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Magazine Research

MAGAZINE RESEARCH

Print media has two main forms, newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are mainly printed and prepared on inexpensive paper qualities while magazines, on the other hand are magazines are printed on high quality glossy sheets and are compiled in the form of a book or a booklet. Newspapers contain news, advertisements  usually  jokes, however, magazines on the other hand are much more versatile when it comes to information.

Magazines work in accordance to genres. Some of these genres can be classified as, sports, fashion, health and beauty, animals, photography, computers, gaming, sexuality, medicine, financial and economical, and socio-political. This tells us about the vast audience of magazines. The concept of having such a long range of genres is basically because magazines tend to cater to all sorts of audiences in relevance to age, gender, occupation, language, finance and area of interest. Obviously, each of these segments of genres have a wide scale of information, articles, advertisements etc. It is a common trend, magazines brands are usually known for their own specific type of genres and sub-genres. For example, Newsweek is solely a news related magazine and it caters to people within the countries it is sold out to, within the age limit of 25-60. On the other hand, The Economist is a finance magazine that caters to everyone within the working class department and to all those who are closely linked to the economy of the country. It has managed to cater to  issues such as Britain's sinking economy, Stalemate in Israel, Australia's fires from hell, Will electronic books save newspapers etc. Then we have magazines that cater to health, beauty and sexuality such as Cosmopolitan and Playboy. However, despite catering to almost the same genres, such magazines can be completely different due to their target audience, Cosmopolitan caters to woman hence with the genre of sexuality, there are sub genres of health and beauty as well. However Playboy targets young guys, between the age group of 18-25 and do not have much link with health and beauty, but is mainly erotic in reference to context. On the other hand, Cosmopolitan has a good amount of written information whereas Playboy is more visual in accordance to the interests of their audiences.

We then have fashion magazines, that are widely distributed around the world. These are too, divided into groups regarding mostly, gender, however, at times can even collide as one.  Vogue one of the most famous fashion magazines. It caters to both, men and women and advertises fashion products of very well-known brands and designers like Gucci, Piere Carden, Prada, Luis Veton, Hill-figure, Miu Miu, Armani, Lacoste, D&G etc. We have a number of fashion magazines in Pakistan as well. One of the best sold is Expose and the Fashion Collection . It caters to girls to the female society within the age group of 19-35 and advertizes products by famous Pakistani Designers. One the other hand Pakistan has a great deal of socio-political magazines as well. Socio-political magazines are very vast when it comes to information. One can read articles about the government, the latest fashion, the economy crisis or even the latest openings of malls and successful cafes. Having to deal with so many issues basically means they have  to cater to a large number of audience with different areas of interests. Some would be interested in reading the articles related to the news and business, some would be interested to the political issues, while others would be interested more towards the social and fashion articles and advertisements. An example of a socio-political magazine  is the FYI Magazine (for your information).

Coming to nature, one of the most popular and the most trusted magazines is the National Geographic Magazine. This magazine does not only comprise of nature, but also makes use of sub-genres like animal study and photography. Such magazines do not have a very big audience, but are very inspirational and informative towards whatever little audience they have. Such magazines are completely advertised and distributed in accordance to the interests and hobbies of the audience. The audience of such a magazine can consist of photography students, environmentalists or simply animal lovers. Computing, technological and gaming magazines are basically catered to the male society of young boys who have an interest in new technologies and games, and students of computing  media or engineering. Lastly, medicine is a very rare genre of magazines and simply caters to medical students and doctors to whom it might be of interest and relevance  Stepping aside from a general view, i will now come to the magazine i have chosen for detailed study, the socio-political magazine, FYI.

The FYI Magazine

      

As mentioned above, FYI magazine-Pakistan, is one of the very few magazines in Pakistan that cater to such a vast audience due to all the sub-genres the magazine comprises of. The four pictures above illustrate the versatile nature of the magazine. The first two pictures show the magazine cover of models dressed in branded wear, which caters to the 'fashion' department of the magazine. However, the third cover shows a picture of one of Pakistan's very talented actors, Hina Dilpazir, which caters to the 'media' department and the personal life of the actor interviewed, as well as his or her view regarding social, political as well as literary affairs. The fourth magazine cover is simply regarding the official start of the new year 2012. I other words, the magazine has very few boundaris and limitation to information and affairs.

Here are some examples of the types os sub-headings one would find while reading the FYI magazine:

- Politics

- Socio Culture

- Fashion

- Music

- Film

- Television

- Literature

                                      

FYI magazine also appreciates and initiates write ups from the public regarding their thoughts and suggestions, feedback and their likes and dislikes about the magazine. This is taken as a way to get the audience remarks and apply them accordingly when preparing and launching their next issue. This method of gathering audience feedback also leaves a good impression of the magazine management on the audience and hence, brand loyalty is likely to be achieved  FYI is distributed in all the mega-cities of Pakistan, Karachi being the head quarters, Islamabad, Lahore etc. It is available at every bookstore, as well as super markets proving with newspapers and magazines. High quality textured, glossy paper is used for printing, and the magazine relates to relevant and brief information and manages to be a handy, thin magazine, consisting of around 35 pages.

Every year the cover pages are unique and informative in their own way. Like most magazines do, FYI tends to present the most important issue of the magazine on the cover page, whether it's over a fashion show, an important interview, a big event that took place, the opening of a new cafe or simply over photography by a famous photographer of a well-known model or a well-known brand. Here is an example of covers that illustrate the main issue of inside the magazine.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

This magazine was launched in 2008. Its cover shows the main events being discussed in the magazine, that were, the article on The Chicago Musical play held in Karachi  and the Samar Mehdi Fashion Show. The cover page is divided into two pictures and one is of the play and the other is of the fashion show. Also, the cover pages have sub-headings written on them, informing the readers what will likely to be found out inside the magazine, in this case, it said The Chicago Musical - opening in Karachi 27th July and The Sama Mehdi Fashion Show - Exclusive Behind the This cover was given to the launch of 2008. As shown on the cover, the main two issues of this years scenes.

 An Example Of FYI's Best-written Articles : In conversation with Sharmee Obaid Chinoy

REFERENCE FILMS

REFERENCE FILMS

Before starting of with my reference films, first i would like to give a short summary of the theme of my product. The short film is going to be based on a fourteen years old girl who had to drop out of school in order to work as a maid an earn for her family. Yes, this is child labour, but in Saima's case (character's name), life is hard, but not so bad. The family she works for love's and respect's her a lot. But even then she at times thinks to herself and recalls all the dreams she had ever since she was born. But unfortunately children like her donnot get chances to fulfil those dreams. She is very creative though, she paints out something beautiful whenever she gets time. However, when after every two weeks she goes back home for a day, she makes sure she collects whatever money she is given as a privilege to buy what she wants by the owner of the house she works for as a sign of love and care, