The short film, Elle qui Pleure, strives to convey the themes of the importance of art, love, and self-acceptance through the use of an alternative storyline.
Elle qui Pleure is an experimental drama film that both abides by and breaks its genre conventions. The genre convention that is characteristic of drama films is how the plot of the narrative is driven by its characters, who they are and what they do. This is seen clearly within the short film as the narrative is guided by the main character's goal to comfort the weeping woman. The use of various close-ups and mid shots within the piece is yet another drama convention that the short film includes. In terms of it being an experimental film, the short does abide by the convention of having an alternative storyline, which is presented with the act of entering the painting.
However, due to time and technical constraints, Elle qui Pleure fails to include an alternative editing style that is commonly seen in experimental films. Though initially planning to edit the clips to have a more "painted" look, the decision to simply change the vibrance and saturation of the clips was made instead.
Elle qui Pleure also has the unique quality of breaking art conventions for the painting within the film. As the painting emulates the art style of the Italian Renaissance, the act of painting a portrait of a black woman within this style breaks the convention of only portraying white figures. Though it was not a primary goal during the casting process (as only talent and availability were considered) after casting an Afro Latina woman as the lead for the film it became a priority to research and reflect on how this decision impacts representation within the media. When researching paintings of the Italian renaissance and similar art movements such as A Weeping Woman, Josefa de Obidos, and Cheers, there was only one painting portraying a black woman by an unknown artist found. By not only casting an Afro-Latina woman as the lead but also painting her in an art style not commonly known to portray black portraits creates inclusivity and perception for viewers, particularly afro-latine viewers, watching, letting them know that they too are pieces of art. This inclusivity ultimately successfully aids in the message that the film strives to convey, self-acceptance.
The Afro-Latine representation within the film also opens up the conventional drama target audience of white women to a black and Hispanic community. The target audience age for Elle qui Pleure is anything 20+. As the usual drama age range is over the thirties, the fact that this is a student film with a young leading actor draws in a younger crowd. A large portion of the target audience that the piece strives to connect with are artists and/or art appreciators themselves. This appeals greatly to the queer community as art and the creative world play a large role in queer culture. The theme which the film strives to convey of self-acceptance, like for the black community, also appeals to the lgbtq+ community, making it more inclined for this audience to watch.
The artistic target audience can further be reached through the artistic brand all three components plus the blog strives to achieve. Within the Instagram, images of the painting process are displayed as behind the scenes photos that have a clear physique as each post includes the same natural colour scheme consisting of primarily browns and greens. The postcard includes a vital scene from the film where the main character stands in front of the painting and includes the brown factor in the colour scheme. As mentioned before, this art physique carries into the blog as well as the background image and the images on the columns are all art pieces with the natural colours stated before. Because of the art theme that my films brand is trying to convey, all three components plus the honorary blog component include elements of design. This is primarily seen through the advertising posts on Instagram, the back of the postcard, and the layouts of the posts within the blog.
One issue however that the social media and the postcard component fail to convey is the theme of self-acceptance. Nowhere within these components is mentioned that the major aspect of the film is how the main character encounters herself and comforts her, ultimately being a metaphor for self-acceptance. This message is very important as it appeals to the majority of the audience but because the Instagram and the postcard fail to include this aspect, the film risks not reaching all of the audience it potentially could of. A good way to fix this could have been to include within the description included on the Instagram as well as the postcard that the film is "an ode to self-acceptance".
Nevertheless, the audience that the Instagram and the postcard do reach have many ways to interact with the film. Within the postcard itself, there are two QR codes that viewers can scan to access the social media as well as the film on youtube. The Instagram account also hosted interactive posts such as a competition granting two free tickets to watch the film live and providing a place for viewers to comment and submit their honest opinions of the film within a story post.
It is important to note that a lot of research was actually put into learning what would be the best path to take within social media and the postcard. By researching other short films on social media platforms such as CODA's laid back Instagram vs The Long Goodbye's more publicized posts it was easier to decide which approach would be best for Elle qui Pleure, ultimately deciding on a more casual, behind the scenes account that would slowly venture into a more advertising account. By researching other film bloggers who talk about the importance of postcards, such as a man by the name of Mark Stolaroff who designed a diagram titled "Anatomy of a Postcard"m ensured that the postcard for Elle qui Pleure would include all of the necessary information a real postcard would such as contact information, a description, and most importantly, a compelling and captivating front image.
Though I could've utilized more time to fully communicate the ideas I had in mind, at the end of the day, I am proud of the work I made. Despite the fact that I could've spent more time organizing and shooting the shots for the film, and I could have definitely managed my time more wisely, the end product accomplished what I had set out to do. All three components contributed to the creation of a brand (although it could be more developed) and the film itself conveys the theme I had been trying to convey since the beginning, self-acceptance.
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