Developing Skills from AS
As my AS Film was of the period drama genre I didn't get to play around with any special effects or edgy cinematography such as hand-held camera work, our final product was very smooth and polished. Although I really enjoyed creating my film opening last year (can be viewed here) this year I am looking forward to developing my editing skills (as Miranda edited the majority of our film last year) and using special effects to create realism and give our film an edgy twist. I am also interested in how hand-held camera work is going to look and how we can use this to capture our audience and draw them into the action.
Total Film Magazine - Film Review Analysis
My Week With Marilyn Review - Total Film Magazine, January 2012.
Layout
The first thing that caught my eye about this review layout is how professional and simple it looks, the text is well laid out and looks easy to read. The wording in red stands out and directs the audiences eye to key information. The film title is easy to see and also stands out in bold in the center of the page against all the other text. The simple image at the top of the page attracts the audience to the article and breaks up the text, the image is of the main character Marilyn and this lets the audience know that the film is about Marilyn Monroe without them even having to read any of the text.
Features
My favorite thing about this review is the amount of features within it. Like Empire magazine Total Film has a 'verdict' section at the end which audiences can quickly read and also a five star rating but unlike Empire magazine Total Film have other of features such as a 'predicted interest curve' graph, this intrigued me when I first looked at the article and I wanted to find out what it was about, the graph tells audiences when (in their opinion) the most interesting parts of the film are throughout the whole running time. This graph adds something different to the page which isn't just writing. Also on the page is a bubble with a 'talking point' fact in it, this is designed to give the audience some background information on the film which obviously is a 'talking point', I also found this feature to be something different and interesting. The final feature I found on this review is the 'See This If You Liked...' feature, after the heading a number of films in the same genre or which follow the same sort of narrative were listed, the idea of this is that if audience liked a film listed they would probably enjoy the film in the review, this feature influences audiences into watching the film and gives them some idea about what the film is like.
Empire Mazagine - Film Review Analysis
Bridesmaids Review - Empire Magazine, July 2011.
Layout
The first thing I noticed about this review was the colour. I really like the way they have used the contrast colours of blue and yellow to highlight key information, the colour attracts the audience to the review and draws their attention to certain areas of interest which will engage them in the article and make them read on. The second thing I noticed about this review is the layout, the use of rectangles and squares which separate the page, this is very effective and interesting. The boxes break up the block text so at a first glance the viewer isn't overwhelmed with writing. This review has an equal number of pictures and text which I think is the most effective layout as the audience has something to look at as well as information to read, the pictures give hints to the audience about the film and the characters.
Features
The 'verdict' section at the bottom right hand side of the page is a good feature to have as it allows audiences who don't want to read the whole article to gain some understanding of the film and whether the film is worth going to see or not. Another feature which I also like is the five star rating, the five star rating means that audiences can quickly glance at the stars and understand whether the review is going to be positive or negative. The top of the page has some information about the 'Cast, Director and Certificate', this is informative and audiences are often interested in whether the film has any big stars in it or a famous director. The 'Look Closer' box has some 'fun facts' about the film, director and cast members, this feature gives the audience something different to read and captures their interest.
Black Swan - Film Posters
When browsing the net for posters to analyse I came across these four black swan posters which really caught my eye. I really love these four posters and the artistic feel they all portray. They are all really symbolic and very different to the typical drama film posters, which is what I think makes them stand out. I love the way all the posters have somehow combined both elements of the film together, the dancer and the swan, hinting at the merge that happens between both 'characters' during the film. My favourite poster is probably the top right one because of the simplicity of it, I like how the image of the dancer is inside the swan, suggesting that the swan is controlling them. I also love how the 'black swan' contrasts with the pure white silhouette of the dancer, making the dancer stand out and depicting the 'black swan' as something dangerous. All of the posters use colour very well, simply using red black and white to make certain elements of the poster stand out.
Tumblr Feedback
I also wanted to do some extra research myself so I asked people from the social networking site, Tumblr, their opinions. I used Tumblr to gather feedback from a wider audience as we were only able to collect student opinions at school.
Below are the responses which I received.
Audience Interviews
We wanted to gather some feedback from our target audience about what they expected from our film so we took to the corridors of Sandwich Technology School and found some students within our target audience to interview about their expectations of our short film.
