2013 Post 22- Film Distribution

A filmmaker’s general reason for creating films would be because they have something to say or a vision to share with the world, thus having as wide an audience as possible would be ideal. The filmmaker’s goal for what they would like their film to achieve plays a key part in a potential distributor’s decision on investing in their project. The larger a film’s budget, the more effort should be put in to ensure the widest audience possible can reach it.

There are different ways of getting a film seen, Film Festivals are most important for independent films that have not spent a lot of effort in distribution, but ultimately a theatrical release is still the most economic way of distributing films. Many short films today follow these promotional ways of exposing their films: Film Festivals, sell to sales agents to appear on television, DVD sales and finally Internet exposure. Sales agents have a range of contacts that can help give a short film the exposure necessary to reach a wide audience, usually globally by setting up connections with television companies. Money is gained from advertisements of the film or per download of the content online, but DVD releases can also be made through an agent, wherein the film could be sold as a single or in a compilation with other short films on online sites such as Ebay or Amazon.

 

Short films usually don’t make as much money as feature length films on theatrical releases and festival screenings, but it would be unwise to skip the festival screening option. These festivals screen to audiences looking for new, unique films and potential distributors, with awards for the best that draw in attention. The lifespan for a short film at festivals is around 2 years as many will not accept content older than this age, but an online lifespan can last much longer if effort is put into keeping it alive. Digital distribution however, is quickly gaining in popularity for streaming short films online; with this a filmmaker can use viral marketing to promote their film on the internet where millions of people can potentially view it, for example on iTunes or Youtube. All short films have the opportunity to reach as wide an audience as feature-length projects, it is just up to the producer of the film to put in the effort required to successfully distribute it.

A link to a popular distribution company for short films: http://www.dazzlefilms.co.uk/

I researched film distribution from this useful booklet: http://www.scottishscreen.com/images/documents/short_film_distribution_guide.pdf

2013 Post 21- Film Funding

It is a known fact that if a filmmaker intends to get their short film funded, a good idea is more important for their project than high production values. A frequent problem for getting short films funded is that the filmmaker usually wants to include too much information in their film, which may ruin the dramatic effect and confuse the audience.

The most crucial consideration for potential funders will be the script, which requires the three basic elements of a world, a character and a problem; the best short films generally involving a story that follows one character and one event. What must also be apparent in the story is an obstacle that makes it difficult for the main character to pursue their need, this would be the crux of the plot and without this problem for the character to face there would be no interesting film for funding.

Little development work on scripts is often the reason why submitted work to funding bodies is shot down. To resolve this, my group and I have given our script to a professional scriptwriter  and pitched our short film to our friends, from this we gained useful feedback that allowed us to see where the problems were so we could plan how to fix them.

Two principals are the key to good cinematic storytelling: Unity and Causality; Unity meaning that every scene should be increasing the audience’s understanding of the problem and character, and Causality suggesting that each scene must move the story on. The first audience for any film will be the reader of the script, who may have the power to get it funded, thus a filmmaker will be a disadvantage if they cannot help the reader visualize their project as they read. These people looking to fund short films would be hoping to find writers and directors that have something to say and in a unique way, ‘simple’ stories can make a big impression if they are told in such a way that encompasses all their depth and the idea behind it.

Using social media and having an online outlet for a film can help make the public more aware of your film, inviting film investors to view your work. ‘Kickstarter’ is a popular ‘crowd-funding’ online platform that can help raise significant funds for a filmmaker’s project (http://www.kickstarter.com/?ref=nav).

The BFI, UK Film Council is an example of a UK film funding body; they have a variety of schemes to fund new films from rising British talent, who can create distinctive and entertaining work. They have £15 million to invest on the funding of a variety of feature films, providing assistance, advice and practical help to filmmakers along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2013 Post 20- Media Language: Editing

The EDITING of a media text is its last post-production process, modern editing is done on software such as AVID and FINAL CUT PRO wherein the editor puts together the sounds and footage to convey an overall meaning to the audience.

 

 

In the opening of the short drama film ‘Vacuity’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbm4hpVs58 ) below, the titles slowly fade into the black screen mysteriously and dramatically, reflecting the drama genre. The colour is silver with a metallic gradient to resemble metal and connotes action and is sci-fi in appearance with the rounded lettering and reflection.

The touch screen in this film has been created through the editing process with CGI. It appears very technical and sophisticated, to make the audience aware that the film is set in a distant future where technology has advanced significantly. The editing is made to interact with the character’s actions, adding a sense of realism for the audience.

