Institution Conventions: Independent

Film Jone Aboitiz

Makes you think and Ask Questions

• This is a convention that we were able to follow through the dialogue of the voice of god. This is because both of her voice overs end with a question: are we truly happy and what is happiness, I don’t know you tell me. This would lead the audience to really think about their own happiness and if they have achieved it. Starting and ending with a question would make the audience constantly think about what they are being told in the documentary and then later on how it will help them chase their own perception of happiness.

Associated with critical success rather than

commercial • This is a convention that we were

able to follow due to the fact that our documentary will be shown in film festivals which focuses on the critical aspect of our documentary. This is because film festivals would be the test to whether our documentary will be able to gain future success. Film festivals are full of critics so our documentary being shown in these exhibition outlets first will determine whether or not it will be critically successful. If it gets good reviews, then there will be more of a chance in further exhibition, as well as the distributors being present in the film festivals wanting to invest in our documentary and continue its exhibition.

Lower production values

• This is a convention that we broke due to the locations featured in our documentary. This is because it is very expensive to travel to America, so the fact that parts of New York and LA are seen in our documentary would definitely mean that we did not have a low budget and would make our documentary have a higher production value.

Rarely shown at multiplex cinemas

• This is a convention that we were able to follow due to the fact that on our poster and radio advert we clearly state that it will be shown in the different film festivals (BFI Film Festival) and independent cinemas rather than multiplex cinemas. This is due to the fact that we do have a limited budget and would not be able to secure conglomerate distributors who would be able to help distribute our production to multiplex cinemas.

Niche, older, more educated audience

• I believe that this a convention that we ended up breaking instead of following. This is due to the fact that our primary audience are young and successful individuals who are around 21-30 and trying to achieve what they perceive happiness to be. Since they are quite young, they would not have as much experience and knowledge as someone who was older. The fact that we feature places in America makes our documentary have an American appeal and lead to a wider audience, hence the Sundance film festival exhibition.

Intend to challenge, provoke, inform and

educate• This is a convention that

we were able to follow due to the fact that our documentary is all about educating the audience on the subject of happiness and informing them that everyone in this world can achieve happiness but it is up to them to determine what makes them truly happy.

On location shooting • This is a convention that

we were able to follow due to the fact that all locations present in the documentary were actually filmed in that location and not on a set. This was done to create realism and to have actuality footage which are all conventions of a documentary.

Exploration of narrative themes,

open ended• This is a convention that we

were able to follow as our documentary was left open ended. This is because we end with a question that the audience would be drawn to think about and a definition of happiness that can mean differently to each individual person. Our documentary explores the subject of happiness but in a way where the audience are still left thinking on their chase to happiness and what happiness means to them.