My Film's Target Audience Justification

The genre that my film production is going to be is a coming-of-age film. Coming-of-age is a sub-genre of the very broad Drama genre. The best way to define a  'coming-of-age' film is that it is an account of how a person (the protagonist) makes the transition from youth to adolescence. The typical age that the protagonist should either be or approaching is 16 or 18 years old.  

 

When it comes to a target audience, the coming-of-age film genre has a wide range of viewers. Although technically aimed at a targeted teenage audience, young adults will be able to appreciate issues that are influenced by everyday life and so they will be able to enjoy the film because it explored these realistic issues in an original yet respectful manner. The coming-of-age films that attract an older audience tend to include explicit, controversial themes which will raise that film's particular rating as a result.

 

My film's pitch is 'A sixteen year old boy becomes the victim of an abusive, tumultuous relationship under the hands of his manipulative girlfriend'. In this pitch alone, there is a theme that is a code and convention of coming-of-age films: relationships. Through this alternative approach towards the awareness of domestic violence, I am aiming to attract an audience of about 14-17 years old because they are mature enough to understand the concepts of a basic, loving relationship and will take away this approach as a form of encouragement if their concepts of a relationship are neglected or harmed. I think that if the age was any younger, they would become disinterested and the lack of 'visual effects' such as exploding cars or superheroes darting across the skies will not appeal to them. Although the target gender for this film is boys (as the film encourages them to speak out and have more confidence when it comes to gender equality in domestic violence), I think that girls will most likely be the gender that will actually watch this film because girls tend to enjoy coming-of-age dramas more. 

Film Pitches

Before even the pre-production stages of a film can begin, a producer or writer needs to present their ideas to a distributing company or film studios. This is because the studios/distributing company have enough money to fund your idea and transpose that written idea onto screen (whether this be the large cinema screen or just a small television screen). These studios and companies receive hundreds of ideas every day so it is important that an idea is produced in a way that is clear and concise. The best way to do this is to produce a pitch consisting of 5 lines (or 25 words). A pitch should introduce the main plotline, characters and any themes that could provide an interesting enigma code(s) for the members of the studios/company reading your pitch.

 

 

This is my pitch for my film:

 

'A 16 year old boy becomes the victim of an abusive, tumultuous relationship under the hands of his girlfriend'

Typography - My Brief Definition

Typography is the art of generating letters and arranging them in ways that portray messages to the audience. When it comes to typography, artists can manipulate the font (typefaces), the point size, the line length (and the number of lines used), line spacing and letter spacing (tracking) to create text on a media text such as a film or a TV programme.

 

Anyone who creates type in a media text is called a typesetter and there are several jobs in the arts industry who fall under this category: graphic/visual designers, comic book artists (such as the artist who created the title and tag-line in this Spider-Man comic cover) and graffiti artists are just a few examples.

These are some examples of Asian-themed
typefaces.

A media text's typography also expresses emotion and helps the company or editor of that text to categorise themselves into genres. Genres can be distinguished through using codes and conventions of that genre to manipulate the way the writing appears to the audience. For example, an editor of a young girl's magazine may use an informal, fluent font (like this) in a feminine colour such as pink or purple to create a bright, girly atmosphere. Another example would be when a historical TV documentary would use an old-fashioned, plain-coloured typeface (such as this) to appeal to a more mature audience. Typography can also be influenced by elements of a media text, e.g.; location and nationalities, period or era of text's setting and themes like war and super-heroes.

 

HISTORY OF TYPOGRAPHY

Before the global digitalization, typography was a specialised occupation and was an art form. Nowadays, anyone is able to use it. Microsoft's programs allow people of even basic computer skills to use WordArt to create titles and add emphasis to particular words in Word documents and Powerpoint presentations. The Digital Age introduced a new generation of graphic designers and truly revolutionised the media industry.

The earliest forms of typography can be traced back to Ancient Greece when dies were used to make seals and coins. In the 11th Century, China created typography for movable texts (i.e.; TV programmes, films, adverts, etc).

RULES OF TYPOGRAPHY:

Every piece of typography follows these four rules:

 

Repetition - being able to easily reproduce the same typeface.