In the short drama film ‘Husky’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbsueqSviA) a Dissolve is used to change scenes. This transition gives the audience a sense that time is passing in a subtle way as the shot gradually changes, maintaining the solemn mood of the scene and showing that the man is still alone on the bench.

 

Fade in and Fade outs are key for our short film to achieve the dramatic effect intended for the audience, Dissolves as well would help keep the pace during the build-up to a climax.

 

My group and I began looking into what editing we would use for the post-production of our film. We would be using Adobe Premiere Pro, so we looked at tutorials on Lynda.com and experimented with the effects.

 

2013 Post 19A- Sound tests

We tested the sound quality by recording with a Boom Mic and the Camera's microphone to see how sound would be recorded for our short film.

Boom Mic


Camera Microphone

2013 Post 19- Media Language: Sound

Sound as well as music can be used to convey meaning to the audience and help create a mood that leaves an emotional impact on the viewer.

A female voice-over is used in the short drama film ‘Vacuity’, she warns the character that there is a system failure. This is a typical voice used for sci-fi films as she sounds sharp and professional, making the character and the viewer panic as her shrill voice adds a sense of urgency.

The soundtrack quickly builds in volume as the warning signal is announced; high pitched violins screech and there is a powerful bang of drums that shocks the audience, making them aware that the character is in danger.

In the short drama film ‘Husky’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbsueqSviA),  there are two police officers who both have London accents; the women’s is more harsh and cockney pronouncing here as ‘ere’ and asking ‘what we got?’ which makes her stand out from her more articulate colleague. The audience may connote that she is of a lower class yet tough as these are typical associations with this accent.

 

 

For our short film, soundtrack will be crucial for setting the mood and providing a sense of drama to the audience. Our short film will also include at least three layers of sound such as dialogue, sound effects and Foley to add more depth and challenge us.

2013 Post 18- Media Language: Mise-en-Scene

I will be looking at the aspect of Media Language, 'Mise-en-Scene' to gain an increased understanding of what should be included in our short film.

Mise-en-scene involves everything that can be viewed in a scene, including character actions, lighting, location, makeup and costume and props.
 

From the short drama film ‘Husky’, the location is a suburban neighbourhood, this is a realistic setting lit naturally by the sun which adds realism to the drama, making it believable and ‘safe’ for the audience. There is a ‘For Sale’ sign in the foreground, notifying the audience that the woman is here to see the house; she stands in an awkward position with only her head turned to face the building, suggesting that she may be confused or reluctant to enter. Her top is decorative and sleeveless which connotes, with the lighting, that it is summer. Her outfit is fairly ordinary, encouraging the audience to relate to her for a sense of realism.

This is a scene from the short drama film ‘Codename: Simon’(http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2013/10/07/codename-simon/),  here the boy in the foreground is dressed in a suit and his hair is tidy, this connotes a neat child who has a strict upbringing. The black of the suit is very mature, contrasting with the other kids pale blue clothing that is softer and more child-like, their playful actions also represent the carefree lifestyle that children lead which differs from the boy’s straight posture that appears too tense and adult-like here. The playground and natural lighting provide a realistic setting for the audience, one which evokes memories of happiness and play as children are usually found here, but the black gates before the boy leave a strong impact as they are blocking him from entering. The mise-en-scene of this scene is designed to convey to the audience how different the boy is from other children, and that he is not allowed to be a kid but bound by adults.

 



Also from ‘Codeman: Simon’ is this funeral scene. The audience can identify that this is a funeral by the coffins, white flowers and black clothing that signify death and mourning. Even the grass is brown, it is dead, to reflect the dark mood. The characters are huddled under black umbrellas looking solemn to convey to the audience that there is a serious tone to the scene, the umbrellas suggest that it is raining and the sky is dimly lit which also reinforces this dismal mood.

These films all feature realistic neighbourhoods, something that will be seen in our short film. Lighting and costume will be effective at conveying the serious mood to our audience, and our main character will need to visibly stand out.

2013 Post 17B- Camera Tests continued

More camera testing, now looking into some shots that we found interesting to include in our short film.

Over the shoulder


Canted Angle

2013 Post 17A- Camera Tests

As I will be filming with the camera, my group and I performed some camera tests that might be required for our short film.


Automatic and Manual focus

Mirror shot

2013 Post 17- Media Language: Camera

Media language explores the way in which the meaning of a media text is conveyed to the audience, this is through signs and symbols inferred by the audience in way the scene is set up and filmed, which are polysemic, meaning that they are open to many interpretations. Media text meanings can be formed in two different ways, how the signs and symbols are understood and the cultural background of the viewer.

