Film posters

Film posters are used all around the world and are very important to the film industry, as these posters help advertise and promote the film. Film posters have to be able to have an image on them or a certain type of text that will make the film look interesting and will therefore be able to draw the attention and attract an audience. By looking at a film poster you can often tell what type of genre the film will be and whether you will be interested to go and see it. An example of this would be if a poster had some sort of weapon on, you could suggest that the film is more action based, or if there was an attractive male and female closely together with feminine colours surrounding the image you could say that its a romantic genre. Film posters typically have an image of the main characters, the title of the film which is usually in the largest font size, the directors name, and most importantly the release date. When being advertised, sometimes the poster is altered slightly depending on which country it is being advertised in, often to make it fit in with the culture. Tag lines and slogans can persuade people to go and see it, also they anchor the poster. Film posters are not just advertised in the cinema, but on the sides of busses, in shops, billboards and on the internet.

Film sources

I like the fact that me and group came up with the idea of the female being the dominant figure and who over powers the male character. In the majority of films it is the male role who is in control and takes charge of the situation, therefore we wanted to add a twist and change the audiences usual expectations of how the two gender's stereotypically act when playing roles in films. When i tried doing some research in finding some films which this applies to i didnt really come across any, but found the 1987 film called 'Fatal Attraction', and from finding out this information it shows that not many films has a female lead character who plays the 'bad guy'. In our short film the leading female character is committing a crime and is seen to be the 'villain'.

Overall i think that it was a good idea to have a change to the average typical narrative, as its something that isnt seen very often and its something different for the audience to watch.

Shots

Our short film contains a various selection of different shot sizes to either show facial expressions, body gestures or for fitting a whole length of a person into the shot.The specific type of shot sizes are extreme close up, close up, medium close up, medium shot, medium long shot, long shot and extreme long shot. We used close up shots to show emotion on a person's face, for example when the character Megan was sitting on the bench looking puzzled about what to do, towards the end when she was standing alone on the beach showing a very serious and slightly evil face, and when she was driving in her car showing frustration. We used an extreme long shot to show the beach and location, and a long shot where the three characters were walking along the pavement next to the beach. We used an extreme close up in the last scene where megan closes her eyes, to leave the ending a mystery to the audience and to not find out how it ended and what actually happened.

Lighting

We had diverse lighting in our short film and this altered due to filming in different settings and locations. We had shots from inside and outside which gave us various colours. The footage from our beach scene was all completely natural lighting and the colours in the shot were very neutral, the lighting naturally looked bright. When we filmed indoors in the room of the kitchen we made some adjustments that would change the lighting slightly, which was pulling the blinds making it look less vibrant, although when Megan was doing the shot at the kitchen sink we drew the blinds up letting abit more natural light reflect onto her which made the character show up better on the camera and in the film. Too much light was coming in the shot when we filmed the guy in the boot scene, therefore we moved the car more into the shade to make the atmospthere feel more dark and gloomy, to give off the impression that he was in danger. We could also adjust the lighting making it unnatural by using different tools on the editing programme which in some circumstances we did, for example making the lighting in the boot scene just a little bit more darker.

Title sequence

For our opening title sequence we wanted to use some key images that stood out from the film to use as the background, so that the credits could run over them. We chose the image from the beach scene showing the tidal waves moving in and out crashing onto the beach, and we used the character Megan consistantly cleaning and scrubbing the floor. We slowed both of the images down making them go at the same pace and blended them together. These two images go well with eachother as the moving of the waves are constantly being repetative, the same as Megan moving the cloth up and down on the kitchen floor.

For our ending credits we used the classic white writing on a black background making it clear for all to read, and even though it is simple it is still effective. The more plain and practical it looked, the more we thought it would adress that there was still a serious message and topic to get across which was mental health issues. Using this straight simple format it could look like it was specifically designed to be showcased at a traditional film festival where we had planned to distribute our short film.

Editing process

Editing our film was quite a long process as we were very particular with how we wanted the film to look. We knew from our last project that Jazelle liked and was good at the editing process therefore this year she took over this specific part with the help of myself and jess's input of ideas. The editing programme allowed us to do various things throughout the duration of the film to help improve the overall look of the film. During the first half, the use of quick moving edit shots are used often to create a sense of panic reflecting off the main character, also the feeling of urgency suggesting something is going on. This will keep the audience watching and will intrigue them into wanting to find out what will happen next. The next half is the opposite to the first as the edit pace gets slower which changes the mood, its shows slow motion which contrasts with the short and quick shots that were shown previously. To show the scenes changing into the next we used the dissloving method to blend them together to change the scenes over in a nicer way. By changing the edit pace in the second half gives a chance to show the audience whats been going on and to help them understand it more.

