Evaluation Question 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?  

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evaluation Question 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products? 

Media Platforms: 

One key way in which I have conformed to common conventions show by many real short film productions, is the use of YouTube to share my film. YouTube and Vimeo are the most common platforms that short filmmakers use to share and upload their productions. Personally, I have chosen YouTube as in an average month, 8 out of 10 18-49 year old watch YouTube. This age range includes out target audience and therefore ensures that our film will be made easily accessible to them. The website also has around 1.3 billion users, which is often the reason why it attracts many filmmakers to publish their work on the site.

Credits: 

An additional way in which we conformed to conventions of real media texts was in our use of credits. Typically, short film open with the title of the film, then end with rolling credits (similar to feature films). We chose to follow this popular format as we wanted to create a film that appeared professional.  Below have displayed screen shots from our film, along with images from films that I have analysed earlier in the course. I have put these images side by side to show how we have taken inspiration from real media products.




Camera and Editing: 

We also remained largely conventional in our methods of filming and editing. Much of the inspiration for our short film came from the films we had analysed earlier in the course. These included:

• 'Youth' - Tommy Petroni 
• '9 Meter' - Anders Walter 
• 'We Were Awesome' - Jesse Coane 

We chose to follow the common conventions and features we had found throughout our research, as we wanted to create a film that appeared professional and of a high quality. Below, I have created a short video displaying a few of the ways in which we took inspiration from real media products in terms of shot types and editing. 

Mis En Scene: 
One reoccurring element that I found in my research of real media products, was that short films tended to depict much of the action taking place in one key location. This appeared to be due to the low budgets and short running times of the film. However, our short film has subverted this convention as the action takes place in multiple locations.  Although these differing locations may not be conventional of short coming of age films, they remain conventional of the genre. For example we included locations such as schools and a teenagers bedroom. This therefore made our film easily identifiable as a coming of age story, thus appealing more to our target audience. This decision also made out film unique as a short film, as few other films include as many locations as we have within their narrative. 

Narrative and Genre: 
Films within the coming of age genre typically follow a journey of personal growth. Usually the narrative will follow the protagonist as they develop from an immature teen to a emotionally mature young adult. We have followed this basis for the narrative, however we have challenged Todorov's narrative theory. Rather than following a narrative with three conventional stages (equilibrium, disequilibrium, followed by equilibrium again), we have chosen to use a voice over to suggest what she may have done differently in her past. This is effective as we were able to conform to the conventional story line of personal growth as we have presented an older, more mature version of the character, reflecting back on her childhood. Our narrative also allows us to offer an interesting storyline within the short running time we were given from the specification. Also, we remained conventional to the coming of age genre by including familiar experiences such as exams, relationships and break ups, which our target audience will likely be able to relate with.

Voice Over: 
Voice overs are typical within the coming of age genre. However, from my research, I found that voice overs are much less common within short films. By making the decision to include a voice over within our narrative, we have successfully created a narrative that is well established within the coming of age genre, however stands out as unique against existing media texts.

Final Film and Ancillary Products

Issues With The Second Draft

After completing our second draft, we asked our teachers to give us some feedback on minor improvements we could make. One adjustment we were given was to make areas of the voice over louder in order to make them easier to hear. For example at 3.40 the narrator says 'go on road trips'. This is lost behind the music and is therefore hard for the audience to hear. We will therefore be going back onto iMovie and adjusting the sound of each segment of the voice over in order to make it easier to hear.

Second Draft of Short Film

Post-Production: Recording the Voice Over

Following the sound tests we conducted on a Macbook Pro, we realised that we would have to use more sophisticated equipment to record the voice over for our film. We therefore used a standalone microphone to record the voice over, along with a pair of earphones that allowed us to listen back to the sound in real time to ensure that the quality was at the level we wanted. We then exported the recording and laid it over the top of the footage. We decided to use iMovie for this as it is a software we are both more familiar with. We therefore exported our final film,with the music, then started a new project in iMovie.

We cut the voice recording into smaller segments and laid each bit of of the script over it's corresponding footage.

Post-Production: Choosing a Voice

In our script the narrator says that she is 'turning 21 this year'. As this is a key element of our narrative, we wish to cast a narrator that appears mature. We narrowed our choices down to two teachers at our school. We recorded sound tests for both voices, in which we asked our actors to read the script. We then laid this over the top of our film along side the music we had chosen, and decided which narration we preferred. Ultimately we decided to choose to use our teacher, Miss Montague, as the narrator for our film.

