Film Review Draft #3

To improve my film review I followed my previous feedback. When doing this I thought to include the typical 'IN CINEMAS' header that Empire uses, but as my short film will be released on YouTube this isn't needed.

Film Review Draft #2

Film Review Layout

After making my first draft, I realised that I had tried to design the layout for a one-page review based on the layout of a two-page review. Because of this, I decided to construct my film review again, using a typical one-page layout found in the Empire magazine. My layout is based on the film review for 'Joy' (2015) in the December 2015 paper issue.

Film Poster Questionnaire & Results

After developing my four posters, I needed to identify which one of these were the most effective for marketing and promoting my short film.

As shown above, the majority of people who took this questionnaire are 15+, supplying me with valuable opinions from my target audience.

Responses

Poster 1

• 'Gives a sense of entrapment and confusion'
• 'I feel the poster reflects someone looking at a computer screen as its a close up off their face'
• 'Her face'
• 'Close up picture makes it more personal'
• 'I think the zoomed in face works well'
• 'It looks the most professional.'
• 'Colour scheme'
• 'It’s different, something I haven’t seen before and not cheesy' 

Poster 2

• 'The font matches and the social media icons relate to the story'
• 'Shows how different social media platforms can affect someone mentally'
• 'It was subtle and the colours worked better than the others'
• 'Seems more in line with the theme'
• 'I liked the font'
• 'The text that looks digital, connoting the narrative'
• 'Identifies the girl, social media and the title without looking crammed'
• 'It seemed the most realistic to an actual film poster and it looked the most professional'
• 'To me personally, it looked the most professional out of all 4, and I liked how the girl was the centre of the social media apps which could be viewed as symbolic of her being trapped.'
• 'Good representation of what the short film will be about'
• 'The title and the whole image is simple, a bit like the supersize me fulfil poster'
• 'The body language of the character'
• 'Simple and appropriately describes the storyline'

Poster 3

• 'This made me wonder about the dangers of cyberbullying'
• 'Contrast'
• 'The Social media icons and the sad looking girl.'
• 'It's dynamic and fun'
• 'More attractive to the eye, plus indicates some element of bullying at the beginning'
• 'The background shows the typical apps which are being used by many teenagers. The girl with her hands crossed over signifies how she has had enough of social media. She has a melancholic face and has her back turned to the apps.'
• 'I like the background on this one and the picture of the girls shows clearly what the short film is about.'
• 'It is clear and not blurred. Not too many things happening at once'
• 'The backdrop for the poster shows the case of the problem clearly and her position on the cover helps you understand what kind of story it is.'
• 'Incorporates social media elements seamlessly, clearly represents the narrative'
• 'Stresses the idea of social media being a nuisance'
• 'They seemed trapped in their phone'
• 'I think the background as apps is a good way to show her isolation.'
• 'It shows a lonely girl in the midst of social media icons'
• 'The background images of social media icons clearly gives the audience an insight into what the film is about'
• 'The background relates to social media and also shows the girl on the front as alone.'
• 'The background of poster 3 really pushed across the idea of social media and cyberbullying which fits well with the film’s narrative.'
• 'Clear'

Poster 4

• 'Colour'
• 'Preferable graphic'
• 'Was the best one'
• 'It illustrates the effects that cyberbullying can have on an individual'
• 'The colours of the poster, black, show how she's been in darkness due to the cyberbullying'
• 'It’s more intriguing as it’s quite different from the others and gives a bit more of an insight into the actual storyline'
• 'Looks darker and more serious than the others; like it would be related to bullying'
• 'It looks the best'
• 'The dark colour is eye-catching and portrays sadness and fear'
• 'It hones in on the solitude one feels when suffering from cyberbullying. I like the blackness'
• 'It looks more dramatic'
• 'The girl appears to be disconnected from the audience'
• 'Seams the edgiest. Bullying still has a stigma around it so the movie poster should signify that'
• 'It looks edgy (abstract)'
• 'The dark colours create a negative effect which is a good colour for someone getting bullied'
• 'Good contrast of black and white, black showing darkness but white showing there’s still light somewhere inside of you.'
• 'Feels the most like a tragedy which is the genre'
• 'Best aesthetic'
• 'It's clever and simple, but also a powerful image that has more of a lasting impression.'
• 'She has been put in the dark'
• 'Looks the coolest, less amateur and more appealing'
• 'The contrast of the colours'
• 'Has a feeling of depression and loneliness, which suits the storyline'
• 'The reverse of colours suggests a sinister theme to the film' 

Evaluation

From this research I have gathered that most of my target audience favour the last poster, this being the most abstract - which is typical of a short film poster.

I agree with the statements saying that the poster conveys the narrative of my short film in a clever way. I attempted to do this with the composition of this poster, its colour scheme and the effects available on Photoshop. When I first made the poster, it was designed so that the audience could recognise Lucy Merrill and see the emotion of sorrow in her facial expression and body language, getting an idea of the overall theme of my short film. However, when playing with different filters and effects on Photoshop, I came across the ‘stamp’ feature and really liked how this made the poster more transcendental. The character looks as if she’s been stamped, suggesting that she is not her own person and something has a hold on her (social media). As her eyes are white, the audience cannot tell where she is looking and assume she is looking directly at them, entrapping them just like social media has done her. Another interpretation can be related to the colour scheme of the poster. I used a certain colour scheme to portray certain messages. Black was used to represent the negativity that surrounds her, while the green resembles growth and highlights how the character wants to grow as a person but can’t as she is victimised. The navy blue/purple symbolises the confusion she experiences as she is unaware of what she is doing wrong to receive the abuse. Light blue is often associated with stability, contradicting Lucy Merrill’s characteristics as she is pushed into unstability. Lastly, the white corresponds with the character’s innocence and purity implemented in her conscience, illustrating the idea that the eyes are windows to the soul. Notice that the majority of the poster’s hue is dark, depicting the overall adverse atmosphere of the film.

In conclusion, I will be using this media product as my official poster for my short film.

Photoshop

I had the task of producing a film poster and a film review. When doing this, I had to become familiar with the different tools and effects of Adobe Photoshop.

As an introduction to using Photoshop, my teacher set me a task of creating a film poster. When doing this I practised importing images into Photoshop and removing unwanted areas of an image (e.g. background). I also discovered the different layers you could add onto text to create eye-catching titles.

To expand my knowledge of Photoshop, I watched the following video;

From watching this video and completing the task, I understood what tools I needed to used to achieve the desired effects for my short film poster. Here is a video of how I used these tools, showing a segment of the process of creating my ancillary texts.

Film Review Draft #1

After studying the layout of the review of 'Daddy's Home' (2015) from Empire (both the paper issue and the online issue) I produced the first draft of my short film poster.

Film Review Analysis

In order to produce a successful film review, I looked into the different types of film review magazines that are available to the public and studied the layout and structure of a typical film review produced by this institution. I decided that I wanted the review to be of a casual tone, similar to Empire, rather than the formal style of the BFI’s Sight & Sound, to appeal to my target audience of 15+.