Evaluation 1 - Sam McLeish

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

Main Task - Short films

Camerawork traits in industry-typical short films

From the research I conducted, the one common trait that most of the sequences that I analysed was that establishing shots were used. This is clearly seen in my analysis of 'The Laundromat' (Melville, 2009) as the first 18 seconds of the sequence are dedicated to exploring the location of the scene. This was done possibly to save time in delivering exposition to the audience, something that is incredibly useful when a director must make tough choices in what to include in the time limit. This is then incredibly useful during the editing process because it means they can focus on the actual plot in more time and detail.

However, during the main sequence of any short film, the camerawork is understandably focused on the characters. Regardless of the fact of the shots varying in size (in terms of framing), the characters are always positioned to be the main focus of the shot. This then allows for mise-en-scene elements (see below) to be explored, including;

• Facial Expressions and Body Language
• Props (i.e. the magazine in the female's hands), Setting and Décor.
• The lighting
• Positioning of character in relation to other or to objects
• Costume, Hair and Makeup 

This is done effectively in 'The Laundromat' as in the two varying-in-size shots above allows the audience to learn more about the characters on screen without the need for direct exposition to be delivered directly, which takes more time and makes the sequence less effective in delivering the outcome they wish to achieve. 

 

Camerawork traits in my short film

My sequence in comparison to the above chooses to use the idea of an establishing shot from the begining of the film as well, but the main difference is that it is used for a minimal amount of time before the character walks into shot. This was done to reduce the pressure of selecting what shots to include in the rest of the sequence with a significantly reduced time limit. 

During the main body of the sequence, again the camera work was more character focused to develop mise-en-scene elements of the film. For example, the makeup sequence allows the audience to understand that the female character is going on a date, but later with the discovery that the character is a lesbian, it is through this imagery which outlines that there is no difference in homosexual and hetronormative love and there would be no difference in the way that people would prepare for a date.

Sound traits in industry-typical short films

Most short films feature a lot of diegetic and non-diegetic audio as another way to provide exposition to the audience. For example, in 'The Operator' (Barleet, 2016), there was extremely limited camerawork stimuli, and due to the restricted narration of the sequence, the audience relied entirely on the diegetic dialogue provided by the operator and the caller to try and gather a sense of what is happening. In doing this, a more dramatic and tense sequence is created, which is more useful in this genre style. 

However, other directors will choose to go against this idea, and instead do the opposite. For example in 'Birthday' (Malegori, 2012), there is now incredibly limited audio stimulus, except from the non-diegetic backing-track and the audience then relies on the imagery to understand the sequence. Again, this is also another example of restricted narration because the audience knows no more information than the character, which also contributes to a tense atmosphere. 

What should be noted, however, is that neither of these methods are the 'correct' one to use, as both of them can be used to effect as and when the director needs them depending on the style. Also, the example above are almost polar opposites of each other, and most short films will use a combination of techniques from both to create their idea of a 'perfect' outcome.  

Sound traits in my short film

Out of the two methods, my short film follows the style of 'Birthday', in which there is no diegetic audio stimulus throughout the main body of the sequence, and the only non-diegetic sound coming from the lively backing-track. In my opinion, this is effective because it allows for the big reveal at the end to be more of a surprise, due to the restricted narration in the lack of audio. Overall, we neither develop or challenge any typical sound traits that are commonly used in typical media products because we steal traits from the two distinct approaches to audio.

Mise-en-scene traits in industry-typical short films

Lighting

The most common lighting state used in most short films was your typical three-point lighting setup. This is where the key, fill and back lights are used to light up the subject in the following ways;

1. Key Light - This is the main light. It is usually the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to one side of the camera/subject so that this side is well lit and the other side has some shadow.
2. Fill Light - This is the secondary light and is placed on the opposite side of the key light. It is used to fill the shadows created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and less bright than the key. To acheive this, you could move the light further away or use some spun. You might also want to set the fill light to more of a flood than the key.
3. Back Light - The back light is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting (like the key and fill), its purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines. This helps separate the subject from the background and provide a three-dimensional look.

This technique can clearly be seen in The Operator where, even if the lighting is minimalistic, there are light sources on all sides of the character.

