Short Film: Audience Research

As part of my research for my short film i conducted a questionnaire to gain useful information about the needs of my target audience and presented the findings in the video below:

Mise en Scene

The significance of Mise en Scene in films

Careful thought and consideration is put into every shot of a film to create a mise en scene made up of small details from costume, prop proximics to the types of lighting used to build up a certain atmosphere and feeling.

Lighting is a very effective way to highlight a specific tone for a film, the way in which the themes of the narrative are illusrtaed depend highly upon the types of lighting used.

The Decent, directed by Neil Marshall in 2005 is a caustraphobic british horror film about a caving expedition that goes drasticly wrong. It's an excellent example of how lighting is used successfully to get across a desired feeling and atmosphere.

The low key lighting creates dense shadows to highlight the cave location and signify the growing sense of caustraphobia and eerie threat, forshadowing doom.

The use of night vision for the camera distorts the images, creating a contrast of vivid white skin against a stark black background - this becomes particulary effective when the audience first witnesses the 'creature' as it's an eerie, frightening image filmed for shock value and is also unexpected.

The contrast of colour filters is also effective, the light from the glowstick casts a frightening green cover over the rocks, creating an effective texture and forshadows an 'alien' presence.
The use of harsh red glow contrasts boldly against the green lighting and signifies bloodshed and death. The Lighting used in the descent is a classic convention for films under the horror genre to create suspense.

Sin City

Sin City, 2005 is a film directed by Robert Rodriguez based on Frank Miller's graphic novel.

It incorporated the graphic novels stylish animated apperence through the use of colour and lighting. Using the green screen effect to create a gritty black and white appearence which compliments the films adult, sophisitcated narrative.
The flashes of colour such as red and yellow are kept to a minimal which is very effective, coinciding with the graphic novels theme which sets the film up as unconventional, gritty and abstract.

The Importance of Narrative

The narrative of a film is very important as it must maintain the interest of the audience whilst being cohesive.

An example of a typical narrative structure is that of Todorov who established there must be first an Equilibrium followed by a Disequilibrium/ Disruption and finally ending with a Resolution / New Equilibrium.
This narrative can be applied to many films, one example is Mean Girls (2004)

Equilibrium: Cady is introduced to her first American public high school where the students get along being segregated in their stereotypical groups: the jocks, art freaks... but above all the plastics. Cady who doesn't really fit in becomes good friends with the 'art freaks'.

Disruption: Cady becomes noticed by the 'plastics' and befriends them, in time turning them against each other, loosing her true friends and becoming corrupted by the fake plastic lifestyle.

Resolution: In the end Cady changes her ways: her inspirational speech on prom night joins all groups in friendship - all the cliches of the high school now seem to get along harmoniously .

Character

The Characters in a film also take on a generic structure as studied by Vladimir Propp when considering Russian fairytales. Fairytales are useful to analyse because they contain stock characters and structural ingredients.
Propp was able to identify seven main character roles:

the villain
the donor
the helper
the princess (or sought-for person)

the dispatcher
the hero

the false hero

These character traits are identifiable in any film and can be easily applied to Star Wars (1977)

the villain - Darth Vader
the donor - Obi-Wan Kenobi
the helper - Han Solo
the princess - Princess Leia
the dispatcher - R2-D2
the hero - Luke Skywalker
the false hero - Darth Vader

It is the functions and actions of these characters that construct the narrative.

Time

Most films can represent many weeks, months or even years in the short space of 90 minutes or less and there are many conventions that allow the narrative to do this such as

flashbacks

flashforwards

montages

dream sequences

repetition

using a different characters point of view

The passing of time can also be effectively illustrated through use of the seasons: shots of snow for winter, leaves for autumn ect

As well as shots of a clock speeding up or the classic calender moving on.

The passing of time can also been shown through location: the same house becoming decrepit over the years as well as a change in costume or actor to illustrate how the character has aged as seen with the film 'Atonement' which takes place from before the second world war to the present day.

Time can also be expressed through major events in history. This can be best seen in the film 'Forrest Gump' in which the title character comes across many influential figures of the 20th century and is also involved in many events such as the Vietnam War, meeting Elvis Presley, Johny Lennon as well as John F Kennedy.

The Effectiveness of Viral Marketing Campaigns

Viral Marketing campaigns have become a unique phenomenon to sell modern films to a young 21st century audience that can now engage in the world of film as an active, personal experience beyond the screen. This specific type of marketing shows how simplistic and ambigiuous techniques can sell fairly low budget films to make huge profits in the industry.

The Blair Witch Project

The 1999 hand held camera film 'The Blair Witch Project' is an example of one of the first movies to incorporate the internet in it's marketing campaign and managed to fool an entire generation of cinema-goers into believing the film's shocking storyline was real legitimate footage using 'hyperrealism': the snippets of mysterious shaky camera footage posted online intrigued audiences and the three starring actors of the film did not even attend the premiere to keep up the pretence they were indeed 'missing'. The unique campaign was so successful the small budget film made a profit of millions.

