2. The brief I chose was to create a short film with the following tasks:
- Film review
- Poster
I felt that for me this would be the most challenging task for me to complete
because I have very little knowledge of the technology I have to use to be
able to put these ideas forward to a visual culture.
My main ancillary task challenges forms and conventions not only of the media I
am creating but also the audience. Silent films are normally one to be
targeted at an older audience of 40+ however my silent movie is modernised
but created in the same style as a 1920‟s.
To gain further knowledge into silent movies and just how they were created I
have looked at some directors to see how they use their own style to create
an atmosphere and narrative to the audience. Sidney Lumet was one
director I was particularly interested in as he tried to re-create reality and also
led the first wave of directors into film from television. This knowledge helped
me when I was filming as I wanted to follow in his footsteps and create a
version of reality and playing this back to a contempary audience making
my film post-modern.

3.  My main ancillary task also develops the silent movie industry because I am
targeting a younger audience and creating a storyline that a young contempary
audience could grasp and relate to. The type of silent movie I wanted to create
was a murder mystery however this is then classed as youth as „boring‟ due to the
lack of colour and sound. I then made a questionnaire trying to comply with all of
the expectations my target audience wanted to see and have seen before to
keep some continuity. I asked questions that would help break down the
questionnaires I received back as to what age group and gender were most
interested in my proposed ideas and how they would react. I asked general
questions about short films and what genre they had previously watched most of
these turned out to be Disney animations which wasn‟t very helpful although I
then thought I could make this a comedy horror having a sense of danger mixed
with funny scenes to lighten the mood and also have some light hearted scenes
to add to the experience of a silent movie. Most younger audiences expect
brilliant effects, clear cut sound and high definition colour however my film was
about turning there expectations around and trying to get them to have an
interest in more than one style of film that is 2012 HD surround sound action and
drama but good old fashioned entertainment.

4. I started the year with little knowledge of
how to grasp a film and create one. I
started with creating a film about a girl
being bullied and making a home movie.
The editing was very choppy and fast
paced whereas in my silent movie I
wanted it to be much more slow and
precise. The amount of close-up shots I
used in this editing task were very direct
this was something I should have kept to
whilst creating my final short film.
I wanted to also create some more effects
in my short film to make it more visually
appealing to a modern audience so I
played around with certain dynamics of
premiere pro to create a flash effect when
the victim in my piece is being murdered.
I wanted to challenge myself and go the
extra mile making everything very
„Hollywood‟.

5. The Title of the film
Poster Analysis Charlie Chaplin
This picture is very dominates the page
Cartoon-like and and is in brackets
simple. The facial suggesting that the
expression looks child may not be the
only „Kid‟ in this film.
very stern even
though this is a
The font is different in each
comedy. part of the poster this also
catches the audiences
attention as they want to
read all of the text.
I have tried to copy the Looking back on my work I
way the Charlie should have made the title
Chaplin poster has stand out more and make
been done to make it more of an impact on the
seem simple but effect audience.
My Poster
as the shot is one of all The text is all the same size
the girls and the fact and font which can make
that they have a it seem quite plain to an
monotonous look gives audience member who is
off a sense of mystery going to pay money to
watch my film. I feel tat I
as to why they look like haven‟t captured what I
this and one keeps hoped for in my poster
smiling. which was to create a buzz
and some mystery behind
my creation.

6. The title of this film is quite I feel that the use of
similar to the background a screen grab from
colours which makes an the film and placed
audience member think behind the review
that the character does was a good idea, it
too.
Film review
gives the audience
This film review hasn‟t spilt a taste of what you
up the text and makes it are going to see.
very hard for an
audience member to
digest all the information.
This didn‟t necessarily
work for me because I
wanted to just display a
few tempting shots of
The title of my film review
girls being girls and
stands out as I have put
talking about each other
black text on a
and fighting and also the
background of red.
mess of a party the night
My film review
My film review has the text before.
split up in a more
digestible manner making After looking at some
it simple for the mass modern film reviews I now
audience. think I could have used
some more modern
techniques and had a
better background colour
and use of a colour
scheme.

7.  Camera – Normally in silent films there  Sound – The sound I chose was purely
are a number of close-up shots as you based on acid jazz and the blues.
are trying to capture the action on the Although in some videos I watched
actresses or actors face in attempt to there were sound effects but I wanted
create meaning through body to focus on the action and the music
language. This was one convention of that was creating an atmosphere I
a silent film that had to be kept thought that putting in sound effects
although it may not have shone would make it very tacky and cliché so
through as well as I had hoped. I decided to just use the background
 Editing – Stereotypically a silent movie music.
has sped up actions which create a  Mise-en-scene – I kept to the black and white
humorous side to the action. I again conventions of the silent film as I wanted to
create a version of reality made in a way that
kept to this convention as it is
would be alien to youth. The girls I used for
something traditionally done within a the piece were all 17/18 so this would relate
silent film. I also made modern to the younger audience watching people
attempts at using editing to my that are representing themselves. I also had
advantage by putting in certain very modern parts that were portrayed in my
„pushes‟ to get from one scene to the piece such as the alcohol consumption and
the car scene at the beginning something
next or focus on a different point in the
that a teenager now feels they have the right
action within the same scene. to have to be able to be socially accepted.

