Saturday, 17 November 2012
Test Shoot
We decided to conduct a test shoot on one of the most important sequences within the short film. We knew that due to location and other factors surrounding that, that it would be quite difficult to get the shot of the sequence on point, so it was logical to just practice the camera angles and movements put on the storyboard and if they didn't work out we would find another way of filming the sequence to give the same effect. It is clear from the various attempts at this part of the sequence that there was an issue with the sunlight, beaming on the location chosen and it simply couldn't be avoided but left us with shots that we found were just not good enough. We wanted to use a tracking shot but with the lack of budget we didn't have high tech tripod equipment so we tried to use free hand which just simply didn't work and made the shots look messy and very amature. As we were doing this short film for experimental purposes, we continued to experiment with the different camera angles, shots and movements in order to get the intended effect that we wanted. We then decided to use the zoom which is an easy movement to use (with practice) and would avoid the jilted mess movement caused by the free-hand tracking. Although this was also a problem as although it did look good, this type of movement is more suitable for something like a social realism film and we didn't think it worked well as part of the sequence. As a result of this, we decided to cut this bit out and just film the character Adam walking past the bin as opposed to him walking from further back where the traffic lights were. It was good that we chose this particular sequence to use as our test shoot as we found out that there may be a problem with the weather (too windy). The wind seemed to blow away the £10 note, and in the long term run this would effect our editing of the tilt down to the £10 note with the close up. By the time we had done a tilt down shot of the £10 note and went on to take a close up of it the wind constantly kept blowing it away so we had to remember, that when we did actually shoot this sequence, that we would have to shoot it on a day where the weather is not too windy, interrupting the filming of our short film. The rest of the sequence test shoot would be a simple track, using the tripod and when we did test that it was quite good and we were happy with the outcome.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Evaluation Question No.4
How did you use the new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In the research and planning of our short film, there was a wide range of new technologies used. Laptops and computers were used in order to access the software’s in which we would be able to carry out the research or plan our short film.
The internet was used in order to
research into the background of existing sort film products, and gave us access to a full range of particular short films that would be good to analyse and influence us. As the makers of short films would not have enough money, the short films they produce are not distributed via mainstream means like through the cinema (VUE, Odean etc) or TV.
That is why the internet is vital, as it allows the distribution of short films, through sites like Youtube, the BBC film network, giving access to a variety of short films. You tube was used in out research and planning to embed videos which would be used as evidence for the several analysis’ we carried out. Youtube was quick and efficient during the process, helping our research and planning to move on at a faster pace. Email; which is accessed through the internet, was used in order to contact the different members of the group, quickly and easily. Other sources from the internet were used to gain a further insight into Short Films. 
The main site that was used from the internet was: blogspot.com which easily documented and organised our research & planning. At the start of the process it was quite tedious and impractical when trying to set up the blog, but when we continued with it, it saved a lot of time as we could insert text pictures and embed videos quickly.
The site scribd.com, was used to upload our storyboard (which was made up of several pages) as just one file onto our blog. If it wasn’t for this site we would have to upload the several pages of our storyboard one by one, so this site was very helpful in getting this part of the planning done quickly.
Another technology device that was used in the planning process was the mobile phone (blackberry) which each member of our group owned. It is converged technology, meaning it could be used for SMS, calling, the camera/video recorder, email and the internet. The fact that we all had a converged technology device made it easier to contact each other (through the use of IM: BBM, or the internet, SMS, calling). A time when the converged technology device was especially useful was when we needed to plan out locations. With the blackberry mobile device we were able to take pictures of all locations and instantly upload them via the internet to our blog, which saved us a lot of time and hassle. 
During the production of our short film, the main technology used was the Digital video (DV) cameras which filmed out media product. The fact that they are small, handheld cameras made them easier and more practical to use. As ‘Independent film makers’ with a low budget the fact that these cameras are affordable would be very helpful. Though as they are cheap to buy, what they produce isn’t a glossy effect that would match our genre, instead it produced a grainy effect. DV cameras do not use film which Hollywood movies and the Soap of Hollyoaks use in order to five a glamorous look. The fact that the DV cameras produced a grainy look meant we couldn’t complete the short film the way we wanted as films of that genre (Romcom) normally have a glossy effect to match the genre. Though the grainy effect worked well with the location of a school, which would weird if it looked glamorous or glossy. The grainy/finish feel could convey the underlying theme of luck: representing the unluckiness that Adam receives. 