Media language includes the way in which meaning comes across through the camera, such as shot size and camera angle. The Director has control over selecting the shots to help the audience unravel the meaning of a scene, focusing on the camerawork and lighting which is known as the cinematography.

To further understand media language I looked at the camerawork in a short drama film called ‘Codename: Simon’, by doing this I could form an idea of what techniques I could incorporate into our drama film.

Jibbing shot travelling up a character, they are the main focus and mysterious as the audience cannot see their face to form an identity. The camera comes to rest on a wide shot of a child, the audience realises that the astronaut is actually a cut-out and is surprised by the young child that is the focal centre of attention on the screen.

 

The camera is tilted in this scene from the short drama film ‘Vacuity’,(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDbm4hpVs58) this disorientates the audience. The viewer is encouraged to be confused just like the character on screen, and they can gain an understanding of what is happening on scene as the situation is made clear to them.

This wide shot is used in the short drama film ‘Husky’(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btbsueqSviA)  to convey the man’s isolation; he sits at the end of the bench, furthest from the camera and is thus more detached from the audience. There is a lot of empty space visible in this shot, reinforcing how alone he is, and because only his back can be seen he appears mysterious and is the sole focus of attention.

For our short film, a wide shot would be effective at distancing our main character from others and making him stand out. As well as this, a wide close up can have the effect of disorientating the viewer and providing a new perspective on our main character.

2013 Post 16- Representations of Women

I also looked at the representation of women in Drama films, as this is the genre for our short film and representations of gender should be considered. I created a 'Lino canvas' for this post which can be viewed on the link below.

http://linoit.com/users/sabwilkin/canvases/Representations%20of%20Women

2013 Post 15- Representations of Men

In this post I have researched the representations of men in the Drama film genre. I have created my post on Linoit.com as this was a creative way for me to gather my information and present it in a visual way.

My 'canvas' for this website can be viewed on the link below:
http://linoit.com/users/sabwilkin/canvases/Representation%20of%20men

2013 Post 14A- Audience Research Methods

Research methods

Audience research is highly important for institutions to predict audience expectations, to see if they will engage with their media texts. BARB provides official viewing figures for UK television audiences by monitoring viewing habits, Box office results are most often used for films and ABC measures data across a range of media platforms. New media is also increasingly used for predicting today’s fragmented audience, social networking sites such as Twitter trends can be tracked, Youtube views and online forum comments to gain insight into what is popular with an audience.

Quantitative research: Factual research like questionnaires and closed questions for gathering data, I have used this before when gathering audience feedback.

Qualitative research: More open questions for interviews and focus groups, this is useful for me to shape my text to fit audience preferences.

2013 Post 14- Audience Postioning

Audience reception theory

By Stuart Hall in the 1970s, he suggests that when a producer creates a media text it is encoded with meanings or messages that they wish to convey to the audience, whom will then hopefully decode it correctly to understand.

He identified three types of audience decodings:

Dominant- Audience decodes the message as producer desired and agrees

Negotiated- Audience accepts, rejects and/or considers the meaning of a text according to previously held views, often contradictory and includes their own views

Oppositional- Audience understand message but reject it due to political, cultural or ideological reasons, creating their own meaning

A film producer will use familiar codes and conventions, and audience expectations of aspects of genre and stars, to position an audience to agree with a text. This is known as ‘audience placement’ which is used to target an audience and make them believe the text is made ‘for them’. This can incorporate aspects of audience foreknowledge, stereotypes and conventions that an audience may already be familiar with, and audience identification wherein viewers are able to connect to a text if it expresses their lifestyles or attitudes.

Audience Positioning Techniques

Shot reverse shot

• Shot reverse shots are when the camera alternates between two characters to show their building relationship to the audience. This is usually during a conversation so the camera acts as a 'third character'.

• Reaction Shots reveal a character's reaction, usually in an extreme close-up, for the audience to identify an expression they can relate to.

• Point-of-View shots have the camera adopt the position of a character, showing the audience whatever that character sees through their eyes which directly involves them.

 

2013 Post 13- Film Rating

My group and I have assessed the content of our film against the BBFC’s age ratings to determine what classification may be awarded for our work. We were at first conflicted on whether it would be a 12A or a PG rating, as our film fits within both.

According to the BBFC, films classified as being suitable for 12 year olds and over are rated 12A, and only the video release is certified as a 12, there is no lower age limit for this rating. The ‘A’ is advisory for parents, they can decide to bring younger children with them to view a film of this rating if they desire, but content may be deemed unsuitable for the younger years.

