While deciding on a new genre for my film, I came to the conclusion that my short film will not entail a specific genre. However, it will consist of some aspects of an art-house and drama narrative. This will allow me to showcase my ideas and concepts in a distinctive and clear manner. The dictionary definition of an art-house film describes it as a film intended to be an artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal. Furthermore, the guidelines for this project, expects the film to last approximately 5 minutes, therefore this is the length that I am planning to adapt to, even though most short films that I have analysed have been over 5 minutes, usually lasting up to 10 minutes. I am gearing my short film to be aimed towards both, male and female target audiences. This will be done through the easily relatable narrative plot. The short film will have a straight forward storyline, so from the very start the audience will be able to follow the story.

One way in which my film challenges conventions of real films is how Instead of using diegetic dialogue, it uses a non- diegetic voice over as it has more of the desired effect. This could be seen as unconventional as short films typically use dialogue to convey a message. I have used actions of the protagonist to deliver the message in a more appropriate manner.

Another way in which my film deviates from real film conventions is how it combines very dissimilar genres such as art-house and social drama. Elements of the art-house e.g. non-linear narration, forking paths and symbolism display the inner psyche of the character, which relates to the drama aspect of my film. Through this, my film has changed the art-house genre as a whole as it can now be merged with other genres to convey a narrative.

Initially, I opted my film to be associated with the art-house genre, however to aid the development of the plot, some elements of social drama are also included. For example; I have used multiple low angle close ups of the subject in a distressed state. This displays the inner psyche of the character and helps the audience empathise with him. These close-ups relate to the “drama” aspect of the film. Furthermore, the film carries a serious tone through-out. This is quite unconventional as most art-house films involve a light hearted tone to express one’s ideologies. This pushes my film more towards the social drama category than art-house. However, my film is set in a house which can be seen as a quite confined space. This showcases the subject’s inward isolation through the setting. For example; many of my shots have a white wall present in the background, this creates a claustrophobic atmosphere. Furthermore, Symbolism is quite repetitive in my short film, which usually is an art-house convention. For example; the protagonist’s phone is used as a vessel through which his problems are revealed to the audience. Additionally, the phone can be seen as a status symbol which the audience can relate to and therefore, empathise with the subject’s situation.

Moreover, the background music creates a melancholy mode of address to relate to the gloomy narrative. Though, it speeds up as the text comes to a climax through a master shot of the protagonist in a frustrated state with his head in his hands. This relates to the audience as they might have experienced a mutual feeling of frustration at some point in their lives and therefore, they can relate to the plot through the empowering music. The background music is a major asset in my short film as no dialogue has been used. Through my secondary research I found this to be more of an art-house convention. However, I have also subverted this convention as I have used diegetic sound effects that disrupted the flow of the background music. For example; I keyed in a slow-paced heartbeat effect to accompany a close up of the subject’s hands carrying a knife. This creates tension and exaggerates the issue of suicide in the modern society and the consequences of it.

For my film, I was completely dependant on new media technologies. For example; I recorded my footage using a sony camera, I then transferred the digital data onto my computer using a USB cable. I then copied all the clips onto Adobe premier elements 11. After the editing stage, I burned my film onto a disk using my laptop.

My film poster is initially inspired by the posters that I researched. It has a similar colour scheme to insinuate elements of the drama genre. However, I have added other details to make it stand out more. Firstly, I did not choose to have my protagonist on the poster much like the posters that I analysed, as I wanted to capture the on-looker’s curiosity. Furthermore, the picture that I used instead looks more specialised and through my research I found that more and more film posters are adapting this layout. This is evident through the three posters that I evaluated in the previous post. The image that I opted for was a silhouette of a man, I simply googled the image, however, I commented on the picture asking if I could use that image for my project. After not getting a reply, I went along and used the image. Nonetheless, I altered it specifically to my film. Firstly, I used an eraser tool to remove the watermark off the picture.

This was quite tricky to do as I had to home in on the details and I had to be really careful. I then cropped the image and located it at the center of the page. After doing so, I added the title of the film. At first I placed it the top of the image, which looked tacky and unbalanced. I then decided to merge the text with the image. I did this through the “merge layer tool” and the “text” tool. After doing this, I googled another image of a “broken glass” and similarly to the one before, I asked for consent. I then transferred it over onto adobe Photoshop and by using the eraser tool again, I erased out the glass but left shattered pieces of the glass. I then placed those pieces at the top of my poster. This connotes devastation and desolation which are included as themes in my film. I then added the credits at the bottom and the release date in line with the title, as I felt it would stand out to the by-passers more.

