Advanced Production

Introduction:

In the transition from AS to A2, we will be changing the topic of our work. We were working on Video Games, Radio Drama and Local Radio News Broadcasts. This year, we are working on Short Films and the conventions of the internet. Last year we looked at the conventions of radio news broadcasts, and had to produce a local radio news broadcast, whereas this year we are looking at the conventions of short films and filming, directing, producing and editing a short film. Last year, our practical work revolved around facts. We had to personally research and acquire news articles to talk about. This year we have a bit more independence, as short films can be based on fiction.


The short film we are to produce must be 5 minutes long, and is to be shot, edited and directed by us, and is to consist of an original story, written by us.

To prepare us for this year, we signed up to a digital storytelling course on futurelearn.com
The course details how to structure and design a story, and what makes a good story.
The course brings up four important questions:

• Whose story is it?
• Who does the story belong to?
• What's the big question?
• What's in it for the audience?

To help answer these questions, I decided to take a look at other people's short films, and see if they answer these four questions. I also looked at the codes and conventions of short films.

Understanding the GENRE of:

• short films 
• short film posters 
• radio adverts

Codes and conventions:

Genre
Representation
Narrative
Audience
Media Language

Before I investigate the short films I looked at, I feel I should explain what research I did beforehand. I decided to look at the codes and conventions of short films.
The codes and conventions of short films consist of the following:

• Very little, or no CGI
• Use of more basic equipment in comparison to films with a bigger budget
• Usually around 5 minutes long
• Few main characters
• No big names, no star appeal
• Actors are usually young, aged 16-25
• Short films are usually for first time directors and people just starting out
• Low budget, or perhaps no budget at all
• Realistic concepts that revolve around everyday situations

Genre Research

Genre research is very important because it defines what type of story your trying to tell and would usually have to follow codes and conventions related to the genre. for example:

Horror film 

• The setting is usually a small town, but big enough to explore.
• The cast is a set of young teenagers, some of who are promiscuous or trouble makers except one
• The main character is the only innocent one and is the only one to survive the whole ordeal.
• The killer is out to kill everyone and/or scare people.
• The killer is usually someone who knows the set of teenagers or someone with a dark history.

But for short films this would be changed because of the time restriction. so instead the main scare would be the twist of the short and wether the main protagonist dies or not is usually not known and left up to the audience to interpret.

So because of time constrictions, short films usually only use a couple of the codes of conventions for a normal movie but puts a twist upon them.

Drama film

• Real situations with real characters
• Portrays a journey and/or character development
• contains intense social interactions
• Consists of lots of close-ups of characters 
• The purpose of the story is to move the audience emotionally

All of these codes and conventions could be used in a short film since they are very simple things to implement and doesn't really make a difference on how the story is told.

So because of time constrictions, short films usually only use a couple of the codes of conventions for a normal movie but puts a twist upon them.

Stuart Hall: Encoding/ Decoding

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist. who has made a theory about how messages sent out through a media text is inscribed in a certain and then decoded by the audience. Hall established that people always interpret the information originally encoded their own dependent of their identity. people fall into three different categories dependent on their ability:

• Accept- Agree with the idea that is presented.
• Reject- Disagree that the idea is false.
• Adjust- Believe that the idea inscribed could mean both things.

Short film analysis

Two And Two (2+2):

I chose this film because of the Orwellian concepts it presents. Historically, dictatorships have intentionally mislead children in classes in order to make them think a certain way, and in this short film it's no different. Children are being taught that 2+2=5 even though it's clearly wrong. However, the children are forced to comply, or face death.

This short film touches on the Orwellian concept of disinformation. A teacher in a barebones classroom devoid of 
life dictates to children that 2+2=5. One child objects to this statement, and it eventually costs him his life.

The film is cleverly made. It is clearly a very low budget film, yet manages to convey a powerful message with very little props and equipment. The only CGI in the film is muzzle flash and perhaps some blood. The entire film takes place in one room, and the only objects in that room is a blackboard and school desks.

This film follows most conventions of a short film.
There is no star appeal, for there are no big names in the cast. The only person in the film who is older than 20 is the teacher. I don't factually know the budget of the film, but I would assume it is of a low budget, due to the fact that there's only one location to shoot in and there are only traces of CGI.
The film is about 6 minutes long - Much like a short film. 
There are no clear main characters, as the only people who have unique lines of dialogue are a teacher and one student.

