Research and Planning for Ancillary Tasks: POSTER

When creating a poster for my film, Its easy to work out, just by looking around me, that the main point is ultimately as a piece of advertisment or marketing. Film posters are often described as Key Art. There may be several different versions for one film. Sometimes the marketers like to release a taster poster, which gets audiences questionning what the content of the film is, and recognising it in their everyday life. It sets up a sense of intrigue, which often is the thing that sells the most tickets. In pre release posters there is often a lot of variation in the picture, content and production of the poster.
For example: 

 and .
Often the posters are driven mainly by the advertising companies which makes them extremely profit driven, which is a very common reoccuring theme in the media, especially film.

One of the most famous film posters is Birth Of A Nation:
It has everything you need to know, Where/When/About. Obviously the poster itself is fairly dated, however it has the basic foundations of what makes a extremely popular and well done film poster.

Bill Gold's Casablanca film poster is also one of the most iconic posters, and recognised globally:
Bill Gold is an American graphic designer, during his 70 year career he has worked with some of Hollywoods greatest filmmakers such as: Klint Eastwood, Alfred Hitchcook. His movie posters are famous for having a very distinctive style. Each poster is acclaimed for giving the film a unique identit, which helps to create a lasting impression. The greatness of Bill Golds work is reflected in his versitlity and ability to change with the times and it reflects a wide taste and trend.

Saul Bass is also a known Graphic Desinger and Filmmaker. Film posters are a lot more basic and simple, rather than the likes of Bill Gold and Drew Struzan. Often posters nowadays are used as Star Vehicals. Poster makers often take on the idea that by plastering a picture or a name of a huge Hollywood star accross a poster, this will make it more popular. Often this may be the case. At the beginning of modern film studios would own their own actors, rather like how football clubs own their players and buy and sell. This way the advertising team were able to use their actors name as much as possible, making them more sellable.

As advertising and film posters became more prominent in the process of film making graphic designers such as Bob Peak used constructed artist images, Richard Amsel handrawn his posters. Then became the rise of digital, with posters such as Starwars, ET, Batman.

However in recent times theres been a resurfence of artwork, rather like Richard Amsels hand drawn artwork.

A response to Virgin Media short films.

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/2579/photography
'Photography' was the first short film I watched. I really liked the narration, and the premise of the story that was being told. The layering of images was really interesting and I thought the idea was very original and displayed nicely. The music drew me in as an audience member, it was fairly quiet, meaning I had to listen intently and concentrate. Also because the directer uses the concept of photography and family photos and videos it gives audience members something to relate to. I thought the contrast of happiness and sadness was explored tastefully.  Overall I really enjoyed the short film. 
http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/film/2524/the-one-sided-argument
'The One Sided Argument' didnt appear as good as 'Photography'. I didnt think the plot line was very original or interesting. I've seen similar things done a few times before. Also the acting and the lip syncing was fairly poor, meaning the professionalism of the short film was decreased. However i thought the editing was well executed and clearly the director had taken a lot of time doing so. It was just a shame that some of the conventions let it down. 

What makes a good short film?

Its difficult to define indefinitely what a good short film is, however  these are my thoughts- 

- Eye catching and interesting beginning

-Strong plot line 

- An original idea

-Individuality or Querkyness 

-A good script. 

I believe those are the fundamental qualities to making a good short film.  I also believe that its very important not to resign to basic clichés, I dont think there is anything worse than the generic attempted comedy sketch or things that have been seen a hundred times before. The key to making a good short film is making something that intrigues audiences. Of course as a film maker you are always going to have a target audience in mind, therefore attempting to please that audience is of prime importance. I also believe that creating a plot that can be related to is very important. This doesn't have to be a boring every day errand, it could be something very normal, turned outrageous with whit, just something the audience can have a slight connection to. 
The idea of having a good Script is pivotal, having a good idea ruined by a poor script is just a rookie mistake. A writer must remember that as well as the film looking good, it must sound good and make sense.