Short Film SCRIPT


Here is a link to my final script of my short film. 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/40239891

ENJOY!

Final Poster

I had to change my poster slightly to make it look more realistic. I added a strip at the bottom of the poster to indicate where and when the film will be released. By adding this strip as another layer on my poster, it would potentially make it much easier for me to change the release date, or where the film was being shown without having to alter the poster itself everytime. I also made the billing information much smaller as Michael Leedham said that 'it will take up more room than you think'. I also moved the 'All rights reserved' sentence to the side of the poster so it was barely visible. Finally I added a box around the film certificate to make it look more authentic.

Here is the final poster. Enjoy!

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 6


I began constructing this poster using two images. One of Tina which I took, and another of a selection of computer keys which I took off a computer, lined up and took a photo of. This was the basis of my poster.

I then made a heart shape on Photoshop and put it on top of Tina’s face in the photo. I used the Single Row Marquee tool to make a crack in the heart and thus I was able to have a broken heart and inside, a broken Tina. Clearly this links to her being broken hearted and underlines the fact that the film is based around the search to find love.

After, I added a shadow around the heart and the computer keys to make it look more three dimensional. I then wrote the letters of the film on each separate computer key, making it possible for me to choose what size and font I wanted as well as the colour.

I was then able to include the tag line, ‘not guaranteed to make love happen’- this I chose to have in pink to link to the colour of the word ‘(mis)’ which connotes disappointment. I then added in the production name, ‘SICK ROSE PRODUCTIONS’ and the critics review to add realism to the poster.

The final step was to include the billing information where I wrote the names of characters and the director, and the copyright issues. I also included the website of the film.

Most of the information on this poster is exactly the same as on the previous possible poster- for example, the billing information, the production company name and the critics reviews. Now I must decide on the tag line, the photo and the title layout.

Again, I chose to set my poster out in landscape format; although this is perhaps not totally conventional of film posters, I felt I was able to get the composition of the poster to look more professional and fluent.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 5

First I started with two images. On the left hand side is a half image of Tina which is a very poignant image as it suggests to us that she is incomplete- something which we find to be very true in the film. The other image is the ESC key which is very significant. One, it connects with computers and so viewers would automatically link the film with the use of one, and two, it ties in with the storyline as the main character wants to ESCAPE from being lonely.

I used a simple white background so as not to draw any attention away from the images.

My next step was including the title of the film. I used the font Batik Regular for the title as opposed to using Arial which I have used throughout the poster. I did this to differentiate between the title of the film and the rest of the writing and to make the title stand out more. The font I used also resembles typewriting font which links to my computer theme. 

I used pink and black. The pink is a very feminine colour and also stands out from the black and grey scale colours used in the poster. It also highlights the word ‘mis’ which highlights the fact that the film will centre on the idea of love being disappointing. The use of pink when writing 'virtual love' was a important choice as both words sum up the film- It is about love and is centred around computer dating websites.

The tag line 'Press to escape' is very different from my other one, ' not guaranteed to make love happen'; it is more serious and links directly with the image of the ESC key on the poster. It also connotes a number of things; does she want to escape from men? from herself? From a series of bad dates? Or does she want to escape from her loneliness?

The production name ‘Sick Rose’ comes from one of William Shakespeare’s poems. The use of conjoining contradictory term to form an oxymoron is significant as it underlines the bitter disappointments love brings.

The billing information at the bottom of the poster adds realism to the whole page and also explains who stars in the film and who it is directed by. I made this writing light grey so it was visible, but so it didn’t overpower the power and draw attention away from the more important factors of the poster.

The website at the bottom creates synergy around the film and makes the film more popular. It is also typical of film posters.

My final steps were to include a critics review. I chose the Guardian as they are a well known and popular paper- it is also highly regarded by many people.
I wanted the review to sum up what the film is like. I felt the words 'clever' and 'poignant' did this perfectly.
The 12A sign at the bottom right of the poster again adds realism and indicates to viewers who can and cannot watch the film. YET I now understand that this certificate is for DVD use only- I will have to create a new certification which is specifically for posters.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 4


Here is another one of my poster ideas. I wanted to keep my poster very simple but I also wanted to make sure people would understand what the film was about. 
I started by taking the computer keys off a keyboard and taking a picture of them. I them added my own letters onto the keys on Photoshop; this allowed me to choose what size and font I wanted as well as the colour. The use of the computer keys also indicates to the viewers that this film is centred around internet dating websites. 
The broken heart with Tina's head in it is very poignant and almost sums up the whole film. The black and white image shows the character drained of colour and connotes sadness and loneliness.
The tag line again is a link to match.com.
The production information and the website adds to the realism of the poster.