Post-Production: Creating the Ending Quote

As our film comes to an end, the narrator leaves the audience with the final line: 'don't waste your youth growing up'. We wanted to make this line impactful and therefore decided to have the quote appear on screen behind the protagonist as she walks across the frame. To achieve this we used Premiere Pro. Firstly we created a text box to go across the screen, and selected a font that would look slightly like graffiti. We then used the effects control to create a 'mask path' for the text to follow. We moved the footage along a frame at the time, the moved the text so that it followed behind the character. This resulted in the text appearing as Molly walked across the frame.

Issues We Faced in Our Second Draft

When editing we found that some of our clips did not have any audio. This was due to a fault in one of the cameras we had been using. However, after adding the soundtrack, we found that the additional audio distorted the sound of the music. We therefore made the footage silent, and this technical problem turned out not to be an issue.

Editing: Colour Correction

Following the feedback from our first draft, myself and Lucy decided to use colour correction in order to make our film look more visually interesting. For this we used the three-way colour wheel on Premiere Pro to allow us accuracy and control over the brightness, contrasts and tones on each clip.

We later decided that we would also add a filter onto the whole film. We found this filter on the Premiere Pro software, and found that it provided a more cinematic look for our film.

Below is an example of a shot before and after we have added the effect.

Improvements To Make To Our First Draft

To reflect upon the first draft of our film, we gathered a group of our target audience and asked for them to provide us with suggested improvements.

The first suggestion we received that appeared to be unanimous within the group, was that our initial draft was not long enough. The OCR specification that we are following requires our short film to fill a five minute time frame. Therefore we may need to have another filming day in order to collect enough footage to create a further 2 minutes of film.

Another improvement that was suggested to us was that we should alter the opening of our film and perhaps use the title sequence at the very beginning of the film. Upon further reflection, both myself and Lucy have decided that we are not happy with the montage at the beginning of the film as it appears out of place. We will therefore be beginning the film with our title sequence and then following that with the birthday cake scene in which the camera slowly rotates around the protagonist. This will therefore allow us to slowly build up the the fast editing sequences rather than jumping straight into it.

We have also decided that we would like to include some colour correction or a filter to the footage in order to create a more visually interesting film.

First Draft of Short Film

Magazine Final Draft

Magazine Review: Making Improvements

Text: 

From my feedback, it became clear that my target audience did not believe that my original draft looked professional. The main cause of this appeared to be the font of the text on my page. I therefore downloaded a font online that gave a handwritten appearance. I used this font for both the title of the page, the text below it and the release date displayed at the bottom of the page. This therefore made the overall page link to the genre of coming of age. I also included a large font for the first letter of the article as this is a common feature within many magazines and therefore makes the page look more professional. 

I also received feedback that the article was not entirely easy to read. To solve this issue I placed a black text box behind the text, then increased the translucency of the box in order to create a more professional look. I also used the hyphenate command in InDesign to ensure the text was easier to read. 

Further Adjustments: 

Again, in order to achieve a more professional look, I enlarged the background to ensure that it overlapped the bleed lines of the page. This therefore ensured that the there will not be a white boarder should the page be printed. I also added further details such as the blue text box in the bottom left corner. The bright blue of the box contrasts the warm tones of the page, therefore making it stand out. This was something I found was consistently used in the magazines I analysed and thus I believed I should include it. I also found that critical acclaim was a common aspect among magazine film reviews, and therefore I included a 5 star icon after the article. 

Ancillary: Magazine Review Improvements

Following the creation of my first draft, I referred to a focus group of my target audience and asked for their suggestions for improvements in my magazine review. I created a questionnaire with the following questions:

1.  Do you find the poster eye-catching?

- 'Yes, but the heading looks a little bit amateur'
- 'Yes I think the background picture really stands out'

2. Is the text clear and easy to read?

- 'Not really, I think you could maybe add a text box behind the article to make it stand out'
- 'The white font blends into background'
- 'The hyphenation makes some of the text hard to read'

3. Are there any further improvements you would suggest?

- 'The fonts might be a bit boring'
- 'You could make it link to the genre a bit more'

Magazine Review Page: First Draft

Firstly, when creating my magazine review, I designed a rough layout for where each of the conventional elements of a magazine review would go. I decided to create a review that subverts some of the typical conventions, in order to create a product that is unique to many others. Therefore I chose one main image to cover the whole of the double page spread. Usually, review pages include one key image along with multiple smaller pictures, however I have chosen to subvert this common feature and follow a design that is similar to the 'St. Trinians' review I looked at in my analysis. I have also decided to feature the title of my film in a bold font at the top of the page. This is not entirely uncommon, yet it is also not a typical convention within film magazine reviews. However. I have also included common characteristics such as columns for the article and text introducing the directors and production company.

