Short Film Storyboard Adaptations

As I was filming the results scene, due to time and place of where the scene was being filmed, I was rushed to complete the shots needed for the scene. Because of this, I decided to re-film this scene however, this time around, I decided to redesign the scene completely to create a greater effect. In the process of doing so, new characters were introduced for a brief moment of time, as well as a new script and dialogue being produced. As a result, I decided to storyboard this new scene, which will replace the last scene seen on the original storyboard posted a while back:

Ancillary Task: Poster Draft

In the leading up to the design and final production of my short film poster, I decided to draft out three potential poster design ideas. In doing so, I have attempted to try and adhere to the conventions of short film posters which I deduced from my short film poster research; for example, as can be seen in all three design ideas, there is minimal text as the text:image ratio is image heavy.

The image used for this first design idea is one which is featured in the footage of the actual film itself. I decided that this image could be quite powerful as a poster since it clearly states the genre of the film (more evident in the film itself) and both the protagonist and antagonist are featured in the same shot. Furthermore as to why I chose this particular image is due to the composition of the characters; the antagonist (on the left) is composed in such a way that she seems much more powerful and intimidating as opposed to the protagonist seen on the floor looking up to her 'competitor'. And this reflects the narrative of the short film as the antagonist is supposed to be seen as the underdog, performing the unexpected.

I quite like this design poster idea since it is a rather simple layout which does not consist of many colours and the genre of the film is evident; school. In addition, this image comes from a rather important point in the film since this is the place jsut before the two students begin their test. Again, the characters are composed and characterised in such a way that there is the antagonist on the left (representing a 'bad' character) and the antagonist on the right (reflecting 'goodness'); this idea is also demonstrated through the colours of the characters clothes too. From this, not much information is revealed about the short film and its narrative either, as with the other two poster designs, which again is a convention held within all short film posters.

This design idea, I feel, again is a good design for the short film poster. The conventions of a short film are clearly kept to as I have tried to imitate the structure of the short film poster "The Death of Salvador" which can be seen in my short film poster analysis; the characters are illustrated on a plain, solid background with nothing but the name of the film and the name of its director. I have also composed the characters in such a way so that the protagonist is at the front whereas the antagonist is in the backgroud, almost as if the represent lurking in the shadows in the sense of darkness - since she is a 'bad' character, only in the sense through her personality in that she is a boastful, smarmy person however.

Ancillary Task: Magazine Review; Analysis

In the above, I have analysed and annotated magazine film reviews from two different magazines which revolve solely around films. The two I have looked at are "Empire" and "Little White Lies". From doing so, I have managed to create myself a clear picture as to the conventions of film reviews in terms of both graphology (pictures, text and layout) and discourse (the text and how it is structured). The running trend which I have spotted is that both film magazines contain features which seem to me, although are obvious, are the basis of what makes a film review; they create the skeleton of the page. These features include:

- a still image from the film being reviewed
- a clear bold headline stating the title of the film
- background information about the film (director, cast, release date)
- bold text at the beginning of the review (a single letter/ whole line)
- the text is structured into columns, much like a newspaper, for formality
- within the review, the narrative is commented on
- different aspects of the film is reviewed upon (mise-en-scene/ acting/ directing)
- the writer's name is given at the end
- an overall opinionated conclusion is given at the end
- the film is rated out of 5
- the actual review itself is only a third of the page (the image overrules)

Looking at this, it shows that these are all features which I must include myself when it comes to creating my own magazine film review for my short film, which still has yet a title to come. By integrating these into my ancillary product, it will show my film review page successfully adheres to the conventions of a real magazine film review, thus seeming realistic.

The structure of the actual text where the film is reviewed is also of high importance and must not be ignored. As I read through the film reviews from both magazines, I realised that the tones of writing between "Empire" and "Little White Lies" were completely different. And this, I believe, is due to two things; the purpose of the text, and the target audience. These are both two factors which heavily affect the context of production of the text since they are, essentially, the deciding factors on what structures the text itself.

