Film Review Research

 I have researched some general short film reviews to get an idea of how they are set out and what's included in them.
This is a review of the film Due Date.



This review includes an explanation of how the star ratings work, details about the cast and other people involved, the title of the film and certificate, information about other reviews and other films. Also an advert for a magazine subscription, a picture from the film, a short summary of the plot and the review itself. The review refers to the actors/characters, their opinion on what parts of the film they like and sometimes what they don't like. They do this by describing the characters and some of the action in the film, and they also compare it to other films they have seen. I have noticed that film reviews are often found on film websites, and that films that are reviewed are being recommended for an audience that are likely to watch it, or that they have watched similar films. Reviews are kept simple as they shouldn't give too much away about a film, as they need to keep the audience guessing throughout, so that they will actually go and watch it.

I want my short film review to be of a similar layout to this. There isn't too much writing but I would probably include more pictures to make it look more interesting.

Short Film Review Ideas

Film reviews will normally be found in lots of magazines, the genre of film reviews will depend on the type of magazine it is. They can be found on TV programmes, newspapers, or websites such as IMDB and on Youtube. My short film will be designed to go on a double page/page and a half of a magazine especially for short films. It will target the general audience who are interested in short films.

I want my short film review to include pictures used from my film to show the different camera shots and movements. I will use them as a story board to show the progression of my short film. I also want to include "ratings" from different people and a comment so that people can see what other people think of the film. I will need to outline the storyline as this is something that you would normally find on a review, but I wouldn't go into too much detail as it may put the readers off, so it only needs to be a short description. Another idea is including who I recommend to watch the film and who would enjoy watching it. I would do this by sating what the genre of the film is so it targets that particular audience.

I am going to look at some previous film and short film reviews to see if I can pick up any ideas for my own review.

Focus Group on Short Films

I carried out some research about short films on some focus groups. I asked a group of girls age 17, a group of boys age 17, and a mixed group of people under 15. I showed them 2 different short films and asked them to say what they thought, and see all together which one was the most popular and why. None of the people I asked had any knowledge in the media about camera work, sound or mise-en-scene. Both of the clips were found on Youtube.

These are the short films I showed to them:

:Tick Tock

 

 

 

 

:Memories

 

The film Tick Tock came out as the most popular film.

 

Group 1 - 17 year old girls: Said they liked how the time was reversed in Tick Tock They said it was a clever way of showing the film and it was something they hadn't seen before. They also liked the music used as it reflected the mood of the film all together. However, some of the group said that they found it hard to make sense of what was happening at times, but overall, they liked the idea of the film.

For Memories, they liked how it was in black and white as it reflected well the mood of the film. They also liked how it was put together with the special effects. However, some of them thought it was too short and it would have been better if it was slightly longer.

 

Group 2 - 17 year old boys: They said that they liked the idea of Tick Tock and that it worked well how it was put together. They also said that at some points they found it hard to make sense of and that it wasn't very well explained. They said that it was the kind of video that they would normally watch as it was quite unusual.

They said for Memories, that they didn't really like the idea as much although they said it worked well for what it was.

 

Group 3 - under 15: This group of people found it hard to understand the concept of Tick Tock but they liked the way it was put together with the special effects. They liked the music that was used as it reflected well the mood of the film.

They liked Memories for the message that was shown, and they liked the idea of it being in black and white. They also said that it would be better if it was longer as they liked the idea of it.

 

 

The purpose of carrying out research on a focus group was to see if there were any differences in what people liked in terms of age and gender. It was useful to see what ideas and genres worked better with different groups. I found that the majority of people like something simple and different, but not something that confuses them. They also like how sound and special effects are used in different ways.

 

The main thing that I learned through focus group research was the things that a female audience preferred compared to a male audience. From this I found that a female audience didn't like films that were too complicated to follow, and that they like the use of special effects and music. From what I have learned, I hope that I can use the ideas from the people in my focus group in my own short film.

 

Target Audience On Short Films

The target audience for my short film are girls age 13-16. The film sets out to teach them about the value of money, and that there are better ways of spending it, than on things they don't really need. 13-16 girls are the age where they would spend time on Youtube and so this is where my film would end up being seen. It can then be used to educate others on the message within the film.
I think this is good becasue as well as being entertained by watching the film, they can learn something from it as well.

Having a target audience with a close age group means that I can include similar things of what the audience are interested in. These include the type of music, the clothes and their lifestyle in general. I chose this age group for the target audience as I am a similar age to them and have an idea of what they would like.

I think my target audience will work well with the film as it isn't too long and they can learn something from it.

Target Audience

There are many possible target audience's for a short film. Some short films have important messages that they want the audience to pick up on, or they can be made just for fun and to entertain the audience. Whatever the genre or theme of the short film, there is usually a specific target audience. These can be,different ages, genders, cultures, religions and more.


