Evaluation - Question Two

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

On the whole, I believe that my main product (short film) and my ancillary texts (magazine article and film poster) combined together very effectively. One of the main reasons I believe the combination was a success was due to the house style of my three tasks. As you can see from the two images below, of my article and film poster, I used the same colour pallet and fonts throughout. I used the red and black font as it is symbolic of the cards used in poker.

The fonts I have used in both my article and poster are very similar, I made the decision to use the same font as I believe it is important to keep a theme to my tasks, and one way I can achieve this is through keeping the same font. From keeping the same font, it is clear that the two tasks are combined and work well together as a combination. Furthermore, in my film I have multiple scenes which have a black background with red font on, for example 'The Game Has Begun' the red and black is following the same house style of my article and magazine and this highlights how the tasks go together and work well.

In both my magazine article and my film poster I used the image of the suits of cards, the fact I used the image on both pieces highlights how the two pieces are from and representing the same film. Also, the use of this image is symbolic of the fact that my film is based around a poker game, where suits of cards are a key concept. They are also clearly present in my film as the main part of my film is based around the game itself, where cards are clearly present.

Evaluation - Question One

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

SHORT FILM
When creating my short film, I believe that I used and challenge forms and conventions of real media products in different ways. I used some of the existing conventions to to enhance the chance of my short film being successful however I thought it was key to challenge some media conventions to show that this short film has my own twist on it.  When planning for my short film, I was looking through the conventions of many different genres, for example action, thriller and romance. However, after my extensive research, I decided to chose an action/thriller film. I made this decision as I believed that I could use some of the conventions within my film yet challenge some of them to put my own stance on the film.  Below is an example of a piece of research I carried out, however this piece of research is based around horror which I decided to go against due to the conventions of horror films.

Genre Ideas

Another convention I had to take into consideration was Todorov's narrative theory, which is the idea of the seperate stages that a narrative of a film should have. Todorov's five stages go as follows:

1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium.

However, when creating my film I decided to challenge Todorov's narrative theory by taking a different approach to how the narrative in my film flows. My film does start with a state of equilibrium however the following steps do not follow this renowned theory. The fact I challenged this convention highlights how I wanted to have my own input into how my film was produced, even though many short films follow this theory, by swaying away from the idea I am showing initiative to produce something different. 

However, the use of existing media conventions was shown in my short film as I used many thriller/action conventions. For example, suspensful music, guns, shootings etc. I decided to follow these conventions as for a thriller/action movie to be successful, it is key that we see some action between characters, which is supported by the suspenseful music.A key convention of action/thriller films is action such as fighting and shooting scenes, by following this simple example I believe that I have been successful in applying a genre to my film.

FILM POSTER

When creating my film poster, and article I decided to use the existing conventions as I believe it is hard to add your own input into two products like this. Below are photos of my two ancillary tasks; a magazine article and a film poster.

As you can see from this image I have followed the simple conventions of a film poster. The title is in a bold black and red font which in my opinion really stands out on the page due to the alternating red and black for each letter. Below the title, I have a slogan "is gambling a mugs game... or a thugs game?" the use of italics and rhetoric in this slogan lures the audience into wondering why that question has been asked. A slogan like this is a convention that you would expect on a film poster. Thirdly, I have a main image which is a convention used on every film poster in modern society, the main image is there to give the audience an idea about the genre and story line that the film possesses. Finally, I have included the name of the cast and directors/producers etc which is also a convention you would expect to see on the majority of film posters. I decided to follow the generic conventions of a film poster as I think it is very difficult to put your own stance on a film poster.  Underneath my film poster, I have provided the film poster of a film called 'Poker House' which is based around the same story line as mine, poker. Poker Houses' film poster follows a basic structure, similarly to mine, including a title, name of actors/cast and a main image. I believe that by following the conventions of film posters, my film poster was overall very successful.       

FILM ARTICLE
Similarly to my film poster, I decided to use the conventions of an article rather than challenge them as I think articles follow a similair style throughout so by doing this I was ensuring my article page would be successful.

The conventions I included was the name of the film 'Sleight Of Hand' and a text box containing information about the film which is something I discovered after researching magazine articles.

