Our Short Film

Here is our short film: we still have to edit a few areas of this until it is fully finished. But we have posted this here to gather audience feedback for when we return from the Christmas break.

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This is our final version of our film with improvements made from the audience feedback we gathered!

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FINAL FINAL VERSION!!

 

 

DROP Review

This is our Little White Lies review.

Below is the transcript for the review:

This film is ambiguous on a number of levels  The title 'Drop' cleverly refers to the death of a character and the action of spiking a drink. . In addition, this is no ordinary 'who dun it' film because of the unexpected antagonist.

The short film genre is usually characterised by a minority of settings. However Drop manages to overcome this sometimes simplistic limitation and includes a plethora of contrasting locations which adds to the complexity of the story line. One location, the R.A.C Country Club in Epsom, mirrors the motif of the film perfectly: the upper middle class characters display opulence, affluence and wealth which is also denoted in the ‘Downtonesque’ setting. The crime committed in this setting at the country club may surprise audiences as this social class is not usually associated with 'crimes of passion'. On the other hand, more in sync with the short film genre, the cast is limited which allows for the creation of the character’s death in such a short running time. All three characters are executed superbly by Ettie Greenwood, Joe Willmott and James Garbis (up and coming actors that could really make their mark in the film world during the next few years).

The plot revolves around a complicated and secretive 'love-triangle', in which Rachel (Ettie Greenwood), is extremely guilty, doubtful and inevitably miserable leading to the films unexpected finale. This is skilfully handled by director Rosie Lincoln (also director of the inspiring ‘Life as we know’) who places the plot reveal at the end with the clichéd technique - a flashback, which literally 'makes the penny drop'.

Female director, Rosie Lincoln, is known for her feminist views that are especially reflected in her recent film shorts. Once again, Lincoln creates a strong lead female character, Rachel, who appears to dominate in the crucial love triangle. So, what are the feminist credentials: Rachel is a wealthy, powerful young woman. She emits signs of dominance and control, never being submissive to her man. She is far from the typical dependant female character of the past.  

However, there are alternative interpretations of her character which suggest that 'Drop' instead does not communicate the feminist ideology that others suggest: Come the end, Rachel is seen in a very vulnerable light, as she panics over then death she had subconsciously caused. There is a great debate over whether these feminist values are consciously displayed or not, of which readers can discover more on the 'twitter-sphere' where the heated debate continues to rage.

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UPDATE:

After a few improvements on the justification and page numbering here is our final version:

 

Final Poster

Tah-Dah!

Little White Lies Review Draft 2

THIRD DRAFT:
This film is ambiguous on a number of levels - Firstly, its' title 'Drop' which cleverly refers to both a death and the action of spiking a drink. Secondly, this is no ordinary 'who dun it' film because of the unexpected antagonist.

A film of this genre - short - usually has a scarcity of  settings, however Drop manages to overcome this sometimes simplistic limitation and includes a plethora of contrasting locations which adds to the complexity of the story line. One location, the R.A.C Country Club in Epsom, mirrors the motif of the film perfectly: the upper middle class characters display opulence, affluence and wealth which is also denoted in the ample setting. However, the crime committed at the country club may surprise audiences as this social class is not usually associated with 'crimes of passion'. On the other hand, more in sync with the short film genre, the number of characters is limited which allows for the creation of the characters death in such a short space of time. All three characters are executed superbly by Ettie Greenwood, Joe Willmott and James Garbis (up and coming actors/actresses, that could really make their mark in the film world during the next few years).

The plot involves a complicated and secretive 'love-triangle', in which Rachel (Ettie Greenwood), is extremely guilty, doubtful and inevitably miserable which leads to the films unexpected finale. This is skilfully executed by director Rosie Lincoln (also the director of the inspiring film life as we know) who places the plot reveal at the end with the clique technique - a flashback, which literally 'makes the penny drop'.

Female director, Rosie Lincoln, is know for her sly feminist views that are especially reflected in her recent film shorts. Again, Lincoln creates a strong female character, Rachel, who appears to dominate in the crucial love triangle. So, what are the feminist credentials: Rachel is a wealthy, powerful young woman. She emits signs of dominance and control, always putting her man second place. She is not the typicaldependant female character of the past.

However, there is contradicting views which suggest that 'Drop' instead does not display feminist ideology: at the end Rachel is seen in a very vulnerable light, as she panics over then death she had subconsciously caused. This is what contradicts the feminist view and could cause the film to therefore take a more neutral perspective.

There is a great debate over whether these values are consciously displayed or not, of which readers can discover more on the 'twitter-sphere' where the heated debate continues to relish.

ANTICIPATION
Ambiguous title that does not give too much of the plot away, very intriguing.

ENJOYMENT
Cleverly crafted with an unexpected twist...

