Initial Three Ideas Presentation:

I will show this powerpoint to a few members of my class and ask for their feedback on my ideas. The students in my class are also in my target audience therefore their feedback will be useful to see which idea most appeals to them and to see what they would adapt.

The video below shows our presentation and the feedback we received.

Initial Planning - My Chosen Genre:

With the knowledge I have gained from my genre research, my own experience watching films and my very limited experience in film making I have decided that the genre my short film will be is Coming of Age. This is because it will be based off a character of a similar age to mine and therefore I can draw from my own experiences of being a teenager to help create a realistic and interesting short film. It will also be easier to gain feedback as my target audience will be teenagers and young adults, the same age range as the other members of my class.

The Coming of Age Genre:
The coming of age is a sub-genre within the genre Drama. They tend to focus on psychological and moral growth of the protagonist. Personal growth is generally the most important characteristic for Coming of Age films. These films also aim to achieve an emotional response from their audience rather than creating complex action sequences.

Plot:
The storylines for the sub-genre coming of age tend to be very realistic and often have the protagonist facing everyday challenges, these can range from anything like the difficulties faced growing up, to break ups, death and illness. The ending of the films under this genre tend to end with the protagonist learning a lesson as they reflect on the events during the film. Some plots can also revolve around personal struggles such as addiction to drugs, alcohol etc. Coming of Age films tend to be focused on the theme of redemption, rehabilitation and growth.

Character: 
Characters in this genre can be either female or male and tend to be younger adults or teenagers. The protagonists character usually develops as the storyline progresses leading to them becoming an improved individual, fitting with the redemption arch which is common throughout the genre. Some popular character relationships in this genre are a Parent/Child conflict or a Boy/Girl conflict. There isn't usually an antagonist, however if they do choose to include one it is usually a Male antagonist.

Elements included in the genre tend to be:

• Conflict
• Happy Conclusion
• Tension
• Realistic storylines
• Resolution
• A characters personal journey
• Dramatizes interpretations
• Moral ambiguity

Different props included in this genre:

• Guns
• Knives
• Drugs
• Mobile Phones
• Alcohol

Mis En Scene / Setting and Location:

• Hospitals
• Cities
• Home
• Police Station
• Council estates
• Schools
• Local Parks

Target Audiences:

Coming of Age films have both male and female protagonists, therefore they appeal to both sexes. It would depend on the sex used for the lead character as to which gender the film most appeals to. The usual age group this genre appeals to is very broad as many different elements of the film are interchangeable therefore opening it up to all ages. Typically these films generally appeal to the ages 14-45. 

Research - What is Genre?

One of the most important element of planning for any media product is choosing which genre your short film will fit into. This will help me decided many different elements of the process of making the short film. Genre will help me determine the different characteristics of my target audience such as age, gender, location. Choosing a genre will also give me a list of conventions that other short films of the same genre generally follow. These conventions will give me an idea how stereotypical genre short films are developed in terms of content, themes and structure.

Over time the number of genres have dramatically increased. Genres started to develop after the end of the silent film era. The main genres established at that time were: the melodrama, the western, the horror, comedies and action-adventure films. Some writers and directors followed the conventions for each of these genres however others mixed the different conventions leading to a wider range of genres and eventually sub-genres.

Choosing a specific genre for a film can be both helpful for the institutions and the audience as well. It allows institutions to understand who would be most interested in their film and helps them build a profile for the typical target audience they should be marketing their short film towards. They can also include themes and plot lines that will appeal to their audience which in turn will make a larger profit for the institution which can then be reinvested into other projects.

Some different examples of genres are:

• Action films
• Adventure films
• Art
• Biographical 
• Comedy Films
• Crime and Gangster films
• Documentary
• Erotic
• Educational
• Exploitation
• Fantasy
• Epics/historical films
• Horror films
• Musical/Dance films
• Mystery
• Propaganda 
• Reality 
• Romance 
• Thriller
• Science Fiction films
• War Films
• Western films
• Coming of Age
• Disaster 
• LGBT

There are also different methods of production that can be used to categorise short films, these include:

• 3D
• Animation
• Black and white
• Feature
• Independant
• Live Action
• Low Budget
• Short 
• Silent

As I have a very limited budget and very limited access to different resources my product will most likely be independent and low budget genres. 

Initial Research - Promotional Methods:

How Are Short Films Promoted? 

Distribution promoters:

Larger distribution companies often spend very large amounts of money promoting their films and media products. This is very successful at getting the concept behind the film out to as many people as possible and securing their main target audience to watch the film when it is released. The different promotional methods used create a 'hype' behind the product, getting their target audience excited for its release. This in turn makes profit as they generate a larger amount of ticket sales during the exhibition process after its released as so many people have seen the advertisement, this is then reinvested into future projects. If a distribution company has a large number of successful releases in films then it will continue to make more revenue and in turn be able to fund larger projects, therefore growing in terms of finance and popularity. When one company distributes many of the same genre film they can secure the same target audience for each film they release, therefore generating a successful reputation. One example of this is Lucas Films, known for the release of Marvel Films such as The Dark Knight. People who have seen the adverts for past 'Superhero' films and then viewed them and enjoyed them are more likely to watch the same genre film distributed by the same company. This means most distributors then to stick to one genre of film to promote, securing their target audience for all the films they release, ensuring they understand their audience on a more in depth scale and creating new innovating methods of promotion which will appeal to them. 