The story of the film is not conventional, but it does relate to humanity when you look at it. It's something we can all relate to - Nobody likes being told what to do. Nobody likes being censored and restricted, and human beings have the innate desire to express themselves. In the story, students are being told that 2+2=5, and they know that this is a lie. They must comply to this statement however, as failure to do so will result in death. However, it's clear that they do not conform to this, as a student in the end writes the real answer to the sum in his notepad, even after an opposing student was killed.

The classroom is empty apart from desks, chairs and a single blackboard. This is probably to emphasize the idea that much like in 1984, People are ruled by an omnipresent dictator using the art of misinformation. The bare bones classroom also connects with the idea that there is no sense of individuality in a dystopian world - Everyone speaks the same language, and must think the same way, conforming to the same ideology.

Unwind

I have chosen Unwind because of the dystopia it presents to us (REPRESENTATION) . People are constantly worrying about how much power the government has nowadays(AUDIENCE) , especially considering the increased powers of surveillance they carry out i.e surveillance of the internet, and I feel that many people can find this understandable. I feel that most people are worried about how much a government or corporation can infringe on someone's life, and this depicts (MEDIA LANGUAGE) what could happen should said infringement go too far.

Based on the novel of the same name, this short film details a woman's experience as she is selected to have her body "harvested" for future use. This process involves extracting individual body parts, while numbed but conscious. The film ends when she finally loses consciousness once doctors begin working on her cranium.

Genre: The genre is horror/sci-fi
Representation: The film represents a person lower in the

The film opens with a non diegetic block of text. This is to give viewers some backstory on the film, so that they don't have to guess what's going on or try and figure it out while watching it.

Next is a shot of the protagonist's left eye. We cannot tell how this person looks from one eye only, and thus their identity is restricted. This can connect with the dystopia the film presents, as from our point of view, she lacks identity - She lacks a name and we do not know how she looks.

We then see her look at two surgeons from her point of view. the shot appears hazy, and this is to represent the fact that she is barely conscious, as she is on the operating table. The surgeons are speaking with each other, but not her. This alienates her, and further takes away from her identity.

The nurse says that "this is the last bit of pain you'll feel", as she is being put under anaesthesia. This could be interpreted as a friendly statement, but it also implies death.
A surgeon then pulls out a rather large metal implement, which will presumable be used for this procedure as a tool.

The soundtrack is a low chord on a synthesiser. This creates a tense and eerie atmosphere, and rightfully so, as we are essentially seeing a person slowly die. 

We then begin to hear drilling sounds, while the nurse is explaining to the protagonist that her blood is being replaced with an artificial substance. 

When the protagonist asks if she's going to die, the nurse replies by saying "sweetie you don't die, you just stop living" This is an example of doublespeak - language that deliberately disguises, distorts or reversing the meaning of words. I feel that it's also a way of dodging the question, like you would to 

We hear what sounds like military drums playing while we also hear the sound of bone and sinew cracking and breaking. The music and diegetic sound effects create this very violent atmosphere. Normally we hear a heartbeat monitor at a slow rhythm, but the pace is increasing rapidly, both to show that the protagonist is scared and to assist with the soundtrack in creating a tense atmosphere.

The girl repeats the phrase "I don't wanna go, I don't wanna die" before eventually blacking out once the surgery presumably moves to her vital organs.

Before the credits, we see a shot of the name of the film, Unwind. What's interesting is that it hazily fades in, like how the protagonist faded into consciousness. The text begins to spread apart, or unwind. This ironically represents how the girl's like unwound and fell apart.

his film consisted entirely of two shots: A close up of a nurse, and a closeup of the patient's eyes. This would suggest that the film had a very low budget. Nonetheless, the film managed to convey a message just fine. You could see the patient's emotions through the look in her eye, and sound effects like the sound of drilling and snapping bones helped us understand what was going on.

This film follows most conventions of short films. There is a lack of CGI and judging by the fact that the film is shot from only two angles, I would assume that the budget was pretty low too. No big names means that there is a lack of star appeal, and the film is about 6 minutes long.

