Post 17- Ancillary Task 2 - Film Reviews Part 1

In light of our project,we have researched into existing short films, and studied existing film reviews to look at how films are examined by professional film critics. We wanted to know what they look for when watching a film, and how they criticise or praise them.Film critics working for newspapers, magazines, broadcast media, and online publications, mainly review new releases. The plot summary and description of a film that makes up the majority of any film review can have an important impact on whether people decide to see a film.

Traditionally, film reviews have been seen as a way to assess the artistic merit and public appeal of a movie. Film goers use reviews to help them decide whether to purchase a ticket to a particular film. As the number of film fans following the advise of reviewer grew, film companies saw profits diminish across a broader number of films. In order to counter this development, film studios increased marketing budgets and avenues of marketing to create more interest in a movie prior to the opening. Sight & Sound is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute. Sight & Sound has a more highbrow reputation than other film magazines.It says it reviews all film releases each month, including those with a narrow art house release, as opposed to the more mainstream focus of its competitors. Sight and Sound also currently features a full cast and crew credit list for each reviewed film.

As well as industry magazines, a lot of other institutions produce film reviews, for example, Newspapers such as The Independent and The Guardian. Both theses newspapers recently reviewed 'The Kings Speech'. In contrast to the film reviews i had read from Sight&Sound The Independent took a different spin on reviewing a film altogether. The language was less technical and thus easier to read, the overall feel was less formal and it contained humor as well analysing the film in question. As with the Sight&Sound review the article displayed a picture of the main actor, in the case Colin Firth, he is the unique selling point of this film and thus it seems vital to display an image of him on the review page. Overall the review was very positive, 'The Kings Speech' prides itself on being a heritage film and we can see this from the style of written communication and images we see on the page, and to some extent that's why the Independent ranked it so highly. Finally, The Independent mention Colin Firths previous success as well as motioning the BAFTA nominations he has received for this film, this in its self would attract a large audience and i feel that's exactly what the newspaper want to do. Finally i contrast to industry magazines, i feel newspapers are biased towards certain films, and thus the review my not be so much of fact, but opinion.

The Guardian also reviewed 'The Kings Speech'. This review was similar in format to that of The Independent, this review was again easier to read than that of the industry reviews using informal language, it uses a play on words in various parts and again has a humorous feel to it. Reviews such as this overall are easier to read and don't just apply to film lovers, but the majority of the general public. The overall structure of the review gives a lot away about the films plot. The Guardians review includes all of the technical details of the film without intimidating the reader and i feel this is a good balance. Both newspaper reviews praise the film highlt and both play on the fact that it is a british heratige film. However when producing my film review i'm going to follow in the footsteps of Sight&Sound to create a really proffesional finish.

Conventions Of A Film Review

After looking at these various film reviews the conventions, in my opinion, become somewhat obvious, they are as follows... 

-A dominant image of the unique selling point of the film, this is usually the actor. The image will be shown at the top of the page. 

-The actors that are staring in the film, if they are a unique selling point there name will be in bold to make sure the readers know whos staring in the film.

-The review will comment on other films of a similar genre and make comparisons.

-Certain words and phrases are used in order to sell the film to the reader, for exaple refering to the BAFTA nomination that The Kings Speech recieved, The Gaurdian mentioned this and this automatically seccurs an audience beacuse they believe if the film is good enough to be nominated for a BAFTA then its worth watching.

My Film Review

From analysing and looking at various types of film reviews i have decided to follow in the footsteps of Sight&Sound. I feel this review is the most professional review out of the ones i have analysed and it goes into great detail and this is an aspect that i personally felt effective. Within the review page i shall include a picture of the main character Jonathan, a film synopsis and the review. As well as this i will have a cast list and the name of the writer and director. I will also included the performances i thought stood out and particular scenes that i felt to be particularly effective. When i produce this review i shall not just present it in written form but will also display it as a web page.

Post 16: Ancillary Task 1 - Postcards Part 1

Film posters are a way of advertising and promoting films, in order to entice and attract people into watching them. Film posters have a number of conventions, including the following...

-Title
-Release date
-Distribution/Production company                    
-Tag line
- Image
-Ratings
-Actors names
-Colour scheme
-Unique selling point
-Endorsement
-Film company logo
-Genre

It is evident that film posters posses a number of conventions, however it is clear to see that there is a large difference between posters for high budget Hollywood films in contrast to low budget British films. Film companies with extravagant budgets are able to produce mass advertisement through the use of billboards, posters, television trailers and so on. As well as this they can attract a mass audience through the use of their unique selling point, for example using a well know star such as Cameron Diaz will entice both male and female audiences as well as her already established fan base. In contrast to this, low budget British films have to adopt a more stylistic individual use of advertising as a lack of funds does not allow the to advertise on a mass scale.

These images show the film posters for Avatar, this film was a high budget Hollywood blockbuster. This poster is simple yet striking, the poster includes the films unique selling point, which is the director James Cameron, it also displays the title of the film and an image of a planet. The second poster shows a similar background with a different image, the image on an Avavtar. The poster is striking and would appeal to a mass audience because of the renowned director, both poster encompass a dark mysterious looking background with the directors name and the films release date. The film also had a reputation of being one of the most expensive films ever made and thus audiences were quick to go and see it not only for the director but also out of pure curiosity. Finally, the poster quotes 'From the director of the Titanic, this immediately draws in an already established audience, the fans of Titanic, these people will have no room for questioning whether or not to see the film because as with a sequel they are already fans so feel they have the need to see the next film.

In contrast to this, Trainspotting is a Small scale British independent film. There budget was a lot smaller than that of Avatar, thus the producers of Trainspotting had to think of a creative advertising campaign to entice an audience as they had no famous actors or directors to do it for them. The film poster is bright, eye catching and doesn't conform to the usual 'safe' style of Hollywood posters. It shows five characters all of whom are far from the stereotype of Brutishness's, ones smoking another is pointing a gun and the rest are people who you feel you want to find out more about. The overall feel of the poster is intriguing, it has no explanation of what the film is about, and for that reason entices audiences. This poster presents a real sense of originality and its bright bold statements and orange colour scheme i feel create an extraordinary poster.

Although a poster is possibly the most popular and common way of promoting a new film, short film makers choose a cheaper alternative to advertise there films, and this comes in the form of a postcard. It proves to be a much cheaper and effective way of promoting short films, poster are generally used by big budget films meaning its not possible for smaller budget and independent film producer to produce posters. Postcards, in contrast to posters tend to have less information on them, however, the lack of information draws the attention in leaving them wanting to know more about the film. Similarly to posters, a picture is still the dominant focus. The main difference between a poster and a postcard is the that you can personalize the back of of your postcard, this blank space at the back can be used when trying to promote your short films at festivals it can be handed out with times of viewings and screenings. Finally, it’s important that on the postcard the directors name is shown and well as who it is written by as the aim of a short film is to promote yourself to get funding for further projects.

This Is England is another example of a successful advertising campaign. This poster differs from that of Trainspotting as it uses brighter colours and backdrop of what may be described as a working class estate. This poster prides itself on a working class display of British community, and the poster shows the award winning British director Shane Medows has been at the production line of this film. The poster is covered in ratings by various magazines and newspapers all giving five stars and describing it as 'Brilliant'. The cluttered feel of the poster i believe works very well, the poster seems to conform to all the conventions. This i feel is a successful poster and really brings to life the aims and intentions of the film.

Postcards

Divine is a short film produced by Becky Knapp, Becky has been involved in film and television production for the past eleven years, working across Europe, Africa, Canada and the USA. She initially came in and helped us with our script ideas and pre-production work. This postcard for Divine encompasses the conventions of a film poster however just in postcard form. A large picture dominates the postcard and thus this draws in the audiences attention. The use of white dresses against a black background really stands out and this use of stylistic photography i personally think proves to be very effective.The title of the film is clearly displayed at the top of the postcard, this combined with the quote on the bottom i feel is a enough information, but still allowing the image to stand out. The back of the postcards displays information about the director, actors, the producer, costume designer, who edited the film and finally the sound crew. As well as all the technical details the postcard also displays an email address for any questions or further information people may need and space is left spare to fill in screening times when the postcard it used to support a film at a festival.