"Empire" magazine is, predominately, a magazine dedicated to blockbuster type films; those which are bound to profit greatly. For example, films such as these which have featured in this magazine are those such as "Harry Potter", "Batman: The Dark Knight", and the "Pirates of the Carribean" trilogy. Considering these genres of film, there is no doubt that this magazine is aimed more towards the male gender where the age group most likely lands within the 16-30 range. The readers of "Empire" are also probably from the mainstream market since this magazine contains film reviews and interviews from films which the majority of the population have seen or heard of. Furthermore, "Empire" magazine is a highly established company due to it being a part of the Bauer Consumer Media Group, renowned for a number of other well-known magazines such as "Closer", "Kerrang", "heat", "more!" and "MATCH!" thus showing that "Empire" is not only a very successful magazine, but also one with a wide audience group and customer consumer base.

"Little White Lies" magazine on the other hand, compared to "Empire", is aimed more towards a much narrower audience group. It is devoted to those who are highly interested in films; avid readers. And all of the older audience group to - it's not for children. Since it is an independent magazine, this ensures that all opinion and reviews are honest, unbiased, and only that of the opinion of the writers. Another important comparison to make against that of "Empire" is also the fact that not only does it similarly review mainstream films, but also brings in and and introduces other various films to its audience, which are most likely less well known; it enjoys reviewing and advertising foreign films besides that of its home country. "Little White Lies" magazine is also more of an artistic magazine which prefers style, art and design as a means to appear unique and different to the standard market-magazine.

In retrospect, I have decided that after analysing "Empire" and "Little White Lies", I would rather create my film review fit to be published in "Little White Lies" magazine. This is because my short film is not to be created with the intention of matching that of the blockbuster standards; it is more about the underlying message which is to be created rather than the use of CGI, special effects and A-list actors. Furthermore, this also means that when it comes to writing the body of text for my film review, there are would be no strings attached to what I write since I would have freedom in publishing what I want to say without having to satisfy the name of the company the magazine is under; I can be as critical and truthful about my film as I wish. Also, as "Little White Lies" covers lesser known films, I believe this to be one of the main points as to my justification for choosing it as the magazine where my film review will be published and publicised. To me, I also prefer the aesthetical appearance of this particular magazine as opposed to "Empire" since the layout is much clearer, easier to read, and I believe the structure appears to be much more accessible.

Justification of Characterisation

As the context of my short film revolves around school, the two friend actors I have chosen to portray the characters in the short film are both school students.

(Jo - intellectual student)

Playing the role of the smarter student, I have decided to portray Jo's character as one who is typically boastful about herself; she enjoys bathing in her intelligence and showing off how smart she is to the others. Her gestures and tone of voice in the short film will accomodate to these characteristics which she holds. In order to show that she is the antagonist, Jo's character will be dressed in black; a dark colour conveying 'evilness' and 'power'. To also make obvious the fact that she is the intelligent student, she also wears glasses.

(Maia - inferior student)

To portray that of the simple-minded student, I have used my friend Maia. I find that she carries characteristics perfect for portraying a lesser intelligent person. For example, she is blonde, so is able to convey the 'blonde' stereotype (although she is in fact the opposite of such a person in real life). As her character is to be inferior compared to Jo, Maia will act as a weak, unconfident student. To show that she is the protagonist, unlike Jo, Maia will wear bright, light colours; where this acts in a way similar to a metaphor in that her lightness breaks through the darkness of Jo, and eventually leads to her achieving her goal.

Short Film Distribution

In terms of distribution and consumption of my short film, looking back at the questionnaire which I had posed to those who fit within the range of my target audience, it had been discovered that the internet was a very popular choice as a place which people shared and received information from. In today's society, it would be expected that the internet would have such a large amount of impact amongst people's lives, especially with young people since it is a fairly new form of media and young people have been growing up with it developing through their whole lives.

It is because of this that I have decided that my short film will be distributed on the internet through web 2.0 sites such as Youtube and Facebook, both of which are extremely popular with my target audience of 14-18 years olds. By distributing on my short film on such sites, it also means the viewers are able to comment on my short film, freely expressing and sharing their opinions. It is also an easy way for my short film to gain popularity and widen the viewers since a range of people would be able to view my film, not only my target audience. Furthermore, people will have the ability to embed the short film into their own social networking site, or even share the link, and by doing this, my short film will gain an even larger viewing audience, thus helping even more with its distribution and marketing.

As well as Youtube and Facebook, my short film can also be distributed on websites dedicated solely to short films. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films) by the BBC is a good example as it hosts a range of short films of different genres, audiences and lengths. Daazo (http://www.daazo.com/) and Independent Lens(http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest) are also another two good places for short film distribution online.are also another two good places for short film distribution online.

