Of Unsound Minds - Draft

Film Review - Of Unsound Minds

Of Unsound Minds - Film Posters

Using Photoshop - Film Poster

      Before diving in with making a film poster for my own short film it was better to get some experience using Photoshop and each of the tools available. For example I used the magic wand to get rid of the previous background on the original batman photo to make it look like he is a part of my new background. The new background came from setting its colour to black and importing and cropping a photo of a door on fire into the background for dramatic effect. Then the title came which gave me a grip of how i could change colours of the letters as well as bevel and emboss the word. Practising this will be pivotal in helping me to create a film poster for my own short film of a high standard.

Short and Indie Film Posters

This film poster is of an independent film company and is one that stands out with the bright blue and white. The fact that the boy is submerged under the blue links in with the film title Submarine which is creative and further makes it stand out. There is also a reliance on quotes at the top of the page to make it seem successful to the audience.

This short film poster has only three colours being used which all compliment each other making the man in the suit stand out and highlight his significance in the film. Also the title is bold and clear to see making it stand out further. It then has reviews at the top to make it more attractive to the audience.

Curves poster is effective as even though it is very limited with images and detail it has the location used in the film as well as a title that stands out due to it being white on a blackout background.

High Grossing Thriller Film Posters

This film poster only uses two colours –red and black which are dark colours and extremely powerful and effective as they are associated with something severe and dark. Therefore this colour scheme can be seen as genre specific. The use of the lighthouse in the centre of the poster highlights it’s a significant location in the film.

This film poster for Split has the title in a bold grey colour and is centred making it an attractive poster. The used of the shadows coming from the actor on the right is evidence of the plot of the film where the character has multiple personalities hence the multiple emerging shadows. The use of dark colours on a white background emphasises the evil of that character and makes the poster stand out even more.

This Silence of the Lambs poster incorporates a number of images of important characters in the film as well as important locations and scenes. The use of photo shop allows  all of these images to fit into the poster and not overlap each other. The dark colours used for the entire poster links in with the darkness of the plot and the genre itself.

Short Film Research

This short film on the Hillsborough disaster is one we watched in class and we can take some techniques of short films used in this one for our own. For example there is a big focus on sound in this short film which has a big secondary effect on the audience as the sound is dramatic and tense.

Curve is another example of a short film that we watched in class which once again has a big focus on diagetic sound in driving the narrative. The character and the story line don't really progress however the gruesome sound of the ladies bloody finger keep the audience enticed.

Tearaway is a multi-award winning short film and it is easy to see why with pretty amazing use of editing which we may look to get a grasp of in our own short film to enhance its success and edginess.

Finally is The Return which has a a dull/dark colour palette throughout the entire film which is powerful to set the genre and the tone which of course is sad and negative. This might be an idea we would look to hatch onto for our own product.

Confirmation of Availability with Actors

Age Certification

   All ages admitted. There is almost nothing unsuitable for children aged 4 years and over.
     All ages admitted, but some certain scenes can be unsuitable for young children. They should not disturb children aged 8 or older. May contain mild language  or sex/drug references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context. A parent may wish to check the content before they let their children watch or play it.
    This category applies to cinema only releases since 2002. Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for young children. Cinemas in the United Kingdom are only permitted to supply tickets to see a 12A film to children under the age of 12 if they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over. However, it is unlikely to be suitable for children under the age of 12. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate language, moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Use of strong language may be permitted based on frequency and how they are used, as well as contextual justification. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.
   This category applies to cinema releases from August 1989 to 2002, and home media since 1994. Suitable for people aged 12 and older. It is illegal to supply a video work with a 12 certificate to anyone under that age. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.
   Suitable only for people aged 15 and older. No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in a cinema. It is illegal to supply a video work with a 15 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context. Use of very strong language may be permitted based on frequency and how they are used, as well as contextual justification.

    Suitable only for people aged 18 or older, which means adults only. No one younger than 18 may see an 18 film in a cinema. It is illegal to supply a video work with an 18 certificate to anyone under that age. Films under this category do not have limitation on the foul language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticized or excessively graphic, in which a work will require compulsory cuts where possible.

         The majority of short films are not released in cinemas like mainstream films are, they are instead released at film festivals, on websites and on YouTube. Despite this difference they still need to be certified by the BBFC even if they are just being shown on YouTube. For our short film we are looking to tie it into an age rating of 15 due to the mental illness side of the story which arguably is rather shocking for audiences and has to be viewed by those who are mature enough to understand what is going on.

Of Unsound Minds - Animatic

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Releasing Short Films

http://tubularinsights.com/filmmakers-share-secrets-releasing-short-film-online-case-study/

I read through this case study and it gave a number of great tips on how to reach out to a large target audience when releasing a short film online.

• For example the common mistake is to just send it out on YouTube at any given time yet these experts believed that the best site to use in order to gain the widest audience is Vimeo as it is full of short film enthusiasts. 
• 12am is a suggested time to release the film as it gives the film an entire 24 hours to total up a wide range of views and comments. 
• By posting on as many social media sites as possible using each of the crew members accounts the total number of views is increased to the maximum potential as it becomes available on all possible sites.
• Targeting key sites and influencers who have thousands of followers by emailing the site can even give your film the opportunity to be spread across their site and boost its audience width.
• Finally by constantly badgering away at this process there is high chance of gaining thousands of views