We asked the following questions:
- Miranda Amess, 17
- Edward Stow, 18
We asked the following questions:
What kind of events do you expect to unfold in a short film which involved narcotics?
Do you expect to see the consequences of the drug taking?
Do you think the film should have a realistic or more surreal element to it?
What kind of character (gender, age) would you expect the main character to be?
What locations do you expect to see within the film?
Would you expect the ending to be ambiguous?
- Miranda Amess, 17
- Edward Stow, 18
Precious - Film Poster Analysis
For my second analysis i decided to pick a film poster which was a lot different from the typical 'main character staring' posters. Although this poster isn't a 'stereotypical' drama genre film poster I feel that it is really interesting and quite hard-hitting. The image is a cartoon silhouette of a large woman who seems to be shattered by a hand, the black of the image stands out against the red background. The film name, 'PRECIOUS', also stands out in white which makes it clear that this is the film name, the name precious creates questions in the audiences mind such as 'what is precious?', 'is this woman precious?', 'why is she precious?'. The image itself is very powerful and quite emotional as the woman is anonymous, making the audience wonder about the character and her story. From the way the image is shattered by a hand it makes the audience think about who has hurt her and what the characters story is, from the placement of the hand we wonder if the woman has been sexually abused. The black and red colouring of the poster also connotes anger, pain, suffering and mystery. On the poster also is all the awards which it has won, this will interest audiences and influence them to watch this award-winning film. The film poster is quite simple but I feel that it doesn't need a lot going on as the main image is powerful enough. Overall this poster is different and unique by the use of the cartoon style drawing and not a photograph of the main character, it certainly stands out against others.
The Social Network - Film Poster Analysis
The social network film poster is relativity simple, but it does draw in audience attention. The film is about the social networking site Facebook and cleverly the poster has the same layout as the Facebook browser. This gives the audience a good indicator about the what the film narrative is about without directly telling them, also this layout may be appealing to audiences, especially those who use Facebook, as they will be familiar with the layout and may be influence to go and watch the film. The main character is glaring at the audience behind the text (this is a typical drama genre poster convention), the character looks like he is staring at a computer, again hinting at the narrative of the film and adds a sense of social realism to the poster. One major issue I have with this poster is that the film name isn't very obvious at all, its at the top right hand side of the poster in small font, sideways, which isn't very clear at all. The tag line 'You Don't Get To 500 Million Friends Without A Few Enemies' is bigger than the film title and takes up most of poster, it does stand out in white especially with the different fonts and writing styles, the fact the tagline is over the top of the characters face suggests that Facebook is a very important factor in his life. The tagline makes the audience wonder even more about the film narrative. Overall I do like this poster and the Facebook browser style background although the film title does need to be bigger and more obvious to audiences as at a first glance it will not be noticed.
Control - Film Poster Analysis
This film poster caught my eye amongst the others. The bright pink font stands out against black and white background making the film title and the awards it has won stand out immediately. The pink font greatly contrasts with the harsh black and white background suggesting that control is not only the film name but also an underlying theme of the production. Including the awards which the film has won I think is very important to include as they catch audiences interest and gets them curious about the film. As well as the colour I feel that the image of the man is also quite striking, he is smoking a cigarette with a glazed expression, we get the impression that this man is quite rebellious. The character also has a sense of mystery and detachment about him, he is facing away from the camera like he has something to hide, this is very unstereotypical of a drama genre poster as the ones I have previously found depict the main character facing straight forwards. The use of a split black and white background focuses the audiences attention entirely on the character, it also suggests that he may have two sides to him as on one side of the character is pure white and the other harsh black. From the simplicity of the poster you cannot guess much about the diegesis the of film, this can be both a positive and a negative thing, it could make the audience curious about the film in question and influence them to watch it but equally it could put many people off even watching the film.
Film Poster Preparation
As well as a short film we also have to create a poster and a magazine review.
In preparation for the film poster I scoured the internet to find posters for films within the 'drama' genre.
I found that a reoccurring theme in these posters was to have the main characters staring intensely at the audience. I do feel that this is captivating and these posters definitely caught my eye when searching through thousands of film poster images. In the next few posts I will be selecting some individual posters and doing in depth anaylsis.
