Magazine review language

Magazine reviews tend to use funny, colloquial language and swearing, to appeal to the reader by using language they would use. As mine is a family film, there would be no swearing, and the funny language might not fit. Magazines also use quotes from the films being reviewed, which I can't do, because my film, with the edited end scene, is silent.

Reviews I have seen also use language similar to that used in the film, for example a review of Sherlock Holmes uses a wider vocabulary, as the characters do in the film. This makes my film review a little easier to write, as there is no speech I don't have to fit to a style of speech.

In my research, I found the following, an article titled 'How to write a short film review'. I won't follow this plan, however it is useful to have a very basic structure to follow, as I found most film reviews are diferent based on the genre of film, style of magazine and who wrote the review (and their preferences).

From: http://www.ehow.com/how_5211353_write-short-film-review.html

Instructions

1. • 1
     Start with a quick summary of the film and your opinion. This should take up the first paragraph and should not be more than three sentences. Identify the name of the film in this paragraph and any important association the audience may have. For example, a woman is far more likely to read a review of the baseball film "Money Ball" if it's introduced as Brad Pitt's new film "Money Ball."
   • 2
     Use the next paragraph to summarize the plot or expand on your opinion. This graph needs to be a few sentences long, but edit out anything inessential. Do not explain more of the plot than is necessary for the reader to understand that review. You do not need to lay out the full details of the plot in a short review.
   • 3
     Use the next paragraph to give credit to something good in an otherwise poor movie, or to say something that a good movie could have done better. This graph is optional, but it does suggest to the reader that the writer approached the film with a critical mindset. The most useless reviews, short or otherwise, are those written by a fan (or anti-fan) who only insults or praises the film and does not explain "why" he felt that way.
   • 4
     Close the review with an anecdote or wrap-up that also summarizes why you either liked or disliked the movie. A closing graph may also point out exceptional performances by the actors, a director, or a cinematographer.

Never give away the ending of a film in any review. Nothing angers film fans (or editors) more.

Scene issues

Because the my older brother, who was going to be the other person in the last scene is ill and has alot of uni work to do, if I can't find an alternative I'll have to change the whole scene, which could take a long time, to create, organise and film.

I might go back to my original 'happy ending' idea, which, rather than symbolising leaving your childhood behind as an adult, would symbolise holding on to your childhood through adulthood. Having this ending would mean that I wouldn't need another actor, only someone to man the cameras, filming could take up to an hour and after this the filming will be finished, and editing and music would be the only things left to do.

I would need to film:

1. Several quick shots putting up posters in different places.
2. Walking past the shop with the doll in the window.
3. The shot of me noticing the doll in the window.
4. Going into the shop.
5. The doll being removed from the window.
6. Walking out of the shop with the doll.

All very quick shots, which will make up the ending of the film.
After editing, I can prepare music. I'll need to take note of times of the film, and what mood these times are, so that music can be played in time with the scenes. If not, I may have to experiment with garage band.

Magazine review - layout plan

This is the basic layout for my magazine review, which will be a double page spread of multiple reviews. I looked mostly at 'Empire' magazine and 'Film' magazine for layouts, and I noticed the biggest difference between short film reviews and feature length reviews is the length of the review. Which is why the space for writing is so small. I also noticed that there was mostly no correllation betweenthe main film being reviewed and the adverts for films in the cinema or reviews of other films, other than maybe actorsor genre, general things that would appeal to those interested in the main article. It's from this I decided to review 'Traffic Warden' and 'Sorry I'm late', and if I have space for another 'For My Blossom'.
I can't sort out the photos or the main review until all filming and editing is finished so I can get screenshots or stills, though I can write out the shorter reviews of actual short films (of the same, childish, family genre). Also, I can do the smaller parts of the review, e.g. basic plotline, film details etc.
I'll have to find styles, fonts and colour schemes too, I'm thinking of light colours to fit the genre of the film without using pink or blue, to make it clear that the film isn't aimed at males or females specifically, and I'd choose more rounded fonts (as opposed to the more square, harsh-looking fonts which would look out of place).

Magazine review - research piece

To make a magazine review, I decided to look at other film review articles. As I couldn't find a short film review article, I used a feature film article as a basic idea. (The boxes contain little notes about some aspects of the article, click the image to make it bigger)

Although, this clearly isn't the genre of film I want to use, or a short film, though the basic layout will be very useful, in creating my magazine review.

Magazine review

So, the other ancillary task (other than the poster) is a magazine review. I'll have to find magazine reviews for short films, the type of magazine, find an audience appropriate magazine, and how it's set out. I'll also have to see what programme to use, I've never used photoshop (successfully, anyway), so I'll have to find a programme which will look like a magazine article, and upload to the blog.

