FILM: Research into target audience

The target audience for shorts films are usually more of a smaller marker then a feature film this is due to the lack of advertisment. For my short film the specific target audience we aimed to attract was 15-30 year old females. This is because it's internet based therefore an younger audience are more familiar with modern technology, also the genre of the short film is a romance and these types of audiences are conventional are a romance film.

This would be our target audience, femals ages 15+ with easy, access to the internet.

FILM: Developing a pitch

After deciding on a storyline and the basic plot that we wanted to produce for our short film we then developed our pitch. When in the process of developing our pitch we mainly focused on the more creative side of the film and the interesting parts that would occur throughout our short film. If this was a feature film it would of been took to top investors to see whether or not they would contribute to the funding of the film.

FILM: Scripting

When creating a short film it is usually acknowledge that a lack of dialogue is present, therefore the character is potrayed through the use of camera shots and angles rather then dialogue. This therefore meant that the majority of our scripting was stage directions. When deciding the camera shots that would be used we took into consideration the main idea of the short film itself, we did this so this could help us towards using the right camera shots or angles to create or decrease suspense that the audience will feel. When in the process of making our script we did several drafts until it was fully understandable what the characters were meant to be doing and where this was meant to done. Here below is an example of our final script and also two versions of our scripts when in the drafting process.





Due to the lack of dialogue present in short films we needed some sort of audio to create an atmosphere for our short film. We therefore decided to go with a form of digetic sound. This meant that us as a whole group had to come together and research several genres of music to see which one we all felt suited the genre of our film either to create of decrease the level of intensity during certain scenes. However, when researching for our music our ideas changed. We first originally thought that Snow Patrol - Chasing Car would be suitable, but we then realised the whole song itself was a very slow song and doesn't emphasis our short film very well.


When carrying on researching suitable songs we came across and old song that we thought would fit the genre and mood of our short film and this was "The Cure - Friday I'm In Love." We then used this song throughout opening sequence.



We then found it much easier to research songs after this. We then need a soundtrack to our film which would be present after the opening sequence until the end of this film. To do this we needed a song that would increase tension during the time the lead character Scarlett was searching. The suitable song we chose was "Ten Second Epic - Old Habits Die Hard."

FILM: Storyboard

In order to make the filming process we had to create a storyboard. A storyboard is collection of images that will be present during the film, it also is seen as an indepth planning process when creating a short film. A storyboard is used throughout filming as it gives the directors an idea of where they're going with the film and where it will lead them. It is also easier and cost effective as it's cheaper. The storyboard also plays a part in potraying the certain image of a character by certain camera shots and angles mentioned when planning. The creative decisions made were when me and the rest of the group were deciding on what camera shots to use in order to create a specific vision and emotions that we want the audience to under go, and the way they felt about certain characters. The screenshots present below are a few examples of our storyboards.

FILM: Organising locations actors etc

When organising locations, actors etc we took into consideration mise-en-scene and how this would effect our filmimg, both negatively and positively. We also had to consider on how certain locations would correspond with the whole idea of our basic plot. We then went on to decide which characters were suitable for certain roles within the short film. Our organisation is of locations and actors is also recognised on our storyboards and shooting schedules.

We created our male female lead role with these images in mind. We then decided on the costume to be both black and white for the lead roles to represent a connection between a pair.

FILM: Shooting schedule

A shooting schedule is schedule of when and where filming will take place. Also which characters are present in the specific scene being shot. Here below is an example of my schooting schedule in which me and the other members of my group attempted to stick to as close as possible.

FILM: Researching other short films

Short films are different to feature films. Short films usually come across as a form of a poem, unlike a feature film that is more novel based. When researching other short films on youtube I came across a few that really attracted me in terms of representation of characters, costumes and camera angles etc. Examples are:

1)


What appealed to me from this short film was the way suspense was created through camera angles. Also how the true identity of the main character was revealed at the end and how unexpected it was.

2)


The whole theme created throughout this short film really caught me eye as they succuessfully achieved it within a short period of time. The props used were also really good in relating to the theme of the short film.

3)


I believe that this short film was really good as despite the fact it was very short it manage to create alot of suspense by using props, misc-en-scene and numerous camera angles.

POSTER: Analysing conventions of film posters

When in the process of producing our own film poster we stuck to the conventional design of a film poster. This consisted of a main image that is visible within the short film, title, release date and information of the production company. To make sure we stuck to the conventions of a film poster we analysed a few famous film posters before producing our own. It's important the film poster is symbolic of the film itself so the audience can get a general understanding of the specific genre of our short film. Examples of film posters we analysed was "The Silence of The Lambs."

