Reflections on Practical: TV Drama Still

My drama still

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

Before the shoot, I drew a rough picture of what my shot would contain:  the actors and any props. I also thought about what type of shot my still would be and which would be most effective i.e CU or MCU. I made a list of props that i would borrow from the media department.

Storyboard for my shot (3)

2. Analyse your chosen shot and identify in what ways it could be described as signifying your chosen TV drama genre/subgenre.
My chosen subgenre was thriller and i chose to signify this by the dark lighting and mysterious, cloaked figure. The hidden eyes and lowered face connote a threatening image and creates unease for the audience. The MCU of my character shows the emotion, but also shows enough of the figure in the background. This allows the audience to feel what the protagonist is feeling: they feel tense and scared. The hand placed on the protagonist's shoulder strengthens the audience's fear as it creates a dangerous element.

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 the audience to feel tense as they try to anticipate what was going to happen next. The lack of information of the story creates enigma for the audience as they don't know what's going to happen next. The MCU prohibits the audience to see the setting, but can infer that its happening at night, maybe in a dark alleyway. They are also left to question why the protagonist is being approached by such a dodgy figure. The puzzled and frightened facial expression of the proatgonist builds tension and suspense. The use of two characters in the shot suggests the relationship between the two and hints to the audience whether there will be drama/conflict; in this case, yes.

4. Identify what is successful about your shot.
I captured Raph's fear from having a mysterious hand on his shoulder, and I'm happy about the angle of the shot, as the audience is unable to see Lucas' eyes - which was my intention.

5. What would you do differently if you were to repeat this activity?
I would plan the location of my shot before the day of shooting, as i could've had more time to focus on the details of my shot, rather than work out where I'm going to shoot it.