Designing a Typeface - Tim's Hand

To design a professional looking poster I had to also design a suitable typeface to use on titles, subtitles and any other written language. I could have used a default text that are pre-set on the software I use (Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator), however I not of them appealed to me.
This is when I took on the task of designing my own font.

I wanted a typeface that was relevant to my character and reflected his personality. This could help my audience build a rapport with my character and it would also expose my character more, perhaps making him more likeable. To achieve this goal, I decided to handwrite the whole typeface in a particular stylistic manner. The typeface was meant to look as if my character, Tim, had written it himself. For this Reason, I named the font 'Tim's hand'.

Poster Design Ideas

I have many idea's for a poster design for my short film. Having researched into film posters I have seen many different designs and concepts that I have since taken inspiration from. Posters created from photographs, screenshots and illustrations have all been appealing to me creatively, however, personally for me, I have found greatest inspiration stylistically in illustrated posters rather than photography or screenshots. For this reason, I will illustrate the imagery on my poster and then digitally edit and manipulate using either Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator to achieve a professional looking final design.


Initial Design idea
One idea I had for a poster design was too have a close up portrait shot of my character. I would create the shot using photography as it creates a stronger sense of realism than an illustration would. In another view, I could also take an illustration approach to the design. By illustrating the image it could reflect my characters creative nature, possibly making the poster more personal and distinctive of my characters personality.

This concept lead me onto my next design idea.

Second Design Idea
I wanted to create an intriguing and powerful image to appeal to my audience and also represent the film successfully. In order to achieve this, I considered a using a screenshot or image from my film for the main image. I decided to use a shot of the medication and tablets that feature in my short film as it was almost contradictory to the title of the film 'Birthday Party'. As you would not associate tablets and medication with a birthday party, the image could intrigue the audience and develop interest in the film. However, rather than using a screenshot or photography I decided to illustrate for the reason listed above; to reflect my characters persona and creative ability.

Film Poster Moodboard

Here is a collage of inspirational film posters used to create a moodboard showcasing poster designs that I like. To create this moodboard I initially collected designs that appealed to me and then used Adobe Photoshop to create a collage of the images.

Film Poster Analysis

Here is my analysis of 3 different film posters. To analyse efficiently I broke it down into different sections; Purpose, Colour Scheme, Denotation and Connotations of imagery. This allowed me to focus on each aspect of the poster, however one disadvantage of this is that technical features have not been identified are analysed, features such as font style and size, layout properties, and the actual lexical and language choices used in each poster. For this reason, I will create a blog post which covers the more technical aspect of film posters and their features.

Here below is my poster analysis for the popular films 'Shawshank redemption' and 'Warrior', and also the underground cult film 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', which shows my analyse of the following:

• Purpose
• Colour scheme
• Denotation
• Connotations of Imagery

                             

                             Film Poster Analysis from lewwil

My Colour Theme

To achieve the desired mood of my film and personality of my character, I have decided to rely heavily on colour representation. A colour theme will be present throughout the entire length of my short film, to portray continuity and also to perhaps represent the extent of which not only my characters colour pallet is limited, but also his whole life is limited by living in the way that he does. Colour theme are a big focus for my film, and also on director, producer and screen writer, Wes Anderson's films, who is a major inspirational figure for me creatively. His use of colour is always aesthetically and conceptually pleasing, which is the level of effective colour representation I wish to achieve in my short film.

Having researched into colour meaning and representation, I decided to use this knowledge to help me design a colour theme for my short film. I decided to use a main colour pallet of 4 colours which would suit the representation of my character.

The first and for most important hue was the colour orange. Both, the positive and negative connotations stood out for me, as they had words directly linking to the theme of my movie, for example, 'Independence' is a positive connotation of orange, whilst independence is also a theme in my movie, as well as the negative connotations of 'pessimistic' and 'unsociable' being suited to my theme. It seemed highly appropriate to use this hue as a main colour in my short film for the above reasons.

Yellow also seemed appropriate as it could be used to represent the creativity of my character and also the more negative semantic meanings such as 'overly analytical' and once again reinforcing the idea of 'pessimism'. Notably, Yellow is harmonious with Orange as they sit next to each other on the colour wheel.