Above is my first draft for my magazine review. I created this on InDesign. This software allowed me to used professional techniques in order to create my initial draft.

In order to create this initial design, I first chose a key image to cover the entirety of the page. Initially, I referred back to my initial research. From this I found the key image is often taken from an important moment within the film and thus provides an indication into the narrative. From my poster research I also found that sunset lighting is often used to promote coming of age films as it may connote an uplifting and happy narrative. Therefore I chose this particular picture as not only does it include a bright sunset, but it also comes from a prominent scene within the film.

I then followed a black and white colour scheme for the text on the page as I believed this would stand out against the warm toned background.

Post-Production: Making Titles

We wanted to create a title sequence that was both unique and linked with the coming of age genre of our film. We therefore decided to create handwritten titles, taking inspiration from the opening credits of the short film 'Bottle' by Kirsten Lepore:

We therefore researched different methods in which we could create something similar to this. Initially, we attempted to download fonts online. However this did not work as we also wanted to animate the text so that it moved in a similar way to the 'Bottle' film. We then decided to hand write the titles ourselves. Initially we took three photographs of three variations of the titles that we had written on a piece of paper. We then planned to invert the colour of the pictures on Premiere, then play them one after the repeatedly so that the text moved. However, as we had taken these pictures by a window, the colour became difficult to invert.

Therefore we re-did the same process, but this time on a school white board. This provided a much more successful outcome. Although, we did have to use a three-way colour correcting wheel on Premiere to make the text turn from a dull grey to a bright white.

Editing: Adding Black Bars

During the editing process of our first draft, we found that our film looked slightly amature. We therefore researched different methods we could use, that would give our project a more professional look. One of the techniques we found most appealing was the addition of black bars to each clip. This reduced the width of the clip and thus provided a more cinematic look.

We used Premiere Pro to achieve this. We created two new layers that would overlap a segment of the top and bottom of the clip and therefore make it appear more cinematic. Below is an example of a clip before and after the addition of black bars.

Call Sheet 8

Filming Day Eight

Once we had begun editing our project, we soon realised that we did not have enough footage to fill the 5 minute running time we were given by the OCR specification. Therefore, we spent a day filming some extra footage with our lead actress, Molly. We covered a variety of locations, starting the day by filming footage of the protagonist and her friends (myself and Lucy played these roles whilst the other person filmed). We shot this footage at People's Park in Banbury,  as we felt that this would marry nicely with the segment of our voice over that says 'be a kid'. We therefore filmed footage of the character s messing around and playing on the park equipment.

Later in the day, we travelled to Newbottle Woods and shot footage of the character 'exploring' the surrounding nature reserves, as the voice over suggests she should. We also shot Molly listening to music. We plan to add this to our montage of the character listening to music, as we felt that we were also lacking footage for this scene. 

Post-Production: Writing the Script

Whilst creating the script, we referenced back to our original story board. Through doing this we found that our original order for the scenes would not work with the script we were writing. Therefore we have formatted the script so that each element of the voice over corresponds to a scene or montage within the film. This will therefore aid us when we edit the film to match the narration.

Post-Production: Finding a Soundtrack

Initially we had hoped that a family member of mine would be able to create an original piece of music for us to use in our short film. However, due to complications, this did not work out. Therefore we sought to find copyright free music that we could use instead. We eventually chose the piece of music displayed below, created by a YouTube channel under the user name of 'Music For Creators'. This channel offers free, royalty free music in a range of genres, and therefore was perfect for our situation.

Although this piece may not suit our film as well as a custom made piece would, we still feel that it reflects the mood of our short film well and will be a good fit for our narrative.

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review - Consolidation of What I Found

One of the most prominent features I found from my magazine research was the inclusion of a screen grab from the film. I found that each of the magazine pages I used for analysis included one or more images of a moment of action within the film. The images chosen typically provide an indication as to what the narrative or genre of the film is. For example, in the Empire Magazine review of 'Wanted', the images strongly suggest that the film belongs to the action genre and may contain violent scenes. Therefore I will be including at least one screen grab of an action scene within my own film, that may connote the genre of the film and perhaps some elements of the narrative.

Something that was also clear in my research was the use of a consistent colour scheme within the page. For example, in the 'St. Trinians' review there was a consistent use of blue and cool toned colours. However, in some reviews, the title of the page was put in a different colour, so that contrasted the overall colour scheme. This can also be seen in the 'St. Trinians' review as review title was displayed in a bright yellow text box. This therefore highlights the purpose of the page and makes important information clear to the reader.