Promotion and marketing are a very large component of Hollywood films that costs and exceed those for production. However smaller filmmakers who distribute independently would normally spend very little on the marketing of their films due to their smaller budget. 

How do they Promote their Media Products?

There are many different ways in which a distribution company can market their films to their target audience. These different techniques come under two different methods of marketing: Heritage and Digital marketing. 

Heritage Marketing: These are more traditional methods of marketing. One example of this is posters advertising your media product. These posters would be displayed in public locations such as shopping centres, buses or billboards. The trailer for their media product would also be played in theatres before films of similar genres who would be aiming at a similar target audience. This media is often referred to as 'push' media as the advertisement is 'pushed' onto the target audience in order to generate excitement for the release. 

Digital Marketing: Digital marketing is when advertisement is presented through new media technology, one new example of this is social network sites. This is becoming a very popular method of advertisement for distributors as it reaches a wider range of people, generating a larger network of people interested in your product. This is also becoming very popular as filters can be added to their advertisement making sure it hits a very particular target audience and they don't waste their money on people who won't be interested, something which wouldn't be possible with a poster. Another reason why it is becoming increasingly popular is because it is often cheaper to advertise this way rather than in a physical form as these would need to be printed. 

Short filmmakers tend to use a mix of both marketing techniques. As short films are generally promoted to a more localised audience, posters are used to advertise their products, this is due to their smaller budget. Although it would be more expensive to pay for posters for a larger scale distribution, on a smaller scale these are more effective for the price. The small budget means that is it rare to see a trailer for a short film before a film in cinemas. Social media has become a very popular way short filmmakers to promote their films as they can reach a wider range of people for free through websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Another platform independent filmmakers have used to post their short film on is YouTube. This can regenerate an amount of revenue directly correlated to the number of views your short film receives due to placing adverts at the beginning of the video. This revenue can then be used to fun future products or replace the money spent on distribution. 

Research Task - Chosen Media

WHAT IS A SHORT FILM?

A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. Although no consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".

Short films generally follows a protagonist as they face a dilemma, the film will watch it unfold and be resolved. They tend to follow simple plots due to the limited running time. It is rare for a short film to include lots of character development as there isn't enough time to fully introduce characters. 

Short films were first introduced in 1910 as comedy serials, created by comedians as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy. 

WHAT ARE THE KEY ASPECTS OF A SHORT FILM?

NARRATIVE:

• Short films tend to only have two to three characters at most, this is due to the limited running time. There isn't time to introduce multiple characters in such a short time period as it would confuse the audience and make them uninterested.
• Short films tend to focus on plot more frequently than character development. Due to the short length there isn't time for the audience to see a change in the behaviour of a character. Its also hard for the audience to build a relationship and care so quickly for the character, this would make them uninterested in the development and difference in them.
• Short films tend to stick in the same locations to keep the plot as simple as possible but still entertaining for the audience. 
• Many short films take the idea of a plot which follows an ordinary mundane task that the audience will relate to and putting an interesting spin on it. 
• Todorov's film theory of equilibrium can be applied to short films as there is generally a problem or conflict half way through the film which is revealed at the end. 

BUDGET:

• Short films tend to have a smaller budget due to their independent nature, therefore its unusual to see expensive props and lots of extras as it would be too costly for the production.   
• Short films also tend to stick to few if not one location due to their low budget. 
• Actors tend to be inexperienced a younger inn age as they are cheaper to hire, which can also limit the 'star appeal' of the short film. 
• Thye tend to be lower quality than larger productions, this is because they tend to have to use cheaper lower quality filming equipment due to their small budget. 
• Budget can also affect the score for the film as the creators don't have to money to hire an artist to create original music, therefore they end up using copyright free music but this can affect the overall quality of the film when compared with a feature length film. 

EDITING AND MIS EN SCENE:

• It is rare to see VFX and Special Effects to be used in a short film due to their small budget.
• Voiceovers are popular within short films as they can tell a story

GENRE:

• Short films can be either animated or live action, therefore not putting a limit on the the choice of genre. 
• A short film can be any genre.

Introduction

My name is Lucy Scanlon, I am an A2 student studying Media, English and History. I have a large interest in the film industry and may want to pursue this as a career, therefore I hope to achieve a good grade this year to help me get into Uni or an apprenticeship after Sixth Form.
At the moment I think I want to get into a career either in film or journalism, but before going to Uni I am looking at taking a gap year.