Textual Analysis: Film Poster 2

This poster belongs to that of a documentary rather than a fictional narrative. It consists of three sections varying in colour: blue, grey/white and red. Although the colours can be associated with places such as France, USA and Britain, the colours can also hint towards the genre. For example, the red connotes a sense of danger, strongly associated with the colour of blood and therefore murder. As well as this, the blue tones portray a contrasting sense of composure, seriousness and tranquility; when presented together, the colours are often associated with heroism. The audience then expects to see some sort of crime/mystery genre running throughout the documentary, as well as a possible theme of action, which are all reinforced through the tagline.

The tag-line at the top uses a list of three (a mystery. a cover up. a crime) in order to draw in the audience, by with-holding information the audience are made curious, therefore causing them to ask questions (e.g. what mystery, what cover up, what crime?) The grey section uses an extreme close up of who we assume is the figure 'Tillman'; this draws in the audience due to creating a sense of intensity. The eye contact becomes a central focus alluding to the theme of personal identity through the iconic image of the eyes.

The typography used creates a more masculine impression due to the use of sans-serif text; this creates a more modern appearance suggesting that the documentary will refer to more recent events or at least look at them with a more current outlook. The use of capitals emphasises the seriousness of the topic as well as appearing more edgy and somewhat intimidating, therefore insinuating that the product will address a series of shocking events- this is reinforced through the use of the bold format.

Textual Analysis: Film Poster 1

Within the 'Total Recall' film poster, the question 'WHAT IS REAL?' is situated within the centre of the frame; this implies that the audiences perception of reality is to be challenged within the film as well as having a sense of hyper-reality being a key concept within the plot.

This is reinforced through the man (also positioned in the centre of the frame) who appears to be disintergrating- the extreme pixelation of his silhouette allows the audience to infer a relationship between humans and technology.

The male is pressumably the main character in the film due to his size and positioning, however, through the colour of his clothing and his body language there is still a sense of mystery in which the character is unidentified.

The slight tilt of his head takes his facial features and expression away from the focus of the camera therefore alluding to something being concealed or hidden as his appearance/identity is not exposed.

The mise-en-scene adds to such mystery as the grey tones suggest some sort of destruction or decay. As well as this, the clothing/attire appears insignificant due to both colour and style, connoting an inconspicuous and somewhat concealed character.

The typography is sharp and bold, therefore alluding to the genre of an action film.

Film: First Draft

Looking at the progress I have made within my project so far allows me to identify many errors or things that need to be improved upon. This is my first (unfinished) draft of my short film; I am unsure of the sequencing of the clip and am yet to add audio/a backing track (of a royalty-free selection). Many of the clips need to be fit to the scale of the screen as they appear smaller than desired. As well as this, some colour correction is needed in one of my clips as there is a small blurry discolouration at the bottom of the screen that diverts attention and may be distracting if left there. I also need to add in layers of text including the facts and statistics I have discovered within my planning and research section of the coursework. The small amount of audio that I do have varies in volume which I need to fix, as well as trying to remove the extraneous sounds of the wind. So far my clips total up to roughly 3 minutes (out of the desired 5); however, I now have more clips to upload and add in to the sequence. Some of my clips were filmed horizontally and some vertically, resulting in the need to arrange a time to go out and reshoot them. I'm also looking into how to do create a 'rewind' effect; I have watched some tutorials but none that coincide with my own software or desired effect.

Survey Results

When looking into my target audience and the social groups most likely to view my product, I found it essential to question their gender. My results showed that the majority of those who responded were females; this influenced some of my decisions as I feel that I must now aim to appeal to a more masculine audience (having already gained the attention of female speculation). I will do so by including a male character/interviewee in which will hopefully feel more relatable to a male audience. I will also try to remain on track with the portrayal of homeless hardships rather than focusing on a 'sob story' that typically appeals to more female emotions.

By asking the target audience their age, this gave me an understanding of what content to include within my short film, e.g. due to the majority of respondents being within the age range of 15-20 and below, I know that I must not classify my film with anything above a 15 rating as this would result in the loss of half of my audience. I have chosen to rate my film as a PG as I want to enable as many different age categories as possible to watch my product; I am refraining from categorising it as a 'U' due to the fact that some of the plot may appear distressing or upsetting for younger and more vulnerable viewers, however none of the content will be explicit.

I found it to be quite interesting to find out whether my target audience preferred feature films or short films; the results showed that the majority of those who took part in the survey preferred feature films. I was not shocked by this outcome as I, myself, also prefer them in comparison to shorts. This is most likely due to the awareness surrounding feature films due to more prominent advertising and accessibility.

