I knew that I wanted music in the background of the radio advert, so I thought I would use the piano version of Love Story as it is easily recognisable. It also tells part of the story in the song itself, which tells the audience about the film and what it is about. The ending would still be unexpected though.
I also thought about having snippets of audio from my film itself, such as dialogue involved in the voice over. These could be: 1. "I couldn't bear being away from you, and I've been wanting to kiss you for so long now it seemed like the perfect opportunity" 2. "You can do so much better than him anyways, I always thought so ...." - "Thanks, but there's really no need ..."
However, I think it would be difficult trying to incorporate some of the script depending on how the narration of the radio ad goes.
One of the first things I did was try to come up with phrases that I want to include in my radio ad. This would make it easier to construct a full ad and allow me to edit and re-model the ad to make it better. These phrases were: 1. ...A powerful and moving story... 2. ...A must see romance... 3. ...Released in September 2010... 4. ...Love in Reality... 5. ...Midget Gem Productions... 6. ...Starring new-comers Jonny Brighton and Shannon Genther... 7. ...A short film not to be missed!... I will direct the audience directly with "you" which immediately involves them (a convention of most radio ads).
I was unsure as to whether a male or female should say the radio ad, so I recorded both myself and my friend Matt saying the advert. I incorporated the different sections that I wanted to include. And this is what I came up with:
In September 2010, a must-see film is coming to a cinema near you! Love In Reality is a powerful and moving story by Midget Gem Productions. Starring new comers Jonny Brighton and Shannon Genther, it's a short film not to be missed. Love In Reality , sometimes it isn't as simple as it seems.
I found it very difficult to find radio adverts as most of the ones that I found were from the TV. However, I was able to find some adverts for campaigns and sales, but unfortunately none for film adverts. Despite this, I can use some of the same techniques to create my own radio advert.
(This is a combination of two adverts, however I'm only analysing the first which lasts up to 40seconds). Taken from a driving and phone campaign, this radio advert is made to shock it's listeners to re-inforce the laws of the road. It's an advert designed to prevent drivers from using their mobile phones whilst driving as they are "4 times more likely to have an accident". The confusion of the merged voices creates a sense of what the dsistraction and confusion a driver would feel when driving on the roads whilst using their mobile. The voices eventually untangle to reveal what they've actually been saying, suggesting that by not using their phones, drivers are much more in control and focused. It addresses the audience directly with "you" immediately involving them in the radio campaign; this makes them listen to the facts which are inserted to shock the listeners and make them realise how dangerous using a simple mobile phone can be. The repetition of the speakers voice and by using the same speaker makes the advert brainwash the audience as they are intent on listening and trying to make out what is being said. The speakers voice is also quite monotone which gives it a dull feel to (I think) show how serious it is and possibly represent how an accident can affect your life, especially if it's fatal. Who is the ad intended for? Drivers. What is the ad wanting people to do? Stop using mobile phones whilst driving. Why are they wanting this? Because drivers are four times more likely to have an accident.
This is an advert for moving house. It has funky music in the background which suggests that they are friendly and approachable. The music could also be to make the listeners listen to what they have to say as the beat is infectious. The voice over is that of a male with an enthusiastic and friendly tone. This again reinforces the message that they are the people to go to if you're thinking of moving house. The script uses words such as "we" and "you" which relates directly to the listener as they're being addressed, whilst the "we" groups all the workers who work for Quick Move and shows that they are all willing to help. Other words which help to sell the company are "professional", "friendly" and "specialists" which suggest that they are the best people to go to. It gives information with how to contact them towards the end of the advert and keeps repeating the name of the company; This is a kind of brain-washing technique which will make the listeners remember their name. Who is the ad intended for? Middle-aged people, those moving house. What is the ad wanting people to do? Choose Quick Move to help them move house. Why are they wanting them to do this? More money for the company.
This radio ad is advertising subway. The voice is very energetic and enthusiastic. His accent is also different which makes the listener have to listen slightly more to what he says. The words used to describe the food makes the listener wants to try them more, because in radio no images can be used to persuade the audience! So everything needs to SOUND good to them, that's why words such as "tasty", "yummy" and "scrumptious". The speaker is directly addressing the audience with "you" again involving them within the advertisement. He also relies on comedy such as imagining the steering wheel as a pretzel to try to entice people in, and the irony of "don't listen to the voices in your head" also adds a comedy factor. The speaker also includes the slogan of "Eat Fresh" at the end and repeats the name of restaurant "Subway" several times throughout the ad. Information regarding price is also put in there to persuade the listeners that it's too good to miss! Who is the ad intended for? Drivers / People who have a busy schedule and need to grab something and eat. What is the ad wanting people to do? Go and eat at subway. Why are they wanting them to do this? Make more money for the company.
To conclude, these adverts couldn't be more different. Both the last two are advertisements aimed at making people spend money at their stores so that the companies can make more money whilst the first advert is designed as a prevention of road accidents. The last two have more similarlities, using energetic voice overs, catchy music and taglines. However, they all do share similar conventions of having one voice over, repetition of words (or phrases) and lasting between 30 to 40 seconds.
Before writing my script, I decided to research what needed to be put in to it and how to set out a script. I found all of this information from this website.
