QUESTION 2 - EVALUATION - AILSA (draft)

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Although we didn't make a film that strictly followed the points above, we did create a marketing package for our short film. This included the short film itself, the film poster and review. 

Our target audience is 25-35 year old's that will be able to relate to strained relationships, loss and pregnancy/ having children. This meant that for our film poster, we kept it fairly simple. 

The target audience for the film review, because it is in Little White Lies, is slightly different.

Link to Little White Lies reviews website page 

As you can see, Little White Lies has a very specific target readership. They target 18-30 year old students and professionals that are in the creative/ media industry. The target audiences' of our review and other products do overlap, which made it easier for our group. 

We wanted to make sure that all three products are recognisable with each other. In order to do this, we used the mobile - which is the most important prop for our film, as it brings it from the flashback to the present tense. For the review, we used a still image from our short film.

SHORT FILM 

 

 

QUESTION 1 - EVALUATION - AILSA (draft)

Our short film is called Delusion.


In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

a)

• Camerawork
• Sound 
• Mise en scene 
• Editing/post production 
• Use of genre conventions
• Narrative organisation and the short film format
• Characterisation
• Themes and issues

We had to research lots of short films, in order to get an idea of what they're like. Although most of them weren't the same genre (so therefore didn't carry many of the same conventions), they were still useful to analyse.  


Camerawork
- includes the camera movement (tracking in/ out, panning, zooming, etc.), angles (low, high, etc.), shot distance (e.g. close up), position/ framing, composition and depth of field.
More information

Short Film 'The Black Hole' from PHOTOPLAY FILMS on Vimeo.

  



In 'Black Hole', the reactions of the character is an important aspect. To emphasise this, they have included many CUs. We thought this was a good idea, and would also be vital to use in our film.

 In this particular shot from our short film, we wanted to show how happy and excited the couple are feeling, also that they are feeling powerful and in control of their lives. We also wanted to show the importance of the object they're looking at.


























This method is also used in 'Focus', which was the same genre of our short film.  I was also inspired by the amount of angles used in 'Focus', so we decided to also incorporate this idea into our short film. Angles create meaning by making someone seem less or more powerful (in order to convey their emotions). It can also emphasise the importance of an object.

 In 'Tyler', they used panning to follow the three main characters as they are walking. We thought this was a good idea in order to make the audience feel as though they are interacting with the characters. When Wesley and Claire are walking out of the shop, we used panning so we could follow them (to show how happy they are).

QUESTION 4 - EVALUATION - AILSA (draft)

Media technologies

FINAL FILM - DELUSION

Film review

Our LWL review

Final film poster

Production company logo

FILM POSTER

My film poster is split in half to represent the different point of views that Claire and Wesley experience throughout the film. 

The black background contrasts the opposite image of Theo - Wesley can't understand what Claire is going through and doesn't see Theo, but Claire does.

 I used a basic font for the title in order to look more professional, and to keep the focus on the image.

Film poster research - Bend It Like Beckham

BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM

 

 

The character's names aren't shown on this poster, but the main character is shown. They are in character (we can see this from the costume and prop that she's holding). It looks as though the character's head is 'up in the clouds', which could represent how she has dreams that are extremely difficult to achieve.

The main text is kept away from the main image, it gives most of the attention towards the main image. The design is used to look like it has actually been bent, and the colours link to the cultural background of the main character. The title (and all of the other text) is shown over a sky background. This links to the film and also is quite plain to make everything else stand out. 

The main text is only slightly larger than the rest of the text, this is to create more emphasis on the main image. The text design is also bent to link with the title name, and could also be symbolising a goal post (as this film is about football). All of the texts' colours represent the main character's cultural background. They could also possibly represent their football uniform.

The slogan "A winning comedy" is used, which tells us that this is a comedy and also entices the reader by using the word "winning".

A website for the film distribution company is shown on the poster - this means that people can go onto this and find out more information.

There are two critic reviews and two award logos shown at the top of the poster - the Entertainment Weekly & the Mirror, and Sundance & Toronto international film festivals. The critic reviews attract people who enjoy lighthearted films, and the awards attract people who know a lot about films. 

The billing block of this poster merges into the background design; it's blue. 

The poster tells us that it's out this Spring, which means that people will view this and will start to get excited about watching this when it's released.

M conventions from the romcom genre are shown in this poster; the colours and bright and colourful. There is also a hint of the sport genre with the football boots and the sky. The character is shot from behind to hide her identity - which is a hint of the storyline.

R the girl is represented as being a Punjabi girl, who has a hidden passion for football.

A the target audience for this film would be teenage girls, who may also enjoy football. It could also be targeted at those of the Punjabi religion. It would also appeal to British Asians as a whole, due to the problems the character faces (which will be relatable to this audience) and the outfit she's wearing. The shoes are shown in order to conflict against her sari.

N the narrative of this film is a football fanatic who also seems to be Punjabi.

G the genre is a sport romcom.     

Film poster research - Submarine

SUBMARINE

The actor's names are all shown just above the billing block. Some of these names are popular and well knows (e.g. Craig Roberts) British actors. They aren't very clear; they are a similar font size to the billing block. The main character, who is played by Craig Roberts is shown in character as Oliver (the main character). We can see that he is playing in character in this photo because of his facial expression and costume. 

