Luck Out

Our Radio Trailers

We decided due to the nature of our film we would create two radio spots, this is as after creating one using a male voice we realised as our film is a family / film for teenage girls a female voice may come across better, here is the first radio trailer we have done and want to work on another one which we feel will appeal to our target audience better. We also feel this spot would appear on a mainstream radio station where as the one we plan to create is one you would expect to hear on a local radio station as due to our film being a small British one the people who are likely to watch it are more likely to listen to local family radio stations. 

Film Poster

Critical Evaluation- Question 1

In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Collectively, the use of the Sony HDV1000 and Final Cut Express allowed us to ensure that we followed the conventions of continuity within our film, during the shooting and editing processes. One of most important rules we followed was the 180 degree rule, to ensure the audience understood the positioning of our characters.

Although it can be effective to break this rule in certain genres, such as horror to create the idea of disorientation, we felt it was more appropriate to abide by it, as our narrative didn't require it.

We also obeyed other conventions of continuity, such as the correct way to display a passage of time.

Examples  from our film:

Fade to Black:                                                                                                               Cross Dissolve:

In one instance in our film we used text to display how many years had passed since the previous shot, to represent the passage of time. This is fairly common when editing narratives that take place over long periods of time, which can be seen in “Love Actually.” We believe that this has smoothed the transition between the time periods and therefore the audience are not left wondering who this girl is.

Our film:

Love Actually: 

Likewise, we were also able to use Final Cut Express to ensure a sound continuity. In most films, the use of non-diegetic and diegetic sound is continued throughout by using sound bridges and audio transitions. This is something we developed upon within our film, for instance, when Lucy shouts up to Leah, the audio of Lucy’s dialogue is carried over onto the shot of Leah. We believe that this was an effective example of using and developing editing techniques within our own film.

We were not able to obtain complete continuity throughout our film. When we shot our final scene we did not take a close up of Sarah revealing the stolen items. Because we felt it was crucial to have a close up of the reveal, we decided to reverse the shot of Leah covering it up. Because of this, the money and jewellery are not in identical places in the Long and Medium close up reveals. This is a minor error that was unavoidable during editing, if we would have had enough time, we would have corrected this decision and ensured continuity of the prop positions. 

One way we challenged continuity conventions, was by using flashbacks. In films similar to ours such as “Just My Luck,” there is usually a linear narrative. However, we wanted to break this convention of continuity in order to convey certain events. We created a non-linear narrative, in order to use flashbacks to explain events instead of chronologically. Although we did not follow typical conventions in relation to continuity, we challenged them in a way that effectively told the narrative as we wished. It allowed us the opportunity to reintroduce past events that affected the plot, by using an unconventional narrative technique. 

Our film:

At first, we decided our film personified the paradigm of Drama. For instance, our film involves real issues such a girl stealing from her friend, everyday misfortune and relationships breaking down. The clearest example is the build-up of tension, as Sarah experiences lots of misfortune until the pinnacle moment where she realises that Leah stole from her and the penny is lucky. 


Similar elements can be found in other films such as “Titanic,” in which Rose experiences events that change her outlook on life, up to and including the ship sinking. 

However, as we began filming we realised our film actually belonged in the Fantasy-Drama genre, as we incorporated themes such as good vs. evil, and unexplainable, magical phenomena. The clearest example is our integration of luck into our plot and theme. 



Just My Luck:

This reflects the genre we were working within as other films also use similar themes and events. For instance, “Just My Luck” also focuses on the impact of luck and misfortune on their characters, which makes up the narrative. We believe our film represents both genres as it possesses believability in an imaginative way.









We believe our film gratifies our audience through entertainment purposes, which according to Richard Dyer's theory of entertainment and utopia, is when a film provides an audience with something they haven't got or want. He suggested that a film can provide an audience with a utopian solution, for example if an audience is tired it can provide them with energy, if they are bored it can provide them with intensity, if they are poor it can provide them with abundance, if they lack understanding it can provide them with transparency and if they are lonely it can provide them with community. His intensity solution is present in our film as experiences various lows: she breaks her phone, loses Kandi and falls out with her mum and highs: she finds Kandi and her phone is miraculously fixed. By following this utopian solution our film would cure the potential boredom of our audience, as they experience Sarah's emotions throughout, and the events keep them intrigued. We also attempted to entertain our audience by using a flashback at the end of our film to piece together all the events that had taken place so that the audience would understand what has occurred. This is another low that Sarah and the audience experience together which further adds to the intensity of our film, as the audience wants to see what happens next, and as a result is no longer bored. 

