Research for short film posters and reviews.

1. Ancillary Product Research Film poster and magazine article

2. Short film promotion The most popular form of short film is through specialist short film festivals. Through these, the films can be viewed by a large audience, therefore gaining more popularity and potentially being shown internationally. Many short film producers have since gone on to make feature length films, or TV series.

3. Film Festivals- Annecy International Animated Film Festival Founded in 1960, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival is the oldest international film festival dedicated exclusively to animation. The festival is a competition between cartoon films of various techniques (animated drawings, cut out papers, modelling clay, etc.) classified in various categories: Feature films Short films Films produced for television and advertising Student films Films made for the internet (since 2002)

4. Film Festivals- Brief Encounters UK’s longest running competitive short film and animation festival Created in 1995, and in 2001, Animated Encounters was created In December 2010, Encounters International Film Festival became a qualifying festival for Academy Awards Short Film Category.

5. Short Film- Posters

6. Conventions of a film poster Image- This is the most important feature of attracting the target audience for the film. The image can help them to decide on whether they want to see the film or not and shows which genre it is. The mise en scene of the images have to show clear signs as to the genre of the film Narrative- Posters normally give you an idea as to what the narrative to the film is. This can be shown through the facial expressions/ body languages of the characters, props and style of fonts/ compositions Colours- The colours used are important in reflecting the genre of the film e.g. horror- reds, blacks and dark colours. Layout- How the layout of the poster is composed is really important in giving off the right impression to the viewer of the film Written text- This often includes a tag line, title, star ratings. The font types are used to reflect genres such as an italic traditional english font style would be suitable for a period drama film USP- All forms of advertising must have a unique selling point which will make them stand out from the others.

7. Short Film Posters Through looking on the internet I found that not many short films have posters to accompany them. The ones that do, their posters are generally displayed at film festivals, where they will be viewed by a range of people. Short films tend to have advertisements rather than posters, in specialist magazines. The conventions of film posters are very general. Most will include one large image of the protagonists, the title in large lettering, a tag line and the small print including the stars and producers etc. As short films do not include big name stars and are often produced by only a few people, their posters do not often include names, release dates, and certificates etc. Types of Posters: Teaser posters- basic information about the film Main poster- information about the film, stars and distributers etc. DVD release poster- advertises the film when the DVD comes out- often includes short reviews Character poster- features the main characters For my short film I will be making a combination of a main and character poster.

8. Key features of a feature film poster Reviews Tagline/ catch line Star ratings Title Background image Colour scheme A/B list celebrities Certificate rating Key image Mise en scene Cast and crew Production company Website Release date

9. Short animated film posters The title of the film is shown at the top of the poster, slightly to the left hand side, which is a ‘hot spot’. This film poster also features a byline (name of the producer), which is shown just below the main title in a slightly smaller, less bold font type. I think this poster is really eye-catching sue to the large black border around the edge, framing the image. At the bottom of the poster in the centre is a tagline to accompany the films title. This is shown in the same font style as used in the films name. The type of font used for the films name is very unique and original. The colours used are all very dark, which shows that it is perhaps not targeted at a very young audience as they are drawn to bright colours. Also the body language of the hedgehogs, suggest this as the larger one looks almost threatening. The tagline, suggests that the story is about love which doesn’t seem to fit in with the image shown as it appears to have more of the genre of horror rather than romance. It is also quite unusual to find a poster which is landscape rather than portrait.

10. Short Film Posters The title of the short film has been placed ay the top of the page, taking up about a 1/3rd of the space. The black tree frames the poster and is very contrasting to the yellows and oranges of the rest of the page. The font style used is very easy to read and eye-catching. The way the characters are drawn are also more modernised and up-to-date, making them appealing to the younger audience. The characters of the film are shown in the centre of the page which is a conventional feature. The producers of the short film have been placed in the bottom right hand corner which is the last thing that you will look at. Each line is in a different font style and size, and due to the colour of some of the letters, is hard to read from a distance. The target audience for this short film, I think is more obvious as being for the younger audience due to the bright eye-catching colours and fun looking characters.

11. Short Film Posters This poster is very obvious that is for a hand drawn animation as the colour is not as bright as it would be if it were drawn on a computer, and the texture created, makes it appear to be coloured using pencil. The name of the short film has been placed in the top left hand side of the page (hot spot). This is quite large and takes up about 1/3rd of the page. The poster appears to have used the rule of thirds as the films title fills the top third, the character the centre and the floor the bottom. Again there are very limited colours on this poster, mainly just blacks and greys which suggests that it is not targeted at young children. The way in which the character is drawn also seems to be very detailed and not very friendly looking. This could mean that the genre of the film could be horror. The poster is quite unconventional in the fact that the character is not centre to the page, but to the right, with part of it missing.

12. Film magazines- Reviews

13. Film Magazines There are not that many film magazines on the market, however there are two main ones which are very popular. Both ‘Film’ and ‘Empire’ are very well known and feature the very latest Hollywood blockbuster releases. Cinemas also offer magazines with information about upcoming films and reviews such as Odeon’s magazine and Cineworld’s Unlimited. I could not find any magazines that were specifically for short films, however some film festivals offer brochure like magazines. Animation magazine would be the most appropriate magazine for my animated short story to be promoted in as it would reach the right audience. As my film will be aimed at children, I could also have features in children’s magazines such as CBBC.