POSTER: Pitching ideas for posters

When producing a suitable poster for our film, we all created our own drafts of how we feel our short film should be presented in poster form. We then all come together showing our versions of the posters, we then picked one out of the four and then decided to follow the design to produce a final film poster.

Here are a few draft version that present our ideas of how we wanted our film post to be presented as.

Our final product of our short film poster.

POSTER: Sketching possible images/fonts

We sketched several possible images for our short film we poster and here is an example of one.



We then started to research into possible fonts that we could use. We mainly focused on hand written style font to use to reflect the story of our short film, Scarlett recieving a present from her boyfriend Joe. To find these fonts we searched on http://www.dafont.com/ but we then found a typical microsoft font that we thought suited the idea of a "hand-written" title, this fone was Brush Script MT.

POSTER: Setting up mise en scène

When setting up the mise en scene for our poster we wanted it to reflect our film therefore it would encourage people to go and view our short film if they got a small glance of what it would be like via our poster. To be successful in our mise en scene we used the main aspects of our film and placed it into our photo such as the bracelet and the picture of the couple, Scarlett and Joe. By doing this, this reflected the genre and storyline of our shortfilm without giving away the ending.

POSTER: Exploring fonts

Similarly to sketching possible fonts we thought was suitable for this. We searched on http://www.dafont.com/ to see if we could find a specific font that not only represents the genre of the film but that also reflects the love and relationship between the two characters Scarlett and Joe. We wanted an hand-written font to refer back to the gift that was present in this film. The use of a hand-written font gave out a friendly, welcoming sense to the audience to feel asif they are involved. We then decided to use a typical Microsoft font, Brush Script MT.

POSTER: Choosing most appropriate images

When choosing the appropiate image that would be in the film poster we thought it was suitable to have a still image of a clip that is present in the film. However when choosing these photos we came across many difficulties, a main difficulty was that the lighting on some of the pictures were in fact horrible and did not follow the professional look we were going with. Here are some examples of the pictures we refused to use.

POSTER: Drafting/ Editing

When drafting our film posters each member of the group all produced a film poster. We then combined our ideas altogether to create one film poster that was effective in relating back to the how genre of the film itself. I believed that combining our ideas together was a good idea because it then recognised that each member had a contribution to the work preparation. The screenshot below is a draft of our ideal film poster.

REVIEW: Researching different film magazine audiences

When researching different film magazine audience we didn't just research a variety of magazines, we specifically research those film magazines that would reflect the targeted audience of our film and therefore spent time choosing over several magazines in which we believe would be best suited to place our review in. We originally look at the likes Empire and so on but realised this did not fit the certain style we were aiming for. We then came across "Company" magazine and believed it was a suitable magazine to place our review in as we knew it would be approaching our target audience.

Here are examples of magazines we looked at.

REVIEW: Analysing design & language conventions of magazine reviews

When finding the suitable magazine we would choose our review to be in we then had to carefully analysis the design and layout conventions of this magazine to make sure we stuck with it. We did not decide to challenge the conventions of the design and language layout because then it would not be in flow with the rest of the magazine.

Here here a design front cover of the magazine "Company" that we chose to focus our style on.

REVIEW: Drafting text

We all input ideas towards writing the review. We then decided on the main points that we would want to include in order for it to appeal to the readers. By doing this we had to make sure the language we used would create a sense of welcoming to our readers therefore we made it a friendly review and easy to relate to. We went through several drafting stages until we were satisfied with the final product.

REVIEW: Choosing most appropriate images from film

When deciding on the appropiate images from our film to use in our review we saved several still images from the film and then decided on which one we thought represented the film itself. For our main image for the review we decided to use a still image of a photo of Scarlett and Joe together to reinforce the idea of love present in our film. When producing our review we then decided to have a film roll that contained several other still images from our film to allow the audience to have a sneaky view of what was in store. Below is a few examples of images within our short film in which we decided to use.

REVIEW: Drafting layout

When drafting the layout of our review we wanted it to reflect the layouts that are present in the company we based our style on which is "Company" To do this we followed the set perecentage ratio of text to picture and so forth to make it look familiar to the target audience.

REVIEW: Editing final product

When editing our final product we had a final look at the "Company" and made sure our final product of the review reflected the same style and pattern. We altered some of the features that was found on the review until we were satsified with the stuff we had.