Ancillary Task: Magazine Review (Analysis)

Ancillary Task: Poster (Analysis)

This poster of ‘Les Miserables’ represents a complete picture of what the film’s title entails. Dirty and sad, the main image in this poster comprises of a young girl with eyes that yearn for a luxurious living; the eyes of the needy and the envious. The tagline of this poster says ‘fight, dream, hope, love’ that almost gives the audience an insight into the narrative of the movie to be about struggling to make your dreams come true. The colour palette used by the designer is proportionately in dark hues hence not representing a very vivid and joyful genre, maybe drama as per the main image, title, tagline and the colour palette. The designer has very strategically used the film’s strong cast as to the film’s promotional advantage by putting it up on the very top, prioritizing it to some extent.

This poster for the movie ‘Black Swan’ is using the whitish hues hence creating a dream-like outlook of the movie genre. Hence the movie may be of fiction or a supernova genre. The main image of this poster has blurred edges all around hence maybe a burring of boundaries of the real and the fiction. Hence, with two aspects of the posters pointing in the same direction the audience can easily identify the main context of the movie. However the designer has hereby not disclosed anything about what the narrative of the movie may be by not giving out any tag lines. The title of the movie ‘black swan’ might give many the idea of something relative to the ‘ugly duckling’ or the likes. However, one can never ascertain this as in reality nothing like a black swan really exists. Moreover, some may assume the story line to be about good vs. evil; something that genre theorist Levi Strauss has always stressed upon as an important element of any media text.

This poster for the movie 'Shutter Island' gives an immediate impact of some kind of action and suspense in the movie. The colour palette of this poster is basically dark in blackish hues in the rain that somehow connotate hard times. The title of the movie and the release date are red hence maybe representing somebody's death or bloodshed in the movie. The poster is a collage of three images; the main lead, the island and the burning fire. The atmosphere shown is that of thunderstorm and high tides. Hence, a simulacra of maybe a dark setting with a very small hope of getting rid of something or someone. The tagline says,' someone is missing'. This may direct the audiences attention towards finding and searching for somebody. The how and why remain a mystery, though. The font used is somehow blurred horizontally, showing either the removal of memory or the passing of time in a prompt fashion. All somewhat linked to the search for whoever's 'missing'. 

This poster for the movie 'stolen' attracted my attention owing to its main lead and its tag line which is full of suspense and promises action. The main lead of this movie is Nicholas Cage who is basically famous for acting in action films, hence my derivative of being attracted to this movie. The main image comprises of a background and of Nicholas Cage running forth, representing action, violence and time constraints. The tag line states,' 12 hours, $10 million.1 kidnapped daughter'. This tag line basically gives away the content of the movie and the genre of this movie is hence decided as action. The movie is most certainly about the collection of money within due time to get probably Nicholas Cage's daughter back from the kidnappers. The movie would focus on fatherly love. The colour palette of this movie is smouldery and bluish hence a normal setting, probably the due time is limited to an evening hour. The tag line has been enlarged and emboldened, hence the importance of these three phrases is highlighted the most, even more so than the title. The title in orange comprises of a straight font, representing a no non-sense personality maybe of Nicholas Cage. The orange colour may represent a lot to do with fire or action if bullets are to be fired. 

This poster for the movie 'Burlesque' which by the way means 'parodying something in an absurd manner' is in appropriate a combination with the main image of the poster. The tag line represents fame and signifies that the movie will be mocking a legendary artist. The main images in the poster are quite materialistic and their expressions portray attitude and an absurd air about the two, hence a high street fashion or musicale maybe. They are in opposition to one another; this may be represented from the fact that the two women have different coloured hair, one is a blond while the other is a brunette. The title font used has been coloured pink in contrast to the black and white and is sparkling, hence a movie on fame and stardom.The font in it self demonstrates power and strength. 

Shot Listing

 Shot List

Sound Research

Our short film initially required only two sound tracks. One for the production logo roll-in and another one for the background score throughout the film. Firstly, we began with the research on sound scores and which would most complement our short films genre. We started we the research of classical, folk and all sorts of cultural music, most heard of in Pakistan. This idea of using cultural music in our short film was generated keeping in mind two aspects; firstly because it was inspired by a similar short film opening sequence that we had seen on YouTube-its genre was not in any way similar to ours, however it was shot in the very middle of Lahore and had a very traditional look and feel about it and secondly because it went well with our short film's content which featured the societal reality of Pakistan, hence it reflected our country's culture and traditional very effectively. 