 

Contrast - the difference in colour between the typeface and image so that an audience can easily distinguish it.

 

Proximity - the size of the typeface and how distinguishable it is for an audience.

 

Alignment - how a type flow is set on a page or a column (sometimes called justification)

Movie Franchise Poster - The Three Flavours of Cornetto

After finding this on the Internet, I knew that I had to add it to the blog. Although this type of movie poster can only advertise a movie franchise to an audience rather than a single film, I still believe that it is effective in promoting and representing a brilliant (possibly the best, actually) trilogy to be exported out of Britain. The trilogy which I am talking about is the Wright-Pegg-Frost penned trilogy: the Three Flavours of Cornetto Trilogy.

 

When it comes to the British acting duo, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the action films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead automatically spring to mind - not forgetting the last flavour of the trilogy of course: The World's End. Simon and Nick could not have portrayed the leads of these great films without the direction of British writer and director, Edgar Wright. All I can say is if you haven't had seen at least one of these films yet and you can say 'yes' to the following questions:

1. Are you a fan of action films?
2. Do you prefer humour to soppy romantic classics?
3. Are you in dire need of a good film to entertain your nights in?

Then, the Cornetto Trilogy is for you!

 

Containing elements from all of the three films, this franchise poster represents the trilogy to me the most effectively because its simplistic artwork clearly signifies to me what it is trying to promote. Of course, there are elements of it that can only be understood and appreciated by an audience who have watched all of the films such as the swan at the top of the ice-cream cone and the recurring quote 'You want anything from the shop?'. On the other hand, the emblems also signify a nostalgic feel and signify the country's roots. This attracts an audience who may have not watched the films before to go ahead and view them simply because the films are influenced by and appreciate Brits. The mention of several British places in the emblems represent the locations of the three films.

 

The fan-produced trilogy poster containing elements from all of the three films (L-R of emblems at bottom of cone): Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013)

 

The positioning of the Cornetto cone allows the consumer to identify this as being the focal point of the image and the iconic 'criss-cross' pattern on the cone represents the basic link of the three films: the mention of a Cornetto ice-cream (whether this is mentioned in the script or used as a prop by one of the cast members). The red colouring of one of the drops of ice-cream on the cone signifies blood and death. This is one of the several elements of the poster that represent the trilogy's main genre: action.

 

The other elements that represents the films' genre are: the melee weapons at the top of the cone and the pair of pistols at the middle of the cone.

 

The melee weapons are a reference to Shaun of the Dead where the cricket bat and the spades are used to remove the main army in the film: the zombie population of London. For anyone who is still unsure of what Shaun of the Dead is, this film is a zombie comedy (often abbreviated as 'zom com') which is about the title character's attempts to win back his ex but the main problem that distracts his attempts is that overnight, the streets of London have now been infested with zombies . This film reincarnated the 'zom com' genre for a modern-day audience and is a pastiche of George A Romero's 1978 horror 'Dawn of the Dead'. (For those who are not sure what a pastiche is, it is when a media text imitates the work of someone else as a celebration or a tribute to the original artist's work.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pair of pistols refer to Hot Fuzz, the second 'flavour' of the trilogy. This was a humorous crime drama that could also have been seen as a pastiche to the 'buddy cop' sub-genre of action comedy films (examples being Lethal Weapon, Point Break, Bad Boys, etc). The title of the film relates to the main theme of the film: 'fuzz' is a colloquial phrase for 'police force'. This informality appeals to the audience because even without having to watch the film, the title signifies a relaxed setting. This represents the film as being humorous and relatable to an audience who do not work with the police. Whilst Shaun of the Dead used melee weapons, Hot Fuzz used gunfights as the main cause of violence.

 

Out of the two elements described, the guns appeal to action enthusiasts the most because the use of guns is a typical code and convention in not only films and movie posters but in media text where action is the main and targeted genre.  

