Conventions, producer and target audience planning

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.