Film Poster Analysis- Horror Genre

 I created a piece of work containing many modern horror genre film posters, and analyzed how each effectively create the impression of belonging to the horror genre. Each uses dark, muted colors and sinister imagery and motifs to successfully foreshadow fear and danger within the narrative.

Mise en scene Research

As part of my research into the production of my very own five minute short film, I was first to understand how everything in front of the camera in each scene is essential in its overall genre adaptability, understanding, and effect upon the audience.
One definition of this exactly, everything in front of the camera, states:


Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story" —both in visually artful ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design, and in poetically artful ways through direction.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_sc%C3%A8ne)

It basically refers to everything placed in front of the camera, how it is arranged, and what purpose it has there (which the individual audience member is left to interpret). It includes several aspects of a scene, such as costume, props, lighting, composition, actors and set. I will research further into detail each of these aspects, in order to fully understand what I will need to incorporate in my final short film.

Set design 

An important element of "putting in the scene" is set design—the setting of a scene and the objects (props) therein. Set design can be used to amplify character emotion or the dominant mood of a film, or to establish aspects of the character.

Lighting 

The intensity, direction, and quality of lighting have a profound effect on the way an image is perceived. Light (and shade) can emphasise texture, shape, distance, mood, time of day or night, season, glamour; it affects the way colors are rendered, both in terms of hue and depth, and can focus attention on particular elements of the composition.

Space 

The representation of space affects the reading of a film. Depth, proximity, size and proportions of the places and objects in a film can be manipulated through camera placement and lenses, lighting, set design, effectively determining mood or relationships between elements in the

story world.

Costume 

Costume simply refers to the clothes that characters wear. Using certain colors or designs, costumes in narrative cinema are used to signify characters or to make clear distinctions between characters.

Acting 

There is enormous historical and cultural variation in performance styles in the cinema. Early melodramatic styles, clearly indebted to the 19th century theater, gave way in Western cinema to a relatively naturalistic style.

Viral Marketing Research

To further develop my researching process into the production of my five minute film, we studied the use of viral marketing in coercion with the success of popular mystery films. Famous titles, addressed above in the presentation such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" all became famous from the production and incorporation of viral marketing.
It can be defined as follows:

"Viral marketing and viral advertising, (buzzwords), refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes"

This means that, through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or even interactive film websites set up and heavily detailled, producers and marketers are able to reach massive audiences whilst still in the early stages of film production. Mysterys are developed and created, little revelation of details about the film itsself are given, and slowly but surely, fan sites and members build as the clues are tried to be pieced together, to attempt to make some sort of sense out of the enigma. It is a highly successful, yet cheap method of marketing, and many examples of this have been seen ever since the birth of the internet.

The earliest account was, "The Blair Witch Project", created in 1999 by Robin Cowie and
Gregg Hale. Previously mentioned as one of the leading successors in cheap production huge profit, it heavily exploited the capabilities of the internets mass audience, and the possibilities of incorporating many different aspects of multimedia into the marketing of the film. Because it could be created so cheaply, and due to the ease and extreme success of the viral marketing campaign, the creators made a very large profit.

Another aspect of its extreme success was its incorporation of "Hyper-realism". They created a background to their horrific tale, even adding a section for mythology that details the events leading up to the students doomed journey. They even went as far, in terms of making it as believable as possible, to produce a section focused on "The Aftermath", explaining and documenting the evidence that show the students were in fact killed during that horrific night. 
Photographs of their ruined bags and clothes are shown, marked as "Evidence", and films from those individuals who supposedly found the evidence, under a 100 year old bunker cabin, explaining that there was no possible way it could have got there.

Another film that has been possibly the most successful viral marketing campaign of all time was that of the "The Dark Knight", the most recent batman film. It began months before its premiere, and we as the mass internet audience, were introduced into the world of The Joker, as he created a list on website " http://www.whysoserious.com/ " of to do things that would wreak havoc around the globe. The response was enormous.


The video below outlines the extent of the influence and effect over the people of the world, solely from this viral marketing campaign.