AUDIENCE FEEDBACK
When I showed this to my friends and family I had mixed responses. Many of them liked the idea of using the computer keys to spell out the title of the film as it links to it being based on internet dating. However other complained that the letters were too small and that it was barely visible.
Many people liked the heart with Tina's face in too- they said it summed up what the film was about.
However although people liked the separate parts of the poster, many people commented that as a whole it looked almost babyish and simple. They said the composition of the poster wasn't well thought out and it looked more like a magazine front cover as opposed to a film poster.
And so, I decided to make another poster taking all these comments into consideration. 

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 3

I designed another possible poster idea based on the match.com logo, however this time I created my own logo. With the help of Graphic Designer Jimi Appleton, I used Adobe Indesign to help me produce this third poster idea. I used the same colours the match.com logo uses- blue for the boy, green for the girl and bright pink for the heart, however I based my figures more on the toilet door signs so as not to infringe on copyright. I also manipulated the actions of the figures to suit what my film is based on; the man is running away and the woman has her shoulders raised to indicate her beign in a state of confusion. The heart above them is broken in half to suggest the idea that love is not easy to find. The word 'mis' which is in brackets, is pink- the same colour as the heart- so as to draw a parralel between the two.
The tag line 'not guaranteed to make love happen' is a pun on match.com's own tag line, 'Make love happen Guaranteed.'                                       

The stamp styled circle shape beside the girl is also a maniuplation of the match.com logo. In this shape I have included the release date.                                                                         

The poster is not complete- it was just a rough idea of what I wanted my figures to look like. I will continue to design poster ideas so I have a range to choose from when I finally come to make my final product.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING 2

Here is another poster idea. Keeping in mind that my film is a very honest, and at times, sad look at one woman's struggle to find love I realised that my poster should reflect some of this emotion; above this. I also had to keep in mind what Michael Leedham said about my first poster idea.
So I took another approach when making my poster- I derived it of colour making the main image of the actress black and white. The only colour is the word '(mis)' which has disappointing connotations- the fact that this is the only word in colour draws an audiences attention to this word and highlights the negative tone to the film.

I made the background of the poster slighly grey scale so it wasn't just plain white; this affect evoked the sadness which I wanted to convey.

The reflective effect on the name, 'Tina Yeomans' has many connotations. It links to an scene in my film where Tina talks of how sometimes she feels so lonely that it is as if she is looking in at herself, and the reflection of her name connects with this idea.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

I showed this to a number of friends and to my Media teacher and they all agreed that the actualy photo was powerful and the use of colour was well thought out, however there was no indication in the poster that the film was based around Internet dating websites. They argued that perhaps people would not connect the title of the film with the famous dating website.

With this, I decided that I needed to make my poster more explicit so that an audience would straight away be able to connect the poster with dating wesbites and know what the film would be about.

POSTER IDEAS AND PLANNING


As my short film is based on Internet dating, I wanted to make sure I incorporated this idea within my poster. With this in mind, I chose to manipulate the well known match.com logo.

In my version of this logo I wanted to split the heart so it looked like a broken love heart. Then I would design the boy so it looked like he was running away, and the woman folding her arms looking crossed. This would ensure that people would understand that my film was about Internet dating and about the disappointments that come with it...

However, I also wanted to have the actress of the film on the poster too so people would know it is her story. I took the photo of Tina earlier in the course- I chose her clothing specifically for the film; the black dress is plain but there is a still a sexy side to her, and the low cut neck line emphasizes her womanly, vivacious side.  To keep in with the whole theme of Internet dating, I chose to try and make her picture look like the one on her match.com website by having a strong black border around the picture, and incorporating the typical questions which are included on Internet dating sites; i.e. Sex, Relationship status etc.

Here is what I came up with:

I wasn't able to manipulate the logo at this point as I didn't have the appropriate programme, however this was my initial idea. The picture of the actress looks like it is part of her match.com profile, and the text beneath her further strengthens this. The tag line beneath the film title is a pun on match.com's tag line 'Make love happen. Guaranteed.'.