Other features I have consistently found throughout my analysis of magazine reviews, is the use of quotations, and critical acclaim. This varies throughout the reviews, however they are generally included to entice the audience and make the film appear more entertaining. Further information may also be included. For example in the 'Wanted' review, a text box was included that featured key facts about the film's institutional information. Therefore, for my own review page, I will consider including critical acclaim along with further information about the film, as to create interest within my target audience.

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review Analysis: The Dark Knight (EMPIRE)

Film Information:
'The Dark Knight' is a blockbuster, superhero film following the famous comic book characters of Batman (the hero) and the Joker (the villain). The film was directed by Christopher Nolan and had a budget of around $185 million, and was also distributed by Warner Bros Studios. The film falls within the action, crime genre and has a BBFC age rating of 12, despite it's violent tendencies. Due to this, and it's comic book source material, the target audience of the film is typically young men. The review I am using for analysis belongs to Empire magazine and thus advertises the movie to a predominantly British audience.

Images:
This review features three key images from the film. The most prominent of these images covers the upper half of the page. This picture displays Batman riding a high-tech motorcycle, through a dark tunnel. Parts of the picture are blurred, suggesting the image was captured at high speeds. This therefore suggests to the audience that the film is fast paced and exciting and thus locates the film within the action genre. This image also clearly displays the main protagonist of the film in his iconic superhero outfit. The iconic image of Batman is likely to resonate with fans of the comics, therefore intriguing these particular readers.

The second image presents another protagonist of the film; Gordon (played by Gary Oldman). In the image, Gordon is holding a vandalised newspaper article, with clown makeup painted onto one of the pictures. Fans of the comics may be able to decipher from this that this is the trademark of the Joker, and therefore will be intrigued as to how he is integrated into the narrative. Alongside this, the newspaper may be being used as evidence, therefore inferring the crime element of the narrative. Also, fans of Gary Oldman's previous work may be intrigued as to what role within the film may be.

The final image displays two further protagonist of the film; Harvey Dent and Rachel. Due to the proxemics between the two characters, the audience may determine that there is a romantic element within the narrative of the film. This therefore may intrigue people who enjoy the romance genre.

Mis En Scene:
The inclusion of the image of Batman in his full superhero costume, effectively intrigues the audience as Batman is an iconic superhero character. This may also be said for the high-tech motorcycle he is riding. The character of Batman is know for his famous gadgets, therefore the inclusion of this image suggests to the audience that this film will be a truthful adaptation of the Batman character everyone knows and loves. Guns can also be seen of the sides of this vehicle, therefore suggesting that the genre of the film is action and may also contain violence. In comparison, the costuming of the other characters in the two additional pictures appears to be quite formal. This may connote themes of wealth; something that is commonly associated with Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter-ego). Again, this suggests that the film will be a true adaptation of the original Batman comics.
The overall lighting of the three images appears to be largely artificial; therefore suggesting that the majority of the scenes take place at night. This coincides with the title 'The Dark Knight', and the artificial lighting may be a indication towards the traditional superhero narrative of 'light versus dark'. Also, the similar lighting throughout the three images creates a consistent marketing scheme for the page, as the images each conform to a similar colour scheme.

Use of Colour:
The colours used for the images on this page have a distinct warm tone. Therefore, the use of blue for the movie title and the article title at the top left of the page, successfully contrasts the warm tones and makes the text stand out more to the audience. Therefore, this information become clearer to the audience and the name of the film is made apparent to the reader. This is also true of the bold text beginning 'I'd be lying if I said'. The white font of the text stands out successfully against the dark background of the image.
However, the text boxes that display information about other contents within the magazine, are a red/ brown colour. This marries well with the warm tones of the pictures and thus ensures that the page continues to follow a consistent colour scheme.

Orthography and Graphology:
Orthography has been used at the beginning of the review to highlight the initial few words. This is a common convention within film magazine reviews, as it successfully draws the reader's attention to the text. However all of the text remains in a black, clear font. Therefore making it easy for the audience to read and thus process the information. The remaining text on the page is in a clear, white font. This has been used for key information as to make it stand out more to the reader.

Text:
There are two references to the vehicle Batman is riding, in bold, large text across the page. One of which being the white text on top of the image, referring to the vehicle as 'the batpod', and the other in a brown text box referring to it as a 'new toy'. The article below also begins talking about 'action sequences'. This clearly identifies the focus of the review; the action scenes within the film. Not only does this inform the reader of what the article will be about, but it also identifies and informs the audience of what the genre of the film is. This will therefore locate the target audience and interest fans of the action genre.