The impact this particular viral campaign had was so substantial, an almost alternate life was created, in which people were able to feel part, or a 'citizen', of a fictional Gotham City. 

Audience and Reviews

To carry out this particular section of research, I must focus on the audience, the most important factor in the decision and outlining of my overall short films plot. The audience, as a collective and each individual, is integral to its success, and we as directors must adhere to their preferences in order to allow the short film to be a success. For example, if I chose to create a short film of the romance genre, but no one I had asked who may be watching the short film had chosen that as a particular preference, they would lose interest quickly, and it would not turn out a success.

To begin my research on what audiences want and expect out of short films, I composed a questionnaire. I felt this form of inquiry was most personal, and would enable me to receive all the essential answers to any queries I may have regarding the production and success of short films, both existing and yet to be made. The majority of people I handed my questionnaire to were in the age cache of 18-36, and I felt this was most important, as my film will be watched by people in this age group, therefore their opinions and ideas are most valued. I have provided a screen shot of what my questionnaire looked like. The questions included:

Screen shot of my
Audience Research Survey

• What kinds of films do you enjoy?
• Do short films interest you? If so, how?
• What is your favorite genre of film?
• What is your favorite short film?
• Where would you watch a short film?
• What makes a good short film? What interests you most?
• How do you think a short film could be best publicized? Through viral marketing? Film festivals?
• What key features would you like to see in a new short film? (E.g. Unusual characters, different settings, aspects of the paranormal, etc.)

I was very pleased with my questionnaire questions, as I felt they cover all aspects of areas I felt unsure of how to develop concerning the audiences preferences. From the results, I was able to piece together several certainties concerning the production and development of my short film ,in order to make it a success. After receiving the results and piecing them together, I felt it was most effective to produce an Xtranormal presentation outlining them in an interesting, unusual way. I have embedded this below: 





I thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with the capabilities of the Xtranormal medium of presentation software, and felt the final product was interesting and effective in presenting my results in a different way. 
Now that my results have been accumulated and formed a picture of how my very own short film should be developed and publicized, I will summarize them in a list of bullet points, to outline a clear structure of audience opinion:

• As horror was the most popular genre among individuals of this age cache, I will develop my short film plot surrounding the conventions and codes of a horror genre piece. As comedy was a close follower, I will incorporate aspects of humour into plot and dialogue, thus making it a hybrid genre film. This will add unusual and interesting aspects to a seemingly guessable storyline
• 9 people, the majority, said that they did enjoy short films, though 7 people said they did not. Due to this mixture of beliefs, I will work hard to make my short film as entertaining and interesting as possible, in order for it to be a success. It was concluded that many did not enjoy them due to a lack of depth, therefore I will add as much detail to my film within the time period of five minutes allocated to make it as concise and thoroughly exact as capable.
• Unusual plot lines and unexpected twists were aspects highlighted as being most effective. The storyline I will develop will be complicated yet easy to follow, and incorporate an unexpected turn of events in order to maintain interest and add alternate perspectives. 
• "Im Here" by Spike Jonze was the main short film people had heard of, and was mentioned frequently, over 12 times. This could be a point of interest, and I have focused upon its composition frequently throughout my coursework; it could be a focal point for aspects of intrigue the audience look for.
• Short films are most frequently watched when recommended by others.  By heavily publicizing my finished product through mediums such as You tube, its success could be broadened by word of mouth, or by social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. As you tube was found as the most popular medium for watching short films, I will heavily focus upon it as a starting point for getting my short film noticed and watched.
• Film festivals were highlighted as an easy and popular way for short films to be brought to light. I will research their effectiveness in the success of films. However, it was viral marketing that was recognised as the most effective form of publication. After extensive research on the capabilities and past successes of viral marketing, I feel comfortable with the prospect of perhaps developing this idea and making my short film well recognised via this form of media recognition. Perhaps by establishing a website? Creating an enigma about the short film before its release?
• Time as an element of intrigue within a short film story line was brought up frequently, a total of 8 times throughout the questionnaire. I will most definitely incorporate this aspect, and make time elements of change, expansion or reversal clear through typical conventions such as camera angles and lighting associated with the change of time. 