A template which is used by most practitioners is "Who/What and Why". - Who is the advert intended for? (gender, age, demographic...) - What do you want the audience to do? (See/Do/Hear/Buy?...) - Why should the audience do what the advert wants? (any rewards?)
The spoken and visual element of a radio script is on a split page. 25% goes towards the short cues, directions and instructions for the person / people reading the script. The other 75% of the script is the wording of the script itself and various audio inserts which will be accompanying the words.
Most radio scripts have the following: - centred title header (writer, script title and duration) - left-hand (25%), cues for voice actor, music, sound effects, directions for in and out cues of audio inserts. - right-hand (75%), body of the script, lines for each voice following the directions on the left side, detailed description of other non-speech audio inserts, details of sound, music and audio effects.
Some abbreviations used in radio scripts involve: Vo - Voice over / talent. Mvo - Male voice over Fvo - Female voice over Cvo - Child voice over Sfx - Sound effects Inserts - I/c, in-cue first audio in & O/c, out-cue or last audio out. Mix or Music - details of music style, performer, composer or label ref.
The date will also be placed at the bottom of the radio script, but not all scripts are presented this way. The layout depends on how it best suits the production but this is the standard way in which the industry will recognise a radio script.
I found it really difficult trying to download / find examples of film trailers advertised on the radio. Despite hearing them on local radio stations such as KC.FM, Viking.FM and Humberside Radio, there was no evidence for me hearing them. So, I looked at conventions of radio adverts.
Conventions of Radio Adverts (in general) : - often last between 30 to 40 seconds. - have either 1 or 2 voice overs. - repetition of phrases or words (like a brain-washing technique). - music is often used, this is normally catchy or associated with the advert. - the voices are often energetic and over enthusiastic. - directly addresses the audience with "you". This creates a link with the voice over (wo)man, and the listeners. - jingles/phrases are used to help "sell" the advert. - voice overs are often known actors / actresses.
A Brief History of Radio Advertisement Radio broadcasts began in the early 1900s. As radio stations began to constantly broadcast, which happened around 1919, station owners realised that it was starting to cost them a lot of money and a lot more than they expected. In 1922, an announcement was made to sell "toll broadcasting" to advertisers; This helped businesses dramatically and it became a popular way of advertisement. Soon, advertisers sponsored whole radio programmes with a message of "We thank our sponsors for making this programme possible" either at the end or beginning of the programme.
A typical daytime line-up for a radio station's shows will be: 6am - 10am. 10am - 3pm. 3pm - 7pm. 7pm til midnight. Mornings and evenings when people are commuting to and from work, are considered to be the most popular and are known as "Drivetimes".
Cost The cost of advertising on the radio can vary on several factors including: - the time of day - the length of the advert - the season - the radio station - the length of the campaign - the campaign frequency - the type of advertising. The cost of the advert shouldn't be no more than 10% of the original budget, which will include the actors hired, the script-writers and music/sound effects. For small stations it can be anything from or around £250, whilst for the more popular stations it can be anything from and over £2,000. For a large-sized regional radio station, a radio station could charge £1,000 a week. (the above information was taken from this website). However, different radio stations - pending on popularity - can vary their costs dramatically. Unlike print media, radio stations have a limited amount of time and slots for advertisements which restricts them to how many they can have a day.
Length The average estimate for the amount of radio adverts per hour totals to 9minutes or air time. 60second slots for adverts are the most common, however radio does sell radio adverts within 2,10, 15 and 30 second slots. Most adverts nowadays last for approximately 40 seconds.
Facts and Figures - 95% of people listen to the radio every week - 92% of listeners remain tuned in for the adverts - 6.9% of total media expenditures are spent on radio adverts (most of this information was taken from wiki).
If it was a real radio advertisement, I would probably choose to pay for a radio station for a 30 second slot during the evening. This would ensure that it would be heard at a popular time and by having it at night rather than the morning, the listener would be able to remember it more and possibly tell other people when they get home. I decided to choose 30 second slot as it would be cheaper but also would give me enough time to advertise the key points of the film. Another decision would be to use a campaign and have the advert playing every evening for 2 weeks before the due date, this would mean that I would get more for my money as radio stations are known to make deals for consistent adverts on their station.
Because my other posters are very similar to each other, I decided to play around some more with the layout of what my poster could be. On Photoshop, I decided to still keep the font and colour scheme consistent (and the same as my previous posters), but I wanted to change the size of the main image, making that one of the main focuses of the poster - a convention of film posters. However, to break conventions, I kept the title of my film nearer the bottom third of the poster. The only issue I found when creating this poster was the fact that my photo ended abruptedly which I think, if it had been a full image taking all of the poster size, then the poster would've looked better. I was contemplating changing the bottom to black, however that would mean I'd have to change the "reality" to a different colour, and I liked the way that there was red/blue/black for the title. The red is representative of the love, the blue is representative of the sadness / conflicts that they have to face and the black reinforces the fact of reality; as the saying goes, we like to see it in "Black and White". I decided to try using a different picture but the same layout (as shown above) however, I realised that the black writing wasn't as easy to see like the first poster. I still like the picture but think that the first poster is the better choice.