In opposition to the harmony of the orange and yellow, I will also use a light blue as a complimentary colour to contrast against the other hues. I will use light blue to represent discomfort and foreign feelings, this is as it is opposite to the warmth of the orange and yellow. The colour blue will also represent the reserved, quiet and emotionally unstable manner of my character.

I will also use a less noticeable amount of the colour red, which will to some, appear to harmonise with the warm nature of orange and yellow. However, whilst being in harmony, the red will also represent the possible danger of living life this way. I believe this use of red will be very effective as it is almost ironic to itself, as it represents both harmony and disaster.

I will also be using other colours, however these 4 colours will be the main theme.

Colour Theme from lewwil

Colour Connotations and Representation

All colours have existing connotations that society can perceive meaning and understanding from; both negative and positive. This is why colour is so important in the media industry as it allows you to portray and represent a character or individual in the manner that you wish to do so. Colour representation is used in almost every existing media platform, from blogs, websites, and magazines, to photography, film and TV.
I researched into colour psychology so I could take advantage of colour representation  to help portray my character and mood of my short film, in an effective way.

Here is a analysis of the main colours and the connotations they each behold.

Red
Positive: Warm, powerful, passion, energy
Negative: Revenge, Anger, violent

Orange
Positive: Warmth, happiness, independence, optimistic
Negative: Self-indulgent, pessimistic, unsociable

Yellow
Positive: fun, creativity, analytical
Negative: overly analytical, pessimistic, egotistical

Green
Positive: Balanced, harmony, generous
Negative: Materialistic, selfish, greedy

Blue
Positive: Honesty, loyalty, sincere, reserved
Negative: Emotionally unstable, weak, unforgiving, unfaithfulness

Purple
Positive: Imagination, spirituality, individual, creative
Negative: Immaturity, arrogant, impractical

Pink
Positive: Unconditional love, nurturing, warmth, hope
Negative: Over-emotional, immature, lack of will power

Brown
Positive: Friendly, stable, comforting, protective
Negative: Dull, boring, materialistic

Grey
Positive: Neutral, reliable, mature, intelligent
Negative: Boring, indecisive, depressed, isolated

Black and White
Black is often perceived as a negative colour with connotations of darkness, evil, depression, secretive. Where as, White is perceived as a positive colour with connotations of purity, innocence, honesty and wholeness.

Colour Theory

Colour theory is the understanding of contrast, complimentary, harmony, mood and the context of colours. Colour theory is used and seen in nearly every aspect of our modern life; from the design of popular technological products to even flower arrangement by florists and gardeners. In the media and in particular the film industry, colour can be used to portray characters in a desired manner by using colour theory to manipulate the mood of the costume, set, and overall aesthetics of the movie.

Colour theory is often based around the colour wheel; a display of organised colours used to show the relationship between colours. The first colour wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, however it has been debated, changed, and progressed over the years. Below are the basic colour wheels of the primary, secondary and tertiary colours.

Primary colours

The primary colours traditionally are yellow, blue and red. These 3 hues can not be formed by any combination of colours and all other colours are derived from these primary colours.

Secondary Colours

Secondary colours are produced by blending and mixing primary colours together. For example, mixing red and blue produces purple, or if you mix yellow and blue a green hue is created.

Tertiary Colours

Tertiary colours are formed by a blend of primary colour and secondary colour. For example, if you mix blue and green together a new hue is created, this is the reason that Tertiary colours have a two word name (ie. blue-green).

The colour wheel can now be used to identify colour compliments (colours that are in harmony together). Colour compliments are usually opposite each other on the traditional colour wheel, for example, orange and blue are complimentary colours. Refer to colour wheel to see this.

Another popular technique for colour combination is the analogous colour scheme. Analogous colour scheme are hues that are placed next to each other and harmonise together to create a serene and peaceful mood.