This postcard produced for the film On a Life's Edge is designed somewhat differently to Divine. This postcard has a bright and bold background running throughout the whole postcard, in contrast to Divine which chose to have one side blank. The dominant image of a block of flats is continued with three smaller images running down the side. The use of design and photography have been used heavily on this postcard, where as Divine chose to create a more simplistic overall effect. The date '2001' is quite prominent on the poster, giving everyone a chance to see the films release date. On the back side of the poster the yellow theme continues and this side also shows the date '2001'. The back side of this postcard shows the production logo and production house name as well as featuring the cast , credits and synopsis. The back of this postcard contrast greatly with that of Divine, its has a lot less information however does include the synopsis. I personally feel that this postcard proves more effective than Divines, the continuation of the yellow theme throughout the back and the front i feel is eye catching and the synopsis helps people to understand more about the films intended message.

My Postcard Designs

Following on from looking at various posters and postcards for short films i went on to design my own for our short film 'Fleeting'. I initially sketched out four key ideas as shown in the picture on the right, as well as this i also sketched out ideas for the different fonts that i may want to use for the title 'Fleeting'. The bench is a key part of our film and thus i tried to include it in every design, i wanted my designs to be simplistic, yet effective and i feel that i have achieved this. The title on each of the postcards is quite prominent, as after analysing short film postcard i personally preferred the ones with a large title, such a 'Divine'. After drawing up my initial ideas i then went on to annotate them to give me a better idea of what i liked, and didn't like.

After doing my initial sketches i then annotated them, to explain and justify my decisions and reasons for designing them as i did. In the annotations i stated what i felt worked well, and what i felt didn't work as well. I tried to use a variety of images and fonts when sketching the four ideas. Design one shows a large park, with trees on either side, there are two benches and on one bench sits Jonathan, the main character in our film. The title appears in the centre of the postcard and is the most dominant feature in this particular design.

Both postcard design one and two are very similar, postcard two however uses the tree as its dominant image, where as postcard one uses the title. Our film is set in a park and thus that's why i have included trees and green land in both my designs, however personally i feel that postcard one looks more like a park than the second design, the second design looks more like a wood, or forest. The font for 'Fleeting' on the first design is somewhat Gothic and creates a spooky feel to the postcard, whereas the second design looks more elegant and calm. I feel both designs are not an obvious giveaway to the plot of the film, however i like this aspect, i believe it leaves the audience curios to know more. The film shows Jonathan's loneliness and this is a key part of the plot, and i feel the bench being so small in comparison with everything else of the poster portrays a sense of loneliness in the first poster you can hardly even see the character of Jonathan on the bench.

Postcard design 3 and 4 differ greatly from the first two designs. Both these designs are a lot more simplistic. Postcard design three shows an image of a bench with the title 'Fleeting' at the top, this design i feel it simple yet effective, in contrast to the previous designs it has no background scenery however i think the use of just the title and the image of the bench creates a bold statement, as well as this the simplistic nature of the design will leave the audience curious to know more about the film. The design for postcard four is also a simplistic, although the apple features in the film it is not a key aspect however i chose to put it as the main feature of the postcard as when i come to photograph it i want to do it in a stylistic manor making the whole postcard look very modern and edgy. The font for 'Fleeting' in this design i a lot more modern than any of the others, however i feel overall i prefer the more traditional look.

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Post 15- Reflecting on theory.

When looking at media theories, as a class we talk about them discuss them, and put across our personal feeling towards these ideas. Thus far on the A2 course we have looked at three theories, Audience reception theory, Narrative theory, and finally genre theory.

Audience Reception theory.
Audience theory provides a starting point for many Media Studies tasks. Whether you are constructing a text or analysing one, you will need to consider the destination of that text , its target audience and how that audience will respond to that text. A media text in itself has no meaning until it is read or decoded by an audience.


The Hypodermic Needle Model

This theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media and suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted through a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge the data.The Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that as an audience, we are manipulated by the creators of media texts, and that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media makers. It assumes that the audience are passive and heterogenous. This theory is used to explain why certain groups in society should not be exposed to certain media texts, for example rap music and computer games for fear that they will watch or read sexual or violent behaviour and will then act them out themselves.

