Poster Reviews
1. Actor's name
2. Critical acclaim
3. Film information
4. Title (largest font on poster usually)
5. Main character
6. Billing block and Film sponsors/festival logos
7. Film release date
8. Key image (maybe a setting from the film)
- Narrative
- Representation
- Audience
- Genre
Short films that inspired me
- a touch of black
- Rush
- Not a seconds more
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1. Narrative
- Short films usually use standard narration (beginning, middle, end) because they're too shirt to use a complex narration, although some do. 'Not a second more' uses standard narration.
- It's about a guy who wants to enter a 90 second short film competition, and how decides what his short film should be about. As soon as he has an idea about what his film should be about, the film ends and we never know what that idea was.
- This screen shot is of the main character writing a script on his laptop. When we were shooting the email scene in our own short film, I used the script writing scene in this film as inspiration.
2. Characterization
- In all of the short films I watched you don't learn much about the character's background. Again this is because they aren't very long, which means there isn't time to learn much about characters.
- This is the same with our film, the audience learn little about any of our characters as there isn't time because our film has a fast paced and tense atmosphere to it.
The camera work in 'Not a second more' is fairly basic, but they use many techniques and shots...
- Long shots
- Medium shots
- Close-ups
- Extreme close-ups
- Tracking shots
- Depth of field
- In our film we tried to use all of these shots and techniques and succeeded.
- In 'A touch of black, there is non-dietetic and diegetic sound
- The main piece of sound is the non-diegetic voice over of the main character throughout the whole of the film
- The use of non-diegetic music puts more emphasis on the mood of the film
- The voice over gives the impression that the main character is talking to herself, or thinking aloud.
- We used non-diegetic music to add to the mood of our film and to increase the suspense.
- We used non-diegetic and diegetic sound effects to add emphasis to certain parts and to add related sounds. E,g the non-diegetic printer sound used in a title transition
- Setting - Car driving through an urban environment at night. The fact that it's at night adds to the mood of the film and helps transmit enigma. The deserted urban environment creates tension as it's very strange to see a deserted town/city.
- Costume - The woman is wearing an evening dress, a hat, high heels, and carrying a clutch. The dress reveals a lot of flesh. However she still hides her face with her hate which makes her seem very mysterious which against creates enigma. Her high heels complete the upper class look and also make her taller. This gives her power as she is tall making her seem like she has a high status.
- Lighting - Low key lighting is used. This creates a mysterious atmosphere. There is a low contrast level which makes her and her car fade into the city as if she's hiding. The low key lighting creates an enigmatic mood leaving the audience's imagination wondering what they can't see. Low key lighting is often used in thrillers, horrors, and mysteries.
- Colour - There is a lack of colour in this film as it's shot in black and white. This adds to the enigmatic atmosphere, as it leaves the audience guessing and wondering. It also makes the film seem very old. However the car and city are very modern, therefore this hints that the storyline of the film is rather old fashioned.
- Hair and Makeup - The woman is wearing a bold colour of lipstick which stands out from her face. This makes are seem rather alluring. Her hair is tied up in a smart way, but I can't see much of it due to her hat. By the hat hiding her hair it again sends out the message that this character is very secluded and mysterious.
- Body language - The body language of the woman is very confident. There is no hesitation in any of her actions or movements. Her body language is very smooth. She doesn't rush anything. This makes her seem calm, confident, and intimidating or threatening.
- Props - There are some very important props, such as the woman's gun, her car, and the cat. Obviously the gun has a vital role in the film. It sets the tone and narrative of the film. That one prop can raise the tension and enigma levels highly. It creates questions for the audience. Who, Why, When, Where? The woman also drives an expensive BMW which indicates she's of a high class status. We also see a black cat, which acts as a metaphor of the woman. She dresses in black, mysterious, and sneaks around. There's a saying 'it's bad luck to cross a black cat's path'. And it seems if you cross the woman's path, something bad will happen.
- Facial expressions - The woman's facial expressions aren't exaggerated. They are quite tame, she doesn't make many as we rarely see her face. This indicates that she is very calm. She does put a small smile which in the context of the film emits confidence and is also quite menacing.
- Position of subject in frame - The woman is never completely in the frame of shot. This creates enigma and a mysterious atmosphere around her. This gives the impression that there is something about her that the audience don't about.
- In this shot of 'A Touch Of Black' we see the car driving through an urban environment.
- The use of black and white can be a common trait in thrillers.
- The voice over that plays over the top of this clip is used to create tension. However voice overs are used in many different genres
- In this screen shot we see the woman stepping into out car.
- We decided to use a similar shot in our own film as it creates enigma die to the audience not being able to see much of the character.
- This film has themes of murder and mystery in it.
- It has the issue of a dominant female which if a modern concept in films.