For my first draft of posters, I decided to look at the "minimalist" look, used in the poster "P.S I Love You" which I thought effectively gave details as to what the film is about, who was in it and when it was released. I used PowerPoint and PhotoShop to create my poster. For my first drafts (as shown below) I used PowerPoint so that I had some idea of where I wanted the positioning of the text and images.
These are in the order of how I developed them. Apart from the first picture, the rest of the pictures are all posed for. I liked the mimimal look but after the first 3 posters thought that there seemed to be too much white/blank space, so decided to try incorporating another image or something to try and fill the page more. What I decided on was influenced from the 50 first dates poster, where they'd decided to use polaroid pictures to convey the idea that the two were dating. I tried replicating this but didn't think it worked well because I needed to have a background behind them. I therefore thought that I should maybe try taking some more photos with a relevant scenic background. I did also make the polaroid picture bigger on the second attempt of the poster and believed that it looked better than the first. My favourite image is of the one used in the most posters (2, 4 and 5). I liked the fact that she was looking up at him, and him down to her to show that they are making eye contact demonstrating the connection between them. I also think that the t-shirt the male is wearing is relevant as in the first poster he is wearing a metallica t-shirt which suggests his preferred music; despite helping to give more information on his character I thought that the more discrete and less obvious top looked better visually. My preferred poster out of these five (all created on powerpoint) is the last one, with the larger polaroid. However, I think it would look better with a background.
Points about my Posters: - Colour Scheme, Blue+Red+Black=The Colours of the British Flag. The blue could represent the sadness of the ending, the red symbolises the love that the two share and the black represents the factual side of the "reality". By having a white background, it makes it easy to differentiate and see the colours and images. - Apart from the titles in grey, everything else is in lower-case which is a convention I followed from the other posters. - Another convention that I followed is the names of my actors that are in lower-case and the first name is in black whilst the surname is emboldened and coloured red. - There are no spaces between the title of my film "love in reality" and the names of my actors. This is another convention I followed but I made sure that it was still readable by changing the colour or making certain parts bold.
Below are my finished posters. I decided to go for the minimalist look as I didn't want to give away too much about the film. Both posters are landscape and would be placed on billboards. I played around with the positioning of the images and text to create two different posters. The picture on the first poster was one I asked them to pose for; It represents how close they become in the film and how they are comfortable in each others company. Shannon is looking lovingly into Jonny's eyes whilst his serious face could be suggestive of the ending of my film. The second picture was taken from one of the original photos I took for my storyboarding. I liked it because of the action shot, but it shows how genuinely happy they both are. The main focus in both of these photos is on the images and the title. These were both created on photoshop.
Overall, from analysing the four different posters for the different romance / romantic comedy films, I've learnt about the conventions and some ideas which I could use for my poster to help make it recognisable.
1. They all used at least one image of the main actors / actresses. This shows the audience, at a glance, who is in the film and what their relationship may be to the other person in the film.
2. The actors names are normally positioned at the top of the poster or above the credits and are made to stand out by either having the last name in bold and a different colour (with no space between the first and surname). The actors that will attract more of an audience due to popularity are definately included in the poster, but also those that are the main characters in the film are included.
3. The credits of the people behind the film (such as director, producer etc...) are all positioned at the bottom of the poster and are condensed.
4. There is always a tagline which suggest more about the storyline of the film and helps to sell it to the audience. This is either positioned underneath the title of the film or placed at the top of the page by the actors names.
5. The title of the film is the largest text on the poster.
6. There is either a review or another piece of information to try to sell the film. This could include links with other successful films, i.e. from the same producer of the film ...
7. The colour scheme often has 3 main colours, these normally include black and white and sometimes red. Red is often associated with romance which would be a good colour to include.
This poster for P.S. I Love You is a simple poster using a simple colour scheme of red, black and white. Simiarly to previous posters such as 50 First Dates, the names of the actors are nearer the top of the page and have no space between them but instead their last names are made to be more clearer in a different colour and bold to make them more prominent. "P.S. I Love You" is hand-written to link with the idea of putting it at the end of letters. It is in red to suggest romance and also links with the red of the last names of the actors, the actress' top as well as the website address at the bottom of the page. There is a tagline which helps to give more information about what the film is about saying that "Sometimes you have to live life one letter at a time" this shows that it is about letters which links with the title. The credits of the film are again condensed and put at the bottom of the screen, and there is the singular image of the two protagonists of the film which are large and close together to show that they are in love. With the actress wearing red, this could suggest that she is seductive but also that she is romantic and it ties in with the colour scheme promoting the idea of romance. The male is looking at her, smiling which shows that he is in love with her whilst she looks to the camera suggesting that there is something stopping her being with him. By also saying that the same producer from "Devil Wears Prada" is working on this film, this also persuades the audience members who watched and enjoyed Devil Wears Prada to go and see this film too. The poster is simple but effective as it delivers the sufficient information without giving the story away.
