this is something which I wanted not to end up doing as a result it meant that my idea would only consist of two narratives with two screens. I felt that if I kept my dual screen simple then the audience will be able to understand the movie better. Also within my research I watched Sliding Doors (1998) which allowed me to understand how mainstream romantic films are produced and directed. The director Peter Howitt had used many steady mid camera shots. This allowed the audience to see the whole frame and what mise-en-scene was involved. This is something which I found in my research which I would want to include as mid shots are simple to set up but can be very effective as it can bridge the gap between a long or wide shot and a close-up without the audience getting confused. The use of close ups of the characters in Sliding doors really allowed the audience to understand the expressions which the characters are feeling. In my film I have tried to use as many closes ups as I could to try and get across the different expressions on the actresses face. I used close ups to increase dramatic effect for the audience.
This is where I tried to develop the close up camera shot, as I had two screen side by side it meant that each shot would be smaller for the viewing audience. This meant that it would be harder for the audience to see the characters face which meant that the audience could find it hard to understand what emotions the character are going through. This is why when I filmed a close up on the characters face I would make sure I held the shot for a little bit longer so that audience are able to scan across both screens and take in what is happening before moving onto the next shot. In my product I use Todorov’s theory with it having equilibrium, disruption and the resolution of disruption. This theory can be seen throughout my film with it being used in both narratives. With this theory being used in many mainstream films it meant that the audience will expect certain things to happen. In Sliding Doors the girlfriend after all her trouble managed to find the boyfriend again and they lived happily ever after. That is a basic outline of the story. This is something which I didn’t want to do. I felt that if I made my story end happily every ever it will not be different even with the dual screens. I needed to create a storyline slightly different so it captures my audience imagination. This is why I challenged the convention of a romance genre. I wanted to have the audiences expectations challenged. In one narrative the boyfriend ends the relationship and the other narrative ends with the boyfriend getting run over. After showing my film to my target audience I got a comment “that was the last thing I was expecting to happen.”.This meant that the audience member was expecting something different to happen and she really had to think about how the narrative managed to get there. My narrative really needs an active audience so they can follow both narratives and understand the twist at the end. This is different than most romantic films as stereotypically all characters are happy at the end of the film.
When I was doing my research I only came across one film which uses the split screen effect more than once (Sliding Doors 1998), this was the mainstream film which really inspired me to run two narratives the whole time. I tried to follow as many conventions as I could with in my two narrative stories. Sliding Doors used a non linear timeline which saw the narrative use flash backs and the director puts different times of day together all mixed up. I wanted to try and stay away from flash backs as I felt that they would be very hard to create with the technology I had available ad would look very amateurish. Sliding Doors gave me the idea of my main character waking up late which meant that a series of events will happen after she wakes up. In Sliding Doors the main character is late for the train which means that a series of events happen in many different ways. I changed this idea so it was my own with the fact that I would have two videos running side by side with the same character in both narratives. When conducting my research I found that many different amateur films have used conventional shots for example in Bottom Draw
they have used standard camera shot, with lots of mid shots and long shots. After a while I found it a bit boring. This is why I have tried to use many different camera areas from mid angle shots to a tracking shot. I did this to try and develop the conventions of real media products. My favourite shot is the tracking shot through the trees this was done with me driving parallel to the pavement and filming out the car window. This shot is totally different and is used many times within mainstream romance films but when I was researching 5 minute amateur films it was not used at all.
If you watch the left screen this is the tracking shot. Another camera shot which is different is the shot out of the bread bin.
This allows a different dimension for the audience to see. One more camera shot which is different is the one out of the cupboard through the glass this distorts the camera focus which means when Laura pulls out the glass the camera focuses on her which is a really good effect. 
If I was going to produce this film and sell it to my target audience I would need funding by many different companies to be able to get the film started. This is why at the start of the film I used Virgin Media Shorts and Film4 films to fund my product. I put this into my product as it gives my final production a professional feel. I decided to go with Virgin Media Shorts as I felt it was a company which are very good at spotting good talent and specialise in 5 minute films As Film4 are very into their independent films and their target audience are of the same age as mine, I thought I would be appropriate for them to fund me. With Film4 being such a big sub company of Channel 4 it means that they will have big connections within the industry which could see higher production values. Binary opposition is constructed in both my narratives as in the left screen the main character wakes up on time and has plenty of time to get ready but on the other side she wakes up late which goes against each other. Binary opposition is constructed throughout my project with both narratives showing the audience how life can be different. I used Binary opposition to the extreme so that the audience can identify clearly that the character is the same person but is in a different situation. I decided to have to twist at the end so that the audience didn’t expect the expected. With the ending the Binary opposition is ended as both narratives end the same with the main character, sitting down and crying. 
The preferred reading of the text is that the audience should not take things for granted and you don’t know what life with throw at you round the corner so live life to the full. But the oppositional reading of the film could be that what ever you do something negative will happen to you which will affect your life for ever. These reading are along the same lines of the narratives with both of them relating to Binary Opposition.Final Film
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