- This is a screen shot of the title scene in 'Rush'.
- They have edited in the title scene in.
- It's simple, a black background and white title.
- We have taken inspiration from this title and used a similar one in our own film.
- It looks like there has been colour correction in this shot.
- Other than that I'm not sure much has been done to this shot.
- This film gave us the idea to use colour correction in our final piece as the mood and atmosphere can be heightened by the use of colour correction.
My Film Poster
Narrative
- We tried not to give too much of the narrative away as our film is all about suspense and tension.
- You can see grass in the background which suggests that this film's setting is a rural enviroment which it is mostly.
- The biker in our film is the main character, so we needed to make sure people know he is important. Therefore he is dressed in very identifiable clothing. People will easy know straight away that this film revolves around a biker.
- The package in our film is the most important thing in our film, so we needed to include it in the poster, however we needed to represent the mood and genre of our film, so we used a shot of the biker hiding the package representing enigma. We also placed the package in the middle of the poster showing it's important.
- The body language of the biker in our film is very mysterious and shifty so we wanted to represent that in our poster.
- In our poster only the male genre are represented as we only have the biker in the poster.
- As you can only see his torso, you can't tell what ages are being represented, only that he's an adult. We did this so more people will want to go and see the film.
- Our target audience is people aged 15 - 35 (older children to young adults)
- We wanted to try and represent everyone one in our target audience, so there is little identity which hopefully makes the poster appeal to children and adults
- The genre of our film is adventure and mystery. So we used a lack of colours to represent enigma.
- The use of black also shows the mood of our film. Serious, tense, and mysterious.
- The body language of the main character also indicates the genre of our film due to him hiding the package. This creates tension showing this film wont be a romance or comedy.
9 frame analysis of our film
All of the shots in our film have had colour correction used on them in Final Cut. We used it to give the shots a certain mood.
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1.
- This is the first shot in our film. We see 'Mr Y' typing of a computer. We used the email scene to display our opening credits. We used the font 'Couriel New' for our opening credits and title as it's standard font on most computers.
- We made to credits appear on screen as if they were being typed. This related to the email.
- we used low key lighting in this shot to create tension. We used a LED light on Mr Y's face to show his facial expression.
- The shot is a close-up. This allows us to see Mr Y's facial expression and set the mood for the film as he looks very serious.
- This is a shot of Mr Y's email he's writing
- No lighting was used as the screen was bright enough
- The enables the audience to see what the email is about, this opens up the narrative to the audience yet still leaves questions
- Number 3 is a screen shot of our title scene
- We used the same font (Couriel New) and text animation (typing) to make it seem like the title is being typed out like on a computer.
- We used Final Cut to create our titles
- We then use a wipe from bottom to top and a printer sound to again make it seem like a printer printing out some paper sticking with the computer relation
- For this shot of Mr Y driving, we used a GoPro to shoot it. This enabled us to use a camera angle that wouldn't have been possible if we didn't have a GoPro
- No Lighting was used on this shot
- This shot allows us the see the setting where Mr Y is driving and shows a lot of the dark grey sky. This creates a dark mood, this shows that this is not a happy and funny film. Therefore it creates tension within the audience.
- This is a shot of Mr Y walking to the meeting point where he meets Mr X.
- I wanted to use an extreme long shot to show that Mr Y was in the middle of nowhere with no one around. This creates tension and suspense.
- We also see a lot of the dark grey sky again. This was so I can use Pathetic Fallacy. The dark grey sky represents Mr Y's serious mood.
- No lighting was used in the shot.
- Mr Y is waiting for Mr X to arrive at the meeting point in this shot.
- It's an extreme close-up.
- This shot shows Mr Y's facial expression which sustains the tense mood.
- It's a contrasting camera shot from the extreme long shot. The contrasting shots stop the film from being boring.
- In this shot, we see a conversation between Mr Y and Mr X.
- We use the 360 degree rule
- This is an over the should shot which are very common when shooting 2 people having a conversation.
- It allows us to see the reaction of the person listening.
- The shot changes help build suspense and tension and create a fast pace.
- Here we see Mr X walking away from Mr Y.
- We used the tracking shot technique to follow Mr X.
- From shooting in front of him, we can see what Mr Y's doing.
- This shot makes the audience feel like they are there as it's been shot hand held and not with a steady cam.
- This is the last scene in our film where My X reveals what's in the package
- Again we used an over the shoulder technique to finally see Mr X's face, but we can still see his sister in the shot as well.
- This is one of, if not the most important shot as it's the conclusion to the film's questions
- Mr X's body language completely changes and is a contrast to his body language he showed throughout the whole of the film.
- We used low-key background lighting as the room was very dark.
