Poster Ideas

Poster Ideas
This example is one of the first. We wanted to portray a significant change from one Spanish culture to another British culture as a mean of indicating a drastic difference. This first idea therefore includes to wide screen shots at either side of the page with the title and tagline being placed in the middle to separate the differences. The top image includes the Spanish side, with the main female protagonist placed centrally surrounded by her Spanish identity. The bottom image includes the male protagonist again in the middle, with quiet a comedic facial expression again surrounded by a British environment. The title and tagline here creates a sort of barrier which we wished to create to match the theme of the short film. It is good that we have the title included the word 'barrier' used as a physical barrier in the poster.

The second idea we used using the first title idea, as this produced a more comedic theme. However we  have also included a thick black line that forms a physical barrier between the two protagonists. The protagonists have also been placed on a sofa, where they are able to promote the sense of relationship between them yet sill including a barrier. 

This third example, indicates the importance of the black line which plays a very important role in showing a barrier. Without it, it appears to lack this barrier element and therefore would appear more of a romantic situation without and sense of difficult which is not what we want to portray especially in relation to our film title and tagline.

The last example, will positively relate to our film poster as it includes all of the desired elements that have been mentioned in our previous examples. For instance, we have kept the thick black line, as it creates the barrier and separates the different identities which is what we want to portray. We have also wanted to keep with the idea of showing the main protagonist, however they shall be either side of the barrier so that it shows the difference, whereas if they had stayed on the sofa this effect would not have been shown and more comedic one would have been shown instead. Therefore by having them stand at either side can still create a sense of comedy but not leaving space for the elements of the content of the film to come through. 

Planning the Film Poster

Target Audience

Our short film is concerned with romantic and comedic elements that feature two young protagonist from different backgrounds that want to but fail to communicate with each other. Therefore, with regard to these themes it appears that our target audience will relate to young people of both genders between the ages of 15-25. However our initial audience was aimed at more middle aged female viewers, however due to the light content of the short and what it involves and through research evidence, it showed that younger audiences appeal to it, plus it is possible that the comedic theme attracts male audiences too, plus the use of football that emerges also appeal to male audiences. Adding to this, our poster will most likely appeal to a more female audiences as the romantic element may be more evident.

Film Poster

As we are concerned with British Rom-Coms it is importance that we attempt to follow similar rom-com film poster conventions. Therefore we have decided to have our background as a plain white background, this is that the audience focuses mainly on the two main protagonist. We intend on having the two main characters on the poster to display that there is a romantic interest. Having the main characters on the front of a film poster tends to be a common convention for romantic comedies. If we take some examples such as from The Proposal, 27 Dresses ...etc these also share the common themes that we wish to involve in our short film. It clearly indicates some form of relation involved with these characters, plus the clear view of the protagonist facial expression can portray certain comedic elements. Such as that in 'The Proposal' where the the male protagonist face expresses funny features. 

Film Title 

As our film includes a Spanish girl and British male that have difficulty communicating with each other. Ideally we wanted to attempt to feature this language inability in our movie poster, therefore we used words that were associated with the word 'language'. Moreover it is important that we include some form of language related word involved as it that forms the basis of the film. Some example of our ideas included 'Que?' which is the spanish word for 'what'. This is because people would be able to associate that this word is unfamiliar in the english language and most would be able to identify that 'que' is a spanish word.

 Another example is 'The Language Barrier' this promotes the difficult use of language. The word 'barrier' insinuates a form of trouble and this linked with 'language' infers that there is trouble involved in language. Therefore a title that emits the ideas we wish the audience to have. Plus the use of 'The' at the start makes the short film sounds more official and professional as it is also commonly used with feature films for instance 'THE break-up', 'THE ugly truth' etc. This would also therefore attract to our more older audience that move out of adolescence. We made numerous attempts to produce similar film title names, however these two were the most popular and liked. In order to correctly chose a film title we need to assure that the film tagline correctly links to the name of the film and see which match and sound better.

Film Taglines

Film taglines are very much dependent on the name of film that have chosen as they run parallel to eachother in order to sell to the audience. Again, we wished to remain as closely linked to the film as possible. Therefore we have invented taglines including 'love in the perfect tense'. This appears appropriate and the use of 'perfect tense' relating back to language and linguistics, plus would be best to use with the 'Que' title. However this does portray a more comedic element to the film and so we may want to produce a more mature sound. Using this tagline would perhaps focus on the more younger side of our audience.

Therefore we also considered 'when love needs no language...' this is more simplistic but effective tagline that would be suited with our second title choice as it focuses more on the barrier element of the film. This tagline also directly links to the theme of love that is also presented in our short movie with a slight comedic twist. This compared to the first leaves it open to imagination as the first is a rather closed statement. We have also included an ellipses, which again would leave the audience in thought, and again promotes the comedic theme as it could leave the audience wondering what is involved on our film. Plus this tagline may also appeal more to an adult audience, considering our short is aimed at 15-25 year old this would fit.

The Result

As a result we have decided to go for the last choice title and tagline, as we believe that it enforces a more mature approach to our short film and produces a more professional sounding film. Yet still able to relate to the younger audience. Therefore we wish that this message is promoted on the film poster and will invite audiences to watch the film. 

