Final Short Film Poster

After some small changes to the poster that we created using features from all of our drafts, here is our final Short Film Poster.

Our Short Film Poster

OUR FINAL LITTLE WHITE LIES REVIEW

What are the Conventions of Little White Lies

Each page follows the same convention for each review this includes:

• One review on each page
• There are 3 columns for the review with approximately 450 words
• The last column finishes half way down the page with a rating system at the end the paragraph
• Between 5-7 Paragraphs
• The measurements, fonts, sizes and titles are all the same on each review
• An Image at the top of the page
• The title, and the credits are centred
• The page number is also centred and has three digits, i.e 058
• The main text is justified to the left and right
• The rating system is justified to the left
• The first letter of the review is a drop capital approximately 3 lines down
• The word ‘REVIEW’ is on 90◦ degree angle

When creating my review I will look at the conventions and make sure each is included to match the review style from little white lies as these conventions are repeated for each review.

Testing InDesign for LWL Review

I used InDesign to create a test document that would matches the same style, measurements and fonts of the Reviews in Little White Lies.

I just used a random picture from a random film to fill in the blanks and inserted test text to test the sizes and fonts.

We will use exactly the same style for our own film review as it matches the style conventions used in LWL, this is so that it fits with the rest of the magazine as if our review could actually be published.

I just haven't yet put in the lines inbetween the ratings; but these will be exactly central between each one, nor have I included 'REVIEWS' at the side of the page stating what section this page is from.

Here is the outcome of my test:

 

I think this looks very similar, if not exact to what the reviews look like that come directly from LWL.

Here's what a review from LWL looks like, that has been done by the magazine itself:

Film Poster Initial Planning

Here are some of the images I have used in my draft film poster:

Initial Poster Draft

 

My Decisions 

 

I have chosen to use a blank YouTube page as my background and to place a colourful, naive looking image where the video would be. I have followed the conventions of a film poster by having a large title, which I have positioned centrally. I also have used a Production and Credit Block at the bottom of my poster, indicating the directors, character names and actors, editors, sound technicians and where the film is set. I have also used a laurel in the top left hand corner of my poster which states the awards this film has won, this is also a convention of a film poster.

Initial Drafts of Film Poster

I created three separate drafts for possible final ideas for our film poster...

DRAFT 1:

• This version is landscape to accommodate for the fact that the youtube screen best fits in landscape.
• The credit block has space at the very bottom of the page, but I'd make it fit in line with the edge of the YouTube screen.
• The review quotes and stars to the left could swap sides with the award wreaths to the right.
• I would design a better award wreath and choose something appropriate to be written inside them.
• The title's font matches the font used in the film, but colour should change, undecided on this yet.

DRAFT 2:

 

 

 DRAFT 3:

 

Initial Poster Draft Gemma

In the blank space in the bottom right corner I would place an image of the two characters from the short film.

I have followed conventions of a film poster by:

• having my title as the largest piece of text
• Including a website 
• Includes a Production Block
• Has awards shown
• Mentions other films

What are the style conventions of LWL?

What are the style conventions of Little White Lies?

• Each review is in great depth and gives us a very brief insight into what the film is about.
• Each review will praise and/or criticise each film, giving their views and opinions on the movie.
• The language is very sophisticated and each writer gives us a brief description of the director's previous work and whether this film stood from the others.

• Each review has a varied number of paragraphs. Some have up to 7, whilst others are much shorter at 5 paragraphs.
• The review also contains some historical and cultural context to the film, such as how this film came about.

 

What are the layout conventions of LWL?

What are the layout conventions of Little White Lies?

• Each review is a single page with the main image in a fixed position at the top.
• The review is split into 3 columns with the final one rating each film out of 5, under the titles Anticipation, Enjoyment, In Retrospect.
• The title has the largest font and is a different colour to the text in the review.

• The first letter of the review is in enlarged, bold, and is the height of 3 or 4 lines. It is also, as seen above, the same colour as the title.

What is LWL and who reads it?

What is Little White Lies?

• Little White Lies is an internationally-distributed film magazine.
• It is published six times a year and features reviews, drawings, adverts and photos on a wide range of upcoming films.
• It is based on a feature film, often shown on the front cover of the magazine.
• The film is split into three parts; the lead review, a series of feature articles and the reviews section, which includes interviews with directors and cast of the latest movies.

• A three part ranking system is used to rate each film. The categories are Anticipation, Enjoyment and In Retrospect.
• This magazine is described by The Guardian as being 'the best-designed film on the shelf''.
• TCO (The Church of London) are the publishers of this magazine. They have also published the DIY culture magazine Huck Magazine.
• An online order of the magazine would cost £6, whilst a subscription of 6 copies would cost £29-£33 depending on your method of payment.