The film's story does link to humanity when you look at it. It's very futuristic, and the only concept that can link to this so far is the idea of donating blood and organs. However, the story brings up the idea that people are worried about how far technology will advance before we lose touch of who we are. Historically, the entire culture of the human race has been changed due to technology. The conception of television, radio and video games have meant that people spend more time indoors than they used to, and some people worry that we as a species have become lazy and complacent. There are other, more radical views too, like people who worry that the government has too much power thanks to new technology, and that they have the ability to infringe upon our privacy and watch every action we undergo throughout our day. This film is really a manifestation of that thought. People have pondered on the idea of technology leading the world into a more dystopian place since the 40's, and the biggest issue with this is people feeling powerless. In Unwind, there is a woman on an operating table having her limbs and organs removed, while she is wide awake. She did not volunteer to undergo this procedure, yet she cannot say no either - She is powerless.

One minute time machine

This film is about a man trying to hit on a woman, but constantly making mistakes. He rectifies this by using a time machine, and after many repeated attempts manages to perfectly choreograph his encounter with the woman on the bench. 

The entire film is shot in one location - A park bench. The cast consisted entirely of two characters, and uses no CGI. The only props in the film are a "time machine" and a comically large science book.

The film follows most conventions of short films. The film is 5 minutes and 41 seconds long - very short in comparison to a feature length film. The low budget is evident, due to the lack of supporting cast and CGI. The film has a very human concept, and revolves around the fear of failure and rejection. There are only two characters in the film, and none of them carry "star power", which is a convention of a short film. The only props in the film are a science book and a time machine, none of which are particularly elaborate, as the time machine is clearly nothing more than a box with a switch on it.

The story of this film is very, very human. It's simply based on the fear of failure, rejection and embarrassment. The protagonist wants to get along with this woman, but his anxiety and lack of confidence is inhibiting his ability to do so. He therefore engineers a time machine so that he can avoid the possibility of failure.

Audience Research

Audience research is quite important. Ultimately, when you make any product to sell, your target is your audience, for they are the consumers and will ultimately make you money and determine whether your product is a success or not. Audience research is the art of knowing your audience. It's not unlike how older people don't quite buy into modern music. If you were an artist and you knew this however, you simply wouldn't attempt to appeal to older people, and the same applies to films.

Let's say you wanted to sell a film to 5-10 year olds. You would not sell a film like Django Unchained - An action film with a lot of dramatic action, and filled with blood and racism. Not only would a lot of parents refuse to take their 5 year old to see this film, but the kids wouldn't even understand it.

However, they would understand a film like Johnny Depp's Rango. It's a family movie - Homogenized, family friendly entertainment that attempts to appeal to all audiences and ages. I would suspect that a child would be drawn more to the poster of Rango (shown right) because it presents a cartoon character, with vivid colours, whereas The poster of Django (shown left) goes for a simple, yet colour scheme of red, black and white - All contrasting colours.

Both of these films share a common trait, which is the western element, but clearly they are both aimed at completely different audiences.

Hypodermic Needle Theory

When television and radio was at its infancy in the 1920's, the Frankfurt school proposed the theory of the proverbial hypodermic needle. The theory suggests that any form of media can be taken in unmediated - Unmediated being the fact that the audience does not break down the message and decode it. This theory saw practice with the birth of Nazi Germany, in which Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler used mass media as forms of propaganda. This theory is now considered defunct and untrue, simply due to the fact that people can challenge the message a form of media presents to them.

Cultivation theory

The cultivation theory is intended to examine the long term effects of television and other forms of media. After years of watching television, one can begin to form stereotypes about certain things, and become desensitized to things. A prime example would be violence: People who have spent years, or have simply grown up around violent television, video games and other forms of media are generally less sensitive to violence. An example of a stereotype would be how people in the UK who have never been to the US perceive the country due to media and television.

Uses and Gratification Theory

Proposed by Mcquail, Blumler and Brown in '72, this theory suggests that media consumers receive mass media in different ways, and in turn use it in different ways. The theory suggests that there are four main reasons for consuming media:

1. Diversion - To escape from the real world, replacing work and routine with media as a form of leisure

2. Personal Relationships - To be able to maintain companionship with the people you know by communication

3. Personal identity - To proverbially find themselves in media - Finding similar values they uphold in media texts

4. Surveillance - To maintain a knowledge on what is happening in the world and the people around you

In 1974, Blumler and Kats proposed a new reason for consuming media texts:

Familiarity - Consuming a media text to be part of a community.

Reception Theory

This theory suggests that an audience isn't passive, and that they actively interpret media texts in different ways depending on the consumer. What this means is that people who consume media texts formulate their own opinions on it. Different people interpret texts differently. An 18 year old working class male will decode a text differently than a 50 year old middle class male.

