Audience Profile - AS

AS

The demographic for my target audience for my film are a range of people ranged from the ages of 15-30, in D to C1 social group. The reason for this is that, because I was doing a zombie film, a now mainstream genre, the most 'common' audience, people who aren't necessarily huge fnas of film and cinema, but people who may only see 3-4 films a year. In the past, films of the zombie genre may not have been as popular and mainstream, and instead target a more specific, 'diehard' audience, who know about the established zombie genre. This has changed because of the recent influx of Zombie themed televsion shows and films, so now the target audience covers a larger base. 

In terms of age, a zombie film would almost certainly always be targeted for a 15 rating at the least, with many of them leaking over into the 18 film. This is because of convention of the genre is gore and blood, and lowering the targeted age would have to affect the type of the film, and may cause the film to lose a big part of the audience, even though it is trying to widen it.

The majority of the audience would probably be male, as they a re typically the main fans for the zombie genre. As zombie films have bcome more into the mainstream however, the audience has become more split, with an increasing number of female fans becoming a core part of the audience. 

Key Concept Analysis - Genre

Genre

Genre is how we define what the 'type' og the film is The conventions of the film; the characters, the story, the soundtrack, etc. These elements are what seperate a romantic comedy from a horror. You wouldn't typically see a happy monatge in a slasher film, just as you wouldn't expect a jump scare in a family comedy. Following a genre is an almost 
certainty in mainstream, feature length cinema. Whereas it is not in short film.

Poster Research 1

Poster Research 1

One part of the coursework is designing a poster for the film, and here I have done some research into the different styles of posters before I decide on the final product of mine. 

Django Unchained (2012)

Here is an 'old school' 1960s style poster for Django Unchained, a film from 2012. There has been an increasing trend in bringing back old syle posters, especially in genes like the western. It has the 'hand drawn' look to it, but if I choose this particular style, it could be replicated in photoshop.

The upside to choosing this style is that it would stand out and be recognisble if done in the right way.It would also be unique to my film because the genre of my film isn't really associatedwith the poster style. The downside to it is that the poster may just simplify not suitbale for my film, it's a poster that relies a lot on a typically action packed story and numerous characters, two things which my film does'nt have. If done wrong way it may also lose it's effect as a movie poster and become more an apprent photoshop piece. 

Key Concept Analysis - Narrative

Narrative

The narrative of the short is one that differs a lot from the feature length film, it does follow a set of conventions however, and this can be seen is a range of short films. Short films establish the problem within the first few minutues as they do not have the time of feature length films. They have limited progression, and it is normally done quickly and makes a big impact rather than a long build up. Short films are made up of only the essentials and cannot dwell on one subject for too long, so it must be quick and to trhe point but remain as a effective as a major film.

Short Film Pitch

Key Concept Analysis - Audience

Audience 

Short Films have a smaller, more niche audience compared to the feature length film. A big part of the short film audience comes from collegeg/ university students who may have started on their own film and are looking for inspirations. Students make short films as a way of getting noticed by bigger companies, who might be looking for the next reakout filmmaker. 

The other part of the audience are the people who go to film festivals, such as the Encounters festival (http://www.encounters-festival.org.uk/). The people who go to these festivals are generally fans of short, independent films, critics and the bigger companies. Film festivals are a way of promoting and showcasing a film to a more 'qualified' audience, rather than posting it on the internet for everyone to see. 

The audience for shor film can be very small, but if promoted in the right way, it can reach a wider, more mainstream one. 

Short Film Syntax and Semantics

Syntax and Semantics

One piece of coursework we did was a Zombie film, a genre that, while we can see the same semantical conventions from the films of past, we can also see how the syntax of the genre has evolved and changed overtime. Looking at a George Romero zombie, and then looking at a more modern film, such as 28 Days Later, the comparisons are easily seen at first. There are the same, stock type characters, the same basic story elements, the same technical elements (crane shots showing a zombie hoard, for example).  The way the story is told in the modern films is what makes it different from the past films. An example in our film is that the zombie’s stortline has been set up and has begun, but not as part of the film. Typically the film would begin with the origin of the Zombie outbreak, or at least have some sort of explanation scene in the beginning as to what has happened, but our film changes, leaving the explanation down to the audiences prior knowledge to the genre, but also leaving the core elements of it ambiguous.