"Love Actually" is a British film starring numerous British actors and actresses. It was released around christmas and suggests that it is based in this festive event because of the backgrounds in the images suggesting festivity due to the snow and christmas trees and, the big give away of the ribbon and bow accompanied by a tag which suggests that the film is like a present waiting to be unwrapped. The colour scheme is red, white and black which is suggestive of christmas (red being a main colour in the festive season and white suggesting snow) whilst black is used as it is a standard colour which helps to make the writing readable against the backgrounds. The red can also be linked with romance and by putting "romantic comedy" in red, reinforces the idea that it is a festive romance. Each actor has their name underneath them that shows how many famous people are in the film. The visual reminds me of a window and suggests that this also has a multi-strand narrative in which all the characters are linked - similarly to "He's Just Not That Into You". If the tagline of "Very romantic. Very comedy." isn't enough to suade the audience, there is an extra tagline and possibly a review of the film stating that it is "the ultimate romantic comedy". Ultimate is coloured in black to draw more attention and emphasis to show that it is a film now to be missed! There is no release date except to say that it's "in cinemas soon, actually" which ties in with the title of the film cleverly. The credits of the film are again condensed at the bottom of the page which is a recurring theme with the posters so far. Another comment to mention is that the bottom two images showing Bill Nighy and Rowan Atkinson seem to be linked and demonstrate a comedy element as it appears that Bill is hitting Rowan who doesn't seem unperturbed. By having popular, British names associated with romance films, such as Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, the film will appeal to people who have seen them in films such as Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary.
"He's Just Not That Into You" - has been described as the american version of "Love Actually". It was released around Valentine's Day and uses a multi-strand narrative to entertain the audience with numerous romantic stories. The main visual of the poster are the montage of images which take up two-thirds of the page. These show all of the famous faces who are involved in the film which appeal to the audience as they only have to see the images of their favourite actors before deciding to go and see the film. I believe that Jennifer Aniston's picture is larger as she is a very popular and well-known actress however the image at the bottom is of the main female character who ties all the characters together. All of the actors names are situated underneath the picture collage which tell the audience who's in it if they don't recognise anyone. The love heart of "call me" links closely with the image of the female lead as she is constantly waiting around the phone for a call from interested guys. The love hearts are also associated with romance and have different messages saying 'sweet' things. "Not" is emphasised in the title which suggest that the film may include saracasm and probably comedy as there seem to be hopeful girls who are wanting to be with someone but who appears to be "not that into" them. February 6th is made to be bold and larger than the text surrounding it to draw attention to when the film is released. This makes it obvious to the audience when they need to book their tickets for. Again, the credits are all condensed and positioned at the bottom of the poster as, though important, they aren't relevant to the selling of the film. The backgrounds on the images all suggest that each character leads their own lives and suggests something of their background. For example, one actor appears to be sitting on a boat which suggests that he is a free character capable of sailing or enjoys it. The colour scheme consists of blue, black and white which is unusual for a romance as I would've thought red / pink would be more used. However, the pink love heart has more attention drawn to it because of it's colour and represents the romance element.
Overall, this poster uses images as a main visual for the audience and uses some elements of the previous poster (50 first dates).
I decided to look at romantic film posters which will hopefully influence my own poster. Because my genre is romance, I decided that it would be more relevant to analyse this genre of poster compared to others.
My first poster that I decided to analyse was from the film 50 First Dates starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. There were a few variations of the poster, so I chose to look at two of them and compare why they've decided to go for different appearances.
By having a landscape background, it sets the scene for the film. We learn that it is sent on a small island in Hawaii which is demonstrated by the rolling hills of scenery and blue sky. Everything that is seen visually on this poster either appears in the film (such as the penguin which links with the male's occupation of working with animals). The female's face is shocked and reinforces the fact that she has amnesia and isn't quite sure what's going on. The male is looking directly at her, seeming to try and woo her with his musical skills. This relates to the romance as music, picnics and exotic islands are all seen as ways to woo the opposite (or same) sex to begin/maintain a relationship. The tagline of "Imagine having to win over the girl of your dreams ... every friggin' day" links with the male as he literally has to win her over every day because she forgets what she has done, never mind who he is. He also uses slang in the film, so the tagline can be linked with him narrating the film as he uses the word "friggin''' a lot within it. The red connotes an element of love / romance and is part of the colour scheme of red, white, black and brown. The credits at the bottom are small and condensed and made to blend in with the sand behind them so as not to draw too much attention to them. The title of the film "50 First Dates" is the largest text on the poster to draw attention to the name of the film. The writing is clear and the different colours seperate the words not spaces as there is none between the words. By having "Remember the Date" and "Valentine's Day" at the bottom of the page in different colours, they are made to stand out as people may see the names of these films and believe that they will enjoy this film as it is similar because it is made by the same people. The names of the actors / actress' also draw in the crowds as if they like a certain actor - for example, Adam Sandler is popularly associated with comedy - then they will be more inclined to go and see the film. It is clear that the main visual of the poster is of the image of the people starring in the film and gives some indication as to what the film is about.
This is another poster from the same film. The tagline on this poster is different but explains more about what the film is about by saying "When your girlfriend has amnesia, you have to win her over ... every single day." The actors names are again positioned at the top of the poster and their second names are more distinguished as it is often the last names that people remember more. There are more pictures on this however they demonstrate the same message that the film is set in an exotic location with warm weather, and the female appears confused about who this man is. Her facial expression also suggests that it is a romantic comedy which will entice more people. By having the pictures presented as photographs, it links in with the "dates" as on dates you take pictures to remember the good times. The background is of sand again which reinforces the idea that it is set in beach town with clear skies and nice weather. The credits are condensed and are positioned towards the bottom of the poster.