How Does This Advertise The Film?:
It is clear that both the images and text have successfully identified the genre of the film as action. Not only will this intrigue fans of the genre, but it will also suggest to fans of the original Batman material, that this will be an exciting film adaptation. The page also suggests to these fans that the film will be a truthful adaptation, due to the famous costuming and bat- gadgets and the inclusion of the infamous super villain; the Joker. Therefore, the page successfully entices the already, well established fanbase. Along with this, the consistent colour scheme of the page creates a review that is both eye catching and aesthetically appealing. Therefore intriguing a wider audience.

Ancillary: Final Poster

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review Analysis: Wanted (EMPIRE)

Film Information:
'Wanted' is an American action-thriller, following the character Wesley Bibson (James McAvoy), as he discovers he is the son of a professional assassin. The film was directed by Timur Bekmambetov on a budget of $65 million. The film was released in June 2008 and distributed by Universal pictures. The film has a BBFC age rating of 18, due to it's violent and sexual tendencies. The review has have chosen for analysis is from Empire magazine (a predominantly British based magazine company)

Images:
This review page feature three images from the film. One of the images is behind the scenes and features the director and main actor coordinating a stunt including a gun. The caption below the image identifies the people in the picture for the reader. This identifies the genre of the film as action, as it is a genre that typically includes action sequences and violence. The second image displays the main actor (James McAvoy) running, in what is likely to be an action sequence within the film. This again places the film within the action genre and suggests to audience that the film is fast paced and exciting. The inclusion of James McAvoy within both of these images also identifies who the main protagonist and lead actor is, and thus may intrigue fans of his previous work. This may also be true for the inclusion of the director in the first image, as fans of his work will be drawn to the film.

The third image on the page is of the secondary protagonist of the film played by Angelina Jolie. In this image we see her driving a car and shooting a gun our of the window. In this image, Angelina's character is depicted as a strong female lead. This therefore subverts many of the typical female archetypes within film and thus may intrigue the audience and appeal more to female viewers. Also, the inclusion of a gun throughout these three images suggests to the viewer that violence is a key element of the narrative for this film. Therefore singling out lovers of action and violence as the target audience of this film.

Mis En Scene:
Within the images shown, Bibson has been dressed in worn, dirty clothes. This connotes grit and toughness and thus conforms to the action genre of the film. The location of the first image also suggests this. The derelict environment and rubble across the floor again connotes violence as it appears to be a battlefield-like location. Again, the use of guns as props coincides with the violent narrative of the film.

Use of Colour:
There is a very consistent colour scheme within this review. A muted green has been used frequently throughout the page for both text, backgrounds and text boxes. This colour marries well with the green of Bibson's jacket and thus the page appears professional and visually interesting. The colour green may also connote themes of growth that coincide with the narrative as Bibson learns to become an assassin. This is the only use of colour within the review and therefore presents all of the information as equally important as no text has been specifically highlighted.

Orthography and Graphology:
Orthography has been used throughout the page in order to highlight the beginning of each new segment. The first portion of every leading sentence had been capitalised and written in a green font. The draws the reader's attention and highlights important information. The majority of the text however, remains in a simple-to-read Times font and therefore ensures that the information remain clear and easy to read for the viewer.

A text box has also been included within this review displaying the institutional information of the film. The title of the film has been written in a white font, thus making it stand out against it's green background. The title for each piece of information has also been highlighted in a bold font, in order to make the information clear for the reader.

Text:
The first line of the review immediately identifies the name of the film, the original material it was based upon and directly addresses the reader with the pronoun 'you'. This is a very direct approach in reviewing the film as the author is inclusive of the audience. They also jump straight into what the film is and what it is about, thus immediately providing the audience with information.

One quotation from the director has been featured on this page in a large, bold, white font; 'the CG will make James a hero!'. The use of an exclamation mark connotes a sense enthusiasm and thus makes the film appear more exciting to the audience. The use of the word 'hero' also hints towards the narrative of the film as a conventional action film, and again appeals to fans of that genre.

How Does the Review Advertise the Film?
This review displays a consistent marketing campaign with its use of colour and frequent referencing to the genre of the film. The review also includes institutional information along with images of the key cast members and director, thus intriguing the fans of the those particular individuals. Therefore I believe that this review page successfully draws in the correct audience and from there, uses effective language and imagery to advertise the film.

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review Analysis: St.Trinian's (EMPIRE)

Film Information:
St Trinian's follows the narrative of a group of troublesome school girls who stage a robbery in order to save their bankrupt school. The film falls into the genre of a teen comedy, and has a rating of PG-13. The film had a small budget of $13 million and was released in the UK on the 21st of December 2007 by Ealing Studios. The particular review page I have found is from Empire magazine. Empire magazine is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain and thus must adhere to a primarily British audience.

