Reflections on Practical: TV Drama Stills

A sketch of my initial idea for the shot.

My final shot.

1.       Provide a brief summary of how you planned out your photography practical.

We planned out our photography practical by quickly drawing out the general idea of our shots, their compositions, framing and poses. It helped us stay organised as it helped illustrate to us which shots were easier to take in order for us to prioritise more time to the trickier shots.

2.       Analyse your chosen shot and identify in what ways it could be described as signifying your chosen TV Drama genre/subgenre.

My chosen TV Drama genre was horror and I tried to convey this in my shot in several ways. The first was by creating a frame in frame shot that is frequently used to show the victim in the drama hiding in a tight space from their hunter. The second was the dead, off-guard expression of V (the girl) which creates an off-putting atmosphere. The third was to go against audience expectations to create a sense of unfamiliarity which I tried to convey in the stark contrast in the white doors and the dark red room behind them.

3.       How did you intend the audience to interpret your still? What narrative moment were you attempting to create? What meanings were you attempting to communicate?

I wanted my audience to feel that something was not right when they saw my shot in order to create a sense of tension and enigma. For example, the extreme difference in lighting from the doors to the darkroom was meant to look unnatural and almost surrealist in order for the audience to have to look harder at the frame to see V (symbolically creating a sense of everything is not what it first appears to be) question aspects of the shot and such as ‘why is there a girl in a dark room?’ and ‘what is she doing in there?’ Additionally, the frame in the frame shot in a horror genre is usually to show the victim hiding, however, due to V’s blank face, we disassociate ourselves from her going against our expectations; we also question if we are meant to be her as the shot suggests that we are peeking into a room.

4.       Identify what is successful about your shot.

The contrast of colour in the shot is effective in making the audience lose their sense of bearings at first. The frame in a frame shot also helps to create an interesting and intriguing mise-en-sense that is aesthetically pleasing to look at. There is also a lack of detail which I intended to have in order to create an enigma.

5.       What would you do differently if you were to repeat this activity?

If I were to redo my shot, I would focus the camera more on V as the camera’s focus was more on the door which brought the attention away from her. I would also reduce the starkness of the doors and they are very overwhelming. Finally, I would increase the tilt in order to make it more obvious and impactful; it would also give a shot a very interesting composition.