Background Research

Hello there,
As a group, and in my own personal time, i have researched into simlar styles of films that can be linked to our final idea. Our final product is going to be a short film around 5 minutes therefore we have researched into short films.
For example we watched some videos in class on youtube, and we were also showed videos by Mr Smith and Mr Ford that are related to our idea.
We watched a short film called "kiwi" by Pixar...

And we also watched this film, which we hope to use some of the techniques used in our own film...



However using stop motion for the entier video is something we dont think will be effective, therefore we are going to use stop motion in the title only.
We would like to use time lapse in our video, similar to this video below...



That will be all for now. ;)

J x

Good Website

Yo Yo Yo , this is a good website

BBC Film Network

I watched some Films on here that were really good i will post some evaluations in a bit

Cheerio , Theodore x

Posters & Advertisements

Hey guys, i've done some research into how institutions advertise their products through posters, and what conventions are used throughout.


When searching for posters which I felt I could take inspiration from I thought to look at short film posters in comparison to major budget films to see if there is a difference and if that has any certain effects. I also wanted to see what generic conventions were used, such as; the name of the film, the actors name, directors name, script writers name, a picture of the main charcter/s, the name of the institution.

In addition to this other factors may be used, such as; a star rating, a line from a review and a short snappy description.
As our group have decided to portray a short film with a moral message, we also need to think about whether this is going to be portrayed in this advertisement.


The first poster I have looked at is from the iconic British director Shane Meadows, who is famous for his short films.

This is the poster advertising Meadows short films, Somers Town.


Positives;


- The use of sepia colour, i think this reflects the fact 'Tomo', the boy in the picture on the left is on a journey searching for a brighter furture.
- The use of this effect alsoensures that the title of the film stands out, in its clear, large font.
- The picture of the main character of 'Tomo' invited the audience to see who's story they will be following in the film and familiarise themselves with his character.
- The directors name is also put in a strong, large font but does not over power the title of the film and is slightly more reserved in white.
- The order of importance is clearly shown through the size of fonts from the title, to the director to the script writer.


Negitives;

- The name of the institution is not that clear, however on a larger scale this may be different. However, if trying to promote smaller institutions this is not clearly highlighted.
- The other main character is not shown in this particular poster, this therefore does not give a 100% fair portrayal of the story, as the character of 'Marek', is also a major part in this production.
- To the naked eye, this may not be as eye catching as surrounding posters in a magazine/ bus stop etc. a line of description could alter that, and therefore grab more attention.



The second poster i have looked at is from the director Sam Mendes, from a major American blockbuster.

This is a poster advertising the famous 1999, dark comedy; American Beauty starring Kevin Spacey.


Positives;

- I like the way this poster is not moulded into the generic conventions which are usually seen, this adds interest and could intrigue an audience.
- The title again, is demonstarted clearly. By using the colourblack, it stands out against the coulour skin tone. In addition to this the word 'beauty' being shown in bold suggests this may be a key feature in the film.
- The use of the rose could be seem as symbolism and may suggest certain genres within the film such as romance.
- The layout of this particular poster is very clear, and clean cut,the name of the main acotor & actress are displayed at the top of the poster which are clear to see.
'...look closer' suggests a twist in the film, this could intrigue the audience into what, and may attract them to the film.


Negitives;

- Even though i like the way this poster is very different, and leaves alot to the audiences imagination, it also leaves them to picture the main characters. This may be intentional as they will be seen as 'celebrities' however, featuring in the poster advertises them even more and attracts audiences who may already be fans of their previous and specific actors work.
- The information in the bottom right hand corner, even though in smaller font and more discrete then the other titles, makes the mysterious poster become alot more formal in my eyes. I also believe that some of the information may not have been necessary in the paragraph.
- The name of the director is not mentioned clearly on the poster, I believe this is an important factor miseed as this production would be seen as his 'image/ creation' and credit should be given where due.
- The script writers name is also not clearly apparent. This would allow an audience to notice their work, and also be able to recognise their work in the future.

Over & Out, Caity x

Youtube Research

Hello, as a group we have been researching different short films and clips on youtube, this is helping us with the brainstorming processes as its allowing us to see different techniques that have been used. Here I have included all of the films I have looked at which have influenced our short film, there are elements of all of these clips which I would like to include in our film.