RETROSPECT
...but are the events unrolled too quickly?

Little White Lies Review Draft

FIRST DRAFT: 
Drop is the name of this ambiguous film; where the title cleverly refers to two events of the story, the killing of the protagonist and the poisoning of the drink. The film expertly manipulates the reader by creating assumptions that the 20-something female is the antagonist, mischievously having an affair with the bartender. However there is a subsequent plot twist which leads to a malicious attempt to end the love triangle, ultimately ending with a death. The director, R Lincoln - who also created the inspiring film life as we know - denotes this by placing the plot reveal at the end with the clique technique - a flashback, which literally 'makes the penny drop'. This challenges representations in society: where the assumed antagonist is discovered to be the innocent. And of course this happens very intimately, as the nature of the film is short.

A film of this type usually has limited settings, but Drop manages to overcome this sometimes simplistic limitation and includes about 5 contrasting locations which really makes the film highlight it's rich storyline. This allows for only 3 main characters where the audience require detailed information about their characteristics during the film. All three characters are executed well by Ettie Greenwood, Joe Willmott and James Garbis (up and coming actors/actresses, that could really make their print in the film world during the next few years).

Twisted thoughts about love lead to a surprising conclusion in Drop, with one character completely in the dark as to whats occurring - the innocent party doesn't deserve what happens. The plot gives the observer what they think is a sweet story about a couple who are embracing their youth and living their lives to the fullest by seizing opportunities which wouldn't necessarily be given to the average person. Some of the themes and genres include betrayal, love, lust and tragedy. These are shown through the actions of the young adults. The story involves these young adults who are in a relationship, after organising a drinks date we see the lead up to this, and date itself.

Once settled at home and accompanied by a glass of wine, 'Drop' is a conspiring and compelling film bound to keep you awake. The way in which the director, Lincoln, has staged out this short film, allows the events to play out without the need to stimulate too much lateral thinking. All the same, there is enough captivating elements to keep the enigma running throughout the audiences mind.
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SECOND DRAFT:

This film is ambiguous on a number of different levels - Firstly, its title which cleverly refers to both the death and the action of poisoning a drink. Secondly, where the film intelligently misleads its' audience into expecting a different antagonist, creating a 'who dun it' style film.

A film of this genre - short - usually has a scarcity of  settings, however Drop manages to overcome this sometimes simplistic limitation and includes a plethora contrasting locations which really makes the film excel by it's rich storyline. One location, the R.A.C Country Club in Epsom mirrors the motif of the film perfectly: the upper middle class characters display opulence, affluence and wealth which is also denoted in the building. However, the crime caused at the country club may 'turn a head' to viewers as this class is not usually associated with 'crime of passion'. On the other hand, more in sync with the short film type, the characters are limited where the audience require detailed information about their personalities during the film. All three characters are executed well by Ettie Greenwood, Joe Willmott and James Garbis (up and coming actors/actresses, that could really make their print in the film world during the next few years).
The plot follows the relationship of a couple whereby one of them is silently unhappy whilst trapped in a 'love-triangle'. Lincoln denotes this by placing the plot reveal at the end with the clique technique - a flashback, which literally 'makes the penny drop'.

By having the female director R. Lincoln - who also created the inspiring film life as we know - this film could be argued that it emits a feminist ideology; through the power that the female character holds whilst being the dominant participant in the crucial love triangle. There is a great debate over whether these values are consciously displayed or not, of which readers can discover more on the 'twitter-sphere' where the heated debate continues to relish.

Yes, the film is feminist: at the start of the film, the women is molded into a character ideology that signifies her power, wealth and dominance. She always puts her man second, and tries to avoid light hearted 'time filling' conversations. This therefore shows feminism as the women is seen as the leader, and not clinging on to her man dependably like so many films nowadays that take the stereotypical ideology.

No, the film is not feminist: but what about the ending? Where the female is seen in a very vulnerable light, as she panics over then death she had subconsciously caused. This is what contradicts the feminist view and could cause the film to therefore take a more neutral perspective.

Once settled at home and accompanied by a glass of wine, 'Drop' is a conspiring and compelling film bound to keep you awake. The way in which the director, Lincoln, has staged out this short film, allows the events to play out without the need to stimulate too much lateral thinking. All the same, there is enough captivating elements to keep the enigma running throughout the audiences mind. It is a must see for short film fanatics.

Poster

Me and Ettie have taken features from both our original designs and combined them to make two new ones. We chose the image from Etties as it had more conveinient space, in which we put the text from my poster (as we liked the style and design slightly better)

In this one, we darkened the whole image to create a more negative feel to the film and allow the white text to be seen still (as the motion blur didn't look very good in black). The first poster we used a vignette affect (easier to see if you click to enlarge the images) to allow the central part and the characters to have more light and the outer still dark to show up the text.

