Critical Reflection

This is my critical reflection for my documentary term 1 project

 CR 1 - How do your products represent social groups or issues?

CR 2 - How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?

CR 3 - How do your products engage with the audience?

CR 4 - How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

Our film Sweet Poison: A Love that Kills is about how a teenage relationship can turn toxic. It follows Ava a girl whose jealousy starts small but then gets scary. We gave her a tidy social media page and a nice style so she seems normal at first and that makes it more shocking when her dark side shows. We also picked a coffee mug as the weapon because it’s something people see every day and dont think is dangerous. Stuart Hall’s representation theory works here because people can see Ava different ways. Some see a warning, some feel sorry for her, some think it goes too far. The title also connotates a Shakespearean tragedy of some sort. As if it is a theatrical murder act.

We wanted the whole thing to look like it belongs together so we planned a clear style. The colours stay dark and a bit dull, we added soft grain on the video. There is a burnt looking transition that shows hidden danger and links each scene. The poster shows the same coffee mug as the opening shot, it acts like a small logo. These choices help it look like a true crime show you might see on Netflix but it still feels like our own work.

To keep people watching we mixed normal documentary style with stuff younger viewers know. We used slow cuts and a detective style voice and creepy music but we also made a fake Instagram page, used teen actors and some slang. Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications theory explains why this works, people watch to get info about risks, for fun, to think about their own relationships or to talk with friends. Gerbner’s cultivation theory also fits cause using crime features tells the audience what kind of story it is.

Research helped a lot before we filmed. I watched Lover Stalker Killer and American Murder: The Family Next Door with my group and took notes on narration, old clips and music. This gave me ideas for the detective voice and the creepy sound so viewers know it is a crime story. We also changed some things to make it ours. We used a young couple instead of adults and layered Ava’s lines instead of using one flat narrator. Turning a normal coffee cup into a deadly symbol gave a small twist. David Gauntlett’s theory of identity fits because Ava is not simple and viewers can decide what they think about her.

The film also shows how controlling behaviour can hide in plain sight. Ava’s Instagram bio hints at her need for control and her perfect posts make it seem normal. This shows how toxic behaviour can blend in with online life. By making Ava the one who plans the harm we show that obsession and control can come from anyone not just men. Different viewers will react different. Some will see it as a clear warning about toxic love, others might think it is too much or not real. Some might feel both.

Overall the film uses dark visuals, sound and small details to tell a story that feels familiar but still a bit different. Our research, the way we kept the brand across the poster and film and the changes we made to normal crime rules all help it talk to a young audience while still fitting the crime documentary type.