Poster

I know that it's unconventional to have so much blank space on a poster, and so I tried to fill it out, using the little tear-off tabs sometimes at the bottom of missing posters, with details written on them. I decided to have 'Missing' and then the fake website which would further advertise the film, whilst still having the look of a poster. I'll upload this finished product when I'ts finished, and I've decided if it looks better or not.

Distribution

As there'll be a radio advert for my short film, I'd need to think about where people would find my film. Most short films are found either on Youtubes (Many are posted after short film festivals) or on specialised websites, or sections of bigger websites devoted to short films, such as the BBC Film Network short film section. So I think my short film would be on the internet, and maybe have its own website (Like 'Sorry I'm Late'). That way the advert could say something like "Missing. The new short film by Lyndsay Essex. Find it on www.missing-shortfilm.com." There is a problem however, as it is more of a silent film, there will be no voice clips available, so I'll have to think of a way around this, and use the background music from the film in the advert.

I had a rethink since writing this, and I thought that my target audience wouldn't be people who would listen to the radio, my target audience being young adults and teenagers. So I decided to change my ancillary task from a poster and a radio advert to a poster and magazine review.

Coding schedule analysis

--CLICK FOR BIGGER IMAGE--
The Coding schedule I made was supposed to evaluate short films by sorting how short films differ, using genre, number of characters, the use of music and diagetic sound.

This means I can compare my film plans against other short films, to make sure the style, storyline and genre fit and work together.Only 2 of the films are less than 5 minutes, and so these examples are the most useful. However the longest, 'Traffic Warden' is the right genre and was a major influence (see first post).


'Test' is the wrong genre, I labelled it as 'drama', and whilst it is in the time limit it is quite violent and dark, the complete opposite of my planned film.


'Sorry I'm late' would work as it is the right genre and within the time limit, but it is a stop motion, I am only using stop motion for the opening titles.

Questionnaire results

Results of 5 returned questionnaires:

1.       2 under 16s, 3 16-30

2.       2 female, 3 male

3.       2 yes, 3 no

4.       Either no reason, not interested, or never heard of any
5.       3 4-6 minutes, 1 7-9 minutes, 1 10 minutes or over

6.       2 with speech, 3 silent

7.       3 comedy, 1 action and 1 animated

8.       4 solid ending, 1 cliff hanger

Question 1 - This shows the questionnaires were aimed at the correct target audience my short film is aimed at. This will enable me to see the preferred film specifics of my target audience.

Question 2 - I originally handed out 10 questionnaires (5 to females, 5 to males), but only 5 were returned. However the returned few were still a mix and so the results should produce valid results.

Question 3 - I chose this question to try to find out how wide the audience for short films is, though obviously only handing out 10 questionnaires wouldn't have brought back representative results. Only 2 out of the 5 people had seen a short film, which shows the audience for short films to be quite small.

Question 4 - I asked if there was a reason they hadn't seen a short film, they said either no reason, not interested, or never heard of any. This shows that short films aren't as publicised as full length films, which could be a major factor in why short films aren't as popular. After speaking with the person who answered 'no reason', I was told that they had heard of some, but only the titles, and so had no idea of what they were about or where to find them, which fits in again with their lack of publicity.

Question 5 - 3 people chose 4-6 minutes, which works due to the fact the limit for the short film is 5 minutes. If I rewrote the questionnaire, I'd change this question, as I think putting a question about length it pointless when there's a set limit. I'd possibly ask the question about prefered story lines (using general examples) or ask about my storyline, and get a rating and a written opinion, or different 'check-box' options.

Question 6 - 2 People said they preferred speech in short films over silent. As silent is the more popular, though people do want speech, I have decided to have no scripted speech and background music, though keep in background sound from filming, so that diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are merged together.

Question 7 - The most popular option was comedy, and so I'll try to incorporate some funny parts into it. Action and animation both got a 'vote', however, as this is only an A level piece, I don't have the budget, software or knowledge to make an animated film, though it would work with the storyline, an action film has the same problems, though wouldn't suit the genre.

Question 8 - More people wanted a solid ending, which works to my advantage, as a cliffhanger would probably need a sequel. In my experience, people don't like single films which end on a cliffhanger, as audience members want to know what happens to the characters, how/if the storyline ends, etc. I found this when I went to see 'The Golden Compass', whist it's a full length film, many people outside of the cinema screen were complaining about the ending.

