CR

 • How do your products represent social groups or issues?

Our video portrays a large issue connected to sports. The issue of how injuries in sports can cause mental illnesses. A serious injury or chronic illness can cause mental health problems including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Our film displays a scenario where a top-tier athlete deals with a sufficient injury and deals with issues that come from it. As it was shown at the start of the film the athlete is extremely happy at the peak of his career and couldn't be more excited about making it to the playoffs. As the film proceeds and he is injured during training his feelings are turned. He now goes through the post-depression on how he let his team and city down. He feels everyone is against him and he doesn't want to be recognized on the streets. The athlete's entire self-confidence has vanished and he now goes on a spiral down with the next scenes showing him sitting around watching his old highlights feeling sorry for himself. It shows he's starting to let himself go by eating junk food repeatedly and letting his body go to waste. The film also displays a breaking point in the athlete's life when he is prescribed to journal or write down his thoughts and he just can't. He sits there and repeatedly tries but after so many attempts he loses his control and the emotions of stress and anxiety turn into anger. He shoves what's next to him off the desk and stands around in disappointment and anger. He then sits around thinking about how his injury completely derailed his life. It shows how an injury in sports can completely ruin the mental health of an athlete.

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

The main elements used together are the types of scenes along to combined with the acting and music played along with it. To fit the mood or theme we need the correct music to set the vibe. I believe without music it will just make the film awkward and lack the emotion that is needed. Music in the film serves several functions. Among them, it helps shape emotional responses, creates a rhythm to scenes and segments, and comments on the action. Music is often crucial to the experience of a scene and, in some cases, becomes as iconic as the movies themselves. That is the sole reason why at the beginning of the film we show the training of the athlete tired with inspiring music to increase the energy and get the audience excited. Also, we use angles to show that the athlete is big, strong, and fast doing lots of heavyweight and running exercises to the inspiring music. Also, it ties into the end of the film where we recreate the same shot but with the athlete returning from injury. It shows the athlete doing big-time lifts to inspiring music as he's coming back from injury. The music fits perfectly because it helps us create a sense that the athlete has finally overcome the injury and he is back at what he once started.

• How do your products engage with the audience?

Our products engage with the audience by targeting certain emotional connections. One of our main goals was to connect with our fellow audience to add another purpose to our film. The route we choose was ethos and pathos. We choose ethos to connect with the audience through similar experiences and statuses. What we mean by this is we wanted to target fellow athletes that understand what it's like through an injury. This way they can experience the film on a personal level and it will mean so much more to them. Also, we choose to use pathos to connect with the audience that doesn't happen to be a former athlete. We couldn't just level half the people watching with no purpose so we used the drama aspect in the film to our advantage. We wanted the audience to feel passion, anxious, motivation, frustration, depression, and so much more. Engaging with the audience is big for a multitude of reasons first it creates a positive experience for the audience which will bring us better reviews. It increases knowledge retention which will allow the audience to remember the film as it had a lasting impact on them. Another importance of including your audience in a film is that we receive more feedback from people who watched the film. They tell us the negatives and the positives so we understand what to improve for future films.

• How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?

Research definitely helped inform us about the process of challenging conventions. We really focused on this part of the film. The film is based on an athlete that suffers an injury and battles the issues that come afterward. It is so important that we understand how the feelings or emotions come to the person or how they work. This way we have an accurate interpretation of what we are trying to replicate. We did multiple types of research mostly online internet searches but also personal interviews. Our biggest source of information was the internet and researching how injuries in sports can impact the mental health of a person's