Costume, Hair and Makeup

The way a character will look will suggest certain representations to the audience on what their personal lives will be like. For example, in 'Butterfly' (Bahe, 2011) the male character in the white hoody is more likely to be represented as from a lower social class in society due to the stereotypes that the audience may have. This is also supported by the fact that he then pulls out a gun. In contrast, the male character holding the book is then presented as a complete binary opposite (presented under Levi-Strauss and his theory), so he would place higher up the social ladder as he is in academia. This is then useful for a director to use as it makes it clearer for the audience to work out which characters are the protaganists and antagonists.

Body Language and Facial Expressions
Like in typical human nature, a character will display their reactions to developments in exposition through their body language and facial expressions. The director can control this by working closely with the actors. For example, in 'Page 23' (Houben, Arts, van den Boogaard, 2011), the male actor holds an unnatural smile that no person would use in any given context, along with stiff body language, whilst the female character holds natural looking facial expressions and walks freely. Under Barthes’ hermeneutic code, the lack of explanation in the exposition in the film creates enigma, which is useful because it engages the audience to the sequence.

Setting, Props and Decor
The above are all factors that relate to the location that the characters are in and what they can interact with. This, sometimes, can be just as important as the actors on set, especially in establishing shots that allow the audience to learn more about the scene via unspoken exposition. For example in 'Birthday' (see above), the background is of piles of stacked books, and the connotations of such suggests to the audience that the female character on screen is educated and higher up the social ladder, further supported by her smart clothing. 

Mise-en-scene traits in my short film

Lighting

The three-point lighting technique that is usually used for short films was actually avoided in our film, mainly to create the impression that the actions on screen were naturalistic as possible. Although this could have been a risky move, potentially leaving us with little or no workable footage, it paid off in the end. For example, the two main locations had no extra additional lighting that was provided by the film crew.

• The train provided the lighting from an overhead spotlight over the male character, as well as the natural light coming from the window.
• The light source in the bedroom came from behind the actor, and the opposite wall was light enough to reflect light onto the actor's front. 

I personally feel that this was done well, and we challenge the industry-standard technique because we utilised the lighting sources around us instead of creating it artificially which would have been obstructive, especially whilst on the train.

Costume, Hair and Makeup

A lassiez-faire style approach was taken to what the actors wore, as the actors were chosen for their style of clothing during the casting process. The only control we took over the above was when we told the actors to "dress like you're going on a date" and by telling Meg to not wear makeup before shooting. In comparison to industry-standard films, this would never happen; the director will have a vision of what each character should look like and it is up to the in-house costume department to design an outfit that reflects this. For example, it is clear in 'Mr Foley' (Not my research. Enda Loughman, Mike Ahern, 2009) that the protagonist's costume is supposed to give the impression that the character is injured. Therefore, costumes like this create enigma under Barthes’ hermeneutic code because the audience doesn't understand what caused his injuries, and it is human nature to want to investigate more by engaging in the storyline.

Body Language and Facial Expressions
A lot of directing went into the facial expressions the actors used because that is the main way the audience gather how the characters react to things on camera. This is particularly significant when the characters 'read' the texts they receive on screen, because little changes in their facial expressions, like the smiles to the right creates the impression that they are flirting, which is something we aim to achive in our sequence. Due to such, we copy a technique used by the industry.

Setting, Props and Decor
Like in the planning process for a real short film, a lot of thought was put into all of the above;

• Setting and Decor - It was especially important to film in locations that would be accessible to teenagers without raising questions. This was done by choosing a room that looked gender neutral (to not avoid any obvious questions about sexuality or gender roles) for the female character, and by making the meeting a point somewhere totally accessible for anyone. This limited approach would be less of a worry for a industry-standard short film because they would be able to film in more locations than us.
• Props - There was little need for props, apart from the phones that the characters were 'communicating' on, and the makeup the female was using. Due to such, we neither challenged or developed typical prop conventions for the industry because the props that are used from film to film will vary.

Editing/post-production techniques in industry-typical short films

Depending on the effect that the director will want, and what is typical for the genre conventions, the post-production techniques will vary from film to film. For example in 'Page 23' (see above) the editing shows prices added in post production to give the impression that the film is based in an IKEA-style catalogue. This is effective because it looks in place in the shot and it isn't too obstructive of the main focus.

Editing/post-production techniques in my short film

There is quite a fair bit of post-production editing techniques in our short film, the most apparent being the texts that come on screen throughout. The design and transition of the 'text' was supposed to mimic the recognisable format that is used by iPhones. This would be something that would be used in industry short films but the main difference as theirs would be a lot more professional, so we somewhat use this convention. 