We also attempted to gratify our audience (females 10+) by offering escapism within our narrative. We hoped that our film would provide the audience with an opportunity to relieve themselves of everyday stresses in which they are taken to a utopian alternative that allows them to get lost in the narrative due to its unrealistic nature (lucky penny), but also keep them entertained due to its believability (Sarah's character). This further highlights that our film fulfils Dyer's theory as the audience are watching the film to cure the boredom of their everyday lives as it allows them to escape to their own utopian world. 

I believe we have successfully pleased our audience, as from our feedback it is clear that our film cures their boredom and provides them escapism into a world where someone's life can be improved by the luck of a penny- something our audience would wish they had. 

Although we have obtained a level of originality within our film, we were clearly influenced by other films within the Fantasy and Drama genres, such as “My Sister’s Keeper,” and “Just My Luck.” After watching “My Sister’s Keeper” we applied their use of flashback to our own.  We wanted to merge our initial flashback and opening credits to conserve time within our film. “My Sister’s Keeper” was a version of how we wanted to achieve ours and therefore were heavily influenced by it. 

Our flashback/Title sequence:

My Sister's Keeper flashback/Title sequence:

“Just My Luck,” had a bigger impact on our narrative. Ashley embodies luck, whereas Jake personifies misfortune. We applied this to our own film, in which we decided to have Sarah embody both, as an inner conflict, in which the penny induces. Sarah encounters our own twist on bad luck that both Jake and Ashley encounter in “Just My Luck,” showing its influence. 

Our film:

Misfortune:

Luck:

Just My Luck:

Ashley (Good Luck) + Jake (Misfortune) 

Although we were influenced in some aspects of our film, not all decisions were inspired by similar films. Rather than realising that she doesn't need the luck, Sarah realises that she doesn't need her best friend. She keeps her luck, unlike Ashley and Jake who pass their luck onto his little sister, Katy.

Our film:

Just My Luck:

Critical Evaluation Question 2

2  How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?

a) What were you trying to achieve in your main production? Was this also reflected in the two advertising products?

b) How effective do you think the two ancillary texts are in selling your production?

c) Make comparisons with real advertising products. 

Click to enlarge images: 

http://bca2media2013group3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/short-film-research.html

http://bca2media2013group3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/drama-research.html

Radio trailer 1:


Radio trailer 2:

Radio trailer 1: 

Radio trailer 2: 

Radio trailer 1:

 

Radio trailer 2:

Superman radio trailer:

Critical Evaluation- Question 3

3- What have you learned from your audience feedback?
a) How did you respond to the original brief with the audience in mind? Give details of audience research carried out at the planning stage.
b) In filming and editing how did you ensure meaning would be apparent to the audience? What creative decisions did you make in planning, rehearsing, filming and editing that were influenced by your sense of the audience and how they might interpret your finished film?c) How did the audience respond when you trialled aspects of your film? Are there a variety of different possible interpretations of your film that will depend on the cultural situation of the viewer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj4slh5FxgY&feature=youtu.be

Critical Evaluation - Question 4

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Text:

The internet was a crucial source for research throughout. It provided us with access to: Distribution company websites- which provided us with information that allowed us to make the decision on which distributor to use: such as

-previous films

-budget

http://www.universalstudios.com/

http://www.warnerbros.com/studio/divisions/motion-pictures/new-line-cinema.html.

http://www.fox.co.uk/

We also used http://www.imdb.com/ to research into the typical conventions found in the Fantasy and Drama genres in order to apply them to our film.

http://www.imdb.com/ acted as a source of creativity as I was inspired by the flashback found from my research into "The Mummy Returns" of a ripple effect to convey a passage of time. This encouraged me to conduct my own research into flashbacks which have been incorporated into our own flashback.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ permitted us to conduct extensive research into film classifications. The findings allowed us to award our film a PG to meet our target audience (females 10+), by using the guidelines on the website.

http://blogger.com  was extremely convenient as it allowed us to store this research in an easy and creative way using presentations, images, videos and prezis.

http://prezi.com/ became a main feature on our blog for recording research in a concise, easily accessible way and planning our film effectively.

http://prezi.com/r1utcu4mujfv/what-makes-a-good-short-film/

http://prezi.com/dxvw5v9419fw/production-company-name-ideas/

Prezi offered us inventive ways to structure our research through mind-maps, flowcharts and online presentations, making memorable notes. During planning it allowed our creativity to flow as we could edit notes online quickly and easily.