It is now clear what specific elements must be incorporated into my short film, in order for it to become successful, and appeal to the audiences. 

An interesting point of focus concerning pre existing film successes could be the process of which reviews of particular films take place. Reviews can have a substantial level of influence over whether someone decides to watch a film or not, and there are several highly popular websites that retain this influence. I will now look in depth at these websites, in order to gain perspective on how the review process works, and what attracts or deters an audience individual from a certain film, solely due to reviewers opinion.

Rotten Tomatoes

This particular review website enables the individual to decide whether a film is "fresh" or "rotten", with many written critiques 
available to read, and agree or disagree with. It instantly recognises you from your facebook page should you have an account, to "personalize the experience", an aspect I was taken aback by due to its seemingly invasive nature. 

If you choose a particular film to 'review', it gives details of box office money success, its length, director, and how many ratings it has had. It goes with the majority, in this case fresh. I feel its influence over what people feel about a particular film is great, as its biased synopsis of a film and wording of opinion by the individual critiquer is set in a way to sway the online individual towards a certain standing, good or bad. Personally, I don't feel the review process it uses is professional, though admit it did sway my opinion slightly concerning films I haven't even seen yet. Should I go to see the films I read reviews on, I feel it may have a minor impact over my overall opinion of them , though should I entirely enjoy the film, it would probably make no difference whether the review I read was bad or good. It is because of its highly persuasive nature, mainly due to linguistic factors, that this particular review website could be essential in the success of a new short film. Should the overall review regard it as "fresh", it could sway many individuals towards watching it. 

Short Film Directors- Why Make A Short Film?

Joe Nussbaum

There have been many tales of success concerning the production of a short film, just a small idea that has developed, at a low cost, into a widespread hit and a massive phenomena. I researched the reasoning behind why directors decide to produce short films, and found that overall, it was all on a basis of funding. Directors such as Joe Nussbaum, ("George Lucas in Love"), Alex Merkin, ("Across the Hall"), and, a point of my own subject focus, Spike Jonze ("I'm Here")  all struggled with the idea of profit. Jonze struck lucky and found sponsorship in the form of vodka company Smirnoff, an internationally recognised and reputable company that allowed his initial idea to stem and develop, resulting in a highly successful slightly lengthy half an hour short film.                

There could be many reasons why an individual decides to produce a short film. They are ideal for a simple, or short plot line and narrative, 



Award Winning Spike Jonze



free from the constraints of extensive budgets necessary to create multi-million pound box office hits with never-before-seen special effects, and effective in their very own quirky, individual sense. Once the film has been created, the last finishing touches added, and the credits produced, all that is left to do to get your product out into the market is get it played at one of the many film festivals that are gaining increasing popularity. If the audience like your film, then you could be in for recieving a massive amount of profit from such a small project.



Alex Merkin (Left)



The success of many directors of short films is evident. It all stems from the simple fact that their usually humble origins are of the everyday working class, and their ability to create from their own imaginative minds a realistic and interesting, whilst extremely entertaining short film. The audience can relate to them, and thus from this laugh along, share the comical antics of the person onscreen ( who is just another average joe, more often than not) and thoroughly enjoy the film in its simplest form; free from the facade of block buster special effects and false faced actors.

I researched the reasoning behind creating short films, and found an interesting article, that highlights the rising success of the short film industry, on http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/short-films--brief-encounters-of-the-increasingly-popular-kind-2094256.html . The journalists views outlines its basic success to date, and incorporates many of the reasoning behind creating such a film similar to what I have found.

In summation, I now know enough of the pro's as to why someone would decide to make a short film, to understand the process behind my very own future feature length. Its success and likeability however, will all depend on my most important factor in its production; the individual audience member in society.