Special effects

In our film we did use some special effects to make it look more interesting and less amateur, we also wanted to use effects that would go with our topic and portray someone being mentally ill and having certain types of issues. An example of this is where we super imposed some images together to create the effect of  being able to see double, suggesting someone having unsteady vision and showing a dizzy effect. This links well with the mental health issue to represent someone not being well, it could also indicate someone having two different sides to them through the illness. We used the zoom effect to get a more in depth view, for example when the three characters were standing in a line on the beach with their backs towards the camera. Using the articial zoom it could give a sense of being trapped when visually looking at the zoom scenes in the short film. We used this technique on several occasions, for instance when Megan is sitting on a bench with the angel and devil beside her, the shot then zooms onto her face to show a close up of her looking and feeling confuesed. Also when the boyfriend is stuck in the boot of the car with the effect leaving him looking trapped. We used the method of slow motion in the part where the three females are standing together looking towards the sea giving time for the audience to feel some emotion towards the situation of Megan.

Music

When thinking of music we wanted to choose something that would make our audience feel some sort of emotion whilst watching the film. We came across a piece of music which we really liked as it connected well emotionally with the sad narrative. The song that we chose was 'Fuera del Mundo' which is played on the piano and is a very relaxing piece of music to listen to, also i think the sound would touch and move the audience. When hearing this music before it made me think it had more of a romantic feel to it, so therefore the viewers could think in the same way and be mislead at the start and have a surprise by the end. When hearing this sound it does have the effect of making you start to sympathise with the characters regardless of the situation or if they are good or bad characters, and in this case the audience do not yet know that the lead character has committed a crime. The music does change in the second half of our film to a thriller sound which will make the audience know that something isn't right and that something bad will be revealed.

Costume ideas

When we were thinking of costume ideas, we straight away thought of what type of characters were involved and what sort of personalities they had, and then came up with clothing suggestions that would best bring out the character and their role.
The colour that first springs to mind with the character of the 'devil' was red, therefore Jess Whight who played this role wore a red top throughout the film which represented danger, something evil along with the idea of hate. She also had on black which went with the idea of bad thoughts and even death. Wearing make-up helped bring out this character more as having black around the eyes and red lips went with the whole devil image. The costume and image of our angel character would be the complete opposite as we made natasha who played this character wear a white top to represent the purity and innocence of this role. For the character megan who was played by Jazelle Johnson we went with any sort of colour worn together to help go with the impression of her suffering with a mental illness and having two different types of personalities. Towards the end of the film the character was wearing a black coat done again purposley to represent her commiting a sin along with the dark colour of  showing a bad energy which was surrounding her.

Film locations

When thinking of film locations and where we could film for our short film, we took our time and discussed it carefully within the group as the locations would be a crutial part into moving the storyline along and would help the audience understand what was going on better. We needed to get across that the main character was leaving her boyfriend, a type of incident had just happened and also show that she wasnt in the right state of mind mentally. We decided to firstly film in a kitchen as we could link her doing various things with objects such as cleaning products to go with the idea that she had some sort of illness, for example her consistantly scrubbing and cleaning. Also the kitchen area can be linked with where 'bad things' are more likely to happen within a household, for example, as it contains sharp objects that can be harmful or cause harm. We also done some filming in felixstowe and this was because the beach setting went well with the idea we was going for, and the idea behind it was to show the contrast, as usually felixstowe is a place where groups of people go to have fun and enjoy a day out somewhere different, where as in this case it was a place where 'megan' went to think about the innapropriate thing she had done whilst having a mental breakdown of good and bad thoughts rushing round. On the day of filming it was very windy and cold, with the sky dull and grey and this helped go with the concept that there was the sense of a bad atmosphere and that megan wasnt content with what was happening in the world around her.

Chosen certificate for our short film

From doing some research on the British board of film classification i believe that our short film best suits the certificate of a 12/12a as it doesnt involve any bad language, sex scenes or nudity and no type of drug use are used in any part of our film. The topic of our film would be acceptable for this certificate as its a psychological thriller with the element of mental health issues ivolved which is focusing on a more realistic storyline to other films that are in the film industry and therefore teenagers would cope more when watching certain scenes and also have more of an understanding to whats actually going on, rather than a PG rating where the child would be confuesed and mistunderstand certain situations, and could find themselves becoming distressed. Our film does include some inappropriate behaviour, but is only shown in quick brief shots, for example when the leading female character 'meagan' is shown to be opening the boot of her car which then it is revealed to the audience that there is a male trapped with tape over his mouth, but there are no scenes actually showing how the character ended up there and no domestic abuse or physical violence were shown. Our film does only contain one swear word throughout which is accepted. As our film is rated to be a 12, anyone of this age and above will be accepted to watch this film, where as anyone under this age the rating would be classed as a 12a and it would be up to the decision of a parent or gurdian to allow the child to see it but the adult must also accompy them.

