre. Also, zoom angles are included in the film to capture the emotions closely.