Character Development - Personality Research

To construct my character, I have taken inspiration from an individual who plays a big part in my life, my brother. Aspiring to be an independent individual, my brother spent a lot of time in his room, isolated from his family and friends, as his approach to achieve his goal of independence. However, spending time alone was actually not a enlightening experience for him, and he soon fell into depression. I am hoping for my character to be an extended fictional representation of the way in which my brother lived his life at his point of depression. However, it will be portrayed in an exaggerated and light hearted manner to showcase what people often stereotype an independent life to be. I will also take inspiration from other aspects and personalities from within myself and the people around me.

Personality Research
A trait of personality that reoccurs through nearly all personality theories, is the extravert and introvert ideaology. An extravert is an outgoing, socially interactive individual, where as an introvert is a more resilient and reserved individual, in contrast to an extravert. However, the most relevant personality for my project is introversion.

Introversion
"The state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in ones own mental life". Popular writers and theorists have identified introverted characters as individuals who energy tends to flourish through self reflection and dwindle with interaction. This character trait is very often misunderstood and stereotyped incorrectly by both extraverts and introverts.
Introverts are often stereotyped to be lonely,unfriendly, unsociable, unhappy, shy, negative characters who spend extensive time alone, due to their tendency to find less joy in large groups than extraverts do.

My character will display all of these stereotypical traits as a comedic asset within my short film, to exaggerate the introvert personality. This exaggeration will hopefully help me achieve the aims of my short film.

Here is a clip taken from Ted.com, showing a speech about introverts which is delivered by Susan Cain, titled "The power of introverts"

Reflecting on my Audience Interview Documentary - 'Remembering Film'

Upon reflection, I believe my audience interview documentary was rather successful, as it assisted me in understanding the expectations and likeable factors in movies that appealed to the intended target audience for my short film. This understanding will also prove helpful when making my short film and hopefully help me aim towards a more successful project. The documentary was also an opportunity to both showcase and develop my camera skills and the different techniques I have instilled over the last year. I done this by using a range of shots, such as extreme close ups, medium shots and a range of other shot types. I also attempted a shot I have never attempted before as an experiment; Pedestal down shot. To make the pedestal down shot as professional as possible I built a D.I.Y steadicam made from materials found around the house. Despite the amateur nature of a home built steadicam, I believe it was a rather successful building project and also a great way to develop my ability to improvise whilst on a production set to overcome any problems or challenges. In terms of editing footage, I feel I have progressed into a more capable editor, however I feel as though I was restricted during the editing process of this project by using the 'beginner' editing software that is 'Windows Movie Maker'. I have learnt from this experience and will try out a some other editing programmes until I find a software that is suited to my skill level and a one that will allow me to develop my skills at a comfortable pace.

Overall, I have learnt a lot through the whole process of making my audience interview documentary, including technological and software skills,also practical and technical skills, both in planning the documentary and physically on set. I look forward to further enhancing my media skills and applying them whilst creating my short movie.

'Remembering Film' - Audience Interview Documentary

Here is my final edit for my 'Audience Interview' documentary which I have decided to title 'Remembering Film', this is as the content of the documentary involves talking about experience with film and also memories of film, so the title seemed appropriate.

Building my D.I.Y Steadicam

I decided to build my own steadicam to help achieve a professional smooth pedestal down shot, this was because I did not have access to a steadicam. After researching, how a steadicam works, I had an idea of how I could make my own, with a functional design. I began to collect together materials I could use such as, string, shoe boxes, weights, blue tac, cello tape and even CD cases.

Here are the instructions I created and used for my home built steadicam.

1. Put holes in the side of the shoebox then thread string through either side.
2. Tie string together to create the holding point of the steadicam.
3. Measure distance to the middle and place another piece of string at this point (sitting above and hanging below the box)
4. thread the string that you just placed on the box through a 2.5kg weight and tie.
5. Cellotape the string in place.
6. Use CD cases and bluetac them down to raise the camera above the string on the box, to prevent a slanted angle and also to add extra weight to the steadicam.
7. Place Camera on top of both CD cases.
8. You now have a functional home-built steadicam!

Notes: Use a ruler throughout to measure accurately; this is important to make the steadicam balanced.