The UK film certification

I did some research into finding out the terms and regulations of the british board of classifications, to see what ages you have to be to view certain types of films. This will help me and my group come up with a suitable certificate for our short film.

A U film is suitable for all audiences aged four years and above. U films should be set to have a positive moral and shouldnt upset the viewers with any violence, threat or horror.

A PG film is for anyone in general but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Unaccompanied children of any agee may watch. A PG film should not disturb a child around the age of eight or older, however parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.

A 12A and 12 are suitable for people who are aged twelve years and above. A 12A category exists only for cinema, and no one younger may see a 12A film unless accompanied by an adult. The responsibility for allowing a child under this age to view lies with the accompanying adult.

A 15 film is suitable for anyone this age and older. No one under the age of 15 may see a 15 film in the cinema or to buy or rent a film with this certificate.

A 18 film is suitable for anyone this age and older. Anyone under this age may not see a 18 film in the cinema or to buy or rent a film with this certificate.

A R18 film is a special and legally restricted classification for showing explicit sex or strong material involving adults. These types of films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas and video works may only be supplied to adults in licensed sex shops, and these videos may not be supplied by mail order.

Creativity

During the making of our film and also just being A level media students we found that we couldnt be as creative as we wanted to be due to the casting, genre, money, time, our group and technology.
Money was an issue as the film we were going to make would have to be funded by me and my group, so we were limited to how far we could travel to film and what we could use prop wise. Therefore we ended up going to the closest location due to petrol fees to film on a beach, which was felixstowe, instead of wanting to go further a field.
Time wise we had to think wisely as we didnt have long to come up with an idea, to plan everything and to actually film it, and this restricted us as we had to come up with suitable ideas which were possible and realistic to do in the amount of time we had to do it in.
Working in a group can limit your own creativity as you cant just do what you want to do, listening and putting everyones ideas into the process is part of the project. Certain ideas of your own may have to be put a side due to disagreement from other members or if another idea is liked better than your own.
Casting people for our short film would not be an easy task if we needed a lot of characters in it, as finding people who arent neccessarily actors to be in it would be difficult also getting a lot of people to be free and meet at the same time on the same day in order to film would be a hard task. With not a lot of people being willing to be on camera whilst having to find people who suited the types of characters we needed, it makes it harder to find and cast people.
With the lack of reasonable didgital technology our short film could of been better. We were given a small mini flip camera to use, and the issue with this was that the screen was rather small, so when filming on it it wasnt that clear and would have to wait until we had loaded it up onto the comupter to see it more clearly.
With any film in order to make it work and meet the expectations of the audience the codes and conventions need to be followed but whilst doing this we have to cut back on our creativity.

Casting decisions

In our short film we had a relatively short cast as we only needed three actors shown throughout as our storyline was just based around this number of people and there was no reason to cast more. I feel with this number of actors in the film it will be more of a success as it keeps the storyline simple and the audience can get to know the characters better.
The character 'Megan' would be played by Jazelle Johnson as she has a good ability to act out this role well, also a lot of our film involved a car which she was able to drive and provide us with some good shots.
The character 'Katherine' who was the angel would be played by Natasha Arcuelo as shes got an innocent look about her, her voice is very calm sounding and suttle and a petite frame which goes well with this whole 'angel' image.
The character 'Charlie' who was the devil was played by Jess White as she was able to get into character and act this part well as she could use a loud stern voice, and use serious facial expressions, overall she was a believable character.

Target audience

The type of audience we are ideally aiming for would be more towards women, as the characters in our film will be an all female cast and i think they would understand and sympathise with the situation more so then men, as usually its the female who has more emotions towards and within a relationship. Also when being cheated on by a boyfriend would either make the female stronger of crush her. I feel alot of women could relate to this topic as probably most have experienced this or something similar. The issues that our main character would have, i feel that females would accept this type of behaviour more,due to being sensitive where as men would see it as being 'crazy'.

Distribution context of the film

As we are making a short film which contains a serious issue about mental health we could distribute this across the internet which could then be seen by everyone and even viewers from different parts of the world, and this is a good idea if you are looking to get a message across to a wide range of people. Other than this i think our short film would best and most likely be distributed at a film festival which would show off how well it was filmed and put together.

institutional context of the film

Our short film will be able to touch on a serious and very relaistic topic that is not often shown in mainstream films and that fits in well with a short film as you can get a strong message quickly across. It will show the viewers what a person can go through whilst having to live with a mental illness, and how they can have two sides to them, showing completely different personalilties within them. In our short film we are concentrating on a female suffering this illness therefore the audience watching are more likely to be female.