Narrative Organisation and the Short Film Format in industry-typical short films

Short films, as suggested in the name, are not long enough to be classed as feature length films and are around 30 minutes or less, including credits. Short films are incredibly unique as developers can pick and choose what conventions they want to follow and what to pack into the limited timescale that they have at their disposal. This allows for there to originality between films as there are very few expectations of what should be done when producing one. The main disadvantage to this, however, is that it makes it incredibly difficult to apply Tododrov's Narrative Theory because there isn't enough time to establish these points in the plot.

Narrative Organisation and the Short Film Format in my short film

• Our film conforms to the typical timeframe of under 30 minutes (as the final film comes to 4:58)
• There is no point in apply Todorov's because it is more accurately applied when there is a more disruptive element to a storyline, especially when there is an antagonist as well as a protagonist.

Themes and Issues in industry-typical short films

With short films being so short, it is the perfect opportunity to inform the audience of a particular message as a subplot. Although it isn't vital for every short film to include a hidden message, it's length allows it to be even more memorable in the short time whilst still allowing for the poignant message to sink in afterwards. This can clearly be seen in films such as 'Broken Tail Light' (Paola Mendoza, USA, 2014) where the film explores how children born in the US by undocumented immigrants can be separated from their families. 

Themes and Issues in my short film

My short film has also covered a lot of issues about LGBTQ+ issues, a topic that is incredibly rarely covered in the media. Although a lot of straight people believe that there is nothing wrong with non 'typical' relationships, there is little effort in the media to normalise them as loving couples that are just as valid as straight couples. Therefore, just be showing a lesbian couple in this film being happy and not be challenged is a step forward in itself because there is now some awareness of it without there being a overdramatic 'slap in the face' of homosexuality for the audience.

Ancillary Task One - Film Poster

Industry Standard Film Posters

There are certain conventions that a short film poster will normally always have, as shown here;

1. Reviews (top left in this example) - this allows for the audience to judge if they'd like to watch this film without going through the trouble of researching into it further.
2. Awards or nominations (top right) - this impresses the audience and they are then more likely to go watch the film if they know it would be of high quality.
3. Director (above title) - if they are recognisable, they may be familiar with their previous works and will want to see their latest 'masterpiece'.
4. Title (Centre) - essential as the audience may be able to derive meaning of what the film will be about from this.
5. Billing block (under title) - A requirement for all film posters to ensure credit is received by all major parties involved.
6. Actors (above title) - Like the director, if they are recognisable, they may be familiar with their previous works and will want to see their latest 'masterpiece'.
7. Star ratings (various locations) - If they are rated highly, the audience may feel that it wouldn't be a waste of time to go see this film.
8. Main focus image (the female) - This, whilst working with the title, allows the audience to derive meaning on what the film will be about.
9. Social Media/Website Access (under billing block) - This is useful in the modern age as it allows the audience to engage with the short film before seeing it, as it is unlikely for a film of this size to produce any trailers.

However, there are also traits that will not appear on typical short film posters;

1. BBFC Certification - This is because short films don't need to follow typical censorship routes that are used for feature length films.
2. Famous Actors - A short film is very unlikely to have the budget to pay them.
3. Reviews from mainstream media outlets like 'Empire' (as the film would be from up and coming directors)
4. Taglines - This is because they are normally only used in mass market selling.

Most of these traits can be seen in the following short film posters (all can be found under the label 'poster research');

My Film Poster

These are the traits that are included in my poster that conform to industry standards;

1. Reviews (top right)
2. Awards or nominations (bottom left)
3. Director (in billing block)
4. Title (top right)
5. Billing block (under title)
6. Actors (above billing block)
7. Main focus image (the female)
8. Social Media/Website Access (bottom right)

However, what the traits the challenge the norms for posters are;

1. The lack of a star-based rating system as 'Little White Lies' do not use this system.
2. A logo for our production company (bottom right)
3. Individual space for the directors to take credit.

The first draft of the poster

It should also be worth mentioning that these conventions took a lot of time to get right in order to copy the styles that are used by the industry. For example, it was clear to see that my company logos on the bottom of the page were way too large to print as they were incredibly distracting from the main focus image that they overlap. If you look at any of the posters above, it is clear to see that their company logos are barely visible upon their first glance. Therefore, I have changed this on my final poster to make the logos smaller and less noticeable, such as typical for the industry.

Furthermore, it became clear to me that the house style of Little White Lies means that they do not use the typical five star rating system that is stereotypical for the industry. Instead, I left it as just the review. However, the review on the poster did not match anything that was written in the review, so this was changed for the final product to overcome this.

