Conventions & Representation

For Conventions and Representation, I've recorded a timelapse of my handwritten answer. Below this is the transcribed manuscript in text form, for easier reading and understanding. The song in the background of the video is Alberto Balsalm by Aphex Twin.

"The genre we decided to follow for our film opening - a psychological thriller - proved to be an ambitious task to achieve. Typically, in films of this genre, elements such as mental illness, different realities and crime are touched upon - amongst similar components. The premise of our film, even before actually filming, respected this classic approach to the convention. Our main character, “Hunter”, struggles with attaining a certain level of reality and understanding of his surroundings. He is in a moment of panic, escaping from a supposed evil that is trying to catch up with him to inflict unknown damage.

Throughout the opening, the sporadic and quick paced cuts complement Hunter’s state of mind. In total, four locations are explored over the course of a minute and a half. This is a lot of information to delve and to take in, especially combined with the jarring, anxiety inducing sound overlayed over the footage. Generally, the normal structure for a narrative, in any convention, leads the viewer somewhat seamlessly from point A to point B. In Todorov’s narrative theory, there exists a certain equilibrium, or balance between this and disequilibrium, starting from a distinguishing element in the story, leading into a disruption, the acknowledgement of this disruption and finally returning to the original balanced base.

However, in Relocation, we begin almost immediately in a state of panic - only a couple short shots segmenting stillness - but even this is plagued by the loud noise in between footage. The audience is thrown directly into disequilibrium, constantly on edge throughout the shots until the end, which, admittedly, even then does not provide a complete return to stillness as was in the beginning, instead raising further questions.

This could be argued saying it then follows the typical convention held in psychological thrillers, but to a certain extent only. The representation of our main character is almost animalistic, contrasting his fear and desire to escape an invisible predator. His portrayal reflects a distinction reminiscent of your typical fight or flight response in the sense of danger - the viewer doesn’t see his face until the end, furthering a feeling that humanity isn’t quite touched yet. Hunter is deindividualized, dehumanized - although the natural setting of the forest and outdoors might typically be associated with peace and serenity, the feeling of being detached from society lingers amongst the situation.

Overall, Relocation is chaotic, instinctual and difficult to portray and to observe. For the genre we decided to cover, I would personally say that, even with some difficulties, setbacks and sacrifices, we managed a decent portrayal achieving said convention."