The text at the top is kept out of the way of the main image, but the bottom text covers some of the main image. I don't think that the text at the bottom effects the main image much as it still draws attention to the image, and the part of the character's body isn't necessarily important. The top text has a white background, which is one of the main colours used for the design of the film. It also makes the other colours used stand out more.

The main text is bigger than all the other text, and the colours used links to the actual film. The font is easy to read and stands out. 

 The main character is used for the main image, this is because he's the most important and the whole film mainly focuses on him. It also allows the poster to reveal what the character's personality is like. A blue screen is put over him, which is one of the main colours used. It stops just below his eyes, which in turn draws more attention to these. The blue background could also suggest how the character feels submerged.

The layout is very central, in order to focus on the character shown. 

The slogan used at the top gives the audience a clue to what the film is about and what genre it falls into.

We are shown different film critic reviews by Vogue, Los Angeles Times and the Daily Telegraph. These are all well respected newspapers/ magazines, and are usually read by people with a good cultural background. It targets the target audience well by using these.

The billing block merges into the film poster's design by using the same font and text colour. It is slightly smaller than the other text to conceal it slightly.  

M the film poster conforms to the typical conventions of romcom dramas; it uses bright and colourful colours and clear text. The image is the main part of the poster, and through this, the main character's facial expression stands out.

R the main character represents a weak and vulnerable schoolboy who is confused. His hair is floppy, he is nervously holding the strap of his schoolbag and his tie is slightly uneven. This goes against the stereotypical schoolboy that is usually shown in films (ladies man, enjoys playing sport, rebellious, cocky).

A the target audience would be teenage girls who already know some of these actors, and enjoy watching romoms. It could also be those interested in fashion or music, as there is a review and this film is well known to have the soundtrack by Alex Turner. Some young adults may also be interested due to the other critic reviews, and they may enjoy watching light-hearted British independent films. The reviews shown are from well respected newspapers and magazines, representing that this is a film for people who have a real interest in independent films, and those who are well educated.

N the narrative shown through this film poster would be that the film is about a nervous and confused schoolboy.

G the genre is a romcom drama; shown by the design of this poster.   

Film poster research - Dissonance

DISSONANCE

 

The actor's names aren't shown on the poster - this is another minimalistic short film poster. The information on this poster is limited to the title, billing block and one logo for a competition. 

The text is kept away from the main image, all the information is kept at the bottom. The image still carries on behind this text, but it's made to look like a plain black background. This keeps the attention towards the main image, and helps towards the eerie effect the design has.
The billing block is slightly to the right, with an award to the left of it. This could put more focus on the award (as a way to advertise this film). 

The image must have been made by Photoshop, and the colouring also looks as though it has been edited through this.  

The title 

The main image they have used is an image of something that represents the earth, with houses all around it. It also has flat land with houses below it. The yellow background represents the sun, the beginning of life/ morning - this could be hinting towards the narrative.

There is one reference to a short film competition based in Berlin. This will attract an audience that are interested in international short films, and people who know about this competition.

 The title is much larger than any other piece of text on the poster; it is spaced apart to stand out even more. It also gives it a slight sci-fi look to it - this could link to the film as it already looks as though it could be this genre. The text matches with the rest of the poster; it looks really eerie. The colour is used to stand out, and also contrasts with the background of it.

M the short film includes different conventions of different genres. From the main image I would guess that this film was about the world - possibly how houses are taking over the land. The wires coming from the bottom of the earth also makes it look as though this could be a sci-fi.

R the poster could possibly represent how we are running out of space for houses, and it could also be representing the natural beauty of the world.

A the target audience for this short film would be both gender, and adults as it looks like the idea behind the film could be difficult to understand. It would also be people who are extremely interested in international short films, and know of the competition it was in.

N the narrative that this poster is telling is something about the world.

G the genre of this film would possibly be a sci-fi. The font used for the title is the main reason as to why it looks like it's a sci-fi.

 

Film poster research - Sorice

SORICE 

http://www.shortfilmposters.com/2015/sorice.html 

The names of the actors aren't shown of this poster, possibly because they aren't known for doing anything else and are upcoming actors. I think another reason why they didn't show this could be to limit what they have on the poster - as clearly the design is very minimalistic to create a mysterious and purposely dull look to the poster of this short film.  

 

 

The title is kept away from the main image in order to emphasise the importance of this character, and also the text is placed near to the rope to draw attention to this. 

The background used is gloomy and grey, this could represent the whole mood of this short film. The character is faced away to hide his identity, this means that we instantly fear this person, and we wonder what they are trying to hide. Overall, the poster is extremely basic to keep our attention on the character shown.

The main image is the main character in the short film - the effect of this is to make people wonder about this character and it also shows how significant this character must be. 

A rope is shown to suggest violence and death.

The film poster has a reference to another film, which would mean it attracts one type of audience (people who enjoy watching short/ independent films). It also refers to the fact it's an "Angelo White film", which would again attract a specific audience.