Ancillary Task Two - Little White Lies Review

'Little White Lies' is a bimonthly subscription magazine that reviews films that recently hit the market. It isn't a cheap magazine, costing £6 each edition, but it can be said that each copy is like a book that many have said they are likely to keep for life. This can especially be said for 'Star Wars; Rouge One' edition, in which they ran an adult style colouring book, that would have been incredibly nostalagic for the Generation Y/Millenial readers that would have grown up with the Star Wars franchise. The demographic that the magazine tends to target is males (making up 63% of their readership) between 25 - 35 (51% of their readership), and this is clearly reflected in the companies that sponsor The Church of London, their parent company.

TCoL's sponsors

For example;

• Google - A household brand that is frequently used by the target demographic for both work and pleasure. They would want to target this demographic as well because they are releasing new phones and they are the people in society that are most likely to buy them.
• Levi's - A clothing brand that targets this demographic. They would want to advertise in this magazine, as well as Huck, TCoL's other magazine, as both of them expose and undertand their target demographic's interest in brands.
• Snapchat - A social media outlet used by the target demographic that has recently allowed advertising to be exposed to their users whilst using them.
• Vice - A social media outlet used by this demographic that also runs stories that would appeal exclusively to their target audience.

There are common conventions that are followed in each review;

1. The page size is always 245mm by 195mm.
2. The main focus image is always 77mm by 168mm and is aligned centre above the title.
3. The title font is always Century Gothic, bold.
4. The subtitles are always Aparajita, with the role in italics and the name in bold.
5. The main body of text is split into three sections, measuring 101mm by 54mm, except for the last one that will vary depending on the amount of text, but leaving room for the final review. 
6. The first letter of the review is a dropcap, with a difference of three sizes. 
7. The final review (bottom right of page) is written in Aparajita, but the number is Century Gothic and bolded.
8. The page heading saying 'reviews' is on the side of the page, facing upwards and written in Microsoft Yahei.
9. The page number at the bottom is always in the hundreds format and written in Microsoft Yahei.

The language used in each of Little White Lies’ reviews are always in basic to read English, but it does expect it’s readership to have some form of common knowledge of pinnacle films in the industry as they commonly compare and contrast conventions between genres. This can clearly be seen as in the magazine’s review of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ by Simon Cook (2013, Bigelow, USA, http://lwlies.com/reviews/zero-dark-thirty/) where the actors have been described as “Chuck Norris-ed by wardrobe and Point Blanked by Bigelow”. However, it is in Cook’s review that shows that proves that the independence of the magazine allows for them to address their readership with informality, especially with the use of sarcasm, as seen when it is said that “If that’s the way Hollywood does catharsis, so be it, but there’s a far better movie before it”. There seems to be a mixed mode of address that doesn’t seemed to be shared in other publications in the industry, combining the analysis of complex conventions with dry cynicism and sarcasm, something that it’s target audience of millennials seem to enjoy.

Our Poster



The template draft on InDesign

Draft



Using the above specifications, we successfully created our poster in the house style of Little White Lies, meaning we used the conventions of this product exactly.

• The review template started life on InDesign as a blank page that was sized to the specification given above.
• Then, the area for the photo was drawn on and resized to the specification given above.
• Next, the area for the title text was drawn out but left blank as there was nothing we could do with it at that stage.
• After this, three texts boxes were drawn out and were resized to make the columns that the review would go into. They were linked to allow the text to flow between them naturally. A drop cap of three spaces was also added to the first letter of the review.
• Finally, the space for the summaries were drawn and sized appropriately underneath the third columns.

At this point, we as a group to put in the text of the review into the boxes and assigned all the correct formats. However, it wasn't until later that we noticed that the summary numbers weren't all uniform and there was no page numbers in the 100 format. After the editing, the final review looked like this, and it is clear that we have put the extra effort in to try and recreate the house style of Little White Lies.

The Final Review

In terms of language, we tried to copy the magazine's style of layman's English which gave us the freedom to use wordplay and snappy sentences that would not be appropriate in film reviews in more formal magazines such as Empire. However, what was extremely difficult was not to spoil the plot when the main theme in our film was to do with homosexuality, and the big reveal was based around this fact. Instead, our only option was to create more enigma in the writing that will instead make the audience want to see the film to understand what the review is talking about. Therefore, as this is something that a LWL review would do, I feel that we have used a technique from the industry that is done often.