This is what differs the film from others of the genre, the syntactical arrangement of the story keeps it fresh and different, whilst still being a recognisable Zombie film. Many Zombie films/ television shows are ever changing their structure, as the genre moves past its horror roots and becomes one of its own.  This was one of the main points when we were making our film; we weren’t doing a horror film, we were doing a Zombie one. 

Our film would carry across the elements from past Zombie films, when they were part of the Horror genre, and warp it into it’s one media and being, it would be both familiar and original at the same time.

Key Concept Analysis - Institutions

Institutions

Typically, short films get there first exposure through the internet, using sites like Youtube and Vimeo as means of broadcatsing the film worldwide to a vaired audience. Some short films may be sent off and are given a showing in an independent showing or a film festival. 

Funding for short films are brought in many different ways. Sometimes the people making the film may pay straight from their own pocket, which is normally the case with College/university productions where a high budget is  not needed. Larger compaines may decide to back a short films as a way of winning over a director for future productions, ledning 'favours' in a way.More recently however, independent film makers have been sourcing money from the audience using sites like Kickstarter which allow users to 'back' projects by paying an amount they wish into the making of a film, normally getting a reward (DVD, producer credit, etc) that comes with the donation. 

Sites like this allo filmmakers to showcase their project to the audience before they start projection, meaning there is aless of a chance of taking a risk as the soiyte allows you fiond out if there is an audience or not. More importantly, however is that this way of getting funds means that the filmmakers are able to retain complete creative control over the film, where they might not have if a big company was backing the film.

Key Concept Analysis- Media Language (Codes and Conventions)

Media Language (Codes and Conventions)

In terms of cinematography, short films are normally more varied, they use a range different camera angles, rarely repeating and using the same type of shots, because there is less time to tell the story. so every shot used has to be necessary and effective. There are also a lot of effects used which are rarely done in major productions such as jump cuts, which is a way of showing that a long time has passed, even though the scene may only been a couple of seconds long. Some effects are used because of time restarints, but others are done for artistic effect, such as when an actor looks directly at the camera, an effect which isn't done a lot in regular films, but is common use in short films. The use of camera shot/ angles is one way that allows directors to set apart their short film, and make it different to the regular film.

A large percentage of short film do not use dialogue, and some rarely use any sound at all. The story in short films are told through what happens, for example in this particular one, "2AM", no dialogue is used. There are sound effects however, and these are used with an emphasis (the footsteps) wich add tension to the film. This effect is a common feature of the horror genre. 

   

For a film like this, it is vital that the genre (in this case horror) is easily identiable for the audience. This is the same case with genres like comedy, zombie, etc.

Key Concept Analysis- Representation

Representation

Short film is telling a story/ giving a message to the audience in the same way a feature length film would, but doing it a different way. Short can be seen as almost a differnt medium to feature length productions, which can be seen in everything from the structure of the film, to the characters. 

Unlike a feature length film, short films are normally more focused on the message and the story rather than the characters. In a feature film we have time to see a characters backstory, and motivations, if the audience do not connect with them staright away, they may do so later on in the film. Short stories have no time for that, which expakins why many of the characters are very basic, almost like 'stock' characters. The core audience for short film is a less mainstream, typically more intelligent one, meaning the characters back story can be ambiguous and left up for the audienc to decide. Just like we can see in this short film, Still Life: 
We don't the know the motivactions are reasoning behind why the character is crzzy, but we can make a guess.



The ideology of the short film is that, there does not have to be too much informationj behind the charcters and their reasoning, as long as the audience can understand the main message behind the film, the characters do not matter that much. 

One main difference between feature length and short films, is that the audience is expected to know that with a short film, there may not be a very clear story; it doesn't follow conventions, you never know what to expect with a short film.