Another impracticality of the DV cameras is the sound issues. The quality of sound produced by the cameras are poor but we were able to overcome this, during post production and the fact that we were producing a short film meant we were less affected. A convention of a short film is to have little-no dialogue or use voice over. So the fact that the DV cameras had poor sound quality wasn’t that much of a problem as we needed to focus more on the score anyway in order to give insight into narrative and suggest the mood instead of dialogue. The converged technology was again able to come into the process, in production, this time to use the video camera which had a light source and was used as lighting for the after credits footage. Filmed in the evening, and located outside, the DV camera wasn’t able to capture anything, so to enable to see, we used the mobile lighting which overcame our problem.
As another part of production we used a digital camera in order to take pictures for our poster. The digital camera was very simple and quick to use. It also gave us instant access to viewing the pictures taken, meaning we could make decisions on which pictures were right instantly, and take more if weren’t happy with the ones we had. 
A lot of media technologies were used in the post-production process. The non-linear software: Imovie was used, it was easy and efficient to use. Being a non-linear software meant we could edit out of sequence and re-do different decisions resulting in out crosscutting to be a success. This meant that the software was non-destructive, meaning we were easily able to edit out any unwanted footage and add new materials. I-movie allowed titles, transitions, volume, length of scores & clips to be played with, meaning we could develop ideas to create the intended effects such as humour: through the crosscutting. The non-linear, non-destructive, editing software of I-movie was important in reacting to audience feedback as we could make changes, easily in response to the feedback given. I-movie is free which a Mac computer meaning it has mass access to it, which is helpful for ‘independent directors’ like ourselves who have a low budget. The fact that I-movie is a consumer target software means that it is easy to use because it isn’t a professional software that only specialist people would be able to understand to use. Though there are limitations to using I-movie as it has limited functions in comparison to other editing software’s. 
For example in order to show the contrast between the two characters, and how different the same daily routine was, we would have ideally liked to use split screen but that was not available, so we had to use crosscutting. Influenced by the short film: Sign Language, we also would have liked to have credits on the left, with a video clip running on the right at the same time to convey the time that had passed and the relationship that had developed between the male and female character. Though I-movie didn’t have credits that could achieve this, so we just put credits over a running clip that conveyed this was happening as a result of the encounter that the male and female had.
The software: Photoshop was also used in the production process. This was industry standard software which was difficult to learn. Though it made it easier to develop more advanced poster ideas when we did eventually learn how to use it. One good use of Photoshop, especially was the image manipulation that could be used. This gave us the inventive idea of using the motif £10 note as part of the billing block so that there wasn’t too much white space, and to put emphasis on a main theme that the £10 represented - Luck. 
The internet came into great use in the process of post-production, through the site: freeplaymusic.com which allowed us to get free copy right tracks. The fact that it was copy right free, meant we didn’t have to go and ask for permission for any tracks or resort to having to produce tracks of our own to make the scores. The internet meant we could get free ‘stock’ images for our magazine. The music software: Itunes was used in order to test out the downloaded music we chose, skipping to the desired part of the track that we would use for our score. 
In our evaluation we were able to use the internet as a means of distributing our media product via Youtube, Facebook. This allowed us to gain easy feedback from different types of people from our audience, who would especially use the internet. Blogspot.com has allowed our evaluation to be displayed in an interesting and simple manner, I-movie has been used in order to easily create the evaluation pod cast. The whole construction of our media products has been greatly helped by new media technologies, creating products that just wouldn’t be of that standard if produced around 20 years ago. The new media technologies allowed the construction to be quick and easy, unlike many years ago which would have a lot of tedious steps until the end product.
Evaluation Question No.3
Why is audience feedback important when creating media products?
Audience feedback is important when creating media products as it ensures that your products are suitable for your intended audience. If you get audience feedback you are able to find out if your intended audience actually like your products and if not can make changes in order to suit their needs and likes as part of yout target audience.
Short Film
We conducted two screenings of the short film and the feedback we received a wide range of constructive criticism. The audience of the screening were a selective part of our target audience who were from 17-19. After watching the short film, the audience filled out a brief feedback sheet.We also posted our short film to YouTube & Facebook, (where people of our audience would normally be on) and found good feedback.
This is a video of our smaller secondary screening that we carried out.