Short Film Audience Research

In order to find out more about my chosen audience (teenagers aged 14-18) to produce an effective short film which adheres to them, I decided to carry out a questionnaire whereby I asked a range of questions to those asked. The questionnaire covered three areas; audience film consumption; film posters; and magazine reviews. Below, I have displayed these results in the forms of graphs, each with an evaluative comment explaining the outcome of the question asked and the effect this has on the short film which I produce.

The opening question of my questionnaire was to classify the gender of those asked. The reason for this is because this will greatly affect and influence the responses the rest of the questionnaire since opposite genders have different prefereces. Out of the 13 people asked, the ratio of females to males was 9:4. In a way, this could probably reflect the ratio of females to males in the world in the sense that from this, it could arguably be said that there are more females. From this, I could therefore presume that more female teenagers would be likely to watch the short film I produce. However, this is based on a small proportion of people and so it would be improper to conclude that this result is the overriding statistic for the rest of the world.

To find out the preferred choices of film genre, I offered a multiple answer question and the result was that all subjects enjoyed comedy films, or at least those with a comical element. The next popular genre was romance however, this should in a way be disregarded considering how two thirds of those answering were female, and as we all know, the romance genre is typical of females. The third most popular result was action which shows people like to watch energetic and lively scenes. From these results, I can say that in terms of how they will affect the short film I produce, it would be strongly recommended that I integrate a comical style as this is what my results conclude. I should also avoid considering making a short film consisting of sci-fi, crime, mystery or the documentary style since these were adequately unpopular genres.

It would seem that the majority of those whom I questionned rather enjoyed films which had a moral. This result will have a great influence upon my own short film as it shows I should try to include some form of message towards my audience. By doing this, it would also mean I would be creating a multipurpose film since not only would the film be produced for entertainment, but there is also a reason behind it. If I choose to do this, the short film I create will need to strongly support this message as this will help with producing a strong narrative which makes sense.

All males asked claimed that they watch short films, and two thirds of females asked stated they watched short films too. This shows that there is a large audience of teenagers who watch short films, thus showing that my decision in producing a short film aimed towards teenagers was a good choice to make since there are a number of people who are likely to therefore watch my film.

It appeared that short films were not seen on a frequent basis with the majority of those asked. However, they did watch short films. This result will give me an idea as to how often my own short film is likely to viewed.

From this, I can see that the topic of films is used in conversations and that people are likely to discuss and in turn, recommend films to each other. This also shows that by word of mouth is the best distribution method due to communication. It can therefore be guaranteed that the short film which I produce is likely to be talked about, even if for a brief moment, but this increases the chance of people watching my short film.

The point of this question was that it would show where the best place would be for me distribute my short film to in terms of which media is used to view films the most by teenagers. The format which appeared to be most popular was that of television, but this is to be expected as the majority of films are bound to screen on television after release in cinema and as a DVD/ VHR. Furthermore, this method of viewing films is free whereas to watch a film in cinema or for home viewing requires money, therefore is widely accessible to a larger number of people. Of course, the cinema would also be rather popular as this is the first place people go to watch films. If I was to have my short film screened in a cinema, the best chance of having it viewed would be by having it shown during the advert period before the feature film is shown (where the feature film's target audience is teenagers). In all honesty, all choices of viewing were popular with those I posed the question to showing that I could use any form of media to show my short film since all are used by my target audience.

From the last question, as I noticed half those asked used social networking sites to view films, I decided to further ask which of the popular networking sites they were members of. It seemed that everyone has a Facebook account and considering the rising popularity of Facebook in the world today, to upload my short film to this site (either using my own account  and relying on my friends to spread the word of my film or requesting to have it as an advert link) would be the best way to distribute my film. Furthermore, since it is quick to do and requires little or no money, the audience would be able to view the film for free, thus being a factor which would make them more likely to watch my short film.

This result shows that even though everyone asked was a member of at least one social networking site, only 4 of the 13 actually used this as a method to stream or link video clips. However, even though this seems a small number of people, it only takes one person to start a chain reaction and spread word about something for it to become more popular therefore, I would not see this as too much of an issue if I were to decide to distribute my short film online through a social networking site.