                                                           My steadicam progress picture

Measuring with a ruler to ensure effective balance on my steadicam

After building my steadicam, I used a spirit level app on my Iphone that measures the angle at which the iphone is positioned. This would show me how steady my D.I.Y project really was if the degree of angle didn't change drastically as I moved the steadicam up and down (pedestal down shot). I found that my Steadicam only had a degree change of 1°; flicking between 2° and 3°. I was rather suprised at how accurate my home built steadicam actually was, considering it was made out of materials found around the house. It would have been more appropriate to have a professional steadicam, however that was not possible; building one was a suitable alternative which I believe was fairly effective and beneficial. Below is a video, of the spirit level app in use, measuring how steady my steadicam was.

                                         

The finished design, along side the SLR camera I used to film my documentary 'Remembering Film'

Steadicam Research

After several attempts at shooting a pedestal down shot unsuccessfully, I began to research how professionals acquire a motion shot without the shake of an amateur, in the media industry. After searching online and hearing the term through peers, I discovered the steadicam. 

Steadicam Definition:
a stabilization system for motion picture or video cameras that allows a single operator to easily make smooth shots while moving.
(source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Steadicam)

Here is an example of a steadicam in use...

Steadicam shot example

Attempting The Pedestal Down Shot... and Failing

To help achieve a successful pedestal down shot, I realised that by utilising a steadicam I could produce a more professional camera shot. However, I had one problem... I didn't have access to a steadicam. I began to experiment with different techniques to try establish a smooth shot, this took a lot of experimentation with a range of ideas. I used a camera to record each attempt at creating a smooth pedestal down shot.
Here are the results:

                                                                   Handheld Attempt

As seen in the video above, the hand held attempt at the pedestal down shot was very unsuccessful. This was as the camera was extremely shaky and moved out of line due to the hand held nature of the shot. To progress from this failed technique, I then tried to use a wood board to steady the camera, to make a smoother shot.

                                                          Wood Board Support Attempt

After being unsuccessful in my handheld attempt, I then tried another technique to acquire the shot I required. This technique involved positioning a long piece of straight wood, vertical, next to the subject I wanted to capture. I then held the camera against the wood to support it to try to prevent the shaking of the camera. 

This technique was slightly more professional as it reduced the shake in the camera shot, however I was still not satisfied with the shot.

Audience Interview Storyboard/Shot Plan

These are the different kind of camera shot and angles I will use in my 'Audience Interview' documentary. I used a range of shots to showcase my skill and knowledge and also experimented with shots I have never attempted before, for example, shot four - pedestal down shot, which I had to build a D.I.Y steadicam to achieve the intended result. I will make a blog post regarding the reasoning behind the steadicam, steadicam research, building the steadicam and the experimentation and success of my home-built steadicam.

Shot one - Medium shot

Shot two - Extreme Close up 

Shot 3 - Medium shot

                                                               Shot 4 - Pedestal down shot

                                                             Shot 5 - Side view Close up

                                                                  Shot 6 - Medium shot

                                                          Shot 7 - Over the Shoulder shot

                                                                      Shot 8 - close up

                                                           Shot 9 - Side View Close Up

                                                          Shot 10 (final shot) - Close up

Audience Interview Brief

I have decided to document an interview I will conduct with my elder brother, Christopher Wilson who is a post-graduate illustration student with an interest in contemporary media. Christopher is a suitable candidate for my interview as he likes to investigate conceptual meanings  and hopes for a deeper story line in a film. This is suited, as my intention is to create a film with theoretic conceptions that the audience can gain something from and I hope for this to appeal to people with a similar view of film as Christopher. Another factor, that is fitting, is that Christopher is 23 years old,  which is appropriate for my target audience of 16-30 year olds.

I will ask several questions regarding memory, understanding, experience and expectations of film to gain an insight into the subject's mind.
Here are the questions I will ask (in no particular order).

• What's your earliest or most significant memory of film?
• Do you believe films are simply for entertainment or can they challenge political and social issues?
• What do you believe that film contributes to society today?
• What's your favourite film and why?

I hope to gain understanding of my audience by conducting this interview and use the knowledge and experience gathered from this interview to benefit my finished product.