Who reads it?

• We are led to believe the target audience for this magazine would be film lovers. It also may appeal to art lovers as there are many demonstrations of artwork inside this magazine.
• The image below is of a Reader Survey taken by TCO. The results were taken from 250 UK readers.

• You can see that 51% of this magazines demographic are 25-35 year olds. This demographic is working people.
• We refined this further to find out that the majority of its readers earn £0-£20k and work in the media industry.

Film Poster Research - 'Without Words'

Media language

• The title 'Without Words' is about two people who are reunited after many years apart. I am led to believe they are a couple, however they could just be friends.
• The setting is in the middle of a road during the summer, as the two people come face to face for the first time in a while.
• The title is all in lower case and beneath the image of the two characters. There is some small text in the sky of the background image to give us more clues into what this film is about.
• The Production Block is on the very bottom of this poster, to state all the directors, producers and actors.
• The camera has chosen to use a long shot for this film poster, trying to get as many codes and conventions into the image as possible.

Representation

• The region/nation of this film looks like a country with a warm climate. The time of year is summer, emphasised by the costume of the female character.
• I would expect these characters to be middle class. Both female and male characters are being represented in this poster.

Audience

• I would say an audience of 16-35 years would watch this film. The characters lie within that age segment so therefore it could be more appealing to these viewers rather than those outside the demographic.
• The situation in which both characters have found themselves in may attract a larger audience.
• The genre is key also. One genre may be more appealing to some groups than others. An even younger audience (16-25) could watch this film if it is a romantic genre.

Narrative

• I believe one of the main themes is romance. If this is the case, then it forms part of the storyline of this film. A couple who have been kept apart suddenly meet each other again.
• The setting forms an important part of this poster and the position that the characters take suggests this is a romantic movie.

Genre

• The genre stands out as romantic. It could be a hybrid, such as a romantic comedy.
• Also, the use of a male and a female character suggests they have some form of connection.

Pride- Poster Research- Gemma

Media language

• The Title is bold and in capital letters, this works with the title itself ‘PRIDE’ by having a bold font and in capital letters it emphasis that pride makes you stand tall and proud which the title does itself.
• The title is slightly higher than centre on the poster which is good as it stands out and catches people’s attention.
• The main image is centre of the poster and has a group of characters standing strongly especially the lady at the front, this backs up the image of having pride.

Representation

• The representation in this piece is either social class or sexuality, it could combine and be a representation of both, the reason I think sexuality is due to the title and the colours used in the poster but also social class due to the characters costumes.

Audience

• The target audience for this piece I think would be for females aged between 20-45.

Genre

• The genre I believe is a comedy as the colours present on the backdrop following typical conventions of a comedy, i.e. red and yellow colours.
• The characters are also standing quite comically in the frame

Avatar- Poster Research- Gemma

Mr Turner- Poster Research -Gemma

Media Language

• The Title ‘Mr Turner’ is placed at the centre of the page. The font suggests that this film is for an older target audience due to its mature font style and because the font is in a black colour. This allows the title to be the first aspect of the poster people will notice when they see it.
• The main image is centred although we cannot see the characters face on the film poster due to a paint smudge covering it although we do see his eyes. By being able to see his eyes we see that the main image is of a male character who is of an older age (possibly in his 60s).
• The main image stands out as the backdrop colour of the poster is white so any images and text on the poster stand out. The paint smudge is one of the main focuses on the poster due to its orange bright colour and this is the only colourful aspect of the poster.
• The rest of the font is either black or grey, the sources used to praise the film are in black in an italic type font which looks smart backing up the title style.

Representation.

• Due to the image, I can tell that the character is a male older character who is in at least their 60s
• The man looks to be a middle class/ high class man, this is demonstrated through his action and through his costume
• The man is painting so this would suggest the film is based around art.

Genre

• The film I would think is a drama piece and historical as in the poster the main characters costume shows a more outdated style.

Film Poster Research - 'Best Man Wins'

Media language

• The title 'Best Man Wins' immediately tells us that this film involves a competition or a battle between two men.
• The title is all in upper case and there is a plane placed in between the second and last word. This denotes a special trip away for the winner.
• We are led to believe this is a cookery competition. The two men are seen raising a glass of wine and the man on the left is wearing an apron to further emphasise this.
• The men are smartly dressed, either especially for the occasion or because they are reasonably wealthy, hence they are middle to higher class citizens.
• The background is of a modern kitchen. Two wine bottles are also seen, this could further add that this is an important comeptition for both men.
• No further writing, other than the Production Block and title, is seen on this poster. This is because the audience has a clear indication of what the film is about.

Representation

• The region/nation is impossible to tell. As these men are of middle to high class I would say the area would be of a reasonable income.
• Middle to high class is being represented and the gender being represented is predominantly male.