                                    

I also included two paragraphs of text, one paragraph being titled 'plot' and explaining a shortened version of the plot so that the audience have a general idea of what the film is about. The second paragraph I supplied was background information of the directors and actors in the film, which is another convention I discovered after researching article pages, however this convention wasn't a reoccurring one.  The paragraph based around the plot would be seen as a regular convention however I swayed away from the conventions with the second paragraph, as the paragraph on background information is not a regular convention of an article. I decided to do the paragraph labelled 'Behind The Scenes' as I believe it is a convention which would lure the audience in to watching the film, even though having background information about the actors/producers isn't key, it is still something which I believe would make the audience want to see the film.

Planning for my film poster

When creating my film poster, there are many possible alternatives as to what I could do, however I have decided to keep the emphasis on the theme of poker. Below is a photo of the title I have came up with including the colours and fonts.

The use of the colours red and black symbolises the game of poker and the use of playing cards in the game which is evident throughout my film, by linking it to the game of poker I am intriguing the audience as they would be eager to find out what was so niche about this particular game of poker and why a film has been based around it. The bold font that I have chosen in a way symbolises the game of poker as the writing looks very upper class and sophisticated which is usually what we link to poker.

When creating my film poster I decided to use the tag line "is gambling a mugs game... or a thugs game", the majority of film posters uses tag line as they are a good way to grab the attention of the audience and make them question the film and its motif. In the tag line I used many literary devices, such as a rhetorical question and ellipsis. Both of these devices would intrigue the audience as they would be questioning why gambling is a thugs game and also why there is a pause in between the two parts of the question.

The image I will be using for my film poster will be a photo of one of the characters hands which will have the playing cards in them, this will highlight to the audience how the film is based around poker. Also the audience will be intrigued as to why only the hand will be showing.

Researching film posters - Gone Girl

Researching film posters - Just Go With It

Researching film posters - Bronx Tale

Research and planning for my short film

Location - The location within my film will be very simplistic, the majority of the short film will be set in a normal house, with some aspects taking part outside the house. In a short film, it is key to keep the storyline to one location as if you include many different locations you are making the plot to difficult to follow. The fact it is being filmed in a house highlights how it is a simple yet effective storyline.

Props - The props I will be using in my film will be:
Two cars - The two cars in my short film will be used in two different aspects, one will show characters arriving to the location whereas the second car will show one of the characters frantically driving away from the location, thus being a part of the narrative.
Gun - The gun will be used as part of the narrative, the gun highlights how it is an action/thriller film as many films within this genre would feature a gun at some point.

Poker set - The narrative is based around a game of poker so it is obvious that a poker set will be a key prop within my film.





Actors/Actresses - In my short film I will be using three actors, within a short film it is very rare that you'll see more than two or three actors. The actors in my short film will be:
Sister - I used my sister as an actor as she has had previous experience of filming for a short film, also the age of the characters in my film is all around the 20-30 range, and as a result of this my sister fits into the criteria. Also, within my storyline a women character was key as even though she isn't on screen a lot she is a part of the main narrative.
Sisters boyfriend - I chose to use my sisters boyfriend as he has the 'look' which I wanted my main characters to have. The two main characters in my film will be two men, who both have the 'look' I was going for. Tom (my sisters boyfriend) has a beard, wears stretchers and due to being a teacher regularly wears smart clothing, which in a poker game is what we expect.
Alex Haines - Similarly to my sisters boyfriend, Alex has a beard and has slicked back hair in the short film which is typical of a poker film. However, the fact he isn't dressed as 'smartly' as Tom, we can see the slight difference in the two characters.

Costume - The costume in my short film is overall very smart as it is a poker game which is being played for a lot of money, the two men in the film are both wearing suits which signifies how they are in the 'upper class' of society. Even though the women character in my film isn't dressed as 'well' as the two men, it is still clear she is part of the higher end of society due to the costume she is wearing, including a fur coat.

Dialogue - In my short film I have used dialogue however I have used a small amount of dialogue as the main part of my film will be the action as the action highlights the story more than the dialogue. The majority of the dialogue in my film is poker jargon, highlighting how the topic of the narrative is a poker game. The problems I have faced when making my short film is the use of the accent, the accent I was looking for an American 'gangster' accent however the 'brummie' accent gets in the way of this.