FIlm Poster Analysis

Film posters use colours and images in subtle, clever ways to give the audience indications on the theme and plot of the film.

• TAG-LINE:The tagline contains a deliberate grammatical error which is used to give the audience an insight into the film and to reinforce the feeling gained from the image that the people are under attack from a “thing”.
• ICONIC IMAGE: Through the iconic image of the statue of liberty it is made immediately obvious to the audience that the film is set in America
• BACKGROUND IMAGE: And through the background image the setting of the film is made more specific, and that it is set in New York City. The billowing smoke clouds over the famous New York skyline and the destroyed statue of liberty gives the audience an insight into the size of the “thing”, and the destructible capacity it possesses. It also shows the audience the threat the people of New York face.
• FILM TITLE: The Sci-Fi styled font makes it obvious to the audience that the film is a science fiction film.
• BILLING BLOCK: The billing block is a constant among film posters, as it gives information on the films actors and directors among other information.
• RELEASE DATE: This is simply the day the film is set to be released.

Binyam

Film Posters:

The main purpose of a film poster, put purely and simply, is to advertise a film. It usually consists of an image which is relevant to the film, the name of the film, and a tagline, while some also include the release date and the names of key actors and/or the director. Film posters are displayed in a wide variety of places ranging from big billboards highways to bus stops and even on buses themselves.

Film posters are situated in places where they can be seen by many people, such as on billboards above main roads and, as above, on buses which are constantly moving which means they are being seen by as many people making them just as effective as billboards. Furthermore film posters are designed so they can influence the people looking at them in a short space of time due to the nature of where they are situated. This is because film posters appear in places where people are usually on the move meaning the posters must advertise the film in a short space of time. For this reason short films don't usually contain much text, instead they are made up of large images and vibrant titles, while the little text they contain is in the form of a tag line, a short catchy phrase used to advertise the movie, and the billing block at the bottom of the poster which is usually overlooked, but contains information including the name of actors and the film institution. Film posters use colours and images in subtle, clever ways to give the audience indications on the theme and plot of the film. This can be seen in the

BINYAM

Casting

The Main Characters

Formal Student is Binyam Teklebhran because he is 18 years old the age around the hoodie as people around in his age are commonly accused of being hoodies and he is not and actually talks negatively about them even though he is also African.

Hoodie is Alex Ojo because he is also 18 years old and as this is in age band of the majority of hoodies he's also black which is important as the media usually label young black males as the majority of hoodies.

Christopher

Locations

Ealing park gardens, Gumley gardens (outside of school), is going to be used for the chase scene throughout the short film it will make a good location as it has nice corners and is fairly small area and not busy with people so filming there should be easy. There are a lot of parked cars which will help with the scene making nice obstacles. This area is in city so it is urban enough to fit in with this short films script, It is the suburbs as I want it to be in an area where the apparent antagonist feels they can be safe.

Sixth form block, is going to be used for the interviews in between the action scenes of the main story because we need a plain background with good lighting for this, so I thought this would be the perfect area for these scenes to be filmed, because the walls are quite a plain colour.

Christopher

Potential Audiences For Short Films:

Due to the fact that short films can undertake greatly diverse themes they are used by different people for different purposes, ranging from educational ones to simply personal interest.

• EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES: Short films can be utilised by schools in order to promote a message or to inform students about social problems more effectively than a simple speech can due to the visual anchorage. Students may also feel they can relate to the actors in the short films more than they can relate to their teachers therefore the message is conveyed more effectively, making short films a significant tool for teachers to use. Bulletproof (see http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest/bulletproof.html) is an example of a short film aimed at students to raise awareness on a social issue, in this case gun crime, through the use of young actors to deliver the message. This shows that school children are a potential audience to which short films are aimed at. These short films are usually funded by institutions such as BBC or Channel 4 due to their public service remit whereby they must attempt to educate and inform the audience.
• PROFESSIONAL AUDIENCES: Short films are also widely used by young and upcoming producers and directors as an area which can be used promote their skills and and also showcase their ideas for a new film. This therefore opens up a whole new potential audience for short films, an audience which ultimately judges short films as a profession. These short films are shown in film festivals such as the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival which again introduces another audience to short films which consists of both new producers and veteran producers who attend such festivals. 'Alive in Joburg', is an example of a short film which was used by the director to gain promotion for his film idea as the film was later made into a full length film. These short films are either funded independently by the producer or through a private institution for more established directors.
• AUDIENCES WITH SPECIFIC INTEREST: Another significant audience for short films are those who have a specific interest in short films and are willing to research them on the internet and purchase them on DVD's. Websites such as the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/) offer short films to audiences with specific interests for free while other websites (see http://filmmakers.com/films/directory.htme) have short films for sale. These short films are usually funded independently however some are funded institutionally by popular film companies.
• BBFC (British Board of Film Classification): It is the job of the BBFC to apply suitable age certificates to not only movies and games but also to short films. It is an independent body, free from both government intervention as well as that of film companies meaning the certificate handed to the film is both reliable and accurate without pressure form outside institutions. When rating a film or game the BBFC take into account the language, sexual content, violence as well as other factors before giving the film a suitable certificate out of the following:
• UNIVERSAL: Suitable for all age groups, including children.
• PARENTAL GUIDANCE: Certain scenes may be unsuitable for young children. Parental discretion is advised.
• 12A: May be unsuitable for children under 12. Those under 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times (in cinemas)
• 12: Suitable only for those above the age of 12. Nobody younger than 12 may rent or buy any form of media with this certificate.
• 15: Suitable only for those over the age of 15. Nobody younger than 15 may rent or buy any form of media with this certificate.
• 18: Suitable adults only. Nobody younger than 18 may rent or buy any form of media with this certificate.
• Restricted 18: For adults only. May only be shown at licensed cinemas and sold at licensed sex-shops.
• The classification which appears most appropriate for our short film is a 12A rating. This is because our short film does not contain any sexual content or bloody violence whilst swear words and foul language are kept minimal. Our film is specifically aimed at a mature teenage audience due to the teenage theme of the film and we wish for this audience to be kept wide whilst ranging between those aged 12-18. We wish to achieve this by creating a film which many teenagers can relate to and also by making sure that the audience are drawn to the storyline through the use of suitable characters and settings.
• BINYAM