The feedback we received was that the theme of our short film was clear, it achieved its purpose, was suitable for the audience: “Good range of shots, inventive storyline”, there was interesting cinematography editing, and sound worked well together: “Yeah loved it relationships is what appealed to audience because that’s what everyone goes through at this age”. Our audience especially liked the use of contrasting scores, the editing techniques of crosscutting and choice of narrative & casting.
Though our audience did think that there were a few changes that could be made. One member of the audience said: “Too much walking. CUT IT DOWN!!!”. This refers to the part in our short film, when Adam and Louise are walking to school. Another member of the audience suggested we cut back to the £10 note when Adam is walking away not only to remind the audience of the fact he has lost his £10, but to breakdown this part of the scene, making it less boring for the audience just to see continuous walking. We agreed with the comments and put the feedback straight into action with the non-linear, non-destructive software of I-movie, which allowed us to edit any part of the short film to suit the audience feedback. We cut down a lot of the walking, decreasing the repetition of the walking, avoiding the chance of the audience getting bored. We then cut to the £10 motif, breaking up the this part of the scene and making good use of the editing technique of crosscutting, once again.
Other criticisms that we received was that the transitions needed to be faded in and out to avoid a ‘Black Screen’, and again we agreed that this was right so we made instant changes. We made good use of the transitions in response to this feedback, as it made the short film run smoother and not have abrupt black screens, which would disrupt the running of the film. Most of the audience had a problem the credits – the font/colour and where they were placed. They said it was quite unclear when the title actually emerged and said: “just make sure you can see the credits & titles”. We did not agree to have the colour of the titles/credits changed, as we believe the colour red conveyed the theme of love, genre of romance and was great symbolism. Another reason for out decision not to change the colour of the titles/credits is the fact that the room, in which the screening was placed, was actually why the audience couldn’t see the titles/credits, not the colour. Though to make the title more visible to the audience we changed where it was placed, putting the title over black instead of over the clip of when Adam is coming out of the bathroom, so the audience would surely see it. If the audience don’t get to see the title of the film they miss the insight into what the film is about (having a title is an important part of the construction of all films). In response to our feedback, instead of using the font: Zapfino we changed it to Arial making it much more clearer. The audience thought that some people would have thought the film finished (before it actually does), as we have after credits footage, but after the credits there is a black screen and then the footage plays. To avoid confusion we decided to put the credits over the after credits footage and it worked well. We also changed the font to a much clearer one of: Lucia Calligraphy, still a quite fancy one though to convey the Romantic side of the genre.
Poster
To get feedback for our poster we decided to use focus groups in order to gather information about what the audience of our poster thought about it. The audience of the focus group was all of the selected preferences for our poster target audience of 15-18 females. After having a brief look at the poster we asked each member of the focus group a series of the same questions that would find out whether the poster was effective or not.
The questions we asked were:
1. Having seen the poster, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images are appropriate for the poster?
3. What do you understand about the narrative, theme & genre from the poster?
The feedback we received was that the poster made it very clear, what the narrative was based on: "The contrast is clear, because of the heading". They felt that the poster showed the theme and genre well because of the use of red writing and the fact that there was a female character, and a male character. Our audience felt that the images were made good use of: "I like the use of images, nice and simple", "good use of Photoshop". One audience member really liked the layout of the poster: "The heading shows the two characters and what’s in store for them". One found the poster really good but "a bit boring" for themselves personally. We disagreed with this and decided not to take any action on the poster in response to that particular bit of feedback as we know the conventions of a normal Romcom - taking particular influence from the Bridget Jones Diary poster. We feel it is simple yet eye-catching because the white space allows what is in colour to catch the readers eye: especially the red writing.
The audience of our feedback focus group really liked the Title of the film, as the "un" bit was in black, to show the unluckiness that then turns into lucky love as the "lucky in love part" is in red, showing the romance. They liked the fact that the title included "Love" and "Luck" because it made it easier for them to instantly identify what the film was about. They said the title made them curious about what sort of luck would be included in the film and how this "love" came about as a result of this.
Members of the focus group, really liked the use of the two images of the male and female character, as they thought they both resembled different things. They found the positioning of these to images very clever, as the male character was placed under the “UN” part of “Unlucky in love”, while the female character was under the “Lucky in Love” part of the title, instantly establishing in their mind that the male character would be the unlucky one. They said the images would make them want to see the film, because its not an "all male/female cast" and they are people of their age so would probably be able to relate to the events that happen to them in the film.