To also help with research about film marketing, I asked for the ways in which people received information about films from. The most commonly occurring result was that people heard through friends, thus showing that conversations and communication are the way most people spread word. The next popular category was the internet. This helps with the marketing section of my short film as it goes to show that the internet is an extremely helpful and useful method if one wants information to be spread. Furthermore, since the internet is global, it means that my short film would be read about from all corners of the world, expanding on the number of people who would watch it.

As just over half of the subjects being asked responded that they did read film reviews, this shows that the ancillary task of producing a magazine review is important and that when it comes to designing the writing the text for the review, I should try and include as much information about the film as possible as this will be a productive way to hook and persuade readers, and my target audience, to watch my short film.

As many people's decisions appear to be persuaded by what they read, this shows that the discourse of my magazine review is extremely important as it would help determine the decisions of whether a number of people would watch my short film. This therefore means that the magazine review will be a critical selling point for the consumption of the short film which I make.

To find out where is best to advertise my short film and place the posters, I decided to question my subejcts where they are most likely to see film posters. It seemed that the majority of them saw posters for films in the cinema which is understandable since the cinema is a mini film world and would want to use these posters to persuade consumers to watch films. The next popular area was in magazines and newspapers, and the effect this has on my short film poster is that the context of where a text is placed needs to be payed much importance. Taking a magazine as an example, the pages are normally flicked through and not payed much attention, aside from the sections which the reader wants to read, and so placing a film poster in here means that it would need to be eye-catching and prominent in order to catch the reader's attention in the split second that the page may pass their eyes. The same goes for if the poster was to be placed on a bus; people would not have time to read any text since the bus would be moving most of the time so the idea of using text in this case should be dismissed. Instead, it would be the image which catches the most attention, as well as a unique, bold title so that passer-bys on the street would know the name of the film being advertised, and would be able to remember it.

Since it was claimed that many of the people do pay attention to film posters, it means that this needs to be payed great attention to since the film poster is one of many methods used in marketing to sell the film to the audience. This means that what is placed on the film poster will need to do give enough information to the audience to have an idea of what the film is about, whilst also creating enigma codes to make them curious about the film and whilst also conforming to the conventions of short film posters.

Location, Location, Location

 

(Standard Classroom)

 

(School Corridor)

(Copleston Road)

(Outside Copeston Sixth Form)

(Maths Corridor)

The locations I had in mind were the one's shown in the images above. The reason for this was because since the intended audience of my short film is teenagers, and the characters and narrative I am using revolve around school students, it would have seemed reasonable to use a school for the setting.

However, when it came to filming, due to weather, it was not possible to use the outside locations. Therefore, where I would have used my first chioce of Copleston Road and then outside of Sixth Form for scene one where we meet the two characters for the first time at the beginning of the short film, this instead had to be replaced for the school corridor. I would have liked to have used the maths corridor as my third option however this corridor was being used by students in their maths lessons.

Target Audience Research

The target audience for short films tend to be a fine selection of people who are from backgrounds with experience in the film industry. For example, film enthusiasts, film critics or directors. Short films are quite often produced as a means to give ideas for feature films, or as the producer of the short film is using the idea of making as a stepping stone to display their talent, and hope that this way, a scouts person will notice their skills. It is for this reason that people with film experience are the ideal target audience as people such as directors are are likely to visit short film networks (such as BBC) hoping to find raw talent or inspiration.

Examples of short films which have been used for inspiration for feature films would be well known films such as "Napolean Dynamite", which was inspired by the Spanish short film "Peluca" (2003). The recently released computer-animated film "9" storyline was also originally produced by a student from UCLA Animation as the idea for his thesis. The infamous pentalogy "Saw" also received its storyline from the minds of two Australian film students in 2003, before the first of the Saw series films was produced in 2004.

Whilst it may seem that targeting these film enthusiasts would be best, a number of short films also have a broader audience as the goal of the producer's short film is not only to be scouted by a company, but to also entertain a wider audience. The easiest target for this is young people as there are many factors and scenarios which can be used to relate to them. It is for this reason that the audience for my own short film shall be the youth range of teenagers. Furthermore, since the protagonist and antagonist of the film are high school students, and the scenario is a school, it would make sense for the target audience to be of the same age range.

Short Film Storyboard

Cast - 2 people + extras
Props - Maths paper, textbooks, skipping rope, scales, headband, calendar, school classroom
Location - Copleston High School