Duologue

The following is our first draft of a duologue. It's not remotely close to the final product, but I thought it should be posted because it shows how much we can improve with a second take, and it also goes to show how big of a difference a single person can make. On the day of filming this duologue, a group member was not present, meaning that we had no cameraman. This meant that we had to use shortcuts and workarounds in order to actually film the duologue. This usually involved the use of closeups, so that it would not be evident that the other cast member was in fact the cameraman. When we needed shots with both cast members in, we used a tripod. It wasn't the best quality however, because we were also limited on where we could put the tripod. It was a rather short tripod, so we couldn't just place it on the floor. Instead we had to place it on things like tables. Regardless, despite the obvious flaws to this piece, I think some good features came of it.

Points to improve:

• Master take
• Over the shoulder shot should be changed - We need to see the emotional reaction, and a person's back can't convey that.
• Third man - Lack of flexibility with the camera was the biggest flaw of the film
• Better location - Filming outside during construction work wasn't the best idea for sound consistency

The biggest lesson I learned from this is the need for a master take. A master take is when you film the entire piece from a set angle, regardless of what shot the scene needs. This is useful for editing, as you have a set angle for every scene, and recorded sound for every scene - You essentially have a master track, which means that you won't hear sudden changes in sound quality when the shot changes.

Second take

On our second take, we changed location and actors, and we changed a few shots. It's a lot better than the original because we weren't pressed for time and we were not understaffed.

Preproduction

For this week we need to start the preproduction of our short film.

As a group, we are yet to decide on a final story for out film, but we have practiced the art of filmmaking by recreating a scene from a short film, as you can see below.

The film in question was 2+2=5, a short film based on the story and dystopian concepts of George Orwell's 1984.

The following is the storyboard for the short scene.
We made a storyboard because it is a barebones plan of what we intend to do. The storyboard doesn't just explain the story - It also details the kind of shots we will have in the film, and the dialogue. The storyboard was really important because of this.

This is the end result. It's shot well, but lacks decent editing.

Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding 

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who proposed that media texts are decoded while they are consumed. When inscribed messages are sent out to an audience they can be decoded in three ways: The consumer can either accept the idea being presented, reject the idea, or adjust the idea.

Accept - Agree with the idea that is presented
Reject - Disagree with the idea, asserting that it is false
Adjust - Believe that the idea presented can be ambiguous

In terms of anecdotal evidence I believe this to be true. Every time I have watched a film that is good enough to leave a message, I find myself actively thinking about the idea being presented, and if I don't agree with it, I will at least adjust to it, asserting that the idea is ambiguous and can mean multiple things.


BFI Film festival


We were lucky enough to have a film festival that was relatively local take place at this time - The BFI Film Festival, at Haymarket Cineworld, Piccadilly Circus.

We had the chance to watch 6 short films made by professional writers, composers and directors.
These films were:

• Dissonance
• A Hole In My Heart
• An Old Dog's Diary
• OVER
• Red Moon Rising
• Tuesday

Short film pitch





SHORT FILM 1: NOLAN

Our first short film, Nolan was the story we came up with to meet our first deadline. The story itself went through a lot of changes, and the original conception was far different to the final product.
The original idea was a police investigation. We wanted to film an interrogation scene since we had the perfect locations for it, so we wrote a story based on it, consisting of a man murdering someone for it, being questioned by the police only to reveal that he is actually covering up for someone. To help make the film more immersive and add a sense of authenticity to it, we decided to research techniques that police departments around the world use in interrogations, such as the Reid Technique and the PEACE method.

The film then started to drastically change on the original day of filming. Our location had been occupied by the ghastly forces of Santa, so we had to improvise. The story was changed so that the "by the books" approach of the interrogation was now going to be on the opposite end of the spectrum - The character was now going to be an extremely dedicated dirty cop.

In the end we decided to completely rewrite the protagonist's situation. The murder victim was now his son, and he happened to be a mob boss, and now the protagonist is going to physically victimise the man covering up for the real murderer. This change proved to be greatly beneficial - Instead of handcuffs, we had ropes, and instead of interrogation methods, we had a physically beaten victim.

The final cut of Nolan was a hybrid of both concepts of the film. We still used the idea that the protagonist was a mob boss, and it was his son that was murdered, but we also went back to the original location to film, and we used handcuffs as well as guns.

These changes were made because of casting issues. Originally, we had Jacob as the character being questioned, but in the end complications meant that we could not cast him. We also had a small makeup crew that would apply special effects makeup to create the effect that a character has been beaten up. In the end, we could not have them present for the final days of filming, so we also had to change plans.

