Ancillary Text 1: 3 Short Film Poster Analysis

Here are three short film posters that have caught my eye for the way they were designed I am going to analyse them for the codes and conventions that have been used in creating them and try to apply these to my film poster.

The three posters:

Ancillary Text 1: Film Poster Analysis And Initial Thoughts

I am analysing the codes and conventions in both short film and blockbuster film posters to see the simularities/ differences between big screen and online and whether the conventions for the posters are the same.

Initial Thoughts:
Initially both posters present an idea of mystery around them. The film “Avatar’s” poster suggests that it is out of this world and is an occurrence that no one is familiar with, where as the “Purge” film poster suggests that something is instantly wrong by looking at the female’s facial expression. Both posters have dominating images presenting the idea that something is going to happen or is happening that is not necessarily a good thing.

My initial thoughts for my poster was to do a 24 (TV show) film style four box cut where in each box you would see a close up of the spies and the boss. I like the idea as it presents the idea of mystery around what connects these men to each other for people who haven’t heard of my idea.

Looking at the short film poster facial expression can tell a lot regardless of whether or not we can see the person’s full face. That is why I want to focus on the characters faces rather than bodies hence the reason for choosing a close up as I will be mainly focussing on the characters faces and shoulders.

Finally the thing I liked about the Avatar poster was the fact that it was not very detailed but very effective. It did not have a lot going on to tell you about the film however it does give enough to interest and persuade people to go and see it, I would also like to keep my poster simple as I believe that if too much is going on in the poster people will not want to go and see the film. I also want to include an interesting tagline to draw viewers in.

Ancillary Texts: A Starting Point

The second part of my coursework is to create both a film poster and an article in a film magazine both promoting my short film. To start with I am going to look at and analyse various film posters and articles and look at what features are used to promote the film to a variety of age groups. I shall start my research at Blockbuster film posters and compare these with short film posters.

Animatic Feedback:

After presenting my animatic to the rest of the class I got mixed reviews, some said that they liked the idea however the ending was too slow and some said that there was too much dialogue included, below is a list of changes that have been suggested that I should change:

Less Dialogue

some of the drawings do not match the shot e.g. I have said c.u but drawn m.s

Make text more visible

make careful changes to dialogue

use photography rather than drawings as it shows a clearer picture

make the ending faster and more dramatic e.g. the three spies kicking down the door

rather than using a split screen idea, use a cross screen idea similar to 24 as it may be easier to film and maybe include a ticking clock

add a title sequence

I will take my piers feedback and try to encoporate this into my final piece of work I shall try to follow all bits of advice, however I may also change some scenes completely as well.

Animatic With Complete Sound Effects