The production name 'Aphrodite Artists' was carefully chosen Aphrodite is the goddess of love and this is what the film is centred around.

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Michael Leedham, owner of graphic design company, 2D Design took a look at the above poster and said that there was 'too much going on' and there was 'no focal point' to the poster. Because of this, I had to re think about what I wanted on my poster, and what I wanted people to really look at.

POSTER PHOTO

I took this photo for the use of my poster. I wanted the picture to have a plain background so as not to draw any attention away from the central figure, and so I chose to shoot the photo in front of a white wall.


The mid shot photo allows us to see most of Tina yet will not take up too much room when it goes onto the poster.  Tina is looking directly at the camera; this eye contant makes her the focal point of the poster and encourages us to be drawn in and to understand that this is her story.


The mise en scene of the photo is very deliberate. I put Tina in a plain black dress with a low V-neck line to make her look feminine and sexy. The black necklace encourages people to focus on her clevage, again presenting her as looking sexy and voluptuous.
Her wavy hair gives her face a soft, warm look, and her nuetral make up highlights her as an everyday, typical woman; this makes it easier when targeting my desired female audience as they will be able to relate to the main character.


The pink watch on her wrist and the silver bracelet on the other give her a personality, as these personal touches makes her more of a three dimentional character.
The lighting is very natural and this allows us to see Tina in all her beauty. 

Film Poster Deconstruction

Audience Research Results

Here are the results to my Audience Survey which I made on Zoomerang.

I made sure I sent my survey to both males and females so as not to minimise my audience. It was also good to get feedback from a male perspective. 

I was glad to see 86% of the people that took the survey said they preferred the Drama genre; this was great for me as my film is a Drama so I now know that the majority of people will like this aspect of it. 
71% of the people that took the survey were women.

43% of people that took the survey were between 41-50 which was the middle average age of my target audience.
In my survey I asked whether my film was suited to the target audience of 35-50 year old women, and the majority of people agreed that this is a good age group as 'I think this is the age group more likely to use internet dating sites as it might be more difficult to meet men in social situations. This age group will also include women who are divorced and have children so they would not have the freedom to go out so often, so online dating would be a good option.' 


The people I surveyed particularly liked the realism of the film- i.e., that the film, although is a drama, is based on true events and a real woman. This was to know as I feel more comfortable now in basing my film on one woman's good disappointing struggle in finding love.


If I were to place my poster somewhere,  I would place it in large shopping centers such as Brent Cross and Westfields as these are places that women stereotypically go to. I would also put them in central tube stations like Oxford Street, Covent Garden and Waterloo as these are bustling places with lots of people of all different ages, both male and female.


100% of people said they mostly watched films in cinemas; therefore the Camden Cinema in July would be a perfect place to screen my short film. 83% also said they watched films at home- this could give me the opportunity to upload my film onto YouTube where people could access it from home.

The feedback I have received has been really helpful. I am now thinking to lower my target audience to women around the ages of 25-55 as some other people in my survey argued that 'I think you could attract a wider age range, as there are alot of people now trying internet dating for various reasons, from 18 upwards'. Therefore, I should accept that there may be younger people who also try on-line dating, and if they don' t try it, perhaps they are interested to discover what it's like, and the experiences women have when they do go on it. 

I have realised I can't just target an audience who know about internet dating, I also want my film to be able to teach others, who have not tried it, what it's all about.

Audience Survey


Having shown my survey to a number of people, and to my teachers, I realised that I wasn't finding as much information out as I should have.
I was limited my survey to people only aged 30-50+ without thinking that in fact my film could appeal to people much younger than this! 
I also changed the layout of my survey as I had a few too many explanation questions and I knew people wouldn't be so inclined to write a long answer, so I limited this type of question and included it only once. 
I also altered my questions so I was finding out more about how people watch films, where people watch films and what aspect of my film they liked most. This information will help me target my audience.
So as to keep in with the digital technology aspect of this year's A2 Media course, I made my survey on-line and sent links to people through e-mail so they can do the survey on-line, submit it so that I can receive it in an e-mail. This is a much easier way of reaching my audience


Here is a link to the survey:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B9P5V9GWB