      
My target audience is going to be teenagers age 13-16. I have chosen this age group as my audience as I think that it is something they will be interested in. The characters are going to be of a similar age group and so this will appeal more to the audience as they can relate more to the story. The film will appeal mainly to girls as the characters used will be all girls. Also because of the props used, and the locations which are more female related. The film is made to give out a message to the audience, but also to entertain them at the same time.

The target audience of this coursework is one of the most important factors to consider when making it. This is because everything that is used in the film must relate to the target audience in some way. I will need to do some more research on target audience to get some more idea's for my coursework.

Other purposes of short films can be for just general entertainment on sites such as Youtube. This is where I have found lots of examples of short films when researching them. This is for the people who a more like "amateurs" when it comes to making short films.This way, they can be reviewed by the audience to see what's good about them or how they can be improved by their target audience easily, as it's a popular site which is used by lots of people. This is where my short film is likely to be found as it carries an important message, but it is also meant to be enjoyed by normal. every day people/

Product Proposal

Narrative Structure - A girl who is unhappy with her life. She ends up losing her job when she already doesn't have a lot of money. She lives by herself and feels like she has no one.
Later on, she decides to go and buy a lottery ticket as she thinks it will solve all her problems. She ends up with her friends using her because of her money. People keep on phoning her asking for money. She soon realises that some people just aren't as lucky as her, and that the money isn't really worth it,and so she ends up tearing up the ticket, after she has decided she doesn't want the money.

Breakdown/Justification of Idea - I think the idea works well because it's a comparison of the girls' two different lives and how she deals with both of them. I think the idea would appeal well to the audience because it gives them something to think about, as the film's main purpose is to try and send out a message to the audience.

Character Names - For the name of the main character, I decided to just pick a random girl's name - Sarah. Another idea could be that she doesn't like her name and in her new life wants to change it to something more exciting to make her stand out from the crowd.

Description of Finished Product - I imagine my finished product to include a contrast of the two lives portrayed in the film. It needs to be around 5 minutes long in order to fit in a good structure of the story, and so the audience can get to know the central character well. I want to include some special effects but not too many as I don't need that many for the kind of short film I'm doing. I want to have non-diagetic as well as diagetic sound, as music can help to tell the story.

Nature of Ancilary Products - Poster: I will have the page split in half with the main character on both sides. Each side will represent one of her two lives. To do this, I will use different colours, and I will have different objects in the background to show what that kind of life is like.
Review: I will do a similar thing to the poster, with using two different colours to represent two different lives. The review will feature in a magazine for teenage girls. I will use lots of pictures to go with the text as this will keep the audience interested in reading the review.

Audience - Will be teenagers, mainly girls, age 13-16. They are a younger audience as I don't think older teenagers will be as interested in watching a short film like this. I will do some research into the kind of films that this audience like, and will get some further idea's for my coursework.

Audience Questionnaire

I am going to make a short film for my media coursework. The short film needs to be around 5 minutes long. This is my proposed final idea:

The story is about a girl who imagine's her life to be different. She has a "boring" life and wants to have a different one. In her new life she is popular, well educated, seems happier, and has more money. The film ends with her going back to her old life and she realises that's the life she really wants to live.

Some of the conventions I thought of would be a split screen effect, maybe some flashbacks, maybe some comedy aspects.

My rough idea for a synopsis is a normal/everyday situation, the girl falls asleep, and then wakes up the next morning in another life. Different things happen throughout the film and she realises she doesn't want to be in that life anymore, and so she wakes up the next day in her old life.

My intended target audience is teenagers age 13-18, and mainly girls who can relate to the situation. 

I don't have many idea's for props yet, just the use of everyday items.

My locations will be places like the home, school, a park, out and about.

Please answer these questions to help me with any further idea's for my coursework:

1. Do you like this idea? Why?

2. Is there anything in the synopsis you want to add or change?

3. What kind of props do you think will be good to use?

4. Are there any other location idea's you think will be good to use?

5. Do you have any other idea's for a target audience?

6. Are there any special effects, use of sound, camera angles, editing techniques you think will be useful?

Thank You

I have decided to make a questionnaire asking other people for their idea's because audience is one of the most important factors for this coursework, and I wanted to see if people liked it or if there was anything that needed taking out and changing. I will ask mainly people who are within the age group for my intended target audience (13-18), and mainly girls, as I want to know if this is the kind of short film they would want to watch. I will also ask an older age group (family members) to try and get some further idea's, as well as people in my media group who have better knowledge of things like editing, camera angles and special effects.

I have asked for idea's on locations and props as I don't have many idea's of my own yet. I will take this questionnaire into consideration to help me improve my coursework.

Questionnaire Responses

For the first question, one person said they liked the idea because it reminded them of the film Freaky Friday. Another person thought that it was an interesting concept and that it could be something others could relate to.
One person said that they would change the age of the target audience from 13-18 to 13-16. I have decided to go along with this as I think people older than 16 will lose interest in the film.
One person suggested that I should make the "dream" sequence brighter so that it's more obvious that it's a dream.