                                        

    

We used YouTube as our main channel as this search engine featuring all sorts of media content contained numerous contributions by individuals and hence gave us the unique and very versatile content to choose from. We decided upon the independent work of two instrumental artists. They were basically tabla players 

and the text they has floated online had a sensuous feel to it which could easily be edited into whichever form we wanted it to be in. We could raise its pitch to conjure up suspense, we could speed it up to show a series of events in a continuous flow, etc. Once our rough cut was made, we started adding the audio to it , however we had to choose which instrumental would help us the most and also, we had to convert the avi file into an mp3 track. For this purpose, we googled the various converters available online and found one which is used the most i.e. the Format Factory which converted files very promptly, hence, saving up on quality time.

                                         

Once we had the mp3, we listened to both the tunes again and tried to fit it in our rough cut and imagined its impact on the film that'll effect the audience and decided upon using Shaurya Rawal's instrumental. As our rough cut was ready, we started up on putting in the background score and many a times fiddles with it as premiere was new to us and we were still novices. Layering and sequencing was a major constraint that we faced which led to a lot of wastage of time as we still hadn't understood understood the concept of adding the audio on different layers every time a new video sequence began. After many makes and remakes, we finally got our background score properly synced into the video with the right pitches, gains, cross fades and speed duration.

Having done this, we now researched out logo roll-in score. For this, we were looking for something very interesting catchy to go with our logo designation which had a very bright and jolly look and feel to it. When we started googling this requirement, we came across the most used search engine for this purpose, which was sounddogs.com. This was one webpage that had a little too much of content in it and filtering through it for what we exactly required was one tedious task. Hence, to save on time, we used mp3skull.com which automatically filtered through sounddogs' content and gave us the exact content that we required.

Once we had this score too, we fitted it in with our roll-in effect by editing it through the right places and got what we wanted. Hence, our sound research was widely assisted by the usage of Web 2.0 as it provided us with useful search engines like YouTube, Google, Mp3 Skull, Sounddogs and format factory.  

Media Studies Questionnaire

Following are my and my partner Dua Malik's questionnaires. As survey monkey does not allow one to give more than 10 questions per survey, we decided to conduct it separately because our survey contained a total of 18 questions. Now our job is to get this questionnaires filled by as many people as we can and preferable individuals of varied ages as it will help us in identifying our target market.

And this is Dua Malik's Questionnaire.

Deconstructing Media: Short Films

THE LAST GUNSLINGER

By Alessandro Dominico

This spaghetti western short film has been directed by Alessandro Dominico and is set up in a vacant industrial space.

'The Last Gunslinger' is an Italian short merged with film noir. Low key lighting throughout the 9 minute short signifies the time when the short film was shot and also adds up to the suspense that is consistent throughout the film.

The short begins with various numericals on the old wall.This is the first thing that strikes in our heads as odd and something unusual.

                                        

                                     

The costume of the only character in the film might not be so odd but the various other accessories do spice up the drama. His gun holder, his gun, his leather boots are not very modern, hence we may presume the short to be filmed somewhere in the 60's.

                                                                           

           
                                                                             
The background score is very noticeable because, not only is it suspenseful but it also keeps the audience attracted. The mixture of the old 60's instrumental and the suspenseful effect merged together gives a dangerous thrilling effect to the short.
The character's expression through almost half of the 8 minute film is very vague and remains complacent. However, the sharp glint, the malicious glee and the relieved, satisfied expression through the last 45 seconds after the bullet is fired are quite suspenseful and add so much to the drama as to where the bullet was fired at and who did it aim, that it is quite revolting to finally understand the direction of the bullet as it enters the main character's body himself.

 

                          
                                                                                                                                                                                 

The suspense is consistent even at this point. It is only when the folded paper in the character's hand falls with lifelessness that one can understand the connection between the physical numerics and the directions on the paper. The secret code in this short film is decoded only at the very end of the film.

 

 The title 'The Last Gunslinger' may be answered to as a gunman firing his gun for the last time, only the title does not identify who the last bullet was fired at.

GONE GOODBYE

By Keith Rivers

Gone Goodbye is a 4 minute short film by Keith Rivers that is based on human emotions and how separations may be sad, hence it can be categorized under 'drama'.

 The film begins with an L Cut whereby the transition of the audio comes in before the visual. The soft lighting and the sad element of separation with Catherine represents the genre of drama. The film starts with a very sad and low-volume background score that is over-lapped by a sad yet mature, manly voice. The audio is in a monotone which depicts the lethargy of the character that he didn't care about expressing himself.

Most of the camera shots are static and capture full shots or vista shots. The establishing shot in this short followed the car from a bird's eye view as it went its long course. The vista shot of the parking lot where the character parks his car is quite huge while two turns need to be taken in order to get dropped off. The long travelling  space may be signifying the long and slow pace of life as it is dragging on without any purpose. 