The overall tone of a film can be the deciding factor that alters a 12A certification, our film’s tone could be seen as somewhat dark and may distress children under 12, which is why my group and I are considering the rating to be a 12A.

Although, our film will not contain excessive uses of strong language, and there will be nothing discriminative or sexual which fits within the 12A classification rather than a ‘15’ or higher, despite our initial target audience being of similar age to the characters in the film, 16 and older. Moderate violence is allowed within this film rating, as long as there is no heavy focus on detail and is justified by context; however there will be no aggressive physical violence in our film that may upset younger viewers, thus, overall our film would be more accepted within a PG film rating.

A PG rating stands for Parental Guidance, inferring that a film is acceptable for general viewing but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children so they should be accompanied by an adult. Parents have the choice to decide whether to allow their child to view a film or not, but the work itself should not be unsuitable for a child around 8 years.

My group and I initially decided to make our film for teenagers around 16 and older, not for a PG rated audience. However, not all films awarded with this classification have been designed for this ‘PG’ audience, ‘The Artist’ for example is a film enjoyed mostly by adults and would have been rated a ‘U’ if not for a scene of mild threat that increased the rating to a ‘PG’.  In our film the main character slowly spirals into madness, showing signs of anxiety and behaviour that may disturb very young viewers, thus our classification would not fit under the ‘U’ rating but the ‘PG’.

Further information on why 'The Artist' was classified as 'PG' can be found here, on the BBFC website: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/artist-2011

2013 Post 12- Audience Reception

During the planning of any media text the audience is always one of the most crucial factors, as they are how institutions are to make the majority of their profit.

I have looked at the Katz and Blumler theory of media Uses and Gratification, it focuses on how audience shape media than vice versa, suggesting that audiences take a more active role in involving media, like films, into their lives. People use media to fill certain gratifications, so types of media like the mass are competitive over gaining audience gratification, examples of these can be seen below:

• Information: Films used for satisfying audience curiosity, and keeping them informed, for example from films based on true stories.
• Personal Identity: For reinforcing models of behaviour and an audience can find out what interests them and narrow their viewing, to a particular type of genre for example. Our short film will be a 'Drama' genre, thus reaching a more niche audience as many mass films nowadays are hybrids of this genre, and young audiences can relate to the teenagers in our film.
• Integration and Social Interaction: For social empathy, interaction and connecting with others; films can be discussed and shared amongst people for these gratifications. Our short film could gratify social interaction as the young audience can socialised with friends/family for further understanding.

This website provides further information of the Uses and Gratification theory: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Communication_Theory/Uses_and_Gratifications

Technology Impact on Audiences

-Old media, TV/Print/Radio, has to work harder to maintain audience numbers. Newspapers continue making profit by printing less copies and switching to online distribution to reduce production costs.

-Digital technology has made audience fragmented, dividing them into smaller groups which are harder to define. To continue making profit, magazines, for example, are often distributed in hardcopies as well as online to reach as many people as possible, although this can bring forth the issue of piracy which affects the numbers of their audience. Search engines and websites also gain money from advertisers by carefully constructing ads to target specific audiences.

Audiences are divided into categories based on social class known as Demographics; producers being particularly interested in audience:

• Income/Status
• Age
• Gender
• Race
• Location

These shape media texts to particular groups by their defined viewing habits, e.g Horror genre films today are known to be most popular with young audiences. According to the demographic group table below that I created, our short film would be shaped for Group E, particularly students as they can relate the most with our teenage characters.

Group letter	Income boundaries
A	Well-paid professionals e.g. Doctors/Scientist
B	Fairly well-paid professionals e.g. Teachers
C1	‘White Collar’ professions e.g. Nurses
C2	‘Blue Collar’ professions e.g. Carpenters
D	Manual workers e.g. Drivers
E	Unemployed, Students, Pensioners

Demographics are often not enough for institutions to tell what an audience desires to see, therefore Psychographic profiles are used. These often refer to stereotypes by classifying specific audiences on their social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics based on the assumption that the media products they consume reflect their lives.

A table showing film psychographics clearly

From the table above I believe our short film would reach the 'aspirers' psychographic as they are typically a younger audience, although our film may also attract 'strugglers' as they may relate to our main character for escapism. The table can be found on this Slideshare that I found very helpful when researching film Demographics and Psychographics:

Demographics and psychographics from BigDproductions

A huge sum of money is also paid on audience research by institutions so that they can be assured that their product will make a profit. This can take the shape of questionnaires, focus groups and pre-film screenings; my group and I will consider creating an animatic of our film storyboard to show to a target audience for feedback, and there is also the opportunity to use sites such as www.surveymonkey.com.