Our Review
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| This is a review from a Little White Lies magazine. |
What are the conventions of a Little White Lies review
- There is a screen shot from the film being reviewed at the top of the page
- The title of the film is below the image. It's the biggest font on the page.
- Below the title are 3 subheadings in a smaller font: 'Released', 'Directed By', and 'Starring'
- The first letter of the first word will always be bigger than the rest of the review
- At the end of the review (in the bottom right corner) are 3 ratings out of 5: 'Anticipation', 'Enjoyment', and 'In Retrospect'
- The review is around 400 - 500 words long
- It talks about the background of the film
- The conclusion is spoken about but nothing if given away
- The review will use references to the film and other films
Transaction,
directed by HARISA CARJAM is a short film dedicated to uncertainty. Harrison
Blake appears in his second short film in the role of a furtive character, who
establishes the initial plot. James Ely bags his role, in his debut, as the
secretive focus of our attention who we follow throughout.
As
the film opens with gripping music, the audience is instantaneously aware that suspense
is key to the plot. The film uses a number of techniques which mask the
development of the story. Cunningly crafted with a simple yet effective plot,
restricted narrative in the form of red-herrings leads the audience astray and
creates enigma. Spanning only a day, this short film is not lacking action and
the intelligent use of the GoPro Hero 2 gives the audience an alternative
perspective.
No
surname, backstory, or real identification of who these characters are, leaves
the audience feeling perplexed but wanting to know more. The films assertion
that the package is on a dubious journey right up until the end, leaves the
audience feeling confident that they know how it will turn out. Some may have a
hunch the plot might twist, and rightfully so. The perfectly co-ordinated
meet-up, the suspenseful journey up to the secluded downs, the non-committal verbal
exchange and one character’s haste to leave with the package suggest it might
be an illegal object. As Mr X hastily exits on his motorbike, it carries
forward this idea. It becomes obvious there is a plot twist when a girl, identified
as his sister greets him happily at the door.
This anticipation is worth waiting for.
Cinematography
throughout this piece are high-quality and extremely imaginative. Shots on the
isolated Downs are beautifully crafted and give a sense of the lonely
environment in which this mysterious transaction takes place. A variety of
different angles gives us a sense of the power balance between the characters. The
colour correction used throughout gives the film an alternative aesthetic which
reinforces the feeling of ambiguity. Furthermore, the non-diegetic sound plays
a vital role in transfixing the viewer in to a state of suspense. The surging
crescendo in the emotive music contributes to the tension during Mr X’s
motorbike journey up to assignation point.
Blake
and Ely are both robust actors that help give the short film a more
professional feel, yet given it’s Ely’s first film it is a shame that we don’t
see more of his talent . The lack of dialogue throughout emphasises the
indefinite ending, but at parts is not enough. The archetypal costumes worn by
Mr X and Mr Y, suggest villainous character traits, and further develop the
theme of uncertainty. The black leathers Mr X wears give the illusion he is
secretive and poses the question that there may be trouble ahead. However by
the time we reach the end we feel slightly frustrated that there isn’t more of
a progression within the story.
The
film does a great job of deceiving the audience yet we never even get the
satisfaction of finding out what’s inside the package. Perhaps this film could have
thrown in some more thrilling elements and developed the ending into a more
conclusive result. Some may be disappointed with the anti-climaxed ending, but
the anticipation through-out keeps us on the edge on our seats.
- As you can see we places a screen shot from our film in the same place as the Little White Lies review.
- Every font is the same on our Review and the Little White Lies review
- We used a range of adjectives like Little White Lies
- As like Little White Lies, we spoke about the performance of the characters
- How well would the whole portfolio work in a real commercial context?
- Pieces look professional. E,g poster has authentic logos and review has authentic fonts and layout.
- It depends how we decide to use our ancillary tasks, as to how effective they are
- Target demographic - How we'd market the 2 ancillary tasks. E.g where we'd advertise our poster (outside short film venues, colleges, train stations, bus stops, social networking sites, short film festivals)
- Our little white lies review works as a commercial context as the reader demographic of little white lies is roughly the same as our film's target audience
- How we made our review look like a little white lies review, fonts, three collumns
- Why we chose the image we did in our review
- The review doesn't give too much away, like the ending which will entice readers to go and watch the film.
- How our poster advertises our film. E,g same font used in the film as on the poster. Colours on poster describe the tone of our film. People can can easily identify the character on the poster.
- Person is hiding what he has in his hand making people curious and wanting to find out what it is (entices them into watching the film).
- Easy to read, making it bold, people wont always have time to stop and look, so it has to be easy to read
- motorcyclist is displayed on poster and review showing his significance in the film
- Easily remembered character with enigma as we dont see his face.
- CONCLUSION - I think both the poster and review would be very effective commercial contexts.