 This is again a full shot, however it signifies the helplessness of the character through his slouched down shoulders and the slow pace with which he is walking. The color scheme used is basically autumny and very dry. Also it is giving a sad effect to the outlook of the short as it is pointing towards reality. The color of he character's clothes are also not very cheerful, hence, signifying, again, a sad situation.

The stick has been used as a prop in this short film, signifying no particular usage at this point, however, one realizes later why it had been added and given so much attention. The cracks outlined by the stick may represent the hard and tough life the narrator has gone through in life and how it has absorbed all life from within.

These two shots may be defined as cross cutting whereby a certain object is shown from both sides in preceding shots. However, lack of head room in both the cuts give an uncomfortable edge to the shot but this may be a deliberate attempt by the director to give the effect of discomfort that the protagonist in the film is feeling.

This is the very climax of the film and needs to be seen with undivided attention as the usage of a balloon that is descending from the sky, yet managing to stay away form the character is quite surprising. Also, the purpose of this shot is also something to ponder over because one can not tell at this stage, exactly why, the balloon doesn't want to be in he character's hands.

This shot whereby the balloon and the character stand in companionship is very  effective as it tells the audience that the balloon is not exactly trying to maintain distance from the character but is only trying to stay away from getting into the hands of this man who it doesn't recognize. The usage of yellow in the balloon might signify sorrow, however, the director has used the colors so welly that the two elements of this shot put together look not only 'sad' but also 'sad in unison'. The de-focus of the background adds to the smoothness of the shot and gives the sea a very  calm feel about it. The point of view of the second shot and the character's facial expression adds to the drama of the shot whereby one can easily tell that the character is amused at the balloon.

                                     
                                          

This shot shows that the character finally catches a glimpse of the letter hung by the balloons strings and as the character tries to reach for it, the balloon flies away, however not fast enough to fall prey to the stick in the character's hand, hence, it stabs itself before it could actually be in another man's hands.

Now, it is again in the very ending that we actually find out the real context behind the entire short. As the character reads only part of the letter before smoldering and shoving it in his hand, one can easily tell that the ;letter was not meant for him to read. While the balloon comes to this part of the beach for the companionship of the sea and not the man, while the man, too, is only there for the companionship of the sea and not the balloon. The balloon turns away from the man because it doesn't recognize the man and doesn't want to be touched by anyone other than its own man. Now as the surprise element opens up, we finally find out that the balloon is basically 'Katherine' and she is looking for peace so that she can get over her break-up.

RUN

By Hunter Peterson

'Run' is a 1 minute short film by Hunter Peterson that, again, revolves around the genre, 'drama' as the content of the brief is based on naughtiness and the strong desire to obtain something.

The film begins with an establishing shot as it can be seen. The shot has been contained in equal amounts of lead room on both ends while this long shot shows the setup as to where the shoot is taking place. The sports bag represents a football stadium or a sports club while the timing as to when the shoot was taking place is daylight as equal amount of light is illuminating the entire shot.

The first shot in this sequence is a mid-shot of the character while enough lead room/nose room gives the shot a very relaxed outlook. The second shot is an extreme close-up of a shoe while the third shot is a worm's eye view, medium-close up whereby the character's facial expressions hold yearning and a desire to wear what he is holding. We don't find out in the very beginning why the shoe is unwearable unless close attention is being paid on the short.

This is a point of view shot of leading lines whereby an object/subject is being seen in the very far distance. This shot attracts attention, however, it looks like more of a buffer shot as the shot doesn't hold much significance except that it is a connecting shot between the character as he wears the shoe and the preceding shot as the character passes through this expanse of the track.

The usage of laces as a prop is quite significant while the simplistic ye neat nature of all the shots is commendable as they still manager to produce the desired impact to the audience. It  is now that we actually figure out why the character's facial expression changes a he sees a pair of old shoes and uses them for the sole purpose of laces. It also explains the yearning expression of the subject as he looks at the new shoes when he takes them out of his sports bag. 

                    

                                         

                                         

This are the various expressions that the character underwent, from realization to a malicious glee and then to the concentration of putting in the laces properly. These expressions explain the character's feelings in the most visualisable way. We can also find a lot about the personality that the character is undergoing for example in this short one might ponder as to why the character did not use the laces from his white pair of shoes if he so wanted to wear the new pair. Now, hereby, one can easily configure that the character is quite particular about his outlook. This is, further confirmed, by looking at his white pair of joggers that look really good with the red laces .