Key Image:
The key image of this poster is a long shot of the main characters of the film. The image covers the majority of the double page spread and thus is the first thing the audiences eyes are drawn to. From the image the audience may decipher that the film belongs to a teen genre due to the young ages of the protagonists. The characters also appear quirky and unusual in their fashion sense, thus suggesting that they are misfits or outcasts. Their positioning and stances also connote determination and and confidence. Thus, along with their mismatch school uniforms, this may connote to the audience the theme of rebellion; which is prominent within this film.

The main image also provides an insight into the location of the film as big ben and nelson's tower are clear in the back ground of the image. Thus the audience may easily identify the location of the film as London. This also relates to the readers of Empire Magazine (a predominantly British magazine), as they are likely to identify with the location and thus may have more interest in the film.

Mis En Scene:
The costuming of the characters in the main image effectively conveys to the audience the theme of rebellion that is prominent within the film. Each character has a personalised version of the school uniform, thus revolting against the purpose of a uniform and asserting their individuality. A school uniform also suggests youth, and therefore allows the review to appeal to the correct audience for a teen film. The setting of the main image is also conventional of a coming of age film. It is clear to the viewer that the location of the image is London, and thus the film is set in an urban, city environment. This therefore provides an insight into the narrative of the film. Also, the use of such a familiar location may intrigue the audience as they can identify with the setting of the movie.

Use of Colour:
Blue is the most prominent colour on this review page. It has been used for the key quotation across the top of the review, along with blue ink-like splotches around the perimeter of the page. The blue markings along with the graffiti font of the quote, connotes a sense of carelessness and rebellion. The similarity of the blue markings to ink spots also connotes a school environment. Thus coinciding with the narrative and successfully advertising the film.

A strong use of colour has also been used for the heading of the page. A yellow text box has been used for the text 'first look: St.Trinian's'. The use of yellow successfully draws the eyes of the viewer as it contrasts the cool toned colour scheme used for the majority of the page, thus causing the title of the movie to stand out in the reader's mind.

Orthography and Graphology:
For the majority of the text, a plain Times font has been used. This clearly displays important information for the reader and thus makes the review plain and easy-to-read. In order to highlight specific information within the review, orthography has been used. By capitalising a portion of the first sentence of the review, the reader's eyes are drawn to the words. This is a common convention within magazine reviews and thus shows that this review conforms to a typical magazine layout. Capitalisation has also been used for the large quote across the top of the page. Again, this draws the attention of the reader and makes the quote more demanding to look at.

Text:
The most prominent text on the page is the quote, 'hogwarts for pikeys!'. This quote is rather explicit and thus draws the readers attention. It also hints towards the tone of the narrative and introduces an element of dark humour; thus conforming to the comedy genre of the film. The narrative follows the schemes and adventures of a group of rebellious teens. Therefore this quote coincides with the attitudes and characters displayed in the plot. Two further quotes from film critics are displayed on the page. This therefore intrigues the reader as the films appears to have been praised by professionals.

The review itself has been written in a  largely colloquial tone. This coincides with the narrative of rebellion and youth, as the informal tone connotes a sense of immaturity. This therefore successfully advertises the film and depicts the narrative as fun and interesting.

How Does the Review Advertise the Film?:
This review page has created a strong marketing campaign as each element of the page links to the rebellious, humorous nature of the narrative. By reading this review the audience may decipher whether or not they are within the target audience of this film and whether the genre would be appealing to them. Once the target audience had been distinguished, the review presents the film in a colloquial, explicit and easy-going manner. Thus suggesting that the film will be entertaining and fun for the viewer.

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review

Conventions:

• The tag line often sums up important details about the film and provides an insight into the narrative/ genre of the film. 
• The critic will provide a rating for the film, usually in the form of stars, to suggest how entertaining the film is to the reader. 
• A synopsis or summary will generally be provided for the reader in the first paragraph. This will establish the genre and tone of the film. 
• A large image will typically be displayed and will often display a dramatic scene in the film, in order to create a sense of intrigue for the reader. 
• The film name and year will be displayed. Sometimes with additional information such as genre, credits, cast and director.
• The review may begin with a quote in order to catch the reader's attention.
• Reviews may focus on the protagonist of the film and provide a brief insight to their personality. 
• Increased size of the first letter of the paragraph. 

Purpose:
The primary purpose of a film review is to advertise that particular movie. Often, if the review is positive, it can create consumer interest and thus generate more money for the film. Reviews also commonly include a brief synopsis and insight into the narrative of the film. This allows the magazine to directly locate the target audience, and thus create a review that appeals to the correct readers. 

