Evaluation - Part 1

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?

My main product, 'The Persistence of Memory' is a Surrealist, Salvador Dalí inspired short feature is based on the symbolic denotations of his most famous surrealist painting. The watches in the painting suggest the irrelevance of time; especially in the state in which a human is asleep, I was able to present this concept through the representation of 'Unknown Male' and his frustration as his obsession with time is disrupted when he is unconscious. Being an art house, Surrealist feature, one can imagine that the Surrealist genre is broad yet under developed with Surrealist cinema erupting in the middle of the 20th century, such a strange genre is not always found and used. With surrealism, I found that my ability to exploit art house conventions allow the audience to engage with the strange feel of the film, was also helped by the creation of the ancillary tasks. The ancillary tasks are crucial in the distribution process of the feature, such as the making of a distributive film poster using relevant images and font to suggest elements of the film to entice the audience and foreshadow the plot. A magazine review is also useful in giving a reader insight on what to expect from the product, in my case a BFI Sight and Sound inspired review, using simple layout and fonts and truthful, evaluation of the film as a part of Independent releases.

The film poster was created using Adobe Photoshop which enabled me to experiment with a variety of fonts, layouts and tools to create a desired and final outcome.  I used a simple photograph of the variety of clocks used as props in my product; this photo is very symbolic and relevant in suggesting the film's plot directly.  The photo implies the importance of time as a concept and element in the feature, which the character strongly vows to organise - multiple watches suggest a form of OCD.  I edited the photo to allow a white, blank background which portrays the watches as the central focus and attention, as they attract attention instantly.  The poster therefore suggests a hint as to what the feature is about, using a simple font to imply the cast, production company and title in itself.  Photoshop allowed me to experiment with a variety of styles, I felt that to portray my independent art house feature; a simple poster is more effective opposed to mainstream poster styles that show main actors/ actresses without implying what the film may be about.  I find that the combination of my film poster and product effective in reflecting each other - the group of clocks in a variety of shapes, types and sizes cause intrigue as the use of props is strange - successfully reflecting the bizarre, surrealist genre.  The adding of my production and release company logos and 'Sundance' award logos added at the bottom of the poster allowed a professional feel and enhancing of it's independent genre;.  For it to be nominated for a well known film festival that is known for exhibiting art house an independent releases, my film can attract a large audience and gain recognition. The monochromatic style of the poster also suggests an older and unclear time scale; which I imply in my media product through the portrayal of imagery and a contrasting sound-scape yet absence of dialogue.  Silent films are often associated when films were first introduced due to the lack of technology, therefore the colour palette of my poster implies an older time era.  My characters transportation to the dream state, shows an interaction between a mysterious female, 'Unknown Female', I felt that my poster did not need to suggest the characters to create suspense and intrigue to the viewers before watching the product.  It also successfully portrays similar aspects of minimalism through Independent film poster conventions and the use of props or locations to reflect the story-lines of the film.    

My second ancillary task of creating a magazine review has a purpose of being read by viewers, or those of interest in films, to gain insight from reading a review or rating on a new release forming expectations and ideas.  Different magazines provide an array of film reviews, such as Independent magazines like the BFI's Sight and Sound magazine; a variety of films such as foreign or art house style films will often be reviewed.  They will differ from other magazines that review mainstream movies such as Empire Magazine; a large organisation that reviews films, very few are independent releases and is expected to be read by a large audience.  I felt that my surreal, independent release would require a positive and honest review in order to create a larger profile to be recognised; due to the lack of surrealist features and intrigue caused by art house, indie films.  Being a silent feature solely relying on visual concepts and a surreal sound-scape consisting of heartbeats, insect sounds and clock ticks - I used editing and varied pace to create a very surreal moving image to create tension for the viewer.  I yet again used Adobe Photoshop for the development of my magazine review; using the conventions of a simple layout such as that of the Sight and Sound magazine, using a still image of the film to imply the storyline.  The image I used from my media product was very relevant in my ancillary task, using a still of 'Unknown Male' in his dream state, glancing at a wrist watch with the symbolic, clear empty crystal glasses also in the image.  They emphasise the concern and awareness of time as a concept, and the empty glass as mention in the planning stages suggests the past, an event that has already occurred.  I used neat columns and highlighted the important details of the film at the top of the review, such as the director, title and casts using bold, capital letters and large fonts.  This simple layout of the magazine review allows the reader to gain honest knowledge of the film and what originally inspired me as a director; such as Salvador Dali's influence as a central focus.

I find that the creation of my ancillary tasks enabled me to successfully promote my film using relevant products that depict the film genre; creating simple poster and magazine layouts to create intrigue and imply the art-house, independent feel of my Surrealist feature.  Audience and viewers may not all be familiar with the bizarre concepts of Surrealism therefore it is relevant to create distributive ancillary tasks to aid in the exhibiting of my feature, such as through the creation of poster and magazine review.  My media product and tasks reflect each other well in terms of depicting genre and conventions, through the simple layout of the poster to cause intrigue; it uses those conventions of real life Independent film posters that I studied such as 'The Machinist'.  A film poster of mainstream romantic comedy's  would focus on the portrayal of main casts and characters opposed to symbolic prop use.  I am therefore overall pleased with the combination of the products in how they represent the plot of the feature, such as through the use of the still shots portraying the most important shot of my character's frustration regarding time in a dream state.