Sometimes the Prezis failed to load on our blog, which limited our creativity as it was time consuming having to manually type in the Prezi and wait for it to load rather than having direct access to it.

However, we overcame this by adding links to all the Prezis on our blog, so that if it didn't load, we could access our plans, without it slowing us down.

Our planning was also effective as we had access to https://drive.google.com and a Sony HDV1000 camera which allowed us to create online and video questionnaires for the public to provide us with feedback on our plans so far. This feedback was extensive as the online questionnaire was quick and easy to complete and the video questionnaire provided us with a verbal account of the public's view. This allowed us to develop our film creatively as

we were able to use the feedback when making decisions for our film, which meant that our film would be enjoyable for our potential audience. People from different ages/backgrounds/gender/education were able to provide us feedback on our films plans, which has proven beneficial as it allowed us to gain a representative response from the public which we used when planning our film, in order to ensure we please our audience females 10+.

The Sony HDV1000 video camera was effective for filming at it was versatile. We could film at different heights, angles and movements, without a loss of quality and were able to shoot in HD. Similarly, the tripod was extremely sturdy as it had a spirit level that allowed us to film even if the location was unbalanced. Collectively, they allowed us to shoot our film creatively as it didn’t restrict us. By using this equipment we were able to shoot our desired shots such as long, close up and pan shots, without any loss of quality.

A major problem during film was that the actors spoke too quietly, which would make it difficult for an audience to hear over the music. For instance, Sarah's closing speech. We fixed this by using a Zoom Recorder which allowed us to re-record the quiet dialogue and replace it with a clearer version. By creating these recordings we were also able to create an effective radio trailer as we used those recorded by the Zoom Recorder for dialogue in our trailer, which meant that they were loud and clear.

After filming we imported all recorded video and audio clips onto Final Cut Express, in which we were able to edit our film. FCE provided us with lots of tools that met our creative needs, which has made our film much more professional. Low pass audio filter: allowed us to make Diane appear as though she was in another room to Sarah in one scene and on the phone to Sarah in another, creating believability. We had never done this before, so we used http://youtube.com to watch tutorials on how to achieve this effect. We believe this has improved our film dramatically as now it is believable that Diane is not present in the scene.

FCE also allowed us to create passages of time in our film. We used fade to blacks to convey time progression, which the audience would understand and therefore not get confused. We also learned how to use colour corrector. This became really important throughout editing as in some cases, our white balance was not correct and therefore we were able to alter the tone by using this tool. Similarly it provided us with the opportunity to set a grey tone to the flashback at the end of our film, by altering the tones and colours present in the shots. FCE also allowed us to overlay music with dialogue, due to the vast amount of tracks, in an attempt to make the film more dramatic in the finale. Final Cut Express effectively permitted us to develop and create our film effectively as it provided us with tools that we could use to create effects that were not achievable with the video camera alone. 

http://www.youtube.com htttp://www.twitter.com and  http://www.facebook.com provided us with the means of sharing our first draft of our film to the public. This was crucial as it allowed us to gain actual feedback from a potential viewer, and use their feedback in order to improve out final draft. Once taking into account the suggestions made, we then posted and uploaded our final film on these websites too. These websites are important as they have allowed our film to be seen by a wide audience, as friends shared our film and it can be viewed globally.

Radio Advert Script / Plan

Here is the provisional script and plan for our radio trailer. 

What should a radio trailer consist of?

When creating a radio trailer for a film, the main aim is to entice a potential audience into watching the film. In order to entice an audience, the radio trailer should make use of elements from the original film. The radio trailer should be able to entice an audience using:

Voice overs:
Radio trailers usually include voice overs in order to provide information about the film. For instance a voice over may reveal when the film is released, reviews, the actors/actresses in it and the director. This is crucial information for an audience, as anyone of these may encourage or discourage them from watching the film, so it is important to ensure that this is in a radio trailer. 

Dialogue:
Any radio trailer for a film should really use sound from the actual film. Dialogue from the film can entice an audience to watch a film as it gives the audience an insight into what the film consists of and the storyline. These quick snippets of dialogues between the characters may act as a way to encourage an audience to watch a film, as they may touch on topics that an individual may find interesting such as relationships, family or friendships. 