Title screens

For the titles, I decided I'd have a kind of stop motion of photos of the object the film as the opening, so into that, I'd incorporate some title screens into it, printed out version, because many short films have titles in the style of the film (The earlier 'Traffic Warden' post, for example). Although, I got this idea from the TV series Miranda's openning titles, though abviously they will be different to mine as this is a sitcom series, not a short film, and so the TV series titles will be more of a motif to tell the audience that the programme is starting, rather than an opening. However, I will use this as a kind of inspiration. Due to copyright and availability and all that jazz, I can't add a link like I want to.

'Missing' poster Ideas

As the film will be called 'Missing' I thought the poster could be a missing poster (Like the ones that will be used in the film) Because I don't have those made yet, here are some examples of the simple 'Lost' poster I wanted.

Poster plans

I created a few posters, each with something different, such as a logo or a completely different design.

This version has tear-offs along the bottom, as it's unconventional to have so much white space on a poster, I tried to fill space, so I moved the writing and logos and added in tags which read 'MISSING - www.rosie-is-missing.co.uk'.  

 This makes them seem more like the american style 'lost' posters I found. I didn't think this worked, as the tear-off tags aren't commonly seen in Britain, and would look out of place.

I really like this version, as it's simple, looks like a mssing poster (though the logos make it obvious that it's a film poster). I also like the fact it breaks conventions by having lots of blank white space, as this reflects the storyline of the film, (it's unconventional for an 18 year old to hand out missing posters for a doll).

 This is my least favourite version, as it doesn't fit the style of the film. I tried to fit with other film posters, using one photo to fill the whole poster, and overlaying the writing. Though due to the quality and size of the photo, it looked really unprofessional.

Music

 As a silent(-ish) film I'll need some music to go over the film. Rob has written 2 pieces of music for me to use, I'll use one for the credits (both opening and closing titles) and one for the film itself.
 I can't get the music to fit the film until filming and editing is finished, so I can see how long each piece of music needs to be, and when the pace changes, to make sure the music fits the pace of the film all the way through.

Short thought on effects

The short film 'Stranger' started me thinking ahead, about the effects I'll be using, for example 'Test' is quite dark, and so is almost black and white, this contrasts 'Traffic Warden', as it is a lighthearted and happy short film, as mine will be, and the colours are quite bright. There is an effect on iMovie which brightens some colours which I will probably use.

Companies and logo

After asking a few people about the logos, I have decided to use both, in a kind of 'Pin Point Pictures presents, a Mini Movies production...'
I made a second logo because, as Rob suggested, using Pin Point Pictures as a company for a short film might imply it was a major film, rather than a short 5 minute one.

Company Logo

Updating my last post made me think about the company, logo and credits that will accompany the film. I was wondering whether to use my logo from last year, for Pin Point Pictures:

or whether to make a new company name and logo, specific to short films, such as Mini Movies:

I remade a logo in landscape, so that it fit the screen in iMovie, rather than being in portrait and surrounded by a black edge.

Film Ending

While I was writing the 'Storyboard-ish' post I was thinking about how to end it, whetehr to have a happy ending where I get the item in the photo back and thats it, or whether after the shop assistant takes the item out of the window and everyone thinks I have the item back, but then a someone else walks out of the shop with the item.

Then again, whist writing out these ideas, picturing them happening in my head, I think the first option sounds better. But I don't know, I'd have to think about it in more detail.

Edit:
After coming up with some options for the ending, I decided to stick with my original ending, as having someone else get the item would cause too many problems of firstly finding someone to film, and then permission to film them.

Though, after some feedback about the ending, I've decided add an extra scene at the end, which will go something like this:

I walk out of the shop holding the doll, there is a small pause before someone comes rushing out of the shop and stops me. This is shot from across the road, and will cut to a shot-reverse-shot of a short piece of dialogue between me and the other person.

Other - Hello, 'scuse me, sorry, but I came in here with my daughter Emma the other day and she saw that doll and really loved it. It's her birthday tomorrow, could I buy it from you, for her?

Me - [looks at doll] She was my best friend once, her name's Rosie. Take good care of her.

I pass the doll over and the other person thanks me and rushes off. There is a shot of me, standing for a while, thinking about what just happened, sighing, smiling then walking away.

Storyboard

After a few technical hitches and blogger being blocked in school, I've finally managed to upload my storyboard!
I don't have a scanner, so I just took a photo of the sheet it's on, which looks like it worked out fine.