Images and colour

As previously stated, we will have images of the two main protagonists that are facing back to back to each other. Therefore there shan't be any images that come from the movie directly yet designed for the poster purpose. The female protagonist shall be on the left hand side where she would be seen leaning on the barrier. The male protagonist will be on the other side of the barrier again leaning, with perhaps a language dictionary prop, for him to read so that it adds to the language difficaulty atmosphere that it produced.

With concerns to colour, a plain white background is ideal, so that the main interest is focused on the two characters and the barrier. The barrier will clearly be in a thick black so that it is bold and stands out from the background and the protagonists. The tagline shall be in black aswell as it will stand out clearly from the background so that it is  visible for the audiences and grabs their attention. The colour for the main title shall be in either black or red or both, as red  provides the colour of love and so would portray these connotations. If we chose to show both colours the red will be used for 'language'. The word 'language' may also be crafted in a different font from the standard that will be used, this is so that it provides more emphasis on the word to show its important in the role of the short film. Again this will stand out to the audiences. Plus the words either side of this word would also stand due to this.

Conclusion

Although the title and tagline do match with eachother, there is a slight possibility that it may be too feminine. Our film contains many elements of it being gender neutral, as it is a male protagonist with the aim of 'pulling' a female, plus contains a football match, which is stereotypically a more male related topic. 

Market Research

Kevin Market Research

The numbers ended up with ¿Que? coming out on top and even though we asked more men than women it was clear that there was a big interest in our new film. We would have liked to ask for more help in our decision making but then it wouldn't have been our film and work.

Storyboard

Crstina storyboard
This is our storyboard that should resemble what our film will be about and what will be inlcuded, plus how long it should be. We have a maximum target of five minuets however this short film measures to around four and a half minuets. 

Shooting Schedule

We will shoot all the interior scenes (Shots 13, 14, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 44, 45, 46 and 47) and the letterbox scene (Shot 33) on the 5th of February. Noramy and Myself will meet at 11 O'Clock at Hammersmith Broadway and get as much done as we can.

On the 12th of February we will shoot the remaining scenes that are needed (Shots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 52, 54 and 55). As I have work I will have to miss out on shooting. 

As we have two weeks I will request some time off and if any shots need to be re-shot I'll do my best to help but as of now the future weather forecasts look good and we can do some work in the weekdays if needed.

5th Feb

12th Feb

Production Reccie

We will use a house in Shepherds Bush with full access to the inside. It looks like a nice area and where filming will hopefully be uninterrupted. Our main issues will be light and the weather, but after looking at the BBC forecast the weather is likely to hold out for us, and if we get there nice and early the light will too.

The area looks relatively friendly and everything looks realistic.

EDIT

The original house that was going to be used for the interior shooting is now unavailable, however it is still needed for the exterior shots. To combat this my house will be used for the interior shots as it is relatively close and I can have use of it whenever the six nations isn’t on. The living room of the new house seems more affordable, and therefore more believable for the main character to be living there. The exterior doesn't affect anyone in the original house so that is why it is usable. We are using it because it has two front doors and that gives the impression of two houses right next to each other.

The doors we will use, as we have access to both

A view of the street

A view of the street

The living room we will use

Character Information

Character Information 

In short films, it is important that we select actors that fit the characters the description. Our short consists of seuley two main protagonist, Carmen (the Spanish Girl) and Alex (British boy).Therefore by involving a Spanish Girl and a British boy in our story it is vital that we find actors that can play these roles, especially as multiple languages are involved and thus a Spanish-speaking actress is essential. Plus for British Boy we will then need to have a clearly English-speaking voice as he will attempt to speak in the other languages need as well. It is important that we take into consideration the main focuses and point of this shirt film when selecting the actors, including multiculturalism. 

Leading male protagonist 

The male protagonist needs to be able to speak English clearly. Therefore by starring Noramy Kipoto in the cast acts perfectly for the specified role. Having a London background enables him to be very well in speaking English, plus having an interest in foreign languages demonstrates his ability in attempting to speak the languages in the short film. Selecting a black male, Noramy can therefore fit in with the theme of British multiculturalism involved in the short film. His further interaction with Carmen will then add to this point as possible friendship between different cultures. 

Female role

For the role of Carmen, the Spanish Neighbour moving into the neighbourhood, we have selected a Natural Spanish-Speaking Girl, Hannah Tagulao. Coming from a Spanish background and speaking Spanish fluently, she would be ideal to play the role. Moreover her dark complexion and tanned skin would identify her as typically coming from abroad as oppose to a lighter complexion. This form of mise-en-scene is important in order for the audience to be able to associate her given role as foreigner. Taking this example from well-known Spanish actresses such as Penelope Cruz, who also provides a dark complexion and accent, which audiences always associate as Hispanic, playing Hannah in the cast would fit ideally.

Both of these characters should show the audience the influence of multiculturalism, and the positives associated with this. The interaction between these two protagonists portrays a possible real life situation in which may persuade audiences to communicate with their neighbors. 

Other Characters

We also have a couple extra characters, such as James Baldock who plays the role of Alex's friend. A typically english character which would again add to the stereotypical english male and be very much involved in showing the different types of characters included in the British culture.