Initial Poster Design

This is my first inital design for our film "'Drop'. I will get some audience feedback to see where I need to improve; I'm going to start by adjusting the title, as it doesn't quite fit at the moment i.e. size and placement.
  

• I have used the same font on my poster as we have chosen in the titles of our film, to create synergy and a link throughout. 
• The text is all justified making it look a lot neater i.e. the title 'Drop' and the names shown.
• I have edited an awards logo to go onto the poster; to make it look more authentic, as this is a typical film poster convention.
• This is the same for the reviews - but I havent yet put who they are quoted by. 'Little White Lies' would probably be appropriate as they have a similar target demographic to our short film. 
• I turned the opacity level of the billing block down and placed it parallel alongside the bottom of the poster. (from looking at existing posters, this is where it's normally positioned). 
• The vignette affect that I have added to the poster design gives a slight darker feel to the film.

Little White Lies - Target Audience

From looking at several copies of the magazine 'Little White Lies' a clear target audience can be established. 

The cost of the magazine is the first indication as to who would buy and read this magazine - £3.95 for a magazine is fairly expensive compared to some magazines priced at £2 (magazines such as 'Heat' which are more disposable). This would therefore mean that the demographic for the magazine would consist of upper and lower middle class people i.e. professionals/semi professionals with a good standard of living. 

In terms of Psychographics, I think that the audience would have a lot of free time and enjoys activities such as the arts - and possibly culture too as a lot of independent films are presented in the magazine. Also people who have an opinion on films and like to discuss them as opposed to just watching them as entertainment. 

The design and style of the magazine also demonstrates the audience likely to buy the magazine; the cover has a matte finish and the artwork/imagery normally includes detail which looks into the feature film suggesting a lot of knowledge and time spent on the magazine, and therefore an audience that are perhaps more professional. 

The modern designs also suggest a youthful audience, as it would most likely appeal to them more. I would say between 18 and 35 years. Going not much lower than 18, as at this age you are able to start having a reliable income. 

Re-draft Poster

Here is my second draft of my poster where I made changes according to the improvements I was given beforehand.

Conventions of 'Little White Lies' Magazine Reviews

Photo copies of work done in class - annotating conventions

In lesson we looked at a Little White Lies film review and labelled all the conventions the ones I found were:

• The image is always in the same place
• The title is bold and centred (different font than the main text)
• The film facts look like a billing block - also centred
• There are 3 columns with roughly 450 words
• The first letter of the review is bigger - Drop capital
• The rating section is in the area of the last column and denotes 3 sections: Anticipation, Enjoyment, In Retrospect. (Only justified to the left)
• The main text is justified left and right
• The image and the text is justified and equidistant to the edges on every side
• The page number is written in 3 digits
• The word review is placed at 180' at the outside part of the page
• The title is written as the format: date, month
• The writers name is placed at the end of the review in capital letters
• Italic, bold and capital letters are used in specific places.



Click to enlarge



After looking at the article in class, I searched up other articles to check that all conventions were consistent - this was true. Therefore I will pay close attention when creating my LWL review to make sure that I create a piece that looks authentic of a Little White Lies review!



Audience Feedback on my Poster

I asked my sister Bethan (17) to look at my poster when home and I filmed her saying what she liked about it and what she thought needed improvements. Here is the video:

She said the things I need to improve are:

•  To get rid of the red area created by the street lamp reflection on the trees
• And look into using a different font, which further means also changing the font on the film.

I shall make these improvements next time I am in the editing suite so I can create the most successful poster possible which would suite what the audience would like. 

My Poster Draft

Click to enlarge...

Here is my first draft of my poster. And here are some of the main things I did to create my poster:

• I darked the original image to fit with the negative tone at the end of the film
• I put the film title in the empty space of the image - the sky- and made sure it was the more significant part of the poster.
• I put the main actors underneath the title for audience reference
• I placed the title in the top left because the female character is the antagonist and this could be subtly hinting that she may be involved in the death.
• I put the reviews and rewards in the top right corner in the other empty space.
• The billing block is at the bottom as it is not the most significant part of the film.

How to create a vignette effect on Photoshop

Begin with opening the image that you want to add the Vignette effect to onto Photoshop.

Select the marquee tool on the side bar on the left - I've used the rectangle one. 
Also change the feathering so that the edges are softer and not to harsh.

A dashed/dotted line will appear over where you have dragged the shape (where you want the vignette to be).









So far the marquee tool has selected the middle of the image, so to select the outer part, click select on the top toolbar and then click inverse (or shift, command and i)










It's now selected the outside of the image with slightly curved edges to make it a bit more subtle.







With the area still selected, click on the little sun icon on the adjustments section on the right hand side, which will bring up the levels for brightness and contrast.










You can change the levels until you reach the intensity that you want for the image.