--Click for full size--

Storyboard-ish

There will be a picture of the original scribble which I call a storyboard, when I get round to taking the photo, but for now this will have to do. (Italics = added in later)

Opening titles, probably over a series of old photos, to tie in with the fact that I'm looking at photos at the beginning of the scene)
Frame 1
Looking at old photos, finds a photo of younger me with an item (I’d have to make sure I still have the item, it’ll be needed later on. If not, I’ll have a go at getting creative with Photoshop)

Frame 2
Insert of close up of photo.

Frame 3
Cuts to low angle shot of me looking at photo.

Frame 4
MONTAGE!!!! Looking for item in photo around the house.

Frame 5
Close up of a random look of confusion, then looking (camera pans) to a laptop.

Frame 6
Cut to printer, printing the posters.

Frame 7
Series of quick clips of me putting posters on walls, lampposts etc, ending with a shot of me in front of a lamppost, then walking away, revealing a poster on the lamppost.

Frame 8
Long shot of me trying to hand out posters (could be filmed on highstreet, using charity shop on there, if they'll let me anyway), ending with a close up of me looking for someone else to give a poster to, when...

Frame 9
The camera cuts to a second hand shop (Charity shop down highstreet), then to a close up of the item in the window.

Frame 10
The camera returns to the shot of me, I walk out of shot and the camera cuts to a wide shot of the shop and me walking through the door.

Frame 11
There is then a close up of a shop assistant taking the item out of the window.

Frame 12
Shows poster on floor/on lamppost, before wind blows it away.

There will be a picture of the original scribble which I call a storyboard, when I get round to taking the photo.

End Credits, either scrolling on a black screen or in the same style as the opening credits, just with new photos of the item)

Coding Schedule

Here is the basic plan for my coding schedule, I need to do one for each short film I watch, I’ll make around 10 for different examples of short film, I’ll probably have just 10 films going across the chart, it’d be so much simpler than trying to organise 11 different charts…

Questionnaire

So, here is the basic questionnaire, I will probably print 10 to 20 of these to actually use, but 5 to use as practices so that I can improve questions if necessary. I will then create a chart of some kind to display the results.
*NOTE* There are boxes on the actual questionnaire, they won’t show up on the blog, so I’ve included a screenshot of the questionnaire, it’s only short, but I will be asking the people who fill it in to write suggestions on the back, about how to improve the questionnaire.
Questionnaire
1.       What age are you?                             Under 16           16 – 30           31-50            50+
 2.       Are you male or female?……………………………………….         Male            Female
3.       Have you ever watched any short films?………………….         Yes               No
4.       If not, is there a reason why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5.       What would you say is a good length for a short film?

1 – 3 Minutes          4 – 6 Minutes          7 – 9 Minutes        10 Minutes or over

6.       Would you prefer a silent short film, or a short film with speech?

                  Silent                                       With speech

7.       Is there a genre of short film you would prefer? (Tick all that apply, there is space to write any that aren’t included)

         Documentary                    Comedy                      Drama                   Animated (Stop motion)
        
         Animated (Other)            Other (Please specify) ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________________________
______________________________________________­­­­________________________________
8.       Would you prefer:             a solid ending                a cliff-hanger?

Thoughts & Ideas

Hello!
For my piece, I’ll be doing a short film (about 5 minutes), and these are my first thoughts:
Something based on ‘Traffic Warden’, a short film starring David Tennant. I really like the ‘Love at first sight’ story line, and the way things, such as titles, are presented (See screenshots), and I’ll try to mix that into whatever I decide to do.

And idea that I got whilst watching Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix, at the end, when Luna Lovegood (Love her!!) is putting up ‘Missing’ posters because her shoes have gone missing, I really like the innocence and child-like quality Luna has, and how she’s made missing posters for something so trivial, and so I thought My film could be called ‘Missing’ and would be the story of a person searching for something they had lost, something trivial like a teddy bear or clothing, or maybe something symbolic like love, faith or hope.

This picture shows the influences, examples and ideas I had when first posed with the task of creating a short film. To start, I watched some short films on http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/C54731, such as ‘Keel’, ‘Bro’ ‘King of Deptford Creek’ and ‘The Other Man’, and a few on Youtube, such as ‘Traffic Warden’ (Which was a big influence), ‘Stranger’, ‘Test’ and ‘Storm’ (A narrated animation by comedian Tim Minchin)

A few of these short films were stop motion or animation, and one particular stop-motion named ‘Sorry I’m Late’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/films/p006x5jz) really caught my eye. I love the simple style and storyline, and the stop motion and use of toys (Such as the bike shown above or the use of the toy car below) give it a really immature and childish atmosphere, which could help me achieve the innocence and naivety I want in my short film.