A Social Life -Tasha Reynolds

 A Social Life- Kerith Lemon Pictures- Published on Apr 12, 2016

Key Concepts discussed:

Media Language (Camera/Sound/Editing/MES)
Representation
Genre

This short film is constructed around the idea of how we present ourselves on social media; touching on areas such as our ideal persona and how others comments and opinions take part in building our self-esteem. The film is centred around a woman called Meredith who shows the audience the effects social media can have on an individual and their identity. Due to these factors that construct the storyline I think that the genre of this short film is Social Realism as the film focuses on real life issues everyday people suffer from. The sequence conveys a realistic representation of how girls such as Meredith can be affected by social media depression.

At the beginning of the extract viewers can see that Meredith has just woken up and is lying in bed looking at her phone of photos on social media. It is quite common for people to want to look at their phones in the morning as they may feel the need to check in with the digital world. However, the fact that the main protagonist is so eager to look at other people’s posts and photos suggests that she is very much engaged and enculturated by the social media world. The shot is constructed through a standard medium shot

with the main protagonist centred in the middle of the shot. As she is looking at her phone, post production editing is used to create an on screen scroll of images she is looking at on her phone. This use of editing lets us see through the eyes of the character as we can see what she is looking at.

The sequence continues to a shot of Meredith getting ready to go running; after she puts her running shoes on she feels the need to take a picture and let people know on social media that she is going running. This suggests to the viewers that she wants people to know that she cares about her fitness and wants to highlight the fact that she is being healthy. So far the only sound presented in the short film is the ambient background noises going on around her such as the birds tweeting; showing that it’s the morning, as well as the diegetic click of her phone as she unlocks/locks it and captures a photo.  This has the effect of maintaining the audiences focus and concentration on the action being used with this key prop; her phone. In this scene we are presented with a range of different shot types, such as this medium shot positioned to look from behind her; allowing us as spectators to consume all the factors within this shot. For example, the onscreen image of the post she has just made as well as her body language as she is positioned next to the photo. As we can only see her from behind this lets the audience look at this shot open for interpretation. For example, I think that the shot is constructed to be viewed in a way where we compare her actual self to the persona she has just posted. In the on screen image she is being perceived as motivated and athletic whereas through her body language she appears to be lacking in enthusiasm. This type of representation is supported with the next shot where she is absently looking at her phone as it shows the audience that although a person may seem the ideal individual, in reality they may be the complete opposite.

The extract is transitioned into another scene where Meredith is on the phone to her mum off-screen; as they are talking the camera cuts to a kitchen scene where the female character walks into the kitchen preparing dinner. The protagonist uses this excuse of just getting in from work and getting dinner ready to reject an invitation to go out. This portrayal of Meredith represents people who have the same problem as her to be anti-social and caught up in their own fictional world of social media.

Whilst talking on the phone still (now onscreen diegetic dialogue) her mum says “I feel like I saw you more when you lived in New York”. This comment suggests that the main character is a bit of a recluse. Additionally, the fact that she used to live in New York may be a reason why she likes to follow a structured routine and has become caught up in the social media world as a lot of New Yorkers who work in a professional environment are stereotyped to be living in a routinely based, 9 to 5 lifestyle. As the scene continues to play out Meredith positions the food she said she is supposedly going to use to make dinner and takes a photo of it; captioning it “Gettin’ Saucy!” the use of this play on words suggests that Meredith is trying to represent herself or her persona as light hearted and humorous when in reality she seems quite serious and boring.

This is then followed by her starting to prepare dinner, to which she abruptly stops and walks off screen to which we hear off screen diegetic noises of her rummaging through the fridge. This then followed with her walking back into the medium close up where she is now eating Chinese food out of a box. The events taken place in this scene suggest although her social media persona appears to be being lively and enthusiastic, the real Meredith isn’t. This particular moment is where we as observers start to see the untruthful and fake side to the things that she does. The division between the reality and the staged. Additionally, the irony which surrounds this moment is that whilst she is untruly committing her actions of eating dinner the staged capture of her fake dinner is being supported positivity; shown by the onscreen digital heart that is increasing in numbers.

As the short film progresses so does Meredith’s problem with social media; this is supported through the use of editing. A series of jump cuts are used to play out a chain of actions that the character routinely does each day, this is played out through the space of 4 seconds. The fast pace of these actions being completed signifies the fact that her problem is only getting worse. Therefore, the speed of editing is being presented as parallel with Meredith’s increasing issue.

Whilst the sequence advances so does the gap between true reality and staged reality. This is expressed through the rapid editing of the progression of each shot. For example, Meredith’s alarm and unlocking of the phone can be heard off screen before the shot has even cut to the scene where the sound is taking place. The camera then cuts straight to a close up of her holding her phone positioned to take a photo. Which is then followed with an onscreen image of her photo whilst on screen text is being typed out; “Breaking these bad boys in.” This caption obviously suggests that she intends to go running. However, this is contradicted by the floor level close up of her kicking the shoes off. Again, supporting the idea that her virtual persona is untrue and fake.

