Critical Evaluation Of The Name Of My Short Film

The Package: I thought of this title because of the whole basis around the plot is what is actually inside the package (a photograph of the other spies) this title also does not give much away about the storyline or the characters involved. I feel that this title is a little bit too simple to be proffessional as I feel that if I used it it would look like I had not spent much time on the name of the film as I had on drawing the storyboards or the script. I want to use a title that is not too long but not too short at the same time and I feel that two words is too short.

Life, death And Other Consequences: I really like this title as it is one of those titles that does and doesn't match my short film. The reason it does match is because the spies are all trying to kill each other to live and in the end the boss pays the consequences for betraying them. The reason it doesn't match is because the title does not give the film a western feel. I feel that its a good idea to use this title as it does not give away much detail about the plot to the audience and allows them to try and think what the film is about before they see it. I think letting the audience try and predict what a film is about by a title is important as it gives directors to either live up to expectations or to shock audiences.

An Average Day: This is my least favourite title however it is probrably the best fitting for the short film, I don't like this title because I feel it is to plain and not interesting. The reason this title fits so well is because the idea is that what the spies are doing (going out killing each other) is exactly what an average day is for them. I coud possibly work on this title as I feel that it does have potential if I expanded it a little bit more although this is quite hard to do, however I could use words that stand out such as unexpected to interest the audience more. I feel that the title is a very important part of a film as I think that if the audience aren't interested in a title they already make judgment on the film without watching a trailer.

Overall: My favourite Title would have to be: life,death and other consequences. I like this title as it is bold but yet slightly confusing at the same time. This is an excellent thing as it will slightly baffel the audience and make them want to watch the film to fully understand the meaning of the title. The only thing I would have possibly changed would possibly turning the title a little bit more informal and rather using the , and the and I was tempted to use Life Death Other Consequences. However this did not quite fit with thengenre as other action films have not done this.

Ancillary Text 2: 3 Film Magazine Reviews

For the second part of my Anscilary texts I had to create a film review for my short film. To be able to do this I fist of all had to look at a variety of reviews on current films out at the moment.

The First review: Total Film: Shutter Island




The Second Review: Total Film: Jenifers Body

Third Review: Empire Online: Thor

Overall I have found that there is a difference between magazine and online film reviews, mainly in page layout where mostly online they use a portrait layout and in magazines they use landsape, but also the reviews are slightly different in themselves where they didn't go into as ,uch detail in the magazine reviews as they did on the online review, this was actually supprising as the magazine readers had to pay to read the magazine and the article was free online on the Empire website. I want to change this in my magazine review as I want to give my readers the in-depth information about my short film and the idea and actors behind it. One thing I deffinately do want to use is a rating system and a variety of images as I feel that this is what these reviews lacked and can uninterest the audience if all they see is articles with words.

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