Overall, I believe the first poster is more effective as by having one singular image, it is less busy and in a glimpse of the poster, the audience are able to assume what the film is about without having to read anything or look elsewhere. From these posters, I can assume that the conventions of a poster will show that: - the title of the film is the biggest text on the poster - the leading actors / actresses names will appear on the poster, either towards the top or are more distinguished among the writing. - a tagline is important to help to sell the idea of the film to the audience and gives an indication, along with the image, what genre the film is. - there will be a colour scheme of 2 - 5 colours, not many as too much colour would be too busy to look at. - simple is effective by having minimal writing, either one or two images and less than 5 different colours.
The 6 sheet poster is often found at bus stops which is a popular place to advertise both for films and for products. In comparison, the 64 sheet would be placed on a large billboard, and would be seen from cars and pedestrians passing by. It would be more expensive but possibly more worth the money.
If I had to choose where to advertise my film poster, I would use both a bus stop (6 sheet) and billboard poster (48 sheet) as I believe these would be the most effective locations for the poster to go. People standing at the bus stop, waiting for a bus, would look at the advertisement which shows that they are exposed to the poster for quite a long time (pending of course how long the bus takes); cars passing would also catch glimpses of the poster, however, if stuck at the traffic lights, a billboard poster may be more effective as they would have more time to look at it.
Another way to advertise my poster would be over the internet. I've noticed that on popular websites (such as facebook, msn and myspace) they all advertise films (and other products / holidays etc...) and sometimes have polls which involve the audience with the film. I think this would be a good way of advertising my short film as my target audience of young, students of both genders use these websites and talk about them over their pages. Examples include:
This is the front page for myspace. Though it mainly advertises music (as this is the most popular with young people from 13 and over) it still does the same thing as film posters and advertises latest bands and the newest releases appealing to the audience to join. There is also an advertisement for the most recent game release on the Xbox called "Kinect" which has an advertisement also. The prices for internet adverts can vary depending on how popular the site is, who the target audience is, how long the ad will be placed there and how big the ad will be.
This is the homepage of msn. It is popular for people of all ages to communicate with friends and family. They also advertise at the bottom of their instant messenger pages, (where you can talk live and instantly) but I was unable to get an example of this. Advertising on homepages such as this can attract potential viewers as this is a widely used networking site and also has latest news and weather updates which will be very popular. However, this site would probably be less effective to advertise on for my short film, as my target audience is young students between 13 and 19 years old, and I believe that the audience for this homepage is too wide. Again, to advertise on this homepage, the costs would vary on how long you want the ad to be advertising for and how big the advertisement would be.
A lot of my filming took place either on lunch times at college or during half term / out of school hours. My plans often had to change due to last minute decisions but I did try making schedules. I knew the deadline was DECEMBER so I put a lot of effort into the post-production work at home, in my own time. I set my own mini-deadlines which helped me to keep on track, although, I wasn't always focusing on one thing at a time. For example, whilst writing my script, I started drawing my storyboards. And, whilst I began my editing, I was also continuing my filming as I wasn't able to film as much as I wanted within the time I had. My ancilliary texts were also being researched and created in the free time that I had when I couldn't use the editing suites to edit my film.
Week Start: 25th October COMPLETE SCRIPT
Week Start: 1st November COMPLETE STORYBOARDS
Week Start: 8th November COMPLETE ANIMATIC Week Start: 15th November FILMING
Week Start: 22nd November FILMING
Week Start: 29th November EDITING Week Start: 6th December EDITING Week Start: 13th December
Throughout my planning stages I experienced many problems...
- Cast. I found it difficult when some members told me they didn't want to be in my film when I had already done most of my planning. This made it hard, not only because I had to alter my script but also to try and find other people to fill their places. Luckily I had volunteers within a few days. - Script. I learnt that my original script wasn't in the correct form so had to research and create a shooting script instead. Though it only took me another week to change, it did cost me a week of the time I was planning on my storyboards. - Locations. Originally, I was planning on shooting a couple of scenes (the end scene and the cinema scene) on location. So for the cinema scene I would have an establishing shot of Cineworld but then I realised that I needed permission. Likewise, for the ending, I originally planned to shoot in the town center at the bus station but again I'd need permission and wouldn't be granted it. I think it would also have been too busy and there would have been people who wouldn't want to be filmed or people who would interrupt the filming. Below is the letter to Cineworld asking permission to film.
- Schedule. It was difficult trying to make sure that everyone was availible for filming and booking the camera/location (such as the theatre). Everyone had different timetables or other commitments and I didn't want the filming to interrupt their studies. So time was an issue as I didn't feel like I had enough for what I had planned. - Storyboards / Pictures. In the storyboards / pictures, I had to substitute the people I was originally filming to take the photos as they were often unavailible at the times I needed them. This didn't make it confusing for me though as I knew who the scene involved and could picture them clearly. The photos were only to give a basic understanding of what the shot would look like and where my characters would be. - Window Scene. I had many problems with this scene. Unfortunately, I decided to disclude it from my finished product as not only did I have problems with reflections, but it also made my short film a lot longer than I'd originally intended. Another issue was that it would also need re-shooting and I would've struggled with time issues if I'd of done that. I was disappointed that I couldn't include it as I thought it looked really good in Taylor Swift's music video, You Belong With Me.