Radio Trailer and Double Page Spread Interview

As part of the development and research into the production of my film, I decided to, as part of my marketing and research, create a radio trailer clip of music and a double page spread interview, as if speaking with producer, Spike Jonze. By doing this, I feel it will help me develop my marketing research in preparation for my own short feature film, and allow me to understand the methods in which advertisers and market researchers use to create an enigma around up coming film

Radio Trailer Music by ag4939

This radio trailer music took a while to develop, using the software, "Garage Band". As neither me nor any of my team members had used this particular software before, we found it at first difficult to get to grips with its different capabilities and many applications, but eventually grasped the concepts. We added various instruments and undertones of beats to our track, and eventually developed what is now our final piece. We thoroughly enjoyed its development, as we were able to build new skills in further programmes on the apple mac computers, and prepare for our very own film music, which we will need to create ourselves.

Our second production task required me to either create a film poster advertising the short film, "Im Here", or a double page spread of an interview with the director, Spike Jonze. I decided to develop the interview spread, as I felt I could best incorporate his reasons and details behind the production of the film through this method, and give more to the audience than a simplistic poster would. 

I found its production easier than that of the radio trailer, as I have used photshop previously for many of my media projects. I used the website, www.dafont.com to get the variety of fonts I used, and searched various websites for the main image used in the background. I asked questions such as, "What was production of the film like? I bet it was a tough journey?" and "Where did your inspiration stem from?". Of course the answers developed were not of his own words, but after extensive research and detailled answering I feel this finished product is professional and readable to a wider audience, and perhaps could be included in a film enthusiast magazine.

Double Page Spread Interview with Director Spike Jonze

In summation, I enjoyed this particular task of distribution. The research I carried out concerning Spike Jonze however has interested me to carry out a deeper level of investigation into why amateur and new directors choose to create a short film. I will now look at a further range of successful other directors, and their reasonings behind such methods of production of their chosen art form of short films.

''I'm Here"

One of the main short films we focused on was, "I'm Here"by Spike Jonze, an emotive short film about robots falling in love, and being completely selfless and devoted to the one you love. The central character, an old model robot named Sheldon, finds love in the form of the much newer, prettier pink model of Francesca. Their love blooms, and Sheldon no longer feels alone in a mad fast paced world that discriminates heavily against robot kind. When Francesca has an accident, and looses half an arm, Sheldon himself takes the old useless one, and replaces it with his very in own in an act of love, and continues to do this for a leg, and, finally, his whole body.


This short film is an excellent example of what our film should mirror, though is quite lengthy (30 mins approx.) It incorporates humour, video effects and graphics, and won many awards.
Below is the trailer for "I'm Here". We studied in detail the sound aspects, as now will create both a double spread interview and a radio trailer clip that could be used to advertise the film.



The trailer alone entices the audience, and involves the audience in the robots lives of seclusion and neglect, but also hope and new found happiness. I will now create both a radio broadcast trailer theme tune, and a double page interview mock up with the director Spike Jonze. By doing this, it will allow me to understand how to incorporate various features of media into my very own short film, and hopefully allow a deeper insight into the production and development.

Short Film Research

In order to fully understand some key concepts of producing a short film, I undertook some research into certain necessary components to involve in it. I found an article, entitled, "How to write a good short film script", written and included in the Sunday Times. 

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3336775.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

Many of the aspects outlined in this article highlight the importance of making an effective yet reasonably short storyline. Also, it addresses the necessity of being realistic of your film making capabilities; if you have limited funds, do not plan big car chases, fires and explosions and extra special effects that will astound even Hollywood directors. It is an extremely helpful article, and I will now include many important facts and features within that will help me to further plan and create an effective short film of my own. 

Any kind of dramatic story requires 3 basic elements:
 

• A world

• A character

• A problem

Short films are no different; you just have less time to establish and develop each element. Most successful short films focus on ONE moment or event in the life of ONE main character. Because of that it is unusual for a short film to take place over a long period of time – it’s usually just looking at the immediate build up to and/or consequences of that one event. A lot of the best short films play out more or less in ‘real’ time, and a story that spreads over more than a few days is unlikely to work well as a short film. 

