The
conventions, the producer and target audience of my text:
1. What conventions do you plan to keep regarding the
audio-visual construction of your text, main images of print work, sub-images,
the title, font-use, textual elements (choice of lexis) and colour palette? Do
you plan to change any of these? If so why, and how will they appeal to the
target audience? Where you are referring
to how your text is going to be similar/dissimilar to other texts of the same
genre please refer to specific examples & styles.
Film: In my film, I plan to
keep it similar to a normal short film, with the same conventions. For example,
a very short story line that doesn’t necessarily have so many different things
happening at once and no long build up about the main character. However, I
want it to be silent, with music in the background, which isn’t as typical for
a silent film. I have considered editing it so that it is in black and white
but decided against this as I would like to avoid it seeming cliché. I think it
will appeal to my target audience because it is quite a mature storyline, but
easy to follow and not too much to take in. I think that the element of
background music and lack of speech will help the audience to follow what is
happening and give them the silence to think about the story line and perhaps
empathise for the main character.
Poster: I plan to keep the conventions
of my poster very similar to that of any other poster released to promote a film,
despite the fact that it is just a short film, that won’t necessarily be shown
in a multiplex cinema. I want to use one main image which hints at the
storyline but doesn’t give too much away. (A woman wearing a wedding dress and
holding a letter) I won’t have too much text on the poster and I would prefer
to use a very dark colour pallet, other than the white of the wedding dress
that my actor will be wearing in the photograph. I will use the usual box at
the bottom which includes all of the information about who was involved. The
title is going to stand out on top of the costume, so that it is one of the
first things you would see. I saw a poster for the film Les Miserables and I am
taking a lot of conventions and elements from that because I really like the
layout and I think it’s simple and effective.
Magazine article: I am going
to keep the majority of my text the same font, with just a few variations, so
that it is easy for my audience to read and understand, as some may be younger
than others, with it being a 12. The kind of tone I want to write the article
in is going to be quite informal with a positive outlook. To match this, I want
the colour pallet to be quite light, with a lot of white. I may use white for
the background also to make it easier to read. I want to have one main image,
which will be a photo of one of the scenes in my film with perhaps two or three
other images. I think this will appeal to my target audience because they will
get a glimpse at what happens and what kind of film this is.
2. How would your product likely be produced and
distributed if it were to be produced for sale or distribution in the ‘real
world’? How do you know that this text fits a place/niche in the market that
would sell to and who produces/distributes similar texts…which texts, to whom
[target audience] and with what success?
As my film is a short and
wouldn’t be considered a big, high budget blockbuster, the production and
distribution would be quite different to something of full length like Harry
Potter or Twilight. In my research, I found certain companies who deal with the
production of short films. One I recently found which could be used is
PicoPictures, which is an award winning, London
based short film production company. I think a good idea of distribution would be
displaying it in art house, local cinemas and online and maybe even as part of
a campaign like the army widows association. I think there is a gap in the
market for certain films like this, because having looked at Pico Pictures
work, there are similar texts that have been successful and even award winning.
3. Who is the target audience of your text? Try to be as
specific as possible in terms of demographic information: gender, ages,
characteristic behaviours regarding shopping, media consumption, social and
entertainment habits, market segmentation, socio economic category etc. You
should be able to characterise them in terms of these behaviours.
I think my target audience
isn’t so specific- as in I think any body could enjoy it. However, I think that
it may appeal to more females, than it would men, because they can relate to
the main character as she is a woman. I think with the storyline being quite
mature, it might appeal to teenagers and above, rather than children. As much
as I think that they will probably read a lot of magazines and see films at the
cinema often, I think the target audience is people who are interested in short
films, maybe who attend films at art house cinemas and quite possibly people
who have friends or family members in the army or have experienced something similar
to that which goes on in the film. In particular, anybody who can relate and sympathise
with the characters will be a part of my target audience.
4. How are you going to gratify your audience? What is going to make them
watch/purchase/return to it? Be specific
and elaborate on what may seem to you to be minor details.
I think that the poster and
article will make them intrigued and want to watch the film at the start
because I want to include enough information that will make them interested and
want to watch the film anyway, but also to hold back from giving too much away
so that at first it is left down to their own interpretation of what the film
will be about but then they will wonder what actually happens. I think this
will drive them to watch it. I think that because a lot of people know about
the consequences of going into the army and a lot of people have army related
experiences, whether that means they have been in themselves or know someone
how has or they are coping with a loss, people will be intrigued to watch it
and will enjoy it and sympathise with the characters. I think the lack of
speech is unusual combined with the music used ad the fact it is a short film that
people will be interested in watching it because it is something new and unique
that hey want to experience.
5. Which media platforms/ broadcasters/ outlets would be
interested in selling/ broadcasting/ showing your text? How do you know this?
As I mentioned before, the
charity ‘Army Widows’ Association’ are a charity who deals with women going
through the death of their loved one from being in the army. Having looked at
their website, they encourage all kinds of help and support to raise money and
awareness. I think that the money raised from people watching the film would be
helpful and I’m sure they would be interested in that kind of help. Art house
cinemas, like the Tyneside cinema could broadcast the film there as they not
only show mainstream films; they also show shorts and independent films. It
could also be shown at film festivals, as the people who attend them are more
likely to be people who are really interested in all types of film.