After finding out that feature films were more popular, I wanted to further understand why the survey participants selected this answer and whether or not I could apply these preferences within my own work. Unfortunately, due to my low budget and student status I am unable to glamorise my casting through the use of celebrity features; I am also unable to distribute my film through a cinematic industry, however plan to make it equally as accessible by sharing the link to my product via social networking and making sure the settings are set to 'public'. 

Having had very little experience with the consumption of short films myself, I decided to question whether my audience had watched any short films previously; it came to my attention that majority had, therefore informing me that they may be familiar with the typical codes and conventions. Just over 20% had never seen a short film before, which has inspired me to follow many of the traditional expectations of this form of media.

When ask what genre of short films they had previously watched, I found that documentary/educational style films were quite common; this means that I can continue with my chosen genre with confidence and feel more assured that it will appeal to my audience. 

I was also interested in seeing what technical aspects of short films appeared most appealing; I felt that I could build upon and therefore develop these areas in order to suit the interests of my audience. I found that the use of hidden meanings and inspirational/motivational messages were most dominant, therefore influencing my choice of narrative as I do not wish to introduce the main theme until the second half of the sequence. 

Due to wanting to make a documentary style film focusing on the topic of homeless, I decided that it would be beneficial to look into whether or not this topic would appeal to my audience. The results showed that both social media and homelessness were very popular topics of interest, therefore suggesting that my storyline (as shown via my storyboard) will engage the attention of the viewers.

Planning: Animatic

I created an animatic in order to help me envision my finished product. I felt that the audio worked well and helped to create the desired pace and mood of the text, however I will have to insert multiple keyframes within my actual product so that the dialect is understandable. I felt that my 'rewind' sound effect was very effective and plan to use the same effect within my final piece. As well as this, I felt that the order of shots and overall narrative structure of the product flowed well and was easy to follow. I did not insert text stills for my title sequence and my credits however I must add these to my final piece; by watching my animatic, I feel that my title should be featured mid film (in between clips) and should be followed by my credits, e.g. a documentary style film by Lily Sutherland.

Another factor that has been brought to my attention through this process is the lack of duration via time frames. I may choose to look into a variety of different charities and organisations and finish my film through promoting their cause, e.g. go to '________.co.uk to find out more'.

Script

Due to my short film being of a documentary/educational nature, I have chosen to base my script around facts and statistics of homelessness within London. If I had chosen a more narrative style of presentation, I would have looked into preparing a formal script including conversations between actors and their lines; however, I have chosen to look into a voice over (more of a narrator to follow the plot rather than actors that are present within the film). As well as this, I also plan to experiment with the interview technique, allowing me to prepare some questions I would like to ask the homeless.
These are the facts and statistics that I am considering to include within my short film:

• 7,500 people sleep rough in London every year.
• This statistic has gone up by 13% since last year.
• These people come from every walk of life and many of them want to find work.
• On average, homeless people die at just 47 years old, compared to the 81 years expected for the average UK citizen.
• 2/3 of rough sleepers said they have been insulted by members of the public.
• 1/10 said they had been urinated on.
• Homeless people are 13 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the general public.
• Homeless people are 47 times more likely to be a victim of theft.
• 86% reported some form of mental health issue, 44% of which are diagnosed in comparison to the 25% within the general public.
• 41% said they take drugs or are recovering from a drug problem.
• 27% said they have or are recovering from an alcohol problem.

I also wish to ask questions such as:

• How long have you been homeless?
• Have you ever been in care/in the social care system?
• Do you find the general public to be sympathetic of your situation?
• On average, how much money do you receive daily from the general public?
• How do you find the police's attitude towards you?
• Do shopkeepers ever refuse to serve you?

I am aware that some homeless individuals may not wish to be filmed, however I may use a voice over to repeat the answers that they gave me off camera. As well as this, I understand that some may not wish to speak/answer questions at all, and I must be respectful of this.

Shot List and Potential Soundtracks

POTENTIAL SOUNDTRACKS:
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4

1) Push out zoom of Oxford Circus Station- 6 secs

2) Extreme close up of people's feet when rushing (emphasises busy street) - 5 secs

3) Pan shot of shop signs (designer, high street stores, up market etc) - 7 secs

4) Slo-mo of a red bus- iconic - 9 secs

5) Rewind (?) - 6 secs

6) Homeless clip