Evaluation 2

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

EVALUATION 2

Film Poster Short Film Film Review

Introduction: What can be combined from the film?

To create a successful short film campaign it is important to have specific elements that combine everything related to the film. For example as part of my project I was challenged to create a social realism/hybrid short film as well as a poster for the film and an intellectual film review that evaluates and represents the film.

The purpose of combining these tasks is so that the audience can recognise that they are part of the same project, it also helps to build up an identity for the film and all of the related tasks so that they are seen as one, rather than separate/individual tasks. The inspiration and artistic elements that combine these tasks is considered by taking themes from the film and using them to create the tonality and style of these tasks. In this evaluation I will explore how effectively stylistic elements are common to both the film and the ancillary tasks so that I can understand how to more successful achieve the desired synergy between them.

The features that I have chosen from the film have been considered when producing both the film poster and film review. Within the film there are representations of; modern society, imagery surrounding money, danger/blood. These are some of the elements that the film includes which I have been able to use as inspiration when producing the poster and review. Using these elements I have informed decisions such as colour, shape, style and design regarding the other tasks.

By linking the tasks using elements such as these, it makes them more effective at attracting an audience because people will recognise them as a unified whole rather than 3 separate pieces of work. The aim is to have them representative enough that audience members can asses the genre, tone, and even parts of the plot by looking at the review and the poster alone.

THE REVIEWRed black and white Colour scheme. Red is the primary colour to symbolise the danger in the film.Key credits including; director, producer, writer, production company, cast, run time and country.

Main body of text reviewing the film

My film’s synopsis

Formal font used for text (Top Left) – Graphics

from the film included in review

Segmented sections boxed off demonstrating appropriate form of review. Also represents entrapment in the film.

From reading the review what do we learn/understand about the genre of/audience for/director’s rationale behind the film?

By reading the review we learn more about the film and the messages that the director is trying to convey. Genre is briefly discussed as the review talks about the directors experience in producing social realism films in the past. The review doesn’t clearly state that the film is a social realism hybrid including crime thriller as the sub genre. The review would benefit from mentioning this so that the audience are clear on what the film is about.

The intended audience for the film is not stated as fact however it is suggested by making the point that the film is questioning the audience to ask themselves what they would do in his shoes therefore it is implied that the intended audience was people of a similar age to the protagonist; young adults.

As for the directors rational behind the film, there is quite a lot of reasoning for things such as low key lighting which is said to have been deliberately very low key in the house to represent the danger and darkness of where he is. The themes and issues are clearly established in the review as the representation of the unemployment crisis and the effect this can have is explored in some detail. The review conveys the message the director was trying to convey as a closing statement by making the point that the protagonist values his morals more than the money he is tempted by.

How effectively does the review promote and inform audiences about my short film?

I would argue that the review does promote my short film to a fairly large extent. Review’s in general attract more consumers for media products in a number of ways; they raise awareness by featuring a review on the film in commercial magazines which therefore enables the awareness of the film to reach a wider range of people. Audience research showed that people are more likely to want to watch a film if they have read about it or heard about it prior to watching.

Although the review does not give a rating for the film, the overall tone used in the main body of the review is positive. By discussing the themes and issues it entices readers who can relate to look further into the film and potentially view it which is a form of promoting the film indirectly because if the reader watches it then the people surrounding them will also be exposed to the film via word of mouth. As far as informing audiences what the film is about; the review is successful because a decent portion of the review is explaining the plot and the meaning behind it in a way the audience can understand. As well as this, the review includes a synopsis to give readers a condensed version of what the film is about.

How does the review reflect the style of the film?The review reflects the style of the film in terms of content and its design. The colour scheme used synergises with the film poster and the themes/issues within the film itself. The review was re-drafted to incorporate the red, black and white colour scheme that connects it to the main task and the other ancillary tasks. The page layout and design was carefully thought about so that it represented the feeling of entrapment that the protagonist is feeling, this is achieved by having boxed off (enclosed) sections as part of the page design.

Is the review biased in any way and what impact could this have?I would argue that the review is only slightly biased in the sense that it focuses largely on explaining the messages in the film and doesn’t give much time to critical analysis where elements of the film could have been picked apart and questioned more. Instead the review aims to give as much information rather than opinion as possible so that consumers have less questions about the film.

THE POSTERFilm award laurels

Cash in hand imagery conveys a message about the film

Colour red used to represent danger and to match the colour scheme of the review.

Tag line (in red) Star Rating

Positive quote about the film

Production credits

Negative space to represent borders and entrapment theme used in the film.

From looking at the poster what do we learn about the style of, genre of and audience for the film?

A detailed analysis of the poster can reveal a macro meaning to the micro elements that have been encoded into the design. The emphasised “cash in hand” image takes up a large percentage of the space in the poster which tells the consumer it is of importance to the film. In this case the image used reveals that the film is about money and suggests that the money has been illegally obtained, revealing conventions a of crime genre. The style is in-keeping with the main and ancillary tasks in terms of the colour scheme that matches those used in the other tasks. For the poster the colour scheme also suggests a dark/dangerous theme which combined with the imagery of money suggests themes of unemployment. The layout of the poster is enforcing the idea of the protagonist being metaphorically trapped by using the negative space efficiently to segregate the text. The audience research has shown that the title and tagline gave them a concept of what the film is about; “Mind over money suggests a decision must be made involving”. The audience for the film is young adults; this can be argued by the stereotype of crime being more common amongst young people. By including the directors name anyone familiar with previous work will be aware that the director is known for social realist texts and therefore can expect the genre to be involved in the film.