Narration:
Radio trailers sometimes use narration from a character in order to put across the character's view. If the film has heavy narration throughout it would probably be a good idea to use this in the radio trailer to ensure consistency. This can be effective as a narrator could ensure that before an audience even watches a film, that they sympathise with the character without even hearing the narrative. It can also be effective if it is from another person's perspective as it could provide an audience with knowledge about a character or event, which an audience may find interesting and then want to watch the film. 

Music:
Music is also useful in a radio trailer as it can portray a mood/atmosphere to the audience in order to ensure that they feel a certain way, such as relaxed or worried. Radio trailers usually use the same music from the film in order to maintain consistency. This allows the audience to make connections between the two if they decide to watch the film.  

How do we plan on applying this to our radio trailer?

We plan on incorporating all of these conventions into our radio trailer. We plan on taking the music and certain dialogue from our film and placing it in our radio trailer. For example we want to use "This penny has brought me years of good luck, I want you to have it," as this is probably the most crucial part of our film, as Dorothy gives Sarah the penny that causes her to have bad and good luck. The audience wouldn't know the importance of the penny from our radio trailer, however, they will be provided with enough information in order for them to make the decision as to whether or not they want to watch our film based on the dialogue and music provided so far. We also plan on using voice overs to provide information about our film name, reviews and when it is released. This is important information for the audience so we plan on having it clear so that the audience doesn't need to look elsewhere for this information. 

A radio trailer shouldn't be any longer than 40 seconds, as they are supposed to provide an audience with a quick insight into the narrative rather than the whole plot. Because we have made a short film it would probably be more appropriate to create one at around 20 seconds due to the minimal dialogue we will have available. We only want to provide the audience with an insight into our film, and because of this, 20 seconds should be enough time. 

Radio trailers only get played on appropriate radio stations. For instance, a hollywood blockbuster film is more likely to get played on Capital FM. A radio trailer needs to be played on an appropriate radio station in order to target their audience. For instance, a family film such as Shrek is more likely to place a radio trailer on Hallam FM than Classic FM, as more families listen to Hallam FM. We need to take this into consideration when planning our radio trailer. If we had to chose a radio station, the most appropriate would have been Hallam FM as our film is from the age 10+ and this radio station is more likely to target this audience than any other radio station. 

Example of a radio trailer: Superman the movie 1978 
(Stop at 29 seconds) 




The trailer begins by introducing the name of the film, Superman. This is effective as a radio trailer should be used to entice the audience straight away into the film and by providing the name of the film, they will be aware of what they are listening to. The voice over goes straight into reviews about the film, for instance from News Week. This is another effective element as it informs the audience that the film has brilliant reviews and encourages people to watch it as some people base their likelihood of watching a film on the reviews it has been given. There is then some dialogue taken from the film to give the audience an insight into the film. This is another effective element of the radio trailer as an audience may be intrigued about the scenario and use this as an incentive to go and watch the film. The radio trailer continues to pick reviews given for the film and sections of dialogue from the film. This acts as a way to build up tension. It is an effective way to get an audience to watch the film as all the way through the radio trailer has been emphasising the good reviews given by critics, so why wouldn't someone want to watch it? The radio trailer ends with the name of the film again in order to ensure that the audience remember it. Because it is the last memorable voice over, an audience is more inclined to be able to recall the name and go watch the film. The age rating and certificate is then spoken in order to alert the audience to who can watch the film or who the film is suitable for. This then can inform an audience whether or not they can watch it and may encourage them to go watch it at the cinema. Throughout the radio trailer, there was constant music playing. This also acts as a tool for building up tension. The music is not too loud nor too quiet, so the audience can still be encouraged to watch the film through the voice overs. The use of music is effective as it makes the radio trailer more interesting, and links it directly to the film as similar music will be heard throughout the film, which the audience would then be able to link the two together if they go and watch the film. The radio trailer is effective as it is short. It captures the audience's attention and provides information about the film in a short space of time, which would have ensured people went and viewed the film, to find out more about it. The radio trailer encompasses the different elements required in order to ensure an effective radio trailer. We plan on taking inspiration from this radio trailer when making our own. We plan on encompassing reviews, dialogue, music and voice overs in order to create an effective radio trailer, in hope that people will then be influenced to watch out film. 