Hypodemic = Passive  -  Producers___Message___ Audience

Two Step Flow
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet analysed the voters decision-making processes during a 1940 presidential election campaign, their findings suggested that the information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience unmediated but is filtered through 'opinion leaders' who then communicate it to their less active associates, over whom they have influence.

This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals, opinion leaders who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content. Opinion leaders are quite influential in getting people to change their attitudes and behaviors and are quite similar to those they influence. The two-step flow theory has improved our understanding of how the mass media influence decision making.The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behavior, and it helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes an behavior.

Two step flow = Passive - Producers__Film Critic__Audience
          

Uses & Gratifications

During the 1960s, as the first generation to grow up with television became grown ups, it became increasingly apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts. Far from being a passive mass, audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in different ways. In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society:

•surveillance
•correlation
•entertainment
•cultural transmission

Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes

•Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.
•Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg substituting soap operas for family life

•Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts

•Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living egweather reports, financial news, holiday bargains

Although audience reception theory seems to cover all the points and give a good explanation, there are still some issues raised as to weather this theory can really be used and applied in all situations. Firstly, the whole theory is based on assumption, that in the dynamic society that we live in, do not hold true. As well as this, the theory generalises the audience, which again does not hold true, people have needs and wants and this is not shown in the theory. Finally it is dependant on the environment in which you partake the text as to how you view it and what you get from it.

In media terms, narrative is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. We understand and construct meaning using our experience of reality and of previous texts. Each text becomes part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience.

Narrative theory

The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, a middle and an end. We understand and construct meaning using our experience of reality and of previous texts. Each text becomes part of the previous and the next through its relationship with the audience. Story is the irreducible substance of a story (A meets B, something happens, order returns), while narrative is the way the story is related (Once upon a time there was a princess...)" (Key Concepts in Communication - Fiske et al (1983).

Reality is difficult to understand, and we struggle to construct meaning out of our everyday experience. Media texts are better organised; we need to be able to engage with them without too much effort.Successful stories require actions which change the lives of the characters in the story. They also contain some sort of resolution, where that change is registered, and which creates a new equilibrium for the characters involved.

When unpacking a narrative in order to find its meaning, there are a series of codes and conventions that need to be considered.

•Genre
•Character
•Form
•Time

It is only because we are used to reading narratives from a very early age, and are able to compare texts with others that we understand these conventions. A narrative in its most basic sense is a series of events, but in order to construct meaning from the narrative those events must be linked somehow.

Narrative Structures

There are many ways of breaking down narrative structure. News stories have their own structure. A lot of work has been done by literary theorists to develop ways of deconstructing a narrative.

Tvzetan Todorov - suggests narrative is simply equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium.

Vladimir Propp - Russian Fairy tales, characters and actions, 31 functions of character types. 8 characters as follows, Hero, Villain, Princess, Helper, Dispatcher, False hero, Princess' father, Mentor.

Claude Levi-Strauss - Constant creation of conflict/opposition propels the narrative. Narrative can only end on a resolution of conflict. Opposition can be visual, for example light/darkness, movement/stillness or conceptual, love/hate, control/panic. This theory states that narratives develop by the binary opposites.
Barthes´ Codes

Genre Theory

Genre is important for both the readers and creators of texts...

Audiences - Audiences select texts on basis of genre, often because texts are arranged at retail outlets by genre. Also, certain genres are considered appropriate to certain ages/genders in society, and choices are made accordingly eg teen movies, 'chick flicks'. Audiences have systems of expectations about the content and style of a text, according to its genre. This enables them to take particular pleasures in the text, those of repetition, and of predicted resolution. Pleasure may also be drawn from differences. Finally they identify with repeated elements in generic texts and may shape their own identity in response.
Producers- Producers market texts according to genre because a niche audience has already been identified as taking pleasure in that type of text, as well as this they standardise production practices according to genre conventions, thus cutting costs.

Genre can provide structure and form which can allow a great deal of creativity and virtuosity, especially when a genuine reworking of generic conventions comes along. Genre provides key elements for an audience to recognise, so that they may further appreciate the variation and originality surrounding the representation of those elements.