Critical Reflection

 Here is my critical reflection.

Q1 - How do your products represent social groups or issues?

Q2 - How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of 'branding'? 

Q3 - How do your products engage with the audience? 

Q4 - How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions? 

We were asked to create a crime documentary opening, so after research and discussion, my group chose to do a murder crime documentary. The concept is about unhealthy teenage relationships, involving obsession, substance abuse and mental illness. The name of our project is "Sweet Poison: A love that kills". Our demographic is teenagers, adults (16+) and it's for all genders.

When creating our documentary opening, we strived to have originality in it, but we also wanted to include some recognizable aspects of other popular existing crime documentaries. Throughout our footage, we stuck to the same aesthetic that reinforces the genre. Some examples are the muted color palette and the use of grainy textures, contributing to the tone of many known documentaries on Netflix. The way we edited our thumbnail, a coffee mug set against dark lighting, as well as pills scattered beside it (Fig 1), introduces the audience to the threat that will occur and gives them an idea of what kind of dark exploration they will see. The title "Sweet Poison: A love that kills" is a direct link to the documentary's core message. We used a font that shows sophistication, so it later on subverts to show that there is something more disturbing beneath the surface. Through conventions like these, everything we chose is representing something and has meaning, which links to Stuart Hall's representation theory. This creates a cohesive brand for our film.

Fig 1

Analyzing various crime documentaries on Netflix such as; "Worst roommate ever", "What Jennifer did", "American nightmare" and "The deadly American marriage" helped me drastically in understanding genre techniques. It taught me how different conventions can work together to guide the audience to what you're trying to get them to understand. Unsettling non diegetic sound, grainy effects, investigative narration, etc. Including these in our documentary ensured recognition from our audience. How we differentiated ourselves from typical documentaries was by slightly changing our demographic. It's common to see toxic relationships and medical coercion with adults,  but what you don't expect is it happening in a teenage relationship. This makes the film unexpected and gives it many opportunities to show our message, which is to trust your gut and remember that danger can hide in plain sight. 

The editing of our documentary is a mix between traditional crime conventions, as well as modern digital culture. We tried to create a story that audiences could find different readings to, tying into Stuart Halls reception theory, that meaning is interpreted by the audience depending on different factors, such as background, experience, etc. Some may focus on the toxicity of the couples love, while others may focus on the depth of the characters. Since we have a younger demographic, we tried to incorporate Gen-Z elements. The use of the suspects Instagram account being shown, the victims friends dialog including slang words, and of course, teenage actors. This makes it engaging for our audience. Correlated to the Blumler and Katz, uses and gratification theory, the documentary caters to all of the audiences needs. Personal identity (relating it to their own lives), surveillance (teaches them about real life dangers), social interaction (discussing about control and obsession) and diversion (entertainment). 

Toxic relationships, specifically coercion, obsession and control disguised as love is the focus of our documentary. Instead of portraying our main character, Ava, as a villain, we show her as a very layered and complex person. There are images shown of her smiling, as well as what seems to be the fun and innocent life she lives. This being shown as well as images of her mugshot, and footage of her being aggressive will create a bigger sense of confusion and shock for the audience. This documentary addresses how toxic behavior can go unnoticed as it has been normalized in todays culture. Ava's role is to show our audience that the line between charm and control can be blurred and she's not just a stereotype, but a representation of how the media can shape ideas about relationships. Gender narratives were an important topic during discussions, because we often see the males committing a crime in most documentaries, but to subvert that traditional expectation, the woman is the one exerting control.