Friday 7 January 2011

Post 16: Production Company Work and Postcard

Production Compay Logo's
Before we created our post cards, advertising our short film, we had to create a logo and production company name for our group. When designing the logo we couldn’t decide on what colours to use. With this in mind we created three different logos and then finally decided once they were all completed. Out of the following three logos we chose to use the final one, with the red and white stripes. As a group we all came to the conclusion that the specific colours used here look more affective and eye catching. The design shows a sun, which directly links to the name of the company. Before deciding on “Bright Sun” we had a company name of “Green Pad”, we chose to not use this name as we couldn’t create an appropriate logo and we didn’t think it was formal enough. Now we have created the logo and the production company name we will include it in our post cards, film reviews and any other work where it needs to be indicated. The idea of a catchy production company name is so that our company becomes unforgettable, and then furthermore will be successful.

Film Posters

To begin we had to analyse the conventions of a variety of film posters. The examples we specifically focused on were advertisements from the films “The Boat That Rocked”, “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Mummy”. The majority of the conventions were common in all three of the posters, but there were some individual conventions that occurred in just one of two of the film posters.
- Bold Writing
- Catch Phrases/ Taglines
- Images and Specific Image Positions (The chosen image domination on the movie poster for the film “The - Boat That Rocked” is very affective. The images draw attention to the poster which furthermore, encourages people to read up on the film. This structure of a movie poster was a ‘risky’ decision for producers, but has proven to, in this case, be successful.)
- Bright Colours
- Endorsements (Short film reviews such as “Amazing”)
- Age Ratings/ Certificates
- Names of Leading Actors/ Cast (USP’s…. Unique Selling Points)
- Company Production Name (In our case, if we were to design a movie poster for our short film we would have to include our company name which is “Bright Sun Films”)
- Copyright Information
- Release Date
- A Website
- Title of the Film

It is also important to understand that the conventions of a poster all connate the films specific genre. Below is an example of a possible design for a film poster for our short movie.

















The rough sketch has annotations as to why I have positioned images and text in the way I have. It has been suggested that short films might find it difficult to market their film. This problem mainly occurs from the fact that short films have a lot less funding in comparison to other blockbuster or Hollywood films.

Marketing can be an expensive strategy for short films and with such a specific minimal budget, this can be difficult. With this in mind, it then becomes difficult for short films to be advertised; ultimately then making it harder for them to be successful and make profit. During research in the variety of funding available for short films, this website came to my attention. The website itself encourages short film makers to advertise their films and additonally helps to explain the different possible methods for marketing.

http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/files/Marketing+Your+Short+Film+05[1].pdf

Film Post Cards

Another idea of marketing introduced to us as students in lessons, and also introduced to me through the website regarding the marketing strategies for short films, was film post cards. Film post cards are also another way, similar to film posters, to advertise your film. Surrounding is a variety of examples of film post cards used to as a marketing strategy to advertise different short films. After looking at a selection of post cards I noticed that the conventions of postcards are all diverse.  The postcard “On A Life’s Edge” has a small synopsis of the film, the production companies logo and the time duration of the film. The information is vital for the specific films post card, as it is clear that they have been issued out at a film festival. With this information included it gives distributors and editors a chance to analyse and review the film to the best of their ability. Knowing this information, the production company can justify the exact reason for the films distribution. Post cards are a simple form of advertisement as they can be easily handed out as well as made. The information included is initially up to the producers, and knowing this, this is why I have analysed two very different post cards.  Additionally “On A Life’s Edge” has an image of the films setting, which helps audiences identify the mood and tone of the film and set up additional predications for the film.  