Audience

• I would give this film an audience of 25-55 years old. The majority of chefs would come from this age bracket.
• There could be a case for an audience of 16-55 years, as there is a strong element of competition in this short film.

Narrative

• A key theme in this film would be competition. The men both have the same goal of winning and getting the illustrious prize.
• We are led to believe the two men in this poster are the competitors, or the main characters. We expect there to be a judging panel to choose a winner, but they are not evident in this poster.
• The key parts of this poster are the two men raising a glass, the title, the plane inside this name and the kitchen setting.

Genre

• The genre could be chosen from a large list. However, I feel a docudrama would be most appropriate.
• Other genres such as; documentary or drama could be put forward. Again, watching the film would give us a better indication of the film's genre.

Film Poster Research - 'The Wing Man'

Media language 

• The title 'The Wing Man' is all in upper case which lets the audience know the name of the film.
• It is positioned towards the top half of the poster, not exactly in the centre.
• The background image is blurred which suggests perhaps drink is involved in this film.
• The image is of a restaurant/cafe which could be the main setting for this film.
• The line 'Friends don't let friends fly solo' is an interesting phrase. I believe this tells us that friends are a critical part of this short film and that sticking together is important.
• The title itself refers to having a friend close by to support you when trying to get in a relationship. Therefore, romance is a key theme in this short film.

Representation 

• A night setting is being represented here. The title in particular tells us one or some people are trying to get into a relationship. We don't know if a man or a woman is seeking romance.
• A bar is situated in this image and there are a few people around tables chatting. The setting could therefore be a nightclub or sports club.
• The people in this restaurant could all be local and may make finding romance easier.
• The region/nation is impossible to tell. The class is likely to be middle and the gender is both male and female.

  Audience

• Based on the poster I would give an audience of 15-24 years for this film. However, after watching the film there may be an even wider demographic. I feel mostly young people would watch this film considering its about finding love.
• The genre is also a key factor in finding a target audience. Some demographics may prefer different genres to others.

Narrative

• I would say seeking romance is a key theme in this poster. The title and the way the setting is portrayed (being quite blurred) tell us a lot about the time of day and what is involved in this short film.
• Some people are present in this poster but we do not know whether they are an influential part of this film.

Genre

• The genre which stands out is romance. However, there is room for a hybrid genre and so therefore a romantic comedy could be more appropriate.
• The genre could also be a comedy or a comedy drama.

Film Poster Research - 'This Way Up'

Media language

• The title of this short film 'This Way Up' is towards the bottom of the poster. The reason for this is to signify the way you should go to find the portal, which will lead to a new life.
• The main image is positioned in the centre of the poster to indicate that this is the most important part of the film. The image is fairly small but we can clearly see it as there isn't too many images near it.
• The tag line at the top is very important. It reads 'A Secret Life Hidden Below'. It refers to the fact that there is a new life below the ground, but we are unsure of what this life is.
• All the text on the poster is justified centrally, this includes the title, the words above the buildings and the credit and billing block at the bottom. 
• There is a backdrop of some buildings, however, the main setting is of a derelict, isolated area. The time of year is perhaps summer as the ground looks very dry and we can see shadows on the buildings.
• The font colour is white throughout this poster, as this makes the text stand out from the background. The font is all in upper case, including the Production Block at the bottom.
• The Production Block gives us details of crew members, directors, actors, producers and other companies.
• The camera is using a long shot to take this image so the audience can try and figure out what the film is about.

Representation

• The region/nation of this film looks perhaps like Australia or a country with a warm climate.
• It is very hard to tell what class and gender is being represented in this poster. Perhaps middle class characters, either male or female.
• The theme being stated in this poster is perhaps of mystery. The film looks as if there is some kind of an unexpected situation for the character/s of this movie about to happen.

Audience

• Having studied the Pearl and Dean website I feel the target audience for this film could range anywhere from male or female 15-55 year olds. I cannot define a specific market segment as I feel a wide age bracket could watch this film.
• Also from studying the poster I believe this film could be science fiction. The derelict setting looks as if something extraordinary is about to or could happen. Therefore, the audience could be males aged 15-24.

Narrative

• One of the themes communicated in this poster is not knowing what is going to happen. I would say it is a mystery as we have no clue what events will take place throughout this film without seeing it.
• We could make assumptions as to believing there are two different worlds in this film.
• No characters are in this poster which suggests they are not as significant as the setting itself.

Genre

• I would say the genre for this poster is mystery. I can tell this from the remote setting, the lack of characters present in the poster and the top line indicating a new life below the ground.
• There is a case for perhaps a hybrid genre. Either action/adventure drama or virtual reality.