Cloverfield

J.J Abrams Cloverfield was released in cinemas in 2008 after a year long marketing campaign which progressed from a teaser trailer previewing before Transformers in 2007. The clip gripped veiwers as we witness the head of the Statue of Liberty spiral down the streets of New York to the horror of onlookers - all filmed using a shaky camcorder to stress the confusion and chaos.

The interesting trailer sparked an online buzz as more clips began to surface on Youtube with views reaching up to 1.5 million hits.

http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/845/845649p1.html

This article delves further into the secrets of Cloverfields marketing campaign, with fake websites revealing subtle photos from the film and also a website for a fake sponser, the drink brand 'Slusho'. This viral marketing process enabled viewers to interact with the film on a more personal level - using the internet as a base to piece clues together about the mysteries of the film and discuss via online forums.

The homepage for the Slusho website.


Hyper Realism

The Hyper Realism effect for film trailers is largely used for those which come under the Horror Genre as seen with films such as Quarantine and Paranormal Activity





Using a hand held camera is very effective for the horror genre as the shaky techniques used create a suspenseful atmoshphere and the audience can relate to the characters and narrative in a far more personal way than they could with an average Romantic Comedy or Sc-fi blockbuster.

I could consider the horror genre in relation to the short film I will be producing as Hyper Realism is a very simplistic yet effective way to engage the audience with a believable personal narrative.

District 9 Poster

The Sc-fi film District 9 used a distinctive poster campaign to advertise the film and sell it to audiences.

Hyper realism is used here effectively as details about the film itself are only small, causing the audience to be intrigued and start to question the main plot outline. The posters gave the effect that the events in the film were ongoing in reality with the only reference given to a website "D-9.com" which will attract the young target audience viral marketing campaigns reach out for.

I could consider following a similar theme poster for my short film, this would epsecially be effective for horror films as it creates a sense of threat and delievers with scaring the audience which is the main ethos of the genre.

Creating A Radio Trailer

Trailers are exceptionally important in ensuring a films success, capturing the attention of audiences of cinema, television, the internet and radio.

Using the computer programme 'Garage Band' I contructed a Radio Trailer for the Spike Jonze short film 'I'm Here'.
I believe it's successful as a simple yet effective hook for the target audience of young adults interested in the hybrid romance/indie/sc-fi genre, but also widens the audience as presenting the film as an intriging love story with gentle soothing music and a short ambigious voice over that reveals:
"A timeless tale of love and its sacrafices...
The new short film by Spike Jonze...
I'm Here"


I'm Here - Radio Trailer by helen_melon92

Creating a Film Poster

I think the original film poster for the Spike Jonze short, 'I'm Here' Is very effective: The soothing autumn colours create a tranquility which immediately sells it to the audience under the romance genre along with the main focus being on the 'robot' couple. They are an example of one of the films enigmas as it is an interesting concept to see robots and nature combined - it's a very unusual and abstract premise that will intrigue the wide target audience who will appreciate the Science Fiction, Romance and Indie genres this poster reveals the film will cover. It's simplistic with an ambiguous tagline: "Ordinary is no Place to Be" which I believe is an effective hook, attracting an audience with it's unique intrigue.

I produced a poster for the same film - marketing it under a completely different genre. I've used a close up of the robot head to establish it as Sc-Fi, it is a lonely, independent image signifying the tragic narrative of the film and so the audience sympathies with the protagonist. Using the editing programme Photoshop I've distorted and contrasted the colours of the original image using a main theme of purple which I think gives it an abstract, futuristic appearance that will stand out and attract the audience. An enigma is created by this poster as no details of the films romantic storyline is given except for the title and obscure abstract image of the robot protagonist - setting it up as an entirely different film and attracting a wider audience who will be intrigued by its ambiguity.
I think both posters are effective in attracting audiences under different genres - a romantic, science fiction, tragedy.

Short Film Research: I'm Here

'I'm Here' is a short, 30 minute film by acclaimed director Spike Jonze, fmaous for such hits as 'Being John Malkovich' (1999) and 'Where the Wild Things are' (2009).

It was made in 2010 and stars Andrew Garfield as a lonely robot, Sheldon who discovers love and freedom in a futuristc world through a free spirited female companion.

The visually unusual film projects a thought provoking message through it's themes on segregation and love. Ultimately it signifies the sacrafices that come with literally giving your entire self to another; a timeless tale with a quirky modern edge.

I found the film especially entertaining, it had a certain unqiueness in its blend of soft music, emotional narrative and use of realistic special effects and costume.

Spike Jonze has a diverse number of creative works under his belt including advertisements and music videos as well as being a co-creator of MTV's 'Jack-Ass'. It's therefore apparent that unlike the directors of 'Across the Hall' and 'George Lucas in Love' who created their short films to amplify their reputation in the business leading them to produce feature films, Spike Jonzes creates short films out of his passion and creative mind to do so.

Jonze's latest work is another short film with a running time of 30 minutes that stemmed from the Arcade Fire Music Video: 'The Suburbs'. The short is entitled 'Scenes from the Suburbs' and is set to premier at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011.