8. I wanted to go with something that my
audience would look at and
engage with. I didn‟t want to go
with anything too bold and in your
face but something much more
elegant and pretty.
I used this font for all three of my
ancillary tasks to create a
relationship between them.
I feel that this font was very elegant and
mysterious. Its flowing nature made it
connect with my piece and what I
was trying to create. It also has an
eerie feel about it and looks very
majestic.
Font was a crucial part of trying to break
away from the codes and
conventions although when I got to
production I felt that this text was a
very engaging piece of writing that
really describes my piece.

9. In all of my ancillary tasks even though the colour scheme may not suit a modern audience I
have tried to keep some continuity between all of my tasks set to make the audience
realise that they are promotional for the same movie. Even though one big giveaway
would be the title there would be some resemblance between the poster, review and
film itself. Each of my tasks has pictures with distorted colours and also have a certain
rustic charm about them making them feel as though they are from the 1920‟s. The fonts
used in all of my ancillary tasks are the same as this then connects them to each other.

10. The fonts I have used is displayed in all of my tasks. I chose this font as I
wanted to create a sense of reality even though it is not set in the correct
time period getting the text perfect was a main goal as I wanted to make
sure it had an elegance about it that would have been used in the 1920‟s.
I feel that my ancillary tasks are all entangled and are inter-
textual with each other. I feel that my main task is reflected
back to the audience through the use of many techniques
and effects in the poster and film review. I wanted to create
continuity within my piece as this is then vital for the mass
The photograph used is audience to digest the information and refer back to past
one that displays no pieces of the film, review or poster.
affections.

11. To get my audience feedback I used facebook as one of my main sources of feedback however this was
not helpful as only friends are on the social networking site and did not give comments to further my
production just pleasant comments of : „This is really good‟ , „Soo Funny‟ and so on. I then went on to
make a questionnaire on all the three ancillary tasks and gave them to people to fill out and also a
copy of the poster and film review and set up a preview of my film so that they could answer my
questionnaires anonymously to get some results and critical feedback.

12. I have learnt from my audience feedback about my main task was:
The music went well with the action and it complimented the film. „The music was upbeat when it needed
to be and then brought the mood down and changed it to a sound that was harrowing and even
created tension during one of the scenes.‟
Most of the audience felt that being led to the murderer was good as they wanted to find out during the
performance and then have a certain emotional attachment with the murderer and how they acted
once she ha committed the crime whether she broke under the pressure or carried on as usual.
The audience were happy with the effects and at one point in particular. “I loved the use of a flash as the
girl is being murdered and then the flashing of her falling down the stairs, made it look professional and
also very effective.”
The storyline was also one that the audience felt was very well-presented. “The story line was easy and
directed well. The camera shots reinforce the storyline and the conflict between the girls when they
are meant to be having fun and on holiday with each other and creating memories.
Overall the audience believes that it has changed their view on silent movies. “I now have a different
outlook and respect for silent movies as I have been presented a storyline of which I can relate.”
The critical aspects of my film were:
- The camera shots could have been more direct
- There could have been more of a gap between the murder and the start of the film.
- The Car scene lasted a very long time this may be something that can be altered.

13. From the Poster Questionnaire Analysis I have learnt:
The poster colour could have been better to attract the audiences attention. “To me the colour seemed
very old-fashioned and grainy” This was the overall aim of my poster to make it old-fashioned and suit
the narrative of the time period.
The audience however did like the old-fashioned text – “ The text suited the film and the poster you can see
some relation between all three of the pieces”
The photograph could have been displayed better – “The photograph gives a sense of what we are going
to watch although there could have been some better use of Photoshop to centre the picture and
also frame it in a better way” I feel as though this is a very useful point and will further look into making
the poster more effective, on reflection I feel that maybe more time could have been spent looking at
Photoshop and what I could do to play around with the tools and take a more creative approach to
my film poster.
They feel that the text is enough for a movie poster and anymore would ruin it‟s simple structure. I feel as
though I could have made it more of a magazine poster with the day of the films release and some
quotes from magazine‟s and newspapers. This ancillary task I feel has been severely under done and
not up to the standards I would like it to be at.
The audience however did like the title – “The title is very well though up and has a really nice ring to it”
I thought the title was good because it was resembled the film and what the story was about.