The final product was good, but it was heavily improvised because of all these setbacks, so we knew we could do a lot better. The reason it was improvised was because we didn't have many failsafes. It is hard to replace an interview room quickly.

SHORT FILM 2: The Deal

The Deal is the WIP name for the latest and final film we are making for this course. This film was conceived from an old monologue we filmed as part of a short task. Our peers said it had a lot of potential, and that it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if we can expand on the idea, and so The Deal was conceived.

The Deal is a film revolving around stocks. The two characters managed to procure a hard drive containing stocks worth millions, and they were trying to sell them. However, the deal that took place left them with an extortionate level of payment, and so tensions boil. In the end, the two characters end up trying to kill each other.

We only had a week to finish this film, including scriptwriting, planning and editing of the film.

This film would be more action oriented, and feature a fight scene. Therefore, we not only had to script the film, but we also had to choreograph the fight scene. This brought up many issues.
The first issue was safety - How can we ensure that nobody gets hurt during the filming?
We countered this with actual lessons. We learned how to throw a working punch, so that it can look like the punch actually connected, but it didn't connect at all. Combine this with a good camera shot and you have a very realistic looking fight scene, that's also rather safe.

Most of the choreography was decided on the day. I thought about it in passing but since we were on such a limited timeframe we never really had the time to test things out, so everything was pretty much improvised. We pretty much choreographed the fight through this idea that everything should look realistic, but entertaining. We didn't want a cheap action film aesthetic ruining the film, so we tried to keep it as realistic as possible.

Editing

Naturally after scripting and recording footage for our film, we need to edit the sequences to create a coherent and ultimately good film. This is what we call the post production phase. 

This screenshot shows one way we synced audio with other clips. Since the video on the monitor was a pre-recorded we could sync up the video  in one clip to the video in another so there aren't any weird audible transitions. This scene was added in the last minute because we wanted a way to add more depth to the Antagonist.

In this screenshot we have overlapped one piece of footage over another. this makes it easier to have a clip change from one angle to another without having to make to many edits.

Ancillary Tasks

The main function of a film poster is to promote the film in question, raise awareness and in turn generate hype for the film. The poster helps to broaden the audience consuming the product so ultimately a well designed poster will bring in more people to the cinema. In terms of feature films this means that the product will bring in a larger revenue since more people are buying tickets, but this doesn't apply to short films, as a short film isn't necessarily advertised, and is screened in isolation. With this in mind, it's safe to say there's no commercial sense in creating a short film poster.

My short film is to be published on youtube to form part of a short film festival at a local cinema, like the Tricycle cinema. 

Analysis of short film posters

The Landing

This poster carries a simple yet highly contrasting colour scheme. The bright orange of the horizon greatly contrasts the black background of the rest of the poster. The orange horizon allows the silhouette of the boy and the spherical object to stand out, and the black sky, or background allows the shooting star to stand out. The presence of a horizon, along with the name of the film leads us to think this film is of the science fiction genre, with stars, unidentified orbs and horizons inciting imagery of extraterrestial things.

The spherical object is ambiguous as it's literally unidentifiable. It's a silhouette so we can only assume what it is. The fact that it is in front of the orange sunset makes it seem like the object is a solar eclipse, going with the science fiction theme of stars and the extraterrestral.

In terms of imagery, we have a young child touching this orb. This implies that the child doesn't exactly know what's in front of him, and exploring the unknown is a trope of the science fiction genre. In the sky there is a shooting star travelling downwards. Judging by the name of the film, it's safe to assume that this star lands somewhere on the planet, and it's likely to be the same object the boy is touching.

Cough

This poster shows what is likely to be the protagonist hooded wearing what appears to be a surgical mask. The character also appears to have a mark of sorts on their forehead. Likely relating to the story of the film, the mark implies that they are being marked for a reason - Perhaps they are chosen, or perhaps they are marked for segregation. This would be a rather dystopian concept that would go with the refrain of the film, "Civil liberties are yesterday". The surgical mask implies the need to cover your face, both for health reasons and for the protection of identity.

The poster carries a simple colour scheme = consisting of pretty much entirely grey, black and white. This is good because it doesn't make the main character stand out too much, which goes with the dystopian theme of the film.

The font of the film is very formal and industrial, not unlike road signs. There is also barbed wire covering the font. This is probably to imply anarchy of sorts.