The focus group found the tagline quite humorous and were able to establish the comedy side of the short film. They liked the enjambment of the tagline and thought that it was very intriguing, making them want to find out what was so unlucky, and how it landed him in love. They again liked the fact that the words of “love” and “luck” were used to remind them about the themes of the short film.
The focus group liked the fact that the actors names were in red, to emphasise the theme of love, and liked where the actors names were positioned on the poster.
The members of the focus group thought that this image especially, was an appropriate choice, because it clearly gave them direct insight into the narrative, and they were able to know what kind of luck was in store for the characters. They also found it humorous, at the fact that the male character was loosing the £10, while the female character was finding it, and were interested about what other kind of un(lucky) events would happen to these two characters.
The feedback that was given about the billing block was that it was a very inventive idea (using the £10 as a background for the billing block) as they thought it would look boring without it. The audience again liked the use of the red writing.
Magazine
A magazine is needed in order to get a third party view of the film that people intend to watch. To get feedback for our magazine we decided to use focus groups in order to get responses about our magazine and if it gave a clear insight into the our short film. With our casual and informal mode of address we decided our magazine audience would be 17-20 females. The audience of the magazine focus group were selective part of our target audience, being females from 17-19, while also including others. After having a brief look and read of the magazine we asked each member of the focus group a series of the same questions that would find out whether the magazine helped them understand the short film, or if it made their final decision of watching the film a positive one.
The questions we asked were:
1. Having read the magazine, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images, breakout boxed and graphics are appropriate?
3. Is the article engaging and do you get insight into the narrative & themes of the film?
The feedback that we received was that the overall layout for the magazine was very easy to read and that it was very engaging. "Yes, looks very interesting". they felt that the magazine gave a very clear insight into the theme: "The images work well, the colours work well also, showing the theme". They also thought the magazine clearly stated in an interesting way: the genre and narrative, particularly through the use of images. "The image of the heart really captures the essence of the film". Overall, our audience though the images were the best bit of the magazine and said they defiantly would watch the film after reading this magazine review. Although our magazine audience is 17-20 females, we still wanted to get audience feedback from others. The two males of the focus group responded with very good comments. One male did say he would like to watch the short film after reading the review but another wasn’t sure if he would because of the focus on romance in the magazine review. We took this feedback into account and decided not to make any changes in response to this bit of feedback because it wasn't from target audience of 17-19 females, and his comment indirectly reflected how well the magazine portrayed the genre of Romance and the theme of love.
The focus group really liked the title of the magazine review, and felt that they got a great insight into the narrative as it said it was a story about love and fate. They believed this would be an interesting story and wanted to watch the film from seeing this.
The focus group liked the name of the magazine, because it was very catchy and they liked the use of the pink colour to emphasise the romance in the film.
The focus group thought all the images were appropriate and worked well together as a range of pictures. They liked the fact that these two images on the left showed the contrast in luck, and showed what they believed to be main parts of the film. The audience said that the images helped them to gain understanding about the comedy side of the short film and would definitely want to watch it after seeing the images which had allowed them to get a peek at the kind of lucky/unlucky situations that were happening in the film. The third image of the two characters was a hit with the focus group as they really though it showed the theme of love and the genre of romance. They thought that this image showed the good choice of casting, and thought they looked really well together as a couple for the short film. The focus group found all the images very clear and though the images helped well in engaging them to read further into the magazine review.
The audience for the focus group really liked the graphics and especially liked the fact that the film was given a 4 star rating out of 5, so it really made them want to watch the film. They found the review truthful because of the fact that it was given 4 instead of 5 stars, so trusted that it was worth seeing.
The audience of the focus group really liked the breakout boxes and said that it made them really want to watch the film, as all of them had seen all three of these films and said as these films (about unlucky characters) were so good that the fact that this magazine review mentioned them, made them want to see the short film "Unlucky in Love" which clearly had a spin on it. The audience liked the breakout box because it was something else to look at, rather than just having to read a lot of information.
The audience of the feedback group said that they really liked the layout of the magazine review as it was really easy to read and the content was engaging. They liked the casual approach of the review and felt that it wasn't pressuring them into watching it but enticed them into wanting to watch the film. They liked the fact that there was two columns as it made it easy to read and consume the information. They liked that the information was brief and not too much, feeling that the actual content gave them all the information they needed in order to make a decision about watching "Unlucky In Love". They liked the font of the magazine review, and said it was clear to read. They liked the colour of some bits of the magazine review, where the colour was red because they said it made them understand that the theme of love and genre of romance was very much prevalent in the short film.