Another popular setting for the short film is the journey. Most short films focus on a pivotal, significant event in the life of the main character so that the story inevitably takes the character on a metaphorical emotional journey and it can work well to use a literal journey as its setting.  

The most important questions to ask yourself when you begin to develop your story are:

Who is the main character?

What is their problem?

How will the audience recognize the problem?
Are the stakes high enough?

Am I telling the story from the best point of view? 

The audience must be clear from the outset who the film is about and they won’t be if you aren’t. Your main character is the one who has the problem and if there isn’t a character in the story with a problem then you don’t have a film, or at least not one that will work as a dramatic narrative.

What is driving your main character through the story must be one of the following:

• a want
• a need
• an obligation 

You probably don’t set out to write a film with a moral or even with a conscious awareness of what your story means but every story communicates some meaning to the audience. Once you are sure how the story begins and ends then you have a clear indication of its meaning and this will help you make important choices as you refine and develop your script particularly in relation to... 

The Tone of the Film

Tone is intimately connected to genre and though genre is less of an issue in shorts than in features it is still important to think about what kind of film you are writing in broad terms.

These helpful elements and extracts have assisted me in my understanding of the world of short films, and from their guidance I will now research other aspects that are important to the general composition of my film, such as the pre-existing extremely successful short film by Spike Jonze, "I'm Here", funded by Absolut vodka. The end product will definitely include each aspect i have researched in depth, and hopefully tie all loose strings of audience preference, location choice and filming techniques together to create an effective and highly entertaining five minute short film.

Across The Hall - Short Film vs Hollywood.

Another interesting aspect of research into the world of short films showed the contrast of the blockbuster Hollywood production, and the composition of the short film. The short film, "Across the Hall" was created in




The original 25 minute long short film, "Across the Hall", was created in 2006 by director Alex Merkin. A relatively new director, this being his only well know publication, was an instant success as it was received with great appraisal at a number of film festivals, winning Audience Favorite at Palm Springs in 2006. Below is the short film trailer, created on a small budget, yet with an extremely effective profit turn out and a highly suspenseful film.

Across the Hall (Short Film) Trailer from Gary Gimelfarb on Vimeo.

It was so successful in fact, that Merkin was contacted and asked to direct a full length version of the film, in which the final product was a 93 minute Hollywood adaption. Below i have again included the trailer yet this time for the blockbuster version, and the differences are minimal, apart from the style of filming and the inclusion of well known actors, such as the late Brittany Murphy.

Across The Hall Feature Film Trailer from Gary Gimelfarb on Vimeo.

When looking from a comparative angle, it is evident the second version has been extremely glamourised, and often fails to retain the gritty harsh reality of the situation that the short film does so well, and so briefly. The short films length adds to the heightened sense of urgency and suspense, as the audience is aware it must come to a heart stopping climax, and fast. In this case of short film vs hollywood adaption, it is of my own opinion that the short film is most effective in shocking and horrifying the audience using time as a key aspect of fear and urgency. When creating my own short film, I will aim to include aspects of suspense to keep the audience engaged and unable to guess what is coming next. I thoroughly enjoyed this production, and hopefully my final piece will be effective and successful. 

Passage of Time- Palindrome

We recently looked at an extremely unusual short film, entitled 'Palindrome'. After much research into how my overall film will be produced and layed out, the topic of time still came into much consideration, as it an extremely interesting and versatile, yet necessary element that must be incorporated into my final piece.

Its overall seemingly complicated composition would not be very difficult to recreate; it is merely shots taken, played backwards, and positioned in an order that allows the individual to be able to decipher what is happening on screen. Its black and white tone gives a film noir effect, and we subconciously immediately recognise it as being a foreign film, before the subtitles have even began.

Short Films

To begin research on producing and planning a 5 minute film, we looked at several examples of popular short films in the media currently. Each incorporated a different new twist, and fitted a lot of interesting footage, camera angles, effects, and sound into such a small slot of time, whilst maintaining a clear storyline, and a start, middle and finish. I have embedded some examples of the ones watched that I felt were most effective, and could be used as the basic principle behind my own short films production. 