14. Film Reviews My short animated film will be generally shown at independent film festivals. The reviews for it will also be in magazines produced specially for independent films (given out or bought from festivals/ internet), or as it is mainly aimed at children, in children's magazines such as CBBC. I was unable to find any magazines of this type, so due to my large target audience, I looked a 4 different film reviews from 4 different target audience magazines. 12yrs+ males and females 16yrs+ males and females 15- 40yrs females 25yrs+ males and females

15. Conventions of a magazine film review Large image dominating ½- ¾ of the page of the main protagonists Often a secondary image/ still from the film which is much smaller The title of the film is nearly always in a large bold font (quite often in capital letters) either at the top or bottom of the main image Below this title is normally some kind of tag line Either before the review starts of after it, there will be the name of the director, running time, studios/ production company, stars, brief plot outline and the release date Finally there will be a star rating by the magazine

16. Reviews- heat 1- Large main image of the main characters of the film. This is accompanied with a caption. 5 2- Title of the film is in a large serif font, in the same house colour as the other titles (purple). The main article features 7 different headings/ sections about the film. These are: Stars of the film, Director, The Plot, What's right with it/ good points, What's wrong with it/ bad points, verdict and a star rating. 1 6 2 3- A smaller, secondary image/ still from the film. This is conventional for a film review to include this. 4- Star profile- offering the reader information about who the star is, interesting facts about them and the previous work they have done. 7 3 4 5- List of top 10 films currently in the cinema. These have a short couple of sentences giving a brief outline of the story, a star rating and the film classification. 7- A final film review- This offers 5 things about a newly released film which you should know along with a star rating. 6- Shorter reviews of other films out this week. These include the same 7 things as the main review but with shorter summaries.

17. Reviews- Empire 1- Large main image of the main character of the film. This is accompanied with a caption. In the top left corner of this image is a banner with the genre of the films reviewed on this page. 3 2 1 2- A smaller, secondary image/ still from the film. This is conventional for a film review to include this. 3- Shorter reviews of other films out this month (include same features as the main review just more brief). 4 4- Title of the film in a sans serif font (in capitals). 5-Details about the film- the release date, stars and director 7 5 6 6- Review of the film. This includes a stand first, quotes from the director and the magazines opinion on the film. 7- This magazine also includes an also coming review which includes brief details about an upcoming film. The copy includes highlighted quotes and points to grab the readers attention as being the most important pieces of information.

18. Reviews- Odeon 2 1- Title of the page, along with a tag line. This is in a banner which spreads across the page 1 2- Details of the release dates of future films along with a very brief outline. 3 3- Large main image of the main character of the film. This is accompanied with a caption. 4- Title of the film in a sans serif font (in capitals) followed by the review. This includes a brief outline of the plot and the stars that are in it. 5 4 5-Details about the film- the release date, stars and director 6- A did you know fact about the film. The colour of this really stands out against the background, as it is seen as an exclusive feature. 6 This article/ review is more unusual as it is in an A6 sized magazine which means the double page is A4. This would be the sort of size of a magazine for a film festival.

19. Reviews- Live (Mail on Sunday supplement) 1- Images of the film during production and also stills from the actual film. These image are more of a montage which is unusual, as reviews normally only include one main image. These are separated by a gutter. 1 2 2- Title of the film in a style that matches the genre. It appears to be quite an animated font fitting in with the animated film. 3 3- Stand first/ brief summary of the film and its review. This is followed by the buzz word ‘exclusive’ to attract readers. 5 4 4- Rhetorical question/ tag line referring to the film article. 6 7 5- Large main image from the film. This is very conventional of a magazine film review. 7- Small image of the director placed in the centre of the text columns. 6- Review/ interview with the director of the film, explaining the storyline and production of the film.

20. Article Analysis I found it difficult to find examples of short film reviews in magazines, however managed to find an example of an article about how one was made. This article is from the magazine Animation, and consists of a number of images of the producers at work. Under each image is a caption explaining the process and narrating the images you see. I really like the unusual layout of this article. The page mainly consists of images, and around these are short captions. These are placed around the images following their shape. You would not see this style of article in any type of magazine other than one based around the creative genre. This article about the day in the life of an animator really caught my attention due to the use of bold bright colours. The way each of the images are framed in different colours and are different sizes make it look almost animated in itself.

21. Animation Magazine

22. Animation Magazine This magazine is the one of the types that my animation would be seen in. Animation Magazine is a monthly publication covering the animation industry, including different reviews about film and television animation, visual effects and video games. Founded in 1986 by Terry Thoren, the print magazine is published every month in USA, and features articles on current animated movies and short animated films, animated television series, visual effects from big productions, interactive design of titles and software releases from different studios inside and out of USA and independent producers. Editorial covers all forms of animation; 2D animation, 3D for animation and visual effects, or stop-motion, and the profiles of the artists behind the productions. It also includes stories about what's happening within the world of animation including information about new programs and software packages. The covers of the magazines vary from hand drawn animations to modern computerized ones. The masthead for the magazine often changes colour dependent of the issue and cover image. You can still easily recognise the magazine though by the font style on the masthead. http://www.animationmagazine.net/