Evaluation of coursework movie: Part 5) Representing- Constructing 'the real'

I think our media product 'Sorrowful Footsteps' represents siblings and best friends or groups of friends that a very close. It displays after the title, a brother and sister walking and talking to each other and then hugging as they say goodbye and then head off in different directions. This shows that anytime could be the last time you say goodbye to them as anything could happen to them.

In our movie we represented a close pair of siblings walking together through a forest after not seeing each other for some time. We also represented a killer/psychopath on the loose in an isolated forest where it is easy to get lost. The ideas we wanted to show was the fear of being followed by someone unknown for some unknown reason. Or perhaps the fact that you don't know that you are being followed/watched but have a sense of something not right.

In our two minute opening we did not include text of people starring in the movie itself as we wanted the movie to start with a big an powerful opening. When there is a contrast of calmness brought back to the audience, then they are more interested in the text and who is involved in the movie.

The form of 'realism' that we have constructed was the fact that in real life there are real psychopaths who will kill no matter what the consequence. We wanted to show this in our media project because it keeps the audience terrified and makes them imagine what they would do if faced in the same situation. This helps the audience to get into the movie alot more as it puts their fear into the movie.

What role do the mise en scene, acting, dialogue, music and style of camera work play in the construction of verisimilitude?

• The mise en scene in our movie adds to the contstruction of verisimilitude (the 'macro' level of the textual world) as it is mostly realistic. The surroundings of the set were all natrual forest and this is what added to the realism.


• There was not very much acting done in this movie because we tried to make it as realistic as we could. The lack of acting helped the versimilitude as it could keep the audience involved and makes it seem like real life.


• There was also lack of dialogue meaning that it helped to add to the tension as you do not hear anyone's voice until the victim screams. This also plays in the construction of verisimilitude as it makes the realsim stronger for the audience as they want to be held in suspense


• The music in our movie made it very unrealistic as in real life you do not have tension music building up in realistic psychopath situations. So the verisimilitude was very un realistic as there is not music in real life.

• The style of the camera work made it realistic in the fact that it was sometimes a first person point of view as if it was the psychopath looking at the victim or/and her brother. However the unrealistic style of the camera work was the close up and longs shots of the victim before she is killed as we don't always know when it may be someone looking at her in a first person point of view. But all in all I think that the style of the camera work played well in the construction of verisimilitude.