Ancillary Research: Target Audience Feedback

 Poster 1:

Poster 2:

Questionnaire Results:

1. Which poster draws you eye more?

Poster 1: ||
Poster 2: |||

2. Which design looks the most professional?

Poster 1: |
Poster 2: ||||

What improvements would you suggest for both posters?

Poster 1:
1. 'A lighter font for the quotes'.
2. 'A clearer font for the credits'.
3. 'The tagline could be bolder'.

Poster 2:
1. 'You could include an age rating and release date'.
2. 'It needs credits and an age rating'.
3. 'You could add some more colours as it is quite monotone'.

Conclusion:
From the feedback I have received, I can conclude that my second poster is my most successful design. Therefore this is the poster I will be improving upon and adding further details to. Feedback from my target audience has suggested that I could make the design more eye-catching as only 60% of my focus group believed that this design drew their attention the most. To achieve this I will be using the feedback I received and adding more colour to my poster. I will also be including credits, a release date and age rating.

Posters: First Drafts

After having researched numerous film posters within the coming of age genre, I have decided to create two initial drafts for my own ancillary product. I will then show both of my ideas to a focus group made up of my target audience, and will ask them to tell me which one they prefer and then ask of any further improvements they could suggest to their preferred design.


Poster 1:

For my first design I drew inspiration from my analysis of the poster for 'King Jack'. This is a largely conventional poster that features the two key protagonists of the film. Their proxemics and stance connote themes of friendship; a key element of our narrative. The image also suggests youthfulness as the characters are leaping in the air in a care free way. Along with this the sunset lighting connotes tones of warmth and happiness. For this design I followed a typical poster format, with the key image at the centre and the title above it; thus conforming to the rule of thirds as the image is the first thing the audiences eyes are drawn to. The poster also features conventional elements such as critical acclaim, awards and a tagline. I decided to use a white font for the majority of my text as it stands out against the background. I also used a handwritten font for the title as this suggests immaturity and thus marries well with the title 'Growing Up'.



Poster 2:

For my second poster I have drawn inspiration from my analysis of the 'Palo Alto' poster. I have primarily taken inspiration from the strong use of colour in that poster. For my own design I have used a muted pink colour overlay, thus connoting themes of femininity and youthfulness. This design also subverts many of the common conventions of a coming of age poster. The landscape format is not a typical design within the genre and thus stands out as a unique poster layout. Again, in this design I have used a white font for all of the text, therefore making it stand out more to the audience. I have also used a font for the title that resembles water colour painting. This suggests a handwritten quality which connotes youthful creativity to the audience.  

Ancillary Products: Research - Magazine Review: Mood Board

For my second ancillary product I have decided to create a double page magazine review for my film. Therefore I have created a mood board, that will allow me to develop initial ideas for my own project. 

I have created a mood board featuring a variety of double page magazine film reviews. I have included reviews from a variety of different magazines and a range of different film genres, in order to decipher conventions that are used most commonly within magazine reviews. One feature that has been made apparent to me through this mood board is the use of a screen grab from the movie as the main image of the review. Along with this, the colours and fonts used have generally been chosen to coincide with the colours and tones of the main image. From this I can therefore determine that the key image is central to the the review page. This image provides an isight into the film as it displays the main protagonists and often provides an insight into the location of the film.

Ancillary Research: Poster - Consolidation of What I Found

The most significant feature I found during my poster research was that each design used a strong colour scheme. The most notable use of this can be seen in the 'Palo Alto' poster. The pink colour wash over the main image made the entire poster more visually striking, thus creating a strong marketing campaign. This is something I will be considering using in MY own product, as the colour can also reflect aspects of the narrative. For example, the pink colour scheme of Palo Alto reflects the themes of femininity and relationships that are prominent within the film.

During the filming process of our own short film, we shot a scene of our character in front of a sunset. From my analysis of the 'King Jack', I have found that sunset lighting can connote themes of happiness and suggest a pleasant atmosphere. As we are trying to convey a positive perspective of youth and growing up, I may consider using footage from this filming day in my poster.

Another prominent feature within coming of age posters is their use of the colour green. Green typically connotes growth, and thus is a fitting colour to promote a coming of age film. Therefore, this may be something I should include in my own poster as there are clear references to growth in our title, 'Growing Up'.

Critical acclaim is also present on almost all of the posters. This has the effect of enticing the audience as they see that the film has been well received and therefore it is likely that they will enjoy it too. Positive reviews may also be used to provide an insight into the narrative of the film. For example in the 'King Jack' poster, one of the reviews references it being a 'rite-of-passage movie'. Thus allowing the audience to identify the genre of the film immediately.