So far in this sequence there has been no background music played, however in this medium close up we are presented with the female protagonist sitting down at a table looking through her phone. As she does this a low base diegetic background music starts to play; the pace begins to fasten as the shot then cuts to an extreme close up of the characters eyes. Whilst analysing the composition of this shot it is clear to see that the reflection of her scrolling through her phone can be seen in the pupils of her eyes. As the reflection shows her scrolling through her phone, synchronously a fast repetitive sound can be heard for a few seconds. The impact of this sound effect in the music is parallel to the rapid pass that the character is scanning through images on social media. The repetitive music continues and increases in pitch and pace as the sequence continues. For instance, we are later presented with a side view of the character fixating on the post she has made; further showing the depth of how her social media persona is effecting her actual emotions. The constant low pitch beating of the music is symbolic to her train of thought.

This cycle is continued up to when a medium shot of the protagonist looking at her phone on the sofa fades to black, however when the shot reappears by fading in we are presented with the same shot size and angle but with a fast edited montage of different actions the character does. For instance, Meredith moves from lying down looking at her phone to attempting to do work on the laptop to back looking at her phone again. This montage of movements is like an attempt at fast forwarding what this character does during a long period of time. From this knowledge it is clear that she can’t concentrate on doing something long enough without being distracted by her phone. At one pointy in the edit we see her throw her phone across the sofa but then almost instantly she moves to get it again. This action suggests that she may be getting sick and tired of looking on social media but something is making her constantly go back to it.

 

While the background music still continues with a repetitive beat the scene cuts to a close up positioned slightly to the right of the character. In this shot the Meredith is shown putting on make-up; suggesting to viewers that she is getting ready to go out. The protagonist then turns to the side to take a photo of herself, although when she turns back at the mirror and looks at her reflection with a sad expression, this could still suggest that she is going out and is actually posting something truthful that she is experiencing. However, this is contradicted when we are shown a low angle medium shot of her laying on the sofa by herself. As the camera pans slightly to the right, an onscreen image of the photo reveals that she has captioned it as “Date night!!” revealing that she is again posting untruthful and staged statements about her life. At this moment in the film the music has slowed down to sad orchestral music that helps connote the mood and state of mind Meredith may be feeling at this point in time. A close up of her face suggests that she may even feel guilty for lying as she is receiving a lot of positive feedback from friends and people that have viewed her photo; shown on the onscreen text scroll below the image on screen. The scene ends by the shot fading to black whilst the music fades out.

 

We are then presented with an eye level close up of the female character waking up; notice how her dress code suggests that she is unmotivated as she has slept in the same clothes as she was wearing the night before. As soon as she wakes up she reaches for her phone to which we are shown on screen an image of her refreshing her phone looking for new notifications. The fact that she is so attached to her phone suggests that she relies of other people’s comments and feedbacks to make her feel good about herself and her way of life. When Meredith realises there’s no new notifications she feels the need to post another photo of herself; as she does this she faces the mirror to pose but we can see in a close up of her face that she looks in despair and desperate to satisfy her addiction. The shot then cuts to a medium close up from behind where she is standing where we can see that images appear on screen over where the mirror is placed. This is symbolic to the fact that the pictures of all the different things she’s posted of her doing are actually a representation of how she sees herself and the construction of her identity. This is further supports when a close up of the images in the mirror are not as noticeable as her reflection of her face is, being faded in through the images. Suggesting that she can no longer establish these images of herself from her true identity.

Meredith then drops the phone; connoting the possibility that she has had enough with the effect this addiction is having on her. As she drops the phone a diegetic sound effect such as a foley is used to enhance the phone being dropped onto the floor. From a close up of her legs at floor level you can see as Meredith starts to walk out of the frame. Whilst upbeat music begins to play contrasting with the music played earlier; symbolising a state of hope.

In the last shot; positioned at the top of the stairs Meredith walks in front and begins walking down the steps whilst the camera synchronously starts to tilt upwards above her at a higher angle. The camera then slowly zooms out as a sudden wave of light is let in as if Meredith has opened a door, the symbolism of the light could suggest a range of things such as the white light connoting a state of honesty and purity that she is now living her life by. Alternatively, when Meredith was looking at her reflection her facial expression did express a sense of self-loathing and helplessness suggesting that the white light connotes the afterlife such as Heaven, where she is now in a better place and state of mind.

Overall, the representation of social groups in this short film focuses on the aspect of gender as the film is centred on a young girl whose identity and self-worth is affected as she allows the addiction of social media to take over her daily life. I personally think that girls are more at risk of being affected by social media depression as girls statistically use social media more than boys to share and post things about their personal lives. This is proven in a statistic shown from 2014 that states that 76% of women use social media in comparison to 72% of men who use it as well. Women are also proven to use social media sites such as Snapchat and Instagram more than men. These particular social media sites are created around the basis of projecting your life and appearance for people to see; therefore having an impact on the way you see yourself as a lot of girls who use these sites are constantly comparing themselves to others, trying to improve their persona presented on social media. This is exactly what the character of Meredith does in this short film as she looks at what other people are doing and then tries to pretend through staged photos that her life is idealistic. The issue presented in this film is an example of Buckingham’s study of genre as one of his findings state that media products reveal the bad side to the world as this film so rightly does.