This short film, entitled, "Temptation" has won many awards for its effective manner and serious tone. Though it is not set in an orinary "film" manner, and structured in the form of a poem reading, it is effective in remaining poingnant in the audiences members mind, and question them to consider its message, and think about what is truly being said. When looking with consideration to my own coursework, it is a possibility that the concept of using a serious message as inspiration could work, and be the basis of my films ideology. 








Another short film, though 7 minutes long, entitled "Spin" is an alternative look at the outcomes of one minute action, and what would happen if things changed and altered. It has a clear and concise set of events, and toys with idea of magic and mystery, through use of video effects. I would highly consider using an idea similar to this in my short film. The aspect of time alteration is a flexible and interesting one, and I will definitely research further into using such an easily achievable yet highly regarded effect, with other short films that address this idea.








The humorous short 7 minute film above, is called, "They are made out of meat". It uses setting and character to effectively create a mock serious situation, with a discussion between two apparent other worldy beings. Its main device is the humorous aspects, and it uses little video effects, which contributes to its drama yet comedy basis. The setting is seemingly very basic, as the entirety of the film is set in an American diner. This particular type film would also be easily achievable, as settings would be limited in my own film, yet none the less significant in its success and effectiveness. This film is interesting and humorous partly due to its simplicity, and I feel that aspect could be extremely versatile, and easily incorporated into my own short film, to make it just as effective.


After researching these short film examples, I will now look at the means behind the production of them, and the reasoning as to why they were produced in the first place, and who for; what audiences are atttracted by short films? How are they publicised? Where is funding attained from? I will research into these questions in order to gain a deeper insight into the industry of short film making as a whole, resulting in successfully producing my own, with a purpose and an intended audience. 

Barthe's Five Codes

Here I have created a presentation using the website www.prezi.com to show the linguist Roland Barthes' five narrative codes, that are used throughout narrative development and storymaking.

The Importance Of Genre

Genre is an important device in the creation of new films, used by producers to develop upon films of a similar nature, so the audiences are able to, to a certain extent, predict whats to come, and know what to expect. Certain aspects are kept similar throughout films of a similar nature, such as murder and spooky settings in horror films, or love and a problematic situation with humorous consequences in a Rom Com. However, though most aspects of a new film of a specific genre can often be anticipated, producers attempt to introduce new and exciting features, unpredictable within a common genre structure to entice audiences and keep them guessing.

Examples of this include-

Horror
Mass murderer
Damsel in distress
Desolate landscape/ building
Blood and gore
Fast paced cuts and quiet creeping piano music

Sci Fi
Futuristic settings (e.g. space)
Far advanced technology
Aliens and other-worldy creatures
Fast paced action
Battle scenes/ warfare


All these features are instantly recognisable within the audience members mind as aspects of specific genre based films. However, through trailers and poster promotions selling a specific film to an audience, stars and celebrities common to certain roles, be they action heroine or quiet serial killer, can also make a films genre pre-recognisable, and be the deciding factor in whether or not someone decides to view a particular film.

For Example-

Angelina Jolie is renowned
for her active, heroine roles,
where the female takes
control and saves the day,
although has also been known
to perform well in more challenging,
drama roles, such as 'Changeling'.
She challenges many typical
conventions of a female role
in a film, and the individual
may choose to see a particular
film, solely due to her participation.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is another example of an individual commonly seen in specific roles. Known for action packed Hollywood Blockbuster films, he is nearly always the hero, jam packed with guns and machines to complement his muscley physique, and saves the day, rescuing the damsel in distress. Though, similar to Angelina Jolie, a select few of his roles include a softer side to the hard man, such as, "KinderGarten Cop", a comedy where he is a soft and gentle teacher. However, though this is an unusual role to see him in, the incorporation of crime fighting and fight scenes keeps his main role expectancy alive.