For my animatic, I put all of my pictures in order. There are some hand-drawn images as I couldn't take photos of the shots so drew them instead. I used the music which I'm planning to use in my final product but the dialogue over the top isn't by the original cast. Because it was difficult finding time to meet up to do the voice-overs, my friend Matt helped me out again, and I filled in for Shannon's lines.
I used Windows Movie Maker to create my animatic, but unfortunately it wouldn't allow me to have more than one audio layer, so I couldn't put my music along with my dialogue. However, I only have two sections of music. To open my film, I have the guitar version of Love Story playing through my intro credits until the end of the picture of Jonny playing the guitar. The next piece of music begins when Marc slams the door in Jonny's face and the piano version of Love Story plays until it slowly fades out when the car turns around the corner (aka the picture before Jonny's voice over) before resuming again for the credits.
For the music I decided to use Taylor Swift's song Love Story as it tied in nicely with my research on her music videos. It's also easily recognised, coming #4 in the Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics also can apply to the narrative of my story, taken from wikipedia, Taylor Swift said: "This is a song I wrote when I was dating a guy who wasn't exactly the popular choice. His situation was a little complicated, but I didn’t care. I started this song with the line, 'This love is difficult, but it's real.' When I wrote the ending to this song, I felt like it was the ending every girl wants to go with her love story. It's the ending that I want. You want a guy who doesn’t care what anyone thinks, what anyone says. He just says, 'Marry me, Juliet, I love you, and that's all I really know.' It's sort of told in a character kind of thing, where it's Romeo and Juliet, and it's not me saying that I'm getting married or anything...but I think it's fun to write about it." In my short film, the male character isn't the "popular choice" which is why the female's father stops them from seeing each other. Despite wanting that "love story ending" my film doesn't end in that way and instead has an unexpected sad departure of the two characters. However, I'm not using Taylor Swift's version of her song. On YouTube I found a beautiful piano version of her song by someone called TruePiano1. I asked permission to download it and use it in my short film and he granted it. Here is his version of it:
I thought I could keep the music choice of Love Story consistent throughout but change the instruments playing it. Luckily, I had a friend and his sister (Matt and Rebecca) who are musical and could play Love Story on guitar. I'm hoping that Rebecca will also sing the end verse of the song which goes: "I got tired of waiting, wondering if you were ever coming around, My faith in you was, fading, Then I met you on the outskirts of town ..." I think this adds to the solemness of the end of my film when Jonny is looking for Shannon. It can also be interpreted that this is how Shannon feels and we get to see her point of view in this situation.
Though it isn't really music, I'm hoping to try and find a horror film sound effect for in the cinema which will help to make the scene more realistic. For the sound effects, I'm looking on the website http://www.freesound.org/ which has many effects availible for download. I've found a few files which I'm going to download and because the site is free I need to mention the creators name in the credits of my film.
I took many photos, not only to get test shots which would help me to see whether that was the right filming location, but also for my storyboards which meant I didn't need to draw them! There were so many that I decided to make an animation of them all from each scene. I didn't take photos for every scene as I could only get to certain locations once so filmed immediately when I got there instead and drew the storyboard pictures instead. Locations did also change due to different circumstances but these photos show some of my original ideas.
There were some issues with the photos, especially Scene 15. This was the window scene and it was extremely difficult. This is a picture I took and unfortunately shows too much of the background in the window. I didn't realise that there would be lighting issues and because we took the photos during the day, the sun's glare reflected more of the background on to the window so I couldn't see Shannon who was inside as clearly as I wanted. I then decided that I would film during a night which did work better except that we had to use extra lights outside to show Jonny. (This will be further explained in another blog...)
For my storyboards, I also decided to do some research into it. I knew how to set out a storyboard from GCSE Media but I wanted to be sure that it was properly designed and had everything that was needed.
Key Points : - lays out narrative of the whole film in visual form - visually tests out transitions between scenes - shows production team how many must-have shots you need so that a schedule can be planned. Also allows the designers to determine how long they will need to secure a location for. - whether shots deviate from the script - visual for actors to work off - demonstrates how many shots and the variety of shots used - 'test' locations
Storyboards are a key part to the Location Scout's job. They use the storyboards to find locations suitable enough that will fit well with the concept. Location Scout and what they look for : - concept and aesthetic requirements - does the location fit the ideology that the film is trying to communicate? - ambient sound (traffic, birds etc...) - will this fit well with the concept or interrupt the filming? - light conditions - too bright or too dark will influence whether extra screens or lights will be needed. - coverage / cinematography - does the mise-en-scene fit well with the concept? and is there cover from the weather elements? - site locations compared to other locations - if there is a better or more suitable location then comparisons need to be made to get the best space. - parking / facilities nearby - food and toilet facilities are important, if there aren't any availible then arrangements need to be made. Is there enough parking for all the crew and trucks? - cost - an important part, film budgets can vary and especially for a low budget film, it's critical to save any money possible. - availibility of power - power is needed for cameras / lights and anything electrical so there needs to be access to power or arrangements need to be made for generators. - exterior location, weather / lighting - will the weather / lighting interupt the filming or add to the mise-en-scene? - permission - is it needed? if so it needs to be granted in advance. VERY TIME CONSUMING AND COMPLEX! which is why the storyboards and planning needs to be done in advance and in plenty of time so that if need be, a change of location can be drafted and adapted in to the plans.
I decided to draft out a blank storyboard and then copy it on to the computer. It looked like this:
Because I'm not a very good drawer, I decided on taking photos for my storyboards which not only made it quicker but also meant I could get more of a visual image from the test shots. This helped later with my filming. However, one issue was that the people portraying my characters weren't always availible so I had to use stand-ins for them. I was also going to upload all of the storyboards seperately, but it made it easier to just put them all together as one file. I did have a problem with uploading them as after I'd scanned them, for some reason the computer didn't show them as jpeg. or image files, so I had to take photos of them with a camera and upload it that way!
Originally, I decided to write a script to get a basic understanding of the variety of shots and narrative my short film will follow. I firstly drafted my ideas just writing it all out before typing it up on the computer to make it neater and more understandable. On the original copy, "Shannon" was "Jess" but I was able to amend this easily with a simple 'find and replace' option.
I then realised that I needed to create a Shooting Script and because I was unfamiliar with the layout, I decided to research into it before adapting my original script into a shooting script.
RESEARCH (taken from the book "Basics, Film-Making by Robert Edgar-Hunt"): Conventions for a shooting script; - script is presented as a final draft. No page number ammendments. - header with the date and script reference. - scenes are numbered alongside headers. - (CONT...) is used at the bottom of a page where dialogue / scene continues over to the next page.
Pages: - when amendments are made, you need to produce these on revision pages. These are additional sheets. It's more easy to slip between versions without the catastrophic effects later in the shoot. - if your changes move beyond a single page then they begin to be marked A, B, C ... - if you delete a page of script then issue a blank page with 'DELETED' or 'OMITTED' on it, otherwise that rogue page might stay there in error. - when you issue revisions, it is convention to do so on different coloured paper each time to give a quick visual clue. - when a line is changed, it is worth noting it with an asterisk in the far right. Scenes: - when a scene is added, do not change the scene numbers, use A, B, C ... - if a scene is removed, mark it as 'DELETED' or ' OMITTED' and never reuse the scene number. Script Considerations: - Who are the characters? - Are the characters characterised correctly? - Is the tone of delivery of speech clear? - Do the physical descriptions of characters work?
- Are settings / locations fully explained and explored?
- Are there any subtexts that you need to explore or draw out? - What is the central theme or meaning? - What is the cause and effect relationship between events? - Do the scene transitions work effectively? - What is the plot?
Also for my research, I looked at an example of a screenplay, taken from the same book. I decided to type it out which has helped me with how I should be setting mine out.
My shooting script turned in to 10 pages long from the original 7. I kept the scripts almost identical with minor changes throughout, i.e. instead of shot reverse shot constantly I kept with a mid-shot or over-the-shoulder shot.
My second idea was the idea I stuck with, not only due to time limitations, but also because it seemed more open to changes and developments. To me it was a simple enough narrative were the audience could enjoy it, but also had a twist on the end which brought the audience back to reality in the sense that love doesn't always get the happy ending that everyone wants.
I originally did another mind map to get all my ideas down, then developed them from there.
I decided that my target audience would remain the same, except that the audience would be aimed more at teenage girls because the "romance" genre is more appealing to them and they are probably more liable to want to watch it in comparison to males. However, the narrative will still appeal to males as there is a lead male protagonist which they may be able to relate to. Both genders would be in education, probably students, as the narrative is based on the central protagonists meeting in college. This will help the audience to relate more to the storyline.
I also wrote down all the basics of my idea on to a large A3 sheet.
My synopsis is:
"A teenage musician, Jonny, falls in love with a pretty girl at his college, Jess. Obstacles stop them from being together, a main being her Christian father who forbids her to be with him due to his appearance and background. Jonny tried desperately to try and convince her father about the situation but fails miserably. In her desperation for happiness, Jess decides to run away and live with her Mother who's recently moved to Spain (her parents divorced). Jonny catches her just in time, but when everyone thinks he's going to join her, Jess leaves and Jonny is left to carry on his life".
When some of my friends first read my idea, they were saddened that the two never got to be together in the end, but found that the ending was unpredictable and down-to-earth. They agreed with the message of keeping love in reality and how it doesn't always end the way we'd like it to.
For my cast of the characters, I knew I had to pick a selection of people who would suit the characters and had some experience of acting to create a higher level of verisimilitude (or believability). So, I decided to do some character profiles of my original cast.
JESS - She's young, pretty and energetic. Her bubbly personality is what attracts guys to her. Her parents have recently undergone a divorce, so her Dad is very protective over her.
LEE - Boyfriend (who becomes 'ex-boyfriend') to JESS. He is sporty and is very controlling over JESS. He likes to warn off other guys from her and start fights. He isn't one to mess with.
JONNY - The lead male who falls hopelessly in love. His appearance is unconventional for a smart and romantic male, which is what puts JESS' DAD off him in the first place. He likes rock music and this is often shown through his appearance.
JESS' DAD - He wants what is best for his daughter and dresses as a typical 'Dad' figure. He wears a cross around his neck to show he is a Christian which will influence how over-protective he is over his daughter. He has also recently been through a divorce which has made him insecure and more protective over his daughter.
Unfortunately, Jess was no longer able to continue to be involved within my project. So I had to change her character. Because their appearances differ, I decided to alter their characters slightly.
SHANNON - (or Shan) is pretty, smart and fun. She doesn't like to disobey her Dad but also struggles to keep to his rules. She's young and wants freedom to be with who she wants. Her parents have recently divorced which has made her Dad more focused up on her well-being.
For my first idea, I decided upon a Romance genre for my short film. I decided to brainstorm my ideas which I later scanned in to the computer - bizzarely it scanned in pink!
Unfortunately some of the ideas were cut off, but this helped me to get my initial thoughts down. My idea was mainly set in a college / school environment as my target audience of students (male and female) aged between 13 and 19 would be able to relate to the film more. The story line was about an average male student who falls in love with the most popular girl in the school. It's a typical storyline associated with romantic teenage films, I think because the audience can empathise with the character(s). However, I would try to incoporate more comedy elements within my film to try and make it more enjoyable. Also, I would try to include more twists, such as having the male turn out gay at the end; instead of following the predicted pattern of liking the female, he in fact liked her boyfriend all along. I thought of many techniques which I could use in the film, influenced by my initial research in to short films. At the beginning, I thought about using parallel editing and possibly use a split screen to show the male and female protagonist getting ready for college (accompanied by modern pop music) and travelling to college to show that these two are destined to meet and possibly be together. I tried to keep location and cast numbers low so that they would be more managable and easier to schedule. Most of the props were associated with romance, i.e. flowers, but the file links not only to the theme of college and study, but can also be used as a flirtacious device. For example, I thought that the female could possibly drop the file and the male pick it up for her - hence how they meet.
This was the beginning of my script for the idea. I thought if I planned out the narrative with some ideas about the cinematography then I may have other ideas of what to include to make it more different. Unfortunately,I didn't go any further with this script as I thought that the narrative was too predictable and wasn't very different from the other storylines out there. So, I decided to expand on the idea and look at other possibilities that I could explore.
For my audience research, I decided to do a poll on my blog. To get voters, I advertised my blog on my facebook page which gave me a huge advantage, however, I was still unable to get more than 20 or so voters. Despite being a low number of people, I will still use the results from the poll and apply it to my final short film. Below are the graphs displaying the results of my questions:
This graph clearly shows that more females voted compared to males, there were 17 voters in total. Unfortunately this means that my results won't be gender-balanced but I still do have some male voters which will hopefully be able to represent the male gender. I decided to use age groups as well as the gender to see how many people of certain age voted as this will contribute to the decision of my target audience. Judging by these results, I think my target audience will be aimed at Females aged between 14-20 and have a secondary audience of Males aged 14-20 as they are the majority of the voters, therefore this would make my product more appealing to them from the results of this poll.
This graph shows the voters favourite film genres. I believe that Horror has received the least votes due to the number of female voters as females are often stereotyped as sensitive and often scared-easily so Horror isn't a popular genre for them. Most of the voters voted for Romance or Rom-Com which is the genre type that I have chosen, so I'm pleased to see that it is well-favoured as this will make it appealing for the target audience.
I asked this question on what gender the voters associated with the genre Romance to see who my primary target audience should be aimed at. In my original idea, I was going to aim it at young males but after seeing these results, I will make teenage boys my secondary audience and teenage females my primary target audience. I think that the female gender is more associated with romance than boys is because many females read and fantasise about finding "Mr Perfect" or "Mr Right" and like to escape into the Romantic genre to find out about romance and what to (or not!) expect.
After my previous research on short films, I found that short films can last any length from 1 minute to 20 minutes and possibly longer! So I decided to ask the voters about how long they would prefer a short film to last and their answer was 5-7 minutes with a majority of 10 people voting. This therefore is the length of short film I'm going to aim for, however, I think if I go slightly over the 7 minutes, it should be ok.
Other Research: I also did some other research with my group of friends. There were 12 of them in total with a mixture of genders, and we talked generally about short films and their expectations. I made a note of some of the key things I will take into consideration: - The storyline has to be clear. I showed some examples of short films and most of them found that the more complicated or unclear narratives were less enjoyable. However, they didn't mind having an ambiguous ending or having an unexpected twist (either at the end or mid-narrative). - The number of characters had to be small as, due to the short length of time, understanding who they all are and what relevance they have to the storyline is quite demanding and often complicates the viewer. Therefore, they recommended that I only had a small cast, unless more people as extras were necessary. - They liked some of the comedy films, such as the video "A Hopeless Romantic" that I analysed. The boys especially laughed when the male lead got run over by a car as they didn't expect it. I am going to try and include some comical moments in my short film but the main focus is going to be on the drama.
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