How effectively does the poster reflect/represent the themes and issues of the film?

The poster reflects the themes and issues of the film in a number of ways. The colour scheme connotes meaning that represents the overall tone of the film; the colour red being used to represent danger and the iconography of blood seen in the film, black is used to reflect the shadiness relating to the illegal work and crime aspect of the film and white is used to show the bleakness of the protagonists situation as well as the pureness of his morality. The imagery used in the film reinforces the idea of illegal activity relating to money which implies issues surrounding unemployment. The title and tagline give an indication towards the outcome of the plot; Mind Over Money meaning the protagonist believes money shouldn’t have the influence and power it can have in certain situations.

How does the poster reflect the style of the film?The poster reflects the style of the film by conveying similar meanings to those encoded into the film. This has been achieved through the use of graphics, the colour scheme and the text that has been used. The combination of these aspects tell the audience that the style of the film is social realist/crime based and for an intellectual film audience.

How effectively does the poster promote my short film?It is fair to say that the poster is reasonably effective at promoting my short film. With all of the information that has been encoded into the poster as described above, the audience have a lot of clues about the film that spark and promote interest in the media product. One way the poster promotes the film more literally is the 5 star rating that is included on the poster and the quote from secular times that talks about the film in a positive way.

What preconceptions does the poster develop in the mind of the viewer about my short film?The intended preconceptions that are developed in the mind of the viewer include the themes and issues being surrounded around unemployment, crime and money. This is achieved through the graphics integrated in the poster and the connotations surrounding the title and tagline. In terms of character the preconceptions are contrasting because the title suggests the protagonist chooses “mind over money” however the overall design of the poster portrays a darker message which creates a sense of mystery about his character.

How does the way that the review attracts an audience to my film differ from the way that my poster does?

The Review The Poster• Focus is on the text within the review and attracts

consumers by providing information and intellectual debate more than through the use of aesthetics.

• Information regarding a website where a wider audience can be reached by targeting an online market.

• Deeper analysis into the plot (attracts more of an intellectual audience).

• Opinions included from the writer of the review can lead the reader to take a larger interest in the film.

• Film synopsis included which allows readers to get a sense of whether or not they will like the film.

• Focus is on aesthetic design so that the poster can visually attract the audience.

• Including the positive 5 star rating on the poster gives the audience the knowledge that the film is ‘rated’ well and are therefore more likely to watch.

• Large font/text used to catch the eye of the reader.

• Positive quote from “secular times” promotes the film and therefore attracts the audience.

• Integrated graphics/imagery

• Award laurels show the film’s success

Does the review and poster convey/communicate the same message as the film?

The message the film conveys is that the unemployment crisis can lead good people into doing bad things and highlights how people can fall down criminal avenues. The message is also reflecting the power/influence of money whilst also demonstrating how not everyone is swayed the temptation of this.

The text content of the review is heavily focused on conveying this same message and provokes the audience to question if they would act in the same way as the protagonist. The closing statement of the review defines the message of the film as it is important in a review to make sure the audience are aware of a deeper meaning behind the film after reading the review. In terms of design the review is also aiming to convey messages related to the film. This is achieved through the synergised colour scheme that connotes meanings such as danger etc, through the page layout (rectangular enclosed sections) and through the stylistic elements such as font.

The poster communicates the message of the film through both aesthetic and text based methods. The aesthetics convey the message through the use of colour, tone, design and more. For example the negative space has been left so that the content filling the space is trapped by the picture of the cash passing hands in the same way that the protagonist is metaphorically trapped in the film. The image used conveys the idea of money being a danger and a root to almost certain trouble which when cross referenced with the bold, red title gives the viewer a powerful message before they have even seen the film.

How effectively do the tasks reference one another to promote/deepen our

understanding/introduce extra layers of meaning to the film?

The three tasks (the poster, the review and the short film) have references to one another to promote and deepen the audiences understanding of the film. Referencing in this way is often more effective when done subtly because it encourages the audience to look further in to the film. An example of a subtle link between the poster and the film is through the use of cinematography in the following shot:

This shot reflects the imagery used in the poster for the film.

This brings a new understanding and meaning to the poster once the viewer has understood the reference.

The review is full of references to the film as it is the topic of the article; this introduces extra layers of meaning by giving the reader an external understanding of specific scenes within the film and opens a debate about the protagonist and his actions within the film. There is also a still image from the film integrated into the review. The references between the review and the poster are in the form of page design and layout. They both use the same colour scheme of red black and white and they both try to create a sense of enclosure and entrapment which is a subtle reference to the metaphorical entrapment of the protagonist and his bleak employment situation in the film.