This is one of the first clips we watched while brainstorming ideas for our short film, it is an advert for the film Science of Sleep. I particularly like the technique that has been used for the text that appears throughout the clip, such as "Stephanie is Creative" this is something we could create in our film as it is something we could achieve by writing the titles and filming them, or using stop motion. As a group we have decided that we do not want to include dialogue in our film, as this is something we think could ruin it. Therefore the idea of writing key things, or using writing to introduce characters could be something we could use instead of dialogue. Something else I noticed and took note of in this clip is the various different camera angles, showing different perspectives, one i particularly liked was the shot looking through a peep hole in a door.. I think this could be created by using a fish eye effect on the camera, and may make our film more interesting. There is a mix of 'real life' and imaginary elements in this clip which makes it appear quirky and different, this is something we would like to achieve with our short film.

This is a stop motion clip I found on youtube, something that really stood out to me with this clip is how fitting the music is with the action. I think that the music really adds to effect of the clip, and after watching the film in silence I think it makes it more exciting and interesting. Another thing I liked about this clip is how clever it is, an example of this the part with the clothing changes, where the man points to his outfit and it changes quickly - this element of clever and quickness is something we would like to achieve with our film. I also like the way that there is no dialogue in this clip. I think that using elements of stop motion is something that we could achieve with our short film, however I feel that a whole 5 minute film of stop motion may be a bad idea as it could get boring! I also think that the music is similar to music we could create ourselves.

These are two time lapse videos I have found while searching on youtube, the first is of moving traffic and the second is of a skyline. Both have been filmed over a period of time and speeded up, this increases the pace of clips. We could use elements of time lapse in our short film, as we have been brainstorming different ideas for what our film could be based on.. we thought of showing the routines of daily life, maybe following a protagonist through a typical day, this could include elements of stop motion, time lapse, signposted lettering and written text. Time lapse is something that could look really effective if it is done correctly, however we could easily slip up and it could result in our film looking amateur. One problem with time lapse we have thought of is the battery life of the cameras, if we filmed something such as clouds, we could leave the camera plugged in, placed at a window for example.. however with traffic this is more difficult. We would have to take this into consideration when planning the story boards for our film.

This is a clip from the opening credits of the film Juno, I have included this in my research as I find the mix between animation and film inspiring. When searching for this clip on youtube I found lots of copies of it, and this lead me to study the drawings in the clip, they are quite simple, as well as this, the movement of the female character walking across the drawings is slow and simple. This makes me think that this is a technique we could include in our film, using stop motion we could film the drawings and then gradually move them along to create the idea of the character walking through animation and film. The opening is only 2 minutes 24 seconds, and I dont think we could use this technique for the whole of our film as it would then become and animation, which isnt really what we want to create. However we could use elements of this technique in our film, for example the protagonist walking along and his surroundings turning into animation for a few seconds.. or maybe the film starts with the character being an animation and then he walks into 'real life' either way this is deffinately a technique we could consider.

xoxo

Genres' I Watch.

Hi Guys, I thought i would tell you a few genres i like to watch and films you might want to check out,

The Type Of Films I like to watch:

- British Gangster , such as lock, stock and two smoking barrels, snatch, rock'n'rolla, these films inspire the way that i like to use the camera to make the editing quick and snappy but also unusaul and less conventional camera angles.

- Classic or Cult Films such as , Leon the proffesional, Stand by me, the shawshank redemption, these films give me a basis or great films with clever and heart warming story lines. i have will use this experience to write a good plot for my five minute film.

I recommend watching, Leon the professional, Shawshank Redemption, Sleepers, Carlito's Way and Scummy Man - Arctic Monkeys

Cheerio , Theodore x

Product Outline

Today we were introduced to A2 media and briefed on the expectations of what we 'could' achieve through our practical work.
We were give the choice of 7 options; all incorporating film & text.
release of an album.

promotion package for a new film.

- Advertising a new product or service.

- A promotion package for a new computer game/ video game.

- A promotion package for a new soap opera.

- A selection of material related to an original children's Tv drama.

- An extract from a new documentry TV programme.

- A short film in its entirety.

As a group we decided on 'a short film in its entirety', i believe this was a good choice to make due to the techniques and skills we can demonstrate if done properly. In AS media, i chose to do film so have a knowledge of most of the equipment. However, during our practical this year as a group we will have the oppurtunity to display a text piece aswel. By having a group of four, i believe this gives us the chance to mix our skills together as we have two pupils who did film last year & two who did print.

A short film in its entirety; includes a 5 minute film, a advertising poster & a film magazine review.

Knowing what needs to be included in the package allows me to focus on essential stimuli i could look at for inspiration, certain techniques and certain conventions such as; the picture of the main actor including a name.

Over & Out, Caity x