Moodboard
This is the moodboard which I have created for our production, Flight. As you can see from the images I have specifically chosen, they both represent Sophie's split lifestyle - whether she should follow her desire to become a professional ballet dancer or whether she should proceed to life a hedonist lifestyle which involves drink and drugs. We will try and portray this in our short film through what is shown visually.
Drama Genre Conventions
I have researched the conventions of the drama genre to get a feeling for the genre itself and to understand what typical features are generally in drama films, this is so I can either stick to the conventions or oppose them in my own production.
* Traumatic realistic events occur throughout the film.
I think that Flight does cover realistic and traumatic issues. We follow the character Sophie and see her struggle to keep the balance of her passion for ballet and her social life. Many people may be able to relate to Sophie and the events which occur throughout the film.
* Narrative often contains elements that may upset and disturb.
Our narrative will contain the issue of drug use, isolation/emptiness and the characters struggle to find her identity which audiences may find upsetting and be affected by.
* Portray realistic characters.
Sophie is an average teenager which many teenagers will be able to relate to.
* Main character is often well developed.
Our character Sophie will be very developed and the audience will get to follow her and see her develop even more throughout our production.
We plan on using realistic settings throughout Flight. All the settings are every-day places which many people will often visit.
* Mise-en-scene relates very carefully to main character.
All the props and locations we are using relates to Sophie and her life. For example, within Sophie's room we plan on having lots of ballet objects relating to her passion for Ballet.
* Costume is often kept simplistic yet personalized.
Sophie's costume will be simple, she will be wearing simple ballet clothes for the first half (this also is personalized as it represents Sophie's love for ballet) and average teenagers clothes for the second half.
* Lighting tends to go from extremities.
We have stuck to this convention as our film will suddenly switch to the bright natural bedroom scene to the outside street scene.
* Close-up shots are often used.
During our film we will have lots of close-ups of Sophie to draw the audience in and get them to connect with her. Close-ups will also help us to show Sophie's emotions.
* Simple editing techniques used only. No special-effects.
We are going to oppose this convention as throughout our film we plan on having jump cuts and stop motion. We wanted to give our film an edge and make it stand out from the rest, this is our reasoning for using quite complex editing techniques.
* Clear dialogue between characters used throughout.
We will not have any dialogue within our film.
* Traumatic realistic events occur throughout the film.
I think that Flight does cover realistic and traumatic issues. We follow the character Sophie and see her struggle to keep the balance of her passion for ballet and her social life. Many people may be able to relate to Sophie and the events which occur throughout the film.
* Narrative often contains elements that may upset and disturb.
Our narrative will contain the issue of drug use, isolation/emptiness and the characters struggle to find her identity which audiences may find upsetting and be affected by.
* Portray realistic characters.
Sophie is an average teenager which many teenagers will be able to relate to.
* Main character is often well developed.
Our character Sophie will be very developed and the audience will get to follow her and see her develop even more throughout our production.
* Character is often in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature.
Our film will follow Sophie Evergreen and the conflict she has with herself, the audience will get to see her struggle with balancing her 'two lives'.
* Realistic settings. Our film will follow Sophie Evergreen and the conflict she has with herself, the audience will get to see her struggle with balancing her 'two lives'.
We plan on using realistic settings throughout Flight. All the settings are every-day places which many people will often visit.
* Mise-en-scene relates very carefully to main character.
All the props and locations we are using relates to Sophie and her life. For example, within Sophie's room we plan on having lots of ballet objects relating to her passion for Ballet.
* Costume is often kept simplistic yet personalized.
Sophie's costume will be simple, she will be wearing simple ballet clothes for the first half (this also is personalized as it represents Sophie's love for ballet) and average teenagers clothes for the second half.
* Lighting tends to go from extremities.
We have stuck to this convention as our film will suddenly switch to the bright natural bedroom scene to the outside street scene.
* Close-up shots are often used.
During our film we will have lots of close-ups of Sophie to draw the audience in and get them to connect with her. Close-ups will also help us to show Sophie's emotions.
* Simple editing techniques used only. No special-effects.
We are going to oppose this convention as throughout our film we plan on having jump cuts and stop motion. We wanted to give our film an edge and make it stand out from the rest, this is our reasoning for using quite complex editing techniques.
* Clear dialogue between characters used throughout.
We will not have any dialogue within our film.
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