Logan

This poster has a dark colour scheme. The only instance of a bright colour is with the spotlight over the person, and the entire purpose of a spotlight is to draw attention to a certain object or place.

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Now that I have analysed these short films posters, I now have a basic understand of how to design a short film poster that doesn't tell you a lot about the film but also gives you the main plot point without knowing it. So the next step in this is to design a Short film poster, but before that we need to come up with designs for our short film so we can have something to base our final poster on whilst we work on it. so what I did was get everyone in my group to make their own poster design on paper so that we could analysis all of them and take our favourite features from them and try and put them into our final poster.

we had a group meeting so that we could decide on a basic design that will help guide us to our final design. Some of the key features we decided to keep were:

• Mr King- we all wanted Mr King to be the focus of the cover as he is the character with the most presence within the short film.
• Above All- We wanted Mr King to be above Walter so it could demonstrate a sense of power.
• On a Monitor- We had all decided that we wanted the overall look of the cover is to look like a computer monitor, meaning that either the text would look like its on a monitor or that the whole poster looks like a monitor.

Now that we have this template now we have to go and take pictures that we could use in the poster. we took a camera and our actors to a location that would be easy to edit out if we wanted, which would allow the poster design to come out cleaner and give us more freedom to work on the poster. we tried different pictures as we went along so we would have options to work with.

Whilst the photo shoot for our poster was happening, another member of the team was collecting fonts to use on our poster, he chose multiple different fonts that he thought would work and then as a team we decided which one we liked the most and worked well with the poster we had in mind. the website he used was dafont.com which has a huge catalog of fonts. 

Now that we have the assets we want for our short film poster, we will get to work on making the film poster. first we choose what picture we want to use for the poster and then we stretched it so it can fit the size we want it too. but first we need want to experiment with the original design we had so we can see if we like the new adjustments or not. so for this we created two designs that have experimental features to it and we asked people which one they like more and why.




I used the transform tool to make the image larger, if you hold shift whilst expanding the image it keeps the dimensions at the points. Since he is the main actor, it makes sense that he is the focus of the poster, also we picked this picture because he look the most annoyed in the picture and he is looking down as if he looks down on everyone else in the film.



I used the quick selection tool to select our actor so i can remove the background and move it to another layer and i did that by pressing cmd + j. Removing the background gives us more space to edit and create the poster we want and since we are removing the background it gives us more space to help advance the story of our short film and give our audience hints on what the short film is about.




I then reselected the layer and opened the gradient tool, this will allow me to add a fade to the bottom of the image so i can have him blend in with another image. there is a multitude of things we could do with this, we plan to have it just fade to black but if we wanted we could have it blend into another image.



Next thing i did was add the text in the back to simulate a stock price board, we choose to do this to add a little insight of what one of the components of our short film is, we picked this specific font because it had a digital look to it but was still understandable and looks good.



This image show how i colorised the whole image so that it has on overall tint for the poster, i made it blue because it would match the way our short film is tinted and because it is suppose to have a digital look to it and since TV's and computer monitors LED's omit a blue light we thought it would be appropriate.























Finally we added our title and credits under it, this is an essential part to a poster because it allows the audience to know what film it is and who worked on it. we like the simplicity of the poster because it also helps set the tone that it is a simple short film and easy to understand.

Short Film Radio Advert

Radio adverts are one form of advertisement for all types of media, sadly there aren't many movie radio ads of recent because of the decrease of listeners of radio, so the easiest examples to find are other small independent film productions trying to promote their new short films.

Since our groups is essentially doing the same thing, we decided to analyse short film radio ads so we can get a basic understanding of the codes and conventions that we will use in our short films.

This short film, from what I can tell is about an environmental crisis; a "blackout" that the government tried to stop but were unsuccessful. I'm guessing that the film is about how a group or certain person deals with this event. this ad gives us this information by telling us it, but instead of having the voiceover say it, they had someone give us the information as a news presenter. i think this was a smart way of telling us the plot of the film without giving us too much. At the end they voice changed to someone else and told the listeners where they could find the film.

This short film, personally I think that this film is suppose to be a comedy, because the voice over sounds out of place especially with the topic of the short film. I think they did a good job making it seem as its trying to be serious but it knows that it is just a joke.

Now that I have analysed radio adverts, i have a general idea of how its supposed to be laid out. With this information we now have to figure out how to script this ad so that we can give the plot of the film without giving too much.