It is also clear that the key image of most of the posters is the protagonist of the film (often with their friends or partners alongside them). This is something I am very likely to include in my product as it introduces the main character immediately to the audience and displays them as a younger person. Often the character will be using their facial expressions to suggest the tone of the film. For example, in the 'Palo Alto' poster the main character looks vulnerable thus suggesting a darker element to the narrative.

Ancillary Product: Poster Analysis - King Jack

Ancillary Research: Poster Analysis - Palo Alto

Ancillary Research: Poster Analysis - Perks of Being a Wallflower

Ancillary Poster Research: Moodboards

For our first ancillary product we have chosen to create a film poster. I have created a moodboard of film posters within the genre of my film, in order to develop initial ideas. 

Whilst researching the coming of age genre, within the medium of short films, I found that it was a genre that has very rarely been explored. Therefore, there were very few short film posters that I could use for analytical purposes. I have therefore chosen to use posters for coming of age feature films whether that be independant or bigger budget productions.

Conventions of a film poster:

• A focal point to draw the viewer's attention.
• The title is displayed in a large, bold font. 
• The genre of the film is clearly defined. 
• There is an indication of the film's release date. 
• Reviews, awards and praise the film has received. 
• Information on the director, cast and production company and other institutional information, (typically displayed at the bottom of the page). 

Purpose of a film poster:
The primary purpose of a film poster is to advertise the movie to it's particular target audience. The poster will typically provide some insight into the narrative and genre of the film and will often display the key protagonist within the main image of the poster. Posters also provide information for the target audience and will usually display a release date, critical acclaim and institutional information.

Filming Day Seven

We planned for this day to get the majority of out filming completed. Firstly we shot the scene in which the protagonist is taking an exam. We shot this footage at school and used props such as pens and paper. We shot this scene from a variety of different angles so that we could edit the sequence in such a way that would reflect the character's stress.

PICTURES

We then filmed Molly listening to music in school. We changed her costume for these scenes so that it would appear to be a different day. We also shot each clip from the same angle as we plan to edit the clips together into a montage sequence.

PICTURES

After this we shot the scenes of the character jogging in a forrest. For this we travelled to Newbottle Woods. We changed Molly's costuming and hair for this scene, to show that she is exercising. We shot a variety of different angles of the protagonist running towards a sunset. We also shot a scene of her listening to music with the same shot types as we had in earlier earphone clips.

PICTURES

We then shot the character scratching out initials from a tree at the same location. For this scene we filmed a variety of angles of the character coming across the tree, then proceeding to scratch at the initials using her car keys.

PICTURES

Later in the day we filmed Molly and myself drinking alcohol. We filmed this at Lucy's house and used canted angles and fast camera movements to correspond with the intoxication of the characters. We also filmed myself and molly putting on makeup before the scene to present us as getting ready to go out.

PICTURES

Finally, we filmed Molly revising for her exams. To shoot this we used a light box to at the forefront of the image to display the countdown until the exams. We kept the camera in exactly the same position and shot a series of small clips. In each clip the countdown changed, displaying that the character was getting closer and closer to having to sit her final exams. In each scene we increased the amount of paper and books in front of Molly and also changed her costume, hair and makeup in order to present time progressing.

Call Sheet 7

Filming Day Six

For this day we filmed our protagonist out shopping along Oxford high street. We shot a variety of clips on this day, most of which were candid. We chose to film Molly when she was being natural so that the scenes appeared more realistic and believable.

PICTURES

We also shot myself and Molly stood on a train station platform. This was a long-mid shot of the two of us standing in front of the camera while a train pulled into the station.

PICUTURES

Call Sheet 6

Filming Day Five

On this filming day we shot footage of myself and Molly in the car, driving to get junk food. As with last time, Lucy sat in the backseat of the car and got a lot of candid footage. This was the safest way for us to film as I needed to focus on safely driving the car and not acting out a scene.

PICTURES

We also shot footage of Molly and I eating McDonalds in the car. For this scene we filmed a variety of different shots and angles, so that we could create an interesting sequence during he editing process.

PICTURES

We also shot footage of Molly walking around the retail park. We choose to shoot this footage last minute as we thought the sunset lighting would create a visually interesting effect. We plan to use this footage as filler during the montaging sequences of our film.

Call Sheet 5

Filming Day Four

On this day we filmed various shots of the characters driving around together and listening to music. We were careful to make sure we referenced back to our health and safety risk assessment as there were dangers of us driving and filming at the same time. We therefore were careful to drive on quiet roads and to only film in short burst as to not distract me from focusing on driving. Myself and Molly were both acting in this shot, while Lucy set in the back seat and filmed us. Most of the footage we got from the day was candid as this again was the safest way for us film.

Call Sheet 4