After finishing my film poster, I started constructing my double page spread. Initially I was planning on continuing with the same colour scheme as my poster. However, as my film transforms from black and white at the start into colour at the end, that is what I was hoping to achieve for my ancillary task. My film poster involved colours such as black, white and grey. However, for my double page spread I decided to include a vibrant colour that was capable of grasping one’s attention. The first stages of constructing my double page spread required me to open up adobe Photoshop and divide my page into equal ration of text and imagery, similarly to the Leonardo DiCaprio double page spread. Next, I wrote my article, as that was the lengthiest part of the process. On completion of the article, I added a title, a pull out quote and a review of the film. I set these in a different colour to the rest of my project to attract attention and to make a bold impression. I then added the feature article picture, which is basically screenshots of the scenes from the film (unedited) merged together. I then added the film title and tied the whole page together. I left quite a bit of negative space to maximize the minimalism. (:

Before starting my ancillary task, I researched many film posters to enhance my knowledge about genre conventions. I came across a few that really stood out for me due to their minimalistic yet striking nature. For example; the poster for Nebraska cited above is quite simplistic yet it is melodramatic at the same time because of its colour scheme and layout. The film “Nebraska” is initially a dramatic work and this is evident through the contrasting colour scheme. The black background foregrounds the film title “NEBRASKA” which has been set in white, bold, capital letters. Through my research I found that certain colours are associated with certain genres. For example; a romantic comedy would generally feature light colours such as; yellow, pink, blue etc. whereas, a drama or a horror would tend to stick with dull, dreary colours such as black, grey etc. and as my film contains some dramatic aspects, I had a vague idea of what my colour scheme was going to involve at this stage. Furthermore, the “NEBRASKA” poster has been laid out very neatly and the mode of address of the poster is formal, which would appeal to a more mature audience rather than the youth. However, the poster gives little insight into what the film actually involves and is very blunt. Nonetheless, this could entice the on-lookers and might attract their curiosity, they are given an outline of a man they must fill in themselves.

Another poster that I analysed was “Gravity,” similarly to “NEBRASKA” it is very vague and simplistic. It is not over flowing with effects and tacky fonts, yet it still manages to capture attention. However, Unlike NEBRASKA, it is more informative and includes a tagline “Don’t let go,” this gives the audience a slight hint of what the story entails. Also, “Gravity” includes the release date at the bottom of the poster, whereas, “NEBRASKA” does not. Additionally, the poster uses “George Clooney” and “Sandra Bullock” as their unique selling point as a lot of people are familiar with their work. Their names have been encompassed in bold letters and are hard to miss. Furthermore, similarly to NEBRASKA, this poster uses a contrasting colour scheme to attract attention.

This double page spread features Leonardo DiCaprio in his 2010 mystery, Sci-fi “inception.” The page has been divided into equal ratio of word and image content. The colour scheme is simple yet eye-catching. The text columns push more focus to the picture and grasps the reader’s attention almost instantaneously. For my double page spread I am planning on doing something similar. Like most of the posters that I analysed, this double page spread continues the colour scheme of black and white and is set up in a very classy manner. This is also evident in Leonardo’s clothing as he is dressed very smartly in a white shirt and black trousers. Though, the black and white colour scheme might get boring for some, the mid-shot of Leonardo with a serious facial expression might pull in a greater audience – more specifically women. However, it could also appeal to men as according to the theory called “audience gratification,” men might look up to Leonardo as an icon and might use him as a source of personal identity.

Another double page spread that I analysed was the “Black Swan.” Unlike, the previous double page spread that I evaluated, this is more eye catching and bold. The title of the film is laid out right in the centre of the page and divides the text from the feature article picture. It also contains less text and is more image based. The subject in the feature article is turned away from the camera and therefore is disconnected from the audience. The make-up of the subject is quite excessive and dramatic and links in to the black in the background. This gives the audience a slight idea about the tone of the film, as the tone of the double page spread is quite serious.

What have you learned from your audience feedback

After I had completed my film, I received some quite useful feedback from my peers and teachers. The first feedback that I got was that the background music was too repetitive and did not contribute to the narrative. This led me to change my background music. I also added a voice over to take away from the repetitiveness. I also got a lot of feedback on my poster and my double page spread. Many people favoured the fact the I did not include a feature picture into my poster. Additionally, feedback on my double page suggested that I should add more vibrant colours, this led to me adding the maroon-ish colour scheme. Overall, the feedback from my audience has helped me advance my work and has polished the rough edges.