14. The review was appreciated by the audience however there were some
critical parts that the audience noticed and commented on.
They thought that overall the layout was easily structured and easy to read.
They like the partition between all of the paragraphs this made it easy and
they could focus on what they were reading instead of looking at a huge
chunk of writing.
The thought also that the text was very professional and they understood
what they were reading. “Some of the words were very well used”
The ratings I got out of 10 for this task were an average of 8.5 out of 10. I am
happy but also displeased with this result as the audience comment more
critically it made me think about the things I had missed and the audience
were expecting.
Out of all three of the tasks the film was the most favourite which was brilliant
as that was the main and most important task to grab the audiences
attention however one audience member commented: “I liked the review
and the poster but they should have been shown to us in a direct order
ending with the short film then we could of maybe looked at the film review
and poster in a different light and not overshadowed by the main task.”
I then asked if there was anything I could have improved on:
- The text could have been larger at the top
-Colours of text
-- Smaller text to fit more information in
-- Spelling mistakes occasionally

15. I used a varied amount of new technologies such as:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere
- Mac Book
- Facebook
- Word Office
- BlogSpot
- Google Docs
- YouTube
- Blog spot
All of these technologies helped make each of my ancillary tasks and creating my
coursework and research. Facebook and Word office helped me create my audience
feedback and also display to my friends and family the coursework and let them
comment on the video itself however some comments wee not useful. YouTube was a
significant part of the film as it was uploaded to the site and the public could comment
on the video and decide what they liked and disliked about the film.
Overall these piece of technology made my film and helped me research into my ancillary
tasks and decide what my audiences wanted to watch and also put my film out there
for the audience to comment on.

16. In the planning stage of creating my main ancillary task (short film), I looked at
many different clips on the internet of people such as Charlie Chaplin to find
out how they were directed and presented to their demographic. Since I
was targeting a different age group and a much more modern audience
than those of the 1920‟s I then looked at ways I could present this genre of
film to the audience and it be successful within the market.
With such a vast range of movies genres and sub-genres and many more styles I
looked at films that had kept to a more retro style in their modern films. At the
time of producing my silent film a film came out called „The Artist‟. A silent
film directed at a modern audience even though it was directed at more of
an older audience. I looked on YouTube at clips from the film and it was very
old-fashioned the film was constructed around the traditional ideas of a
silent movie and this is how I wanted to represent mine.
Blogger was anther type of technology which was an aid of my planning process
because then it meant I could document all of my research online and
organise it so that could look back easily at my targets and research.

17.  My Poster was very easy to plan with the help of Google as I could find posters in their
archive that showed many murder-mystery and old-fashioned posters. With the help of
this technology it made it easier for me as a creator and designer of a poster to look at
how it would have been done and how I wanted to interpret my own movie in the style
of a poster. This also made it easy to create my film review for the same reason I could
relate it to something that has already been done and with technology being so
accessible it was easy to gain a deeper understanding of the structure of a film review.
 Photoshop was the piece of technology I
Used to create my poster and film review, it was
very challenging to use at first but as I settled
down and started creating my tasks I found it a
lot easier to get along wit it and make two pieces
of media. I wanted to create synergy between my
three pieces and make the audience recognise that
they were part of the same media product. I wanted
to also create an old fashioned look to keep within
some of the boundaries of a silent film.

18. The construction of my piece took a holt when I
started making the titles to go in-between scenes in
order for the audience to get some written storyline
Corner designs
of the piece. I started to make these on Photoshop
which later had to be imported over to premiere in
order to make my finished product and start editing
the scenes around my titles.
I came up with theses three titles to begin with, this
was then whittled down to the one title.
Photoshop was my aid in this specific part of the
film construction as I was able to make parts of my
main ancillary task and my other two tasks.

19. Overall I would say that technology has been a great source of research and
help that connected to my piece. I developed my piece around technology
and the fact that we are now a more modern culture being brought up with
High definition television and three dimensional television and films. I am
taking something out of the old and in to the new and this is only possible
with the vast technological advancement over the last ten years.
Throughout the process of making my ancillary tasks I have been trying to
challenge myself and make my piece better than my first editing task and
also better than last year.
I thought that my work was effective due to the response of my audience
however I could have improved If I was to do this task again I would make
my film more direct to the audience and also have a more secretive storyline
where the murderer is un-masked at the end to make the audience keep
guessing and assuming who the murderer was.
As a first attempt at a short film, poster and film review on my own I felt that I was
very dedicated to the task and that I created a relationship between the
three tasks.