Lesson One- Film Trailers and Genre Recognition
We have looked at many different film trailers, to attempt to identify whether or not genre can be easily recognisable from a quick paced serious of clips and plot summary, which we often briefly see in a film trailer.

Kill Bill.








Within this film trailer, it was immediately evident the main genre throughout would be action, due to its fast paced sequencing and iconography, of long bladed knives and martial arts. However, a Western theme from the graphics and the close ups of weaponary and just the eyes is evident, perhaps adding a different twist to a seemingly straightforward search and kill tale. Music is heavily digetic, with the clinking of blades and shouting. Camera shots and angles focus on tracing and mid shots, with the camera constantly moving and changing direction to maintain interest, and add to the fast paced action and immediacy.
I thought overall this film trailer was effective in distinguishing genre , though failed to clearly detail the narrative, or give clues as to whether or not it was chronological, its place of setting, or what the general idea was. Perhaps the director chose to do this, in order to pull audiences in with clues and mystery, making them more inclined to go and see the film.


Kill Bill Vol 2.







In order to distinguish whether or not director Quentin Tarantino often did this with his many successful blockbuster films, we then watched Kill Bill Vol 2, the sequel to the first. The second trailer cohears alongside the first, with its western iconograpy and bloody violence aspects. This time however a clearer picture can be built, due to its revelation of her life before the first film, and reasoning behind her vengeful journey.


Lesson Two- Further understanding of film classification.


Hybrid Films
Where more often than not films tend to consist of one sole genre, for easy recognisability, some times directors choose to combine two or more, to create a hybrid film. This consists of two genres, such as horror and romance, or possibly more, mixed together to add a brand new exciting aspect to a previously predicatble tale. There are many more emerging in todays society, as an expanding audience of all ages grows more and more hungry for new and unexpected twists and turns in hollywood blockbusters. Examples of hybrid films include :

1. Twilight- a horror tale of vampires, with an intergrated fresh young love story, bringing a modern twist to an age old taboo.

2. Harry Potter-  A wizarding spellbinding story of magic and mystery, with many interlinking mini- genre aspects, such as love, action, and horror.

3. White Chicks- This film is generally under the category of comedy, with its humourous antics and unrealistic storyline, though is throughout closely linked with crime and action, as the two central characters battle to unearth lies and fight the bad guys along the way, with a madcap outcome.


Hybrid films are particularly effective in keeping audiences entertained, and curious, as the plots tend to take unexpected routes, and turn what would be an average predicatble storyline into an intriguing enjoyable watch.


Summary- In 250 words, explain why genre is important to both directors and audiences when watching and the production of films.

It is evident that there are many advantages to using to genre to form the foundations of a film. By choosing a specific genre, aspects of narrative can be identified, and thus incorporated into the film, such as blood and gore for horror, to create an effective and easily recognisable genre film. Directors find it essential in development, as without it, there would be little to go by on how to form characters, setting, and general plot. Also, by using genre as a basis, new exciting twists can be incorporated to allow a fresh outlook on an ageing plot. Audiences find genre essential, as their favourite can be identified. Then, the specific aspects of their favourite genre can then be recognised in other new films, and from this, they are more likely to want to go and watch a film of their preferred specification.

Introduction to A2

The second part of my A level within media involves an in depth analysis of the film industry and production, with a large amount of focus on the production and means behind short films. After much research into several key areas, such as the importance of genre initially, audiences and reasons why they watch what they watch, short film directors, and viral marketing, plus many more aspects, I will then begin the initial planning and production stages that should hopefully result in a short 5 minute length film of my very own, as my final piece.




To carry out my research, I will have to use many different forms of media in order to fully understand and develop all the possibilities that I could incorporate into my own piece of film. I will use You tube as a valid and primary source of videos and short film clips, that will help me compare and analyse pre-existing films, and perhaps gain a deeper understanding of what my film could entail. Prezi, a special presentation- making website, will also be extremely useful in presenting the information I have found in a different and interesting way, and show my knowledge and understanding of particular software. Photo shop will be used to develop and create a double page interview spread or film poster for a pre-existing successful short film, and Garage band will allow me to develop and experiment with sounds and dialogue, which hopefully will result in the development of a radio trailer clip again for a pre existing short film. 