The film website is mentioned to encourage the audience to go onto this and find out more information, which would then encourage them to watch the film. This is a common method to use nowadays as it's easy to look websites up, and this will also link to social media sites (which means the word will be spread).

The size of the title is bigger than all the other text on the poster, but doesn't stand out much due to the thin design of the text. This is unusual for film posters as usually the title of the film covers most of the poster. I think they have chosen it to be like this to emphasise the importance of the character shown, and it also gives it more of a secret identity (as the title isn't even that clear).

The colours used are linked to the darkness of the film; they are all dull and sinister. The text also delivers this effect by using a sans serif design.

The billing block has been adapted to fit in with the poster by using a font colour that merges with the background, and it is positioned with the other text. 

The main character (that's used for the main image) is placed over a non-image, plain grey background - which makes them more powerful and mysterious. It also means that the focus is just on this character.

A central layout is used for the film poster, in order to make the character look even more significant, and to aid the minimalistic look of the poster.

M the poster uses many typical conventions of the thriller genre, and also some from the horror genre. It is very dark coloured and the main character/ main image used does not reveal the identity - this creates enigma and fear. Enigma is also bought by the lack of text on the poster. The rope signifies death, as well as the costume worn by the character.

R the character represents death by wearing black and having no obvious identification (we don't see their face).

A people who enjoy thrillers and horrors will look at this poster and the design will convince them to watch this. The target audience for this short film would be young men who are interested in short, independent thrillers/ horrors.

N the story we are being told through this poster is that this person has either died, or has bought death. We instantly feel afraid of this character due to their costume and the overall colours of the poster. Also we link the rope to committing suicide by hanging.

G the genre is clear - it is a thriller or possibly a horror.

 

 

Evidence of filming

This is evidence of make-up whch is a key aspect of mise en scene. We previously researched and experimented how to use make-up to convey a tired, run down look and we put this into practise. Jess and Frances applied makeup onto Tash (Claire) to make her look like she is on the verge of a breakdown.

One of our scenes was filmed in Haywards Heath cemetery. We got permission before doing this. We waiting until it was dark and then went down to the cemetery to film one of our scenes, we wanted to be dark so that it created a more tense atmosphere and we wanted our audience to feel sympathy for the couple.

This is a picture of us filming the scene where Wesley and Claire are at Theo's grave, the start of Claire's breakdown. We used lights to enhance the significance of the grave stone as it is a key prop in this scene.

Experimating with jump cuts

In our short film we will be using the continutinty editing technique jump cuts. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time. We will be using jump cuts in our short film to emphasise Claire's breakdown as the jumpcuts will signify her emotions. We practiced doing this so then when we start making our short film, it will be much more efficient when making this effect.

These are some examples of jump cuts:

Animatic with voiceover

Animatic

Permission for cemetery

We emailed the town hall that owns the cemetery we are going to film at, to ask for their permission. At first, we were worried because they seemed suspicious about our project; we had to explain exactly what we're doing:

We then got full permission to film at the cemetery. We have to make sure we go by the rules they have set us though.

Audience feedback

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

We asked 5 people what they think about our short film idea. This was their feedback:

Our synopsis:

"Our short film is about a young couple trying to cope with the loss of their baby. Claire (mother) suffers from phantom pregnancy which means that she believes her baby is still alive and still sees him. For example, in our film there will be a variety of shots where Theo (the baby) is present in Claires eyes however we will have a POV shot from Wesley's (dad) perspective and the baby won't be there. As a result of Claire's inability to cope with the loss of Theo, she overdoses and dies. Our short film will begin with a flashback of Claire and Wesley when Claire is pregnant, where they are happy and looking at baby clothes in the nursery. Claire's hallucinations causes strain on their relationship as Wesley doesn't understand her condition and Claire is constantly trying to convince Wesley that Theo is still alive. This drives Wesley to take Claire to the graveyard and show her Theo's grave, which triggers her overdose." 

 

Question 1: What do you like about our film?
Question 2: Where would you expect to find it?
Question 3: What would you change?

Charlotte
1: I like the storyline because it's not too complicated and you will be able to sympathise with the main character.
2: I would expect to find this film on a professional short film site.
3: I would maybe turn the ending around by the husband finding her and helping her get through this.

Phoebe
1: I like how you spin around the happy beginning.
2: I would expect this to be shown on YouTube.
3: I would maybe change it so they haven't actually lost the baby.

Kelly 
1: I like this film because it sounds like a typical drama.
2: I would maybe expect it to be shown on TV.
3: I would change it so the man is grieving instead.   

Harry
1: I like how it's quite simple so you can make it really good.
2: I would expect to find it on Vimeo.
3: I would make it more like a thriller because I find this genre boring.

James
 1: I like the idea of her overdosing at the end because that will come as a shock.
2: I would expect to find it online, on a website or on YouTube.
3: I would make a bigger thing about how the main character is feeling.


 Evaluation of our results

From our results, we may focus more on Claire to create more sympathy. When we come to writing about the distribution, we will consider all those websites to put for where to show our film.

Organisation of actors

Claire: Tash Ruben

 

Wesley: Dom Buglass

 

Theo: Theo Mainwaring-Aylett