3) What have you learned from your audience feedback
We identified our target audience as older children (15+) and young adults (18-35). We went on the British Board of Film Classification to find out what certificate we should give our film.
We've given our film a certificate of 15. However some might argue that this film could be a 12a as it has no swearing, violence, sexual scenes in it (Click here to read the BBFC's 12a certificate guidelines ). And even though a 12a can have drug misuse in it, our film's dark underlying tone of a drugs deal seems a bit too heavy-handed and focused on drugs for a 12a despite there being no drugs in the film.
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| (A screen grab from the BBFC website) |
I feel both genders would watch this film however I think our film appeals more to males taking into a account stereotypes displayed in our film. E.g a male motorcyclist.
Motorbikes are associated more with men than women. So to find evidence supporting this stereotype. Being a biker myself I know 20+ male motorcyclists and only 2 female motorcyclists. However I did some research via Facebook to find evidence supporting the stereotype.
Below is a screen grab from a Facebook page for motorcyclist called '2 Wheel Tarmac Terrorists'. It has over 10,000 followers. So I looked at the page to see if the majority of people posting on it were male.
Below are more screen grabs from the 2 Wheel Tarmac Terrorist page. Although this time I have circled ever name on the page, and as you can see everyone who appears in the screen grab is male.
Once we had identified our target audience, we had to decide what were the best ways for us get audience feedback for our various media products (poster, review, film). I decided to use many different methods such as...
- Our blog
- Youtube
- In Person
Facebook
I decided to put our film onto my Facebook page because the majority of me Facebook friends are between the ages of 15 - 35. Facebook also has some handy features that can he me with feedback.- People are able to click a 'like' button if they enjoyed our film
- They're also allowed to comment on the film which I can then read
- Facebook has a 'create a poll' feature which allows me to create and customize a poll about whatever I want
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| Facebook's 'like' feature |
As I predicted, the majority of people who 'liked' or commented on our film were male. We received some very positive feedback from our target audience which suggests our film has successfully managed to target and appeal to our target audience.
I also used Facebook to aid my poster research. Between the group we created 3 posters. I decided to post all 3 on Facebook and our target audience which was their favorite poster. Facebook is home to many people who fall into our target audience, hence why I decided to put the posters on Facebook.
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I was then able to use Facebook's poll feature to collect results in a clear and easy way. These results will help show what poster appeals to our target audience therefore showing us which poster to use.
Twitter 
Our Twitter was displayed on our blog (picture on the left is a screen grab of our Twitter feed displayed on our blog). We decided to put our Twitter feed onto our blog to help promote our Twitter account. On our Twitter page, we posted our film which people could watch, and then tweet us their views and opinions of our film. As Twitter is a social networking site like Facebook, there are millions of people using it which makes it a great promotional tool.
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| Screen grab of a tweet sent to our Twitter about our film |
In Person
To get feedback for our Little White Lies style review, I decided to go round college showing our short film and review to media students who fit in our target audience bracket and have also studied Little White Lies magazines. I then asked them their opinions on it and I wrote them down. This will help us to see if our review is well-received by our audience. I then recorded the results on a clipboard. They were asked the the following questions...- Does our review match the film and describe it well?
- Does the layout of our review match a Little White Lies review?
- Did you enjoy the review?
Left - The clipboard with results. Right - Our film review.
Youtube
We used Youtube to upload our film, and some of our test shots and ideas. Many people visit youtube.com everyday meaning our video can be accessed by many people including our target audience. People are able to 'like', 'dislike', and comment on videos which can helped us in the making of our film and with feedback of our film.
- According to mashable.com the average age of Youtube users is 27, which falls in to our target audience.
- Youtube has "over 800 million unique users". (Youtube Statistics)
Blogger
We used Blogger to record the progress and research of our short film, review, and poster. In regards to using it to help us with feedback for our products, we used our blog to advertise our other sites such as our Twitter page and Youtube.
Conclusion
What have I learned?
- From the various feedback we received I learned a lot about our target audience. As I predicted it appears our film appeals more to males than females.
- Our target audience enjoyed our film, therefore I think we successfully made our film appeal to the target audience.
- One of our aims was to make the audience feel tension and suspense while watching our film; and with comments like "thought the music at the beginning and through out the film helped to kick off and create a tense vibe", and "the suspense is kept up". I think we fulfilled this aim.
- After I had collected my film review questionnaire results, I found that even though they were positive results, it didn't help improve the review, and it wasn't thorough enough.
- I feel we should've used Facebook and Twitter to advertise our blog. If we had more feedback and comments on some of our research, it could've helped shape our film.
- Saying that I think our film, poster, and review were all a success.
- I feel my poster feedback was a success because the poll produced a clear result and is very helpful in making sure we pick the right poster to make our target audience want to watch our film.
4) How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?
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