The audience really liked the use of the firework heart in the background of the review as like one said it gave them an "essence of what the film was about". They thought that it gave them a great insight into the romantic side of the film and the fact that it wasn't just a normal heart, but a firework one left them thinking about what the film could have in store for them and left them really wanting to see what kind of love was included in the short film.
Audience feedback is important when creating media products as it ensures that your products are suitable for your intended audience. If you get audience feedback you are able to find out if your intended audience actually like your products and if not can make changes in order to suit their needs and likes as part of yout target audience.
Short Film
We conducted two screenings of the short film and the feedback we received a wide range of constructive criticism. The audience of the screening were a selective part of our target audience who were from 17-19. After watching the short film, the audience filled out a brief feedback sheet.We also posted our short film to YouTube & Facebook, (where people of our audience would normally be on) and found good feedback.
This is a video of our smaller secondary screening that we carried out.
The feedback we received was that the theme of our short film was clear, it achieved its purpose, was suitable for the audience: “Good range of shots, inventive storyline”, there was interesting cinematography editing, and sound worked well together: “Yeah loved it relationships is what appealed to audience because that’s what everyone goes through at this age”. Our audience especially liked the use of contrasting scores, the editing techniques of crosscutting and choice of narrative & casting.
Though our audience did think that there were a few changes that could be made. One member of the audience said: “Too much walking. CUT IT DOWN!!!”. This refers to the part in our short film, when Adam and Louise are walking to school. Another member of the audience suggested we cut back to the £10 note when Adam is walking away not only to remind the audience of the fact he has lost his £10, but to breakdown this part of the scene, making it less boring for the audience just to see continuous walking. We agreed with the comments and put the feedback straight into action with the non-linear, non-destructive software of I-movie, which allowed us to edit any part of the short film to suit the audience feedback. We cut down a lot of the walking, decreasing the repetition of the walking, avoiding the chance of the audience getting bored. We then cut to the £10 motif, breaking up the this part of the scene and making good use of the editing technique of crosscutting, once again.
Other criticisms that we received was that the transitions needed to be faded in and out to avoid a ‘Black Screen’, and again we agreed that this was right so we made instant changes. We made good use of the transitions in response to this feedback, as it made the short film run smoother and not have abrupt black screens, which would disrupt the running of the film. Most of the audience had a problem the credits – the font/colour and where they were placed. They said it was quite unclear when the title actually emerged and said: “just make sure you can see the credits & titles”. We did not agree to have the colour of the titles/credits changed, as we believe the colour red conveyed the theme of love, genre of romance and was great symbolism. Another reason for out decision not to change the colour of the titles/credits is the fact that the room, in which the screening was placed, was actually why the audience couldn’t see the titles/credits, not the colour. Though to make the title more visible to the audience we changed where it was placed, putting the title over black instead of over the clip of when Adam is coming out of the bathroom, so the audience would surely see it. If the audience don’t get to see the title of the film they miss the insight into what the film is about (having a title is an important part of the construction of all films). In response to our feedback, instead of using the font: Zapfino we changed it to Arial making it much more clearer. The audience thought that some people would have thought the film finished (before it actually does), as we have after credits footage, but after the credits there is a black screen and then the footage plays. To avoid confusion we decided to put the credits over the after credits footage and it worked well. We also changed the font to a much clearer one of: Lucia Calligraphy, still a quite fancy one though to convey the Romantic side of the genre.
Poster
To get feedback for our poster we decided to use focus groups in order to gather information about what the audience of our poster thought about it. The audience of the focus group was all of the selected preferences for our poster target audience of 15-18 females. After having a brief look at the poster we asked each member of the focus group a series of the same questions that would find out whether the poster was effective or not.