Overall, I am confident that, through extensive planning of film and audience as a whole, and much in depth analysis of the pre-existing products available, I will be able to successfully produce a 5 minute short film to a good standard.


BRIEF.

You are to create a SHORT FILM in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live saction or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following acilliary task options:
A POSTER for the film.
EITHER a RADIO TRAILER or a FILM MAGAZINE REVIEW PAGE featuring a review and analysis of the film.

The coursework is marked out of 100. The marks are shared out in the following way

Practical work: 60 marks (10 marks poster, 10 marks article or trailer, 40 marks film)
You will recieve a copy of the mark scheme detailling how the work is assessed. For the poster and article/ radio trailer it is essential that you participate fully in the creation and production of the work. If you wish to make your own that is a very good idea. You can produce one per group but you must work on the tasks together and prove that you have participated fully.

Research and Planning Evidence: 20 marks
This evidence is all to be displayed on your blog. It needs to be as multi-media as possible. Don't put lots of text, instead upload video examples, links research, photos, audio clips, Prezis, slideshare links.

Types of things to go on blog for Research and Planning:
Genre and narrative research
Mise-en-scene/lighting,
Comparative textual analysis of posters, short films and reviews and film magazines,
Extensive audience research (interviews, focus groups, surveys (videos of vox pops, online surveys), Practice tasks,
Reviews of short films,
Market research,
Industry based information,
Drafts of work (all tasks) including storyboards, scripts, mock-ups, etc.
Sound practice,
Risk Assessments/ Recce checks,
Filming/ production diary (How about setting up a twitter account to tweet about what is achieved each day and link it to your blog)
Cast list, crew list, props, loactions.
Photos documenting planning stages

Evalutaion: 20 marks
Using your blog - or creating a DVD extra - you will produce an evaluation covering informed responses to the 4 following questions;

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge  forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

A few points to consider:

• You are advised to produce blogs which link to video clips of your work, evidence of audience research, photographs of production, links to research into analyses of comparative texts.
• The evaluation must not read like an essay but must still be advanced in regards to the detail it contains.
• If producing a DVD extra it needs to be expertly filmed/ recorded. It should include short film video clip links to explore how you used and challenged forms and conventions, and other footage relevant to the 4 evaluation questions. (Audience feedback and focus groups, film of audience watching the film (screen tests) demonstrations of technology being used. comparisons to other texts / marketing campaigns.)

THIS WORK IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE A2 COURSE.

Section A of the exam focuses on the coursework production which means that the coursework amounts to 75% of your overall A2 grade.

Your instructions:

Your film must  have the theme of, or make reference to, TIME and also TECHNOLOGY.

You must make use of one or more narrative concepts to help you to tell your story.

You must select a genre or hybrid for your film.  Follow Lacey's scheme of genre to ensure you follow some of the codes and conventions but you might also challenge some conventions to offer something new/ refreshing to the audience.

With short films being a fast growing medium how might you engage with your audience and involve them/ interest them in your product? AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION and INTERACTION. This will help with your promotional campaign.

You have to decide whot he audience will be (demographics) and how your film will be distributed and exhibited to that audience.

INITIAL PLANNING: Complete these tasks in your groups:

• List as many films as you can that already use time as a concept. (See Powerpoint on portal for ideas).
• In what ways do they use time as a concept?
• What technologies could include? (Think of some that may be relevant to your audience or to the narrative of your film)
• What could happen in the film?
• Who or what could the film be about?
• In what era will your film set?
• Where will it be set?
• What genre will you choose?
• How will mise-en-scene help to communicate meaning?

Photograph your notes or turn them into a prezi (one per group) and upload onto your blog. (Research and Planning evidence)

• Think of an appropraite title for your film.
• Look at the tips and "rules" of short film making
• Create your own list of rules of making s successful short film.