 

 

At the bottom of the cone are two pints of beer. These not only represent the main theme of The World's End: they represent the recurring theme of the three films: the use of a pub as one of the main locations. In Shaun of the Dead, The Winchester is where the climax of the film occurs. In Hot Fuzz, The Crab Inn is a location where many of the film's events occur [including the introduction of Nick Frost's character, Simon Pegg's monologue of why he became a police officer and the confrontation between Simon Pegg and Jim Broadbent's character near the end of the film]. In The World's End, the film's plot is the apocalyptic events surrounding attempts to finally complete an ambitious pub crawl. The pints of beer also signifies a common stereotype of Britain: the pub and the pint of bitter. This appeals to the audience because it represents the British influence behind the films.

 

The final element right at the tip of the bottom of the cone represents the last of the three flavours: it is the map of 'The Golden Mile', the bar crawl of Newton Haven that the five main characters attempt to complete. This element represents The World's End and this is the element that, for me, is the most exclusive when it comes to fan appreciation. The positioning of this element at the bottom of the cone has been made because as it is the latest flavour, people who have seen Hot Fuzz and/or Shaun of the Dead may not have seen this film yet. Therefore, if it was the main focal point of the image, the majority of the target audience may not be attracted to the image because they do not understand why a 'random' map is in the picture. When put into this theory, the map is used as an enigma code for those who have seen the previous two 'flavours' and is intriguing, encouraging that particular audience (fans of the Cornetto Trilogy) to watch this 'flavour'.

 

 

In terms of the image's photography, a basic colour palette has been used to prevent any attention being drawn away from the focal point of the image. The grey background also gives definition to the bold outlining of the elements of the picture. Artwork has been used rather than photography to add to the image's nostalgic feel. The positioning of the elements surrounding the ice-cream cone resemble an emblem (a bit like the Queen's Coat of Arms) and this represents the British influence behind the films. The capitalised typography makes it clear to read and the old-fashioned font also adds to the nostalgic feel.

 

Although this was not a compulsory post for the school's media course, I decided to analyse this poster because for me, it effectively represented three of my favourite films. It also provided me with inspiration for future projects and showed  me that artwork on posters can be just as effective as photography. It also showed me that posters do not necessarily have to include the film's title in order for the audience to identify what film the poster is advertising.

 

(Cornetto - All Rights Reserved to Unilever)

 

 

Codes & Conventions for Different Genres

A genre code and convention is a typical feature that helps the audience to identify what genre a particular film belongs to. This is a list showing codes and conventions that are typically seen in these film genres. The list also contains some examples of films just so that you can be able to identify these conventions mentally.

The layout of each bullet point list consists of these headings:

1. Typical Film Locations
2. Typical Film Characters
3. Typical Film Plot
4. Typical Themes/Plot Influences
5. Examples

The film genres which I will be clarifying the codes and conventions for are:

• Romantic Comedy
• Disney
• Sci-Fi
• Horror
• Adventure
• Fantasy

Notting Hill (1999) is an example of a
rom-com where the plot is based on a
difference in character status.

ROMANTIC COMEDY

• Beach, café, hotel, famous landmarks (particularly cities in U.S.A and Europe, e.g.; Paris, Rome, New York, etc), church
• A man and a woman (usually young but sometimes old too), the lead characters' families
• The man and the woman somehow meet but instantly hate each other, some kind of coincidence or situation throws them together, they eventually fall in love
• Meeting by chance, Christmas, illness, curses, distance - being apart from one another, weddings, work, difference in character status and conflict because of this (e.g.; power, social class, ethnicity)
• Love Actually, About A Boy, Notting Hill, The Proposal, The Notebook

DISNEY

• Woods, castle, village, cave, ball/gathering, natural landscape, abandoned places
• A princess, her rescuer (masculine characteristics), talking creatures, evil villain, rescuer/princess' companion (usually a creature but can be human), army
• Princess gets into trouble, the rescuer meets her and they fall in love, the villain recaptures the princess, a dramatic climax until villain's death, 'happily ever after'
• Songs/very musical, death, love, friendship, usually a moral is involved for audience to take away, loss, tragedy, curses, faith, hope, adventures/voyages
• Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Princess & The Frog, Pocahontas, Mulan