The questions we asked were:
1. Having seen the poster, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images are appropriate for the poster?
3. What do you understand about the narrative, theme & genre from the poster?
The feedback we received was that the poster made it very clear, what the narrative was based on: "The contrast is clear, because of the heading". They felt that the poster showed the theme and genre well because of the use of red writing and the fact that there was a female character, and a male character. Our audience felt that the images were made good use of: "I like the use of images, nice and simple", "good use of Photoshop". One audience member really liked the layout of the poster: "The heading shows the two characters and what’s in store for them". One found the poster really good but "a bit boring" for themselves personally. We disagreed with this and decided not to take any action on the poster in response to that particular bit of feedback as we know the conventions of a normal Romcom - taking particular influence from the Bridget Jones Diary poster. We feel it is simple yet eye-catching because the white space allows what is in colour to catch the readers eye: especially the red writing.
The audience of our feedback focus group really liked the Title of the film, as the "un" bit was in black, to show the unluckiness that then turns into lucky love as the "lucky in love part" is in red, showing the romance. They liked the fact that the title included "Love" and "Luck" because it made it easier for them to instantly identify what the film was about. They said the title made them curious about what sort of luck would be included in the film and how this "love" came about as a result of this.
The feedback that was given about the billing block was that it was a very inventive idea (using the £10 as a background for the billing block) as they thought it would look boring without it. The audience again liked the use of the red writing. Magazine
A magazine is needed in order to get a third party view of the film that people intend to watch. To get feedback for our magazine we decided to use focus groups in order to get responses about our magazine and if it gave a clear insight into the our short film. With our casual and informal mode of address we decided our magazine audience would be 17-20 females. The audience of the magazine focus group were selective part of our target audience, being females from 17-19, while also including others. After having a brief look and read of the magazine we asked each member of the focus group a series of the same questions that would find out whether the magazine helped them understand the short film, or if it made their final decision of watching the film a positive one.
The questions we asked were:
1. Having read the magazine, would you want to watch the film?
2. Do you think the use of images, breakout boxed and graphics are appropriate?
3. Is the article engaging and do you get insight into the narrative & themes of the film?
The feedback that we received was that the overall layout for the magazine was very easy to read and that it was very engaging. "Yes, looks very interesting". they felt that the magazine gave a very clear insight into the theme: "The images work well, the colours work well also, showing the theme". They also thought the magazine clearly stated in an interesting way: the genre and narrative, particularly through the use of images. "The image of the heart really captures the essence of the film". Overall, our audience though the images were the best bit of the magazine and said they defiantly would watch the film after reading this magazine review. Although our magazine audience is 17-20 females, we still wanted to get audience feedback from others. The two males of the focus group responded with very good comments. One male did say he would like to watch the short film after reading the review but another wasn’t sure if he would because of the focus on romance in the magazine review. We took this feedback into account and decided not to make any changes in response to this bit of feedback because it wasn't from target audience of 17-19 females, and his comment indirectly reflected how well the magazine portrayed the genre of Romance and the theme of love.
The focus group really liked the title of the magazine review, and felt that they got a great insight into the narrative as it said it was a story about love and fate. They believed this would be an interesting story and wanted to watch the film from seeing this. 
The focus group thought all the images were appropriate and worked well together as a range of pictures. They liked the fact that these two images on the left showed the contrast in luck, and showed what they believed to be main parts of the film. The audience said that the images helped them to gain understanding about the comedy side of the short film and would definitely want to watch it after seeing the images which had allowed them to get a peek at the kind of lucky/unlucky situations that were happening in the film. The third image of the two characters was a hit with the focus group as they really though it showed the theme of love and the genre of romance. They thought that this image showed the good choice of casting, and thought they looked really well together as a couple for the short film. The focus group found all the images very clear and though the images helped well in engaging them to read further into the magazine review. 
The audience of the focus group really liked the breakout boxes and said that it made them really want to watch the film, as all of them had seen all three of these films and said as these films (about unlucky characters) were so good that the fact that this magazine review mentioned them, made them want to see the short film "Unlucky in Love" which clearly had a spin on it. The audience liked the breakout box because it was something else to look at, rather than just having to read a lot of information.
The audience of the feedback group said that they really liked the layout of the magazine review as it was really easy to read and the content was engaging. They liked the casual approach of the review and felt that it wasn't pressuring them into watching it but enticed them into wanting to watch the film. They liked the fact that there was two columns as it made it easy to read and consume the information. They liked that the information was brief and not too much, feeling that the actual content gave them all the information they needed in order to make a decision about watching "Unlucky In Love". They liked the font of the magazine review, and said it was clear to read. They liked the colour of some bits of the magazine review, where the colour was red because they said it made them understand that the theme of love and genre of romance was very much prevalent in the short film.
The audience really liked the use of the firework heart in the background of the review as like one said it gave them an "essence of what the film was about". They thought that it gave them a great insight into the romantic side of the film and the fact that it wasn't just a normal heart, but a firework one left them thinking about what the film could have in store for them and left them really wanting to see what kind of love was included in the short film.
Magazine planning - Audience profile
Where do they live?
They will either be living at home with their parents or in university accommodation.
What are their hobbies?
Attending the cinema to watch chick flicks, while going to gigs, hanging out with their friends and attending film festivals.
What are their favourite food?
Stir-fry
Where would they go on to holiday?
Spain, Italy, Greek islands
What is their favourite drink?
Vodka and cranberry juice.
What kind of music do they listen to?
Pop
Taglines for Poster
The Best Worst week of his life
This tagline works well because it uses a contrast of ’best worst’, meaning it gives a bit of an insight into the theme of luck. The ’best’ worst represents the male character’s unluckiness but the best must show that there is actually a good ending. This paradox can also emphasise how bad his week was as it was a bad week at its ’best’. Although this tagline was good it wouldn’t really work with our final poster which has two main images of the male character, then of the female character. The tagline only focuses on the male character while the final poster actually focuses on both of the characters and how they contrast to each other. The tagline only refers to the male character, meaning it gives little insight into the fact that there is another character who is actually almost, equally important to him.
Two People. Two Lives. One Ending
The power of three is a common technique for tagline and is used here to create a catchy tagline. The punctuation of the full stop after each phrase also emphasises each phrase, separating them from each other, conveying the importance of them all. The fact that the ‘two’ is repeated then contrasted with the ‘One’ shows how there is a contrast within the narrative (between the two characters) but that they end up linking, being together by the end of the film. Although a good tagline, the reason we didn’t use this tagline is firstly because it was too serious for our Romcom genre and it doesn’t convey the genre at all really. The other reason we didn’t use this tagline is because of the fact that the tagline doesn’t link in with our themes of love and luck, the audience could be left confused, when looking at the poster, making up their own conclusions and finding that they are wrong or are dissatisfied when they view the actual film. This tagline would not work with our final decision of the poster as the audience would not really find a link between the main images on the poster and the film. The tagline sounds more sinister than romantic or humorous.
When misfortune, leads to fortune
With zero people from our empirical research preferring this tagline to put on our poster, it was clear that we wouldn’t use it. This tagline is good because of the fact that it is short. We do need to take into account the fact that people will look at a poster for a short amount of time, so don’t have time to read a long tagline. The contrast of ‘misfortune’ and ‘fortune’ emphasises and gives insight into the theme of luck, also the repetition of ‘fortune’ in mis‘fortune’ and in fortune itself. Though the reasons why we did not choose this particular tagline its because it doesn’t link in with the romance half of our genre or the theme of luck, which I very much evident in our short film. There isn’t a balance of each theme with this tagline.
Just my luck
This particular tagline is good because it is short and catchy, which is good because of the short amount of time that people spend looking at a film poster. ’Just my luck’ Is quite a colloquial phrase which would appeal to the young audience that see this poster, the fact that it is quite a well known phrase means that people will be interested in how this film has taken on this well known phrase, and will want to see it. The phrase gives an insight into the main theme of luck but like another one of our tagline ideas it ignores the theme of love, which links in with the half our genre: Romcom. We cannot include a tagline that doesn’t have a balance of insight as it will not promote the film well. The fact that the tagline is in 1st person: ‘my’ shows that only one person is speaking but our final poster has images of two people. This tagline would not work well with the poster because of this.
Final Decision: Who thought being unlucky could land you in love
After creating a questionnaire as help to make our final decision about the tagline we would choose it is clear that most people from our audience preferred this tagline: Who thought being unlucky could land you in love. This is what instantly helped us to decided that, that would be our tagline. This tagline makes good use of alliteration: “unlucky could land you in love”. it makes it clear of the narrative and the theme with the words: “unlucky” and “love” . This creates enjambment which creates interest for the audience. From the poster, the audience will know that in this short film, unlucky things will land someone in love, and it gives insight into the narrative without giving it away too much. We chose this as our final tagline due to the high response we received from our feedback. 10/15 people preferred this tagline. We also chose it because it works perfectly well with the poster as part of the narrative is displayed if the audience link the images and the tagline together. The fat that there is a contrast between ‘unlucky’ and ‘love’ shows the light hearted essence of the film. The tagline creates and equal balance of the narrative, genre and theme to give just enough information away to make the audience want to watch the film. The tagline is simple yet leaves the audience wandering what unlucky events could have possibly landed this person in love? The audience can only concluded that the unlucky events cant be that bad if they are going to lead the person into being in love, already getting an insight into the humorous side of the Romcom genre.
This tagline works well because it uses a contrast of ’best worst’, meaning it gives a bit of an insight into the theme of luck. The ’best’ worst represents the male character’s unluckiness but the best must show that there is actually a good ending. This paradox can also emphasise how bad his week was as it was a bad week at its ’best’. Although this tagline was good it wouldn’t really work with our final poster which has two main images of the male character, then of the female character. The tagline only focuses on the male character while the final poster actually focuses on both of the characters and how they contrast to each other. The tagline only refers to the male character, meaning it gives little insight into the fact that there is another character who is actually almost, equally important to him.
Two People. Two Lives. One Ending
The power of three is a common technique for tagline and is used here to create a catchy tagline. The punctuation of the full stop after each phrase also emphasises each phrase, separating them from each other, conveying the importance of them all. The fact that the ‘two’ is repeated then contrasted with the ‘One’ shows how there is a contrast within the narrative (between the two characters) but that they end up linking, being together by the end of the film. Although a good tagline, the reason we didn’t use this tagline is firstly because it was too serious for our Romcom genre and it doesn’t convey the genre at all really. The other reason we didn’t use this tagline is because of the fact that the tagline doesn’t link in with our themes of love and luck, the audience could be left confused, when looking at the poster, making up their own conclusions and finding that they are wrong or are dissatisfied when they view the actual film. This tagline would not work with our final decision of the poster as the audience would not really find a link between the main images on the poster and the film. The tagline sounds more sinister than romantic or humorous.
When misfortune, leads to fortune
With zero people from our empirical research preferring this tagline to put on our poster, it was clear that we wouldn’t use it. This tagline is good because of the fact that it is short. We do need to take into account the fact that people will look at a poster for a short amount of time, so don’t have time to read a long tagline. The contrast of ‘misfortune’ and ‘fortune’ emphasises and gives insight into the theme of luck, also the repetition of ‘fortune’ in mis‘fortune’ and in fortune itself. Though the reasons why we did not choose this particular tagline its because it doesn’t link in with the romance half of our genre or the theme of luck, which I very much evident in our short film. There isn’t a balance of each theme with this tagline.
Just my luck
This particular tagline is good because it is short and catchy, which is good because of the short amount of time that people spend looking at a film poster. ’Just my luck’ Is quite a colloquial phrase which would appeal to the young audience that see this poster, the fact that it is quite a well known phrase means that people will be interested in how this film has taken on this well known phrase, and will want to see it. The phrase gives an insight into the main theme of luck but like another one of our tagline ideas it ignores the theme of love, which links in with the half our genre: Romcom. We cannot include a tagline that doesn’t have a balance of insight as it will not promote the film well. The fact that the tagline is in 1st person: ‘my’ shows that only one person is speaking but our final poster has images of two people. This tagline would not work well with the poster because of this.
After creating a questionnaire as help to make our final decision about the tagline we would choose it is clear that most people from our audience preferred this tagline: Who thought being unlucky could land you in love. This is what instantly helped us to decided that, that would be our tagline. This tagline makes good use of alliteration: “unlucky could land you in love”. it makes it clear of the narrative and the theme with the words: “unlucky” and “love” . This creates enjambment which creates interest for the audience. From the poster, the audience will know that in this short film, unlucky things will land someone in love, and it gives insight into the narrative without giving it away too much. We chose this as our final tagline due to the high response we received from our feedback. 10/15 people preferred this tagline. We also chose it because it works perfectly well with the poster as part of the narrative is displayed if the audience link the images and the tagline together. The fat that there is a contrast between ‘unlucky’ and ‘love’ shows the light hearted essence of the film. The tagline creates and equal balance of the narrative, genre and theme to give just enough information away to make the audience want to watch the film. The tagline is simple yet leaves the audience wandering what unlucky events could have possibly landed this person in love? The audience can only concluded that the unlucky events cant be that bad if they are going to lead the person into being in love, already getting an insight into the humorous side of the Romcom genre.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)