Differing to “On A Life’s Edge” is the post card for the film “Divine”. The most noticeable difference for both post cards is the main image used. The image for this short film is taken of the characters from the short film itself. This idea of using an image of the characters appearing in the short film appealed to me, and is a possibility for my postcard design. I like how the image focuses on all three of the characters, and also fits to the conventions of the film. The image implies the film is about a girl character who isn’t a stereotypical child. The post card also includes, similarly to the majority of the postcards I looked at, the name of the distributors and Production Company as well as the producers email address. With this contact information available it provides an opportunity for the release and success of the short film.  Also on the post card for “Divine” there is a catch line “Let’s go to church”. Personally I think this catch line is very affective and works well with the concept of the post card. Similarly to the images of the characters in the short film, I am also considering using the tagline affect on my postcard. It is important that the tag is catches the attentions of the audiences eyes and are unforgettable. With this in mind, it simply makes the film itself memorable.. Which is ultimately what is wanted for its success. Naming the characters and the actors name encourages the basic form of “star power” this is when the actor of the film will draw their own audience due to being popular through other media work. Marketing strategies like this can also increase the viewing of your film as well as the profit you could in due course gain. On my post card I will be sure to include the names of my characters and actors as well as the production company name and distribution date, I think this information is important for audiences and they should be aware of this before viewing the film.

Below are some designs for my post card for our short film. It took me a lot of time to prepare for my images and I chose to prepare for this after all of our Pre-Production work was complete, with this in mind it gave me a better understanding of all of the characters/actors involved as well as a clear guide line to the plot and ending of the short film. I have explained fully below why I have chosen the specific designs I have and what image design I will use for my final piece. I have also taken on board all of the information and examples I have seen from the previous post card designs. These designs encouraged me to be original, but also follow some of the conventions from post cards in general.

Post Card Designs

Post Card Design 1

My first post card design is set out in the layout of a “Smirnoff” vodka bottle. I chose to use the image of a vodka bottle for my postcard due to the vodka part being a significant prop in our short film. The bottle also gets smashed throughout our short film, and is a symbolism of LUCAS’ broken life. By using a bottle to supply all the information for our film it has both its pro’s and con’s. The pros include the suspicion as to why distributors and producers would use an alcohol bottle for a marketing strategy. This hopefully would encourage audiences to question this technique and then view the film. There also is a huge disadvantage for using alcohol when marketing a short film, when using alcohol there will always people who fail to understand the purpose and would argue against it. With this in mind, I will still choose to risk the situation and use this design. The design is both affective and can be seen as symbol in the film, although this idea could work to my advantage I will not decide what design to use until all of our filming is complete.

The following pictures were taken during our filming schedule... I took two photos of the vodka bottle in order for me to see the variety of angles I could position my post card. With both images, the lighting is important as it enables the text to be clearer and looks more affective.

Post Card Design 2

My second post card design is a rough sketch of some leaflets. The photograph of the leaflets will be taken during filming, where they are scattered on the floor with the message “forgive”. Due to this being such an affective image in filming, I chose to use this for the design of my post card to help market the short film. Ultimately I will also add on a sticker containing the vital information for the distribution of the film. I will add this sticker prior to taking the photograph, and then once the photograph has been captured it will be my final image. With this in mind I can collaborate the images of filming as well as all the information about the films production to make the final picture for my post card. It is also important to have your production company logo visible on the post card, so after taking the photograph I will import the logo to the right hand corner of the post card… With this information present it will help the films distribution and marketing.

As mentioned above I wanted to use the images of the leaflets for a design for my postcard because I think it is an affective image that would work well with the promotion of our short film “Closer”. The images are of the leaflets which were taken during filming, in order to use this design for a post card I would have to edit the photograph sufficiently in order for it to contain the correct and relevant information. 



Post Card Design 3
My final design, which initially is the simplest design, consists of an image of the fridge with fridge magnets spelling out “Closer” the name of our short film. I chose to use the image of the fridge for similar reason as to why my second design was of the leaflets. Throughout the short film a message appears on the fridge and I chose to use this to my advantage and change the text to the name of the film, but use the same camera angle. This will be affective as it creates a mysterious affect, as by using fridge magnets to spell out words or phrases there is a hidden sense of identity. As well as having the short film name, on the fridge I will also include post stick notes with hand written pieces of information regarding the distribution of the film and the length of the production. Similar to my second design, again I will add the production company logo onto my post card design after I have prepared and taken the photograph of the fridge. With this in mind, with this specific design I have met all of the conventions of a film post card and have similarly included all of the vital information needed to advertise a short film. This post card design is my favourite design and would ultimately be the easiest to capture. During filming I will experiment will all three designs and throughout post-production work I will decide which design to use.















Above are two design templates for my final post card. They differ in the sense that one has a synopsis and was does not, similarly they both include the same title and follow the conventions of a post card clearly.

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