Potential film poster 2

This is my attempt at a potential poster for our short film. I tried to incorporate elements into the poster from the research I had conducted on real posters used for films. For instance, I downloaded the font Steel Tongs in order to ensure that our poster looked professional with the correct font used for the billing block. By using this font our film poster looks identical to typical film posters. I also decided to put the main actors/actresses on the top of the poster, as this is something that a potential audience would take into consideration when choosing a film to watch. I believe a black background best complimented the shot of our characters as they stand out much more clearer. This allows the poster to suggest that our characters are the most important element of our film, and how luck must somehow affect their relationship. I also decided to provide a rating given for our film. If I had to improve this, I would have put underneath who reviewed it and possibly what else they said, to create believability. To improve the font used I would have downloaded some more detailed/creative font in order to make the title stand out from the remainder of the poster so it would capture the audience's attention straight away. 

What should a poster consist of?

Not all film posters are identical to one another, as the film needs to have a unique appeal. However, there are elements that every film poster should consist of. 

Title: 

The title is an extremely important part of the film poster as it should be the element that is catching the audience's attention and making them want to watch the film. Lots of different film titles are effective:


For instance, the JML film title is extremely simplistic. However, it is central on the poster and in a large font which makes it stand out. These are factors that catch the attention of the audience and encourage them to potentially watch the film.  




Another simple film title on a poster is Love Actually's. The font used isn't too fancy. Instead they have used red font to portray the importance of love. This is a good title as it clearly informs the audience what the film will be about. However, the only problem with this film title is that it is displayed fairly small at the bottom of the poster, which may prevent a potential cinema goer/movie buyer from seeing the poster and watching the film.


However, effective film titles can also be decorative. For instance, the P.S. I Love You film title appears to be written. This is another effective title as it implies that the film will possibly involve someone writing to their loved one. It also emphasises the importance of love in the film. This film title is unique and creative, and most certainly catches the audience 's attention, as it is large and unavoidable.

Strapline:

The strapline is another important element as it provides the audience with a little bit of information about the film before viewing it. A good strapline shouldn't reveal too much of the film's narrative, but just enough to encourage the audience to watch the film. Here is a good example: 

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part II has a particularly good strapline as it plays on the fact that it is the finale, which is more likely to entice an audience into watching it in order to see how everything will conclude. The strapline is simple, it does not give away too much to the audience about how the film will conclude or what will take place. This is more effective as an audience is more inclined to watch it as they want to know more.  






Who's in it:

An audience might be more likely to watch a film if it includes certain actors/actresses. Because of this, it is important to stress who is in the film on the poster. This should be big enough for an audience to see, but not too big that it distracts the audience's attention away from the film title and strapline. 

Date it is released:

This is undoubtedly important as it highlight to the audience when they can actually view the film. Otherwise the poster would be pointless as it wouldn't have achieved anything, as no-one would watch the film.

Examples:

Images: 

Images are crucial as they depict what a film is about. The most effective image to use would be a shot of the main character(s) as this would alert the audience of their importance in the film, thus providing them with knowledge before the film begins. Other images are also effective such as a shot of an object or location. These are effective when the film focuses on the importance of these elements, as it alerts the audience to the content of the film. 

A good example is P.S. I Love You. It clearly emphasises that the narrative will revolve around the characters on the poster and their relationship. It allows the audience to decide whether they would want to see the film that would include these two characters and may encourage them to watch it to find out the link between the two. This is achievable as they are the only two characters on the poster, so straight away we are aware of their importance. 

Mr and Mrs Smith is a good example of how using a shot of the characters can be effective on a film poster. This is a good use of image as it depicts to the audience who the main characters are and that they will be important. It is ambiguous as it doesn't depict the relationship between the two only that the narrative will involve them. The shot of the characters is also effective as it highlights to the audience their profession, as they both have guns on them, this suggests to the audience that there may be a link between them in this matter, possibly that they are in a conflict. 

One example that doesn't use characters on their poster is Cloverfield. This is more effective for the film as the film focuses on the events more than the characters. Sometimes it can be more effective for a film poster to only display events that occur in the film as it provides a potential audience with some information about what the film will likely entail. 

Billing block:

The Billing block is an important part of any film poster, it usually includes the main cast involved in the film, and the main crew members such as:
Writer, Producer, Editor, Director, Screenplay writer, and Costume Designer 
The billing block is written in Steel Tongs in order to provide enough room for all names to be included as the condensed text allows the heights of the characters to meet contractual constraints while still allowing enough horizontal space to include all the required text.

Some examples of billing blocks on film posters: