Portfolio Project 2021:CCR

Hello! Here is my CCR for my project The Art Of Manipulation. Enjoy!

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION :

The film, The Art of Manipulation, is a piece that strives to convey the complexities of women, particularly those who weaponize their femininity and sensuality to obtain whatever it is that they desire. Women that live this lifestyle are either admired or ridiculed for their actions. The film explores this grey area as the lines between right and wrong regarding this topic are blurred at times.

Since this film utilizes the femme fatale trope and is a crime comedy, films like The Hustle, Ocean’s 8, Gilda, How To Marry a Millionaire, and Heartbreakers were researched and deeply analyzed to gain further insight into the trope, the utilization of genre conventions, and the artistic direction taken for each production. 

In the researched movie posters the women were the focus of the poster, they all wore gowns or revealing clothing and they were all standing. The Art of Manipulation’s movie poster possesses an intimate atmosphere as both subjects on the poster are laying down close in proximity and the camera is positioned in a way that allows the viewer to feel closer to the characters.  Having the characters lay down as opposed to standing up was meant to portray their social status and wealth. Laying in money and expensive jewelry depicts the success of Azlynn taking money from men and representing the upper class.

One convention of the crime genre is the usage of low-key lighting and shadows. In The Art of Manipulation’s movie poster, a neutral background was used since the films that were researched utilized solid colored backgrounds like white, black, gold, etc. This was done to create a contrast between the dark satin sheet and the sparkly gowns worn. The picture for the movie poster was taken outside during the daytime to capture the natural sunlight. It was decided to go against the genre convention regarding lighting because of the nature of the film. The film is discussing a dark topic because it is a crime film but the use of comedy is meant to lighten the discussion. The use of high key/ natural lighting is continued on the social media page and the trailers as low key lighting was not used at all in the shots and shadows were not incorporated into the project overall. This again was done to maintain the light-hearted comedic aspect of the film as well as the visual aesthetic of the film throughout all of the mediums used to promote the production.

The target audience of my film is females between the ages of 15 and 35. Due to the actions and topics discussed in crime productions, the audience has to be mature enough to handle the content presented. The rating of my film is also PG-13 but the recommended age for the youngest age of our target audience is 15 years old. Keeping the target audience at the forefront of my mind helped me create relevant content to post on Instagram. Since the film is geared towards women in Gen Z, Millennials, and those a little older than millennials, all of the social media posts had to be cohesive in telling a story but also engaging the audience. 

One way to improve the sense of cohesive branding within my production would have been utilizing the red and black color combination frequently. I used these colors in the fonts and in a few of the outfits that Azlynn wore in the trailers but that was not enough to make the viewer automatically associate red and black with the film. Having a definitive color scheme and sticking with it would have definitely helped create a stronger sense of branding.

Video teasers were posted because they’re short, effective, and get the point across to the audience. With a wide range of ages present within the target audience, there had to be a balance between what would capture and maintain the attention of Gen Z and what Millennials and older viewers find interesting and not too childish. Finding this balance was a struggle initially, but researching The Hustle’s Instagram page helped with conceptualizing the posts and captions for The Art of Manipulation’s Instagram page. The captions on the production’s posts incorporated funny and relatable captions, the film’s digital release date, and the film’s hashtag. I incorporated all of these marketing strategies into my posts to ensure that the audience was captivated and engaged whenever they interacted with a post related to the film.

Female viewers can appreciate this film because it symbolizes taking back one’s power and owning that power. The body positivity movement, the women’s rights movement, the abortion debate, and the push for legal rights for sex workers are all centered around the control of women and their bodies. It could be argued that a topic like the one discussed in this film is not empowering because it’s focusing on women who manipulate men out of their money but there’s more to this narrative. Azlynn embodying the femme fatale trope and using her femininity and charm to provide for her and her sister makes it challenging to classify her as the bad guy. 

Her behavior is not being condoned or commended but in a fictional narrative, especially during the current political climate, it can be healing. Both male and female viewers can feel empowered after watching this film. The most notable aspect of this film is the level of relatability it possesses. Male viewers that belong to a lower socioeconomic status can feel empowered as the message is about obtaining wealth by taking it from the rich, like the plot of Robin Hood. Female viewers can feel empowered by this film because it’s focusing on women uniting to accomplish a goal.

The first group being represented is women.  In the films that I have researched throughout this entire project, most of them have 2 female lead characters. That's powerful in terms of female empowerment because it's demonstrating unity amongst women. Crime films are often male-dominated but there are no men physically seen in my production which was done deliberately. Other groups represented in this production are African Americans, siblings (sisters), and the upper class. Positive representation of all of these groups was of the utmost importance for this production.

This project has been a whirlwind of emotions but it was an unforgettable experience and I’ve learned so much from this project about myself and media. There are many aspects of this film and project that I wish I could go back and improve. The quality of the content within my blogs, the editing of the trailers, the overall time dedicated to this project, and other things. The movie poster and Instagram page are the strongest aspects of this production, in my opinion, but more could’ve been done to strengthen the connection between those mediums and the trailers. There is always room for growth and improvement.