SCI-FI

• City, space, different planets, space ship, desert, woods
• Alien/unusual creature, explorer, majority of cast is male except a female (usually very attractive), evil commander (creature/human)
• Explorer and crew discover unusual creature, creature invades main location/Earth, situation becomes apocalyptic, most of the cast is killed off during attempts to remove creature, creature is removed, outlook of location after removal - good and bad
• Love and relationships, discovering new life, political, environmental disasters, paranormal, exploring possible life, death, illness and disease, apocalypse and post-apocalypse outlooks, mass destruction
• Cloverfield, District 9, Alien, Predator, Terminator

HORROR

 

• Abandoned place (in the middle of nowhere), woods, isolated house or cabin, old hospital/asylum, church, cellar
• A group of teenagers/young people, twisted psychopath wanting to kill others (usually a man), male and female cast (females usually attractive, much emphasis on figure), cannibal-like creatures, cult groups,
• Starts in party/gathering/on holiday, bad event occurs involving attack or death of someone, people get hurt, cast gradually killed off when audience tries to figure out the cause of their death, escalates into extreme situation/climax, one or two remaining characters kill enemy,
• Gore, torture, possessions, demons, sex/sexuality, weapons (melee and firearms), loss of innocence, psychological trauma, effects of childhood, religion, inflicting pain for self-pleasure, documentary footage, true life/'non-fiction', historical, discovering new creatures, illness and disease
• Saw, Hostel, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Grudge, The Exorcist

ADVENTURE

• Castle, tomb, plenty of locations in one film, exotic places, dungeon, city, desert
• Male explorer, female assistant, comedy character, person who wants to stop them, army/group that follow antagonist's orders, professor/highly intelligent individual
• Explorer is sent away to search for treasure, obstacles in way (natural as well as man-made traps), a love interest develops between explorer and assistant, a character gets lost/abducted, antagonist bribes release of person for treasure, explorer rescues character and somehow stops antagonist (through death or arrest)
• Love, greed, money, friendship, trust, refusing to give up, materialism vs people, morals
• National Treasure, Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Mummy

FANTASY

• Fictional world, castle, palace, woods, sea, tomb/dungeon, 'underworld'
• Child protagonist, talking creatures, animal companion, mainly child cast, adult guardian, evil villain, villain's companion/army
• Protagonist enters fantasy world, set a challenge/search for mystical object, meets companion villain tries to stop protagonist, few obstacles in way (natural and man-made traps) sends army, protagonist defeats army, protagonist returns object to owner, 'happily ever after'
• Friendship, morals, strength - never giving up, caught between fantasy and reality, growing up/coming of age, magic, love, cures
• The Chronicles of Narnia, Black Cauldron, The Labyrinth, Epic, Percy Jackson franchise

    

       

 

Sherlock - Why This Appeals To Me

 

 

Barely any words able to describe this series. Only 'epic' springs to mind to be fair!

Many fans of the actor, Benedict Cumberbatch (or Cumberb*tches as they call themselves) can surely agree with me when I say that this BBC series - which, due to his incredible success in the UK, has now been embraced by American audiences through PBS - is the pinnacle of his acting career! Through this spawned appearances in other film giants such as Star Trek, War Horse and, of course, The Hobbit.

Even though I will give full credit to Cumberbatch for his incredible portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's popular crime-solving connoisseur, Sherlock Holmes, the reason why this particular series appeals to me is because it is just open to near enough every audience out there! Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffet's adaptation of Doyle's novels not only appeals to those who have read the novels and understand Holme's extreme levels of the deduction of facts from first appearances but this is a modern-day twist of the series that incorporates the setting of 421B Baker Street in the urban hustle and bustle that is London! The script has also been updated to the twenty first century and throws in the occasional witty comment either from Mr Holmes himself or his trusted ally, Dr. John Watson (played by another great British actor, Martin Freeman).

Although Sherlock may be too psychologically straining - and perhaps a bit boring - for younger audiences, these two series are thrilling and contain at least one plot twist in each episode! With the production of the third series officially completed, I strongly recommend catching up with the first two before you consider joining the third.. After all, no spoilers intended here but a major cliffhanger that shocked thousands of fans and sparked an enormous Twitter outroar is the link that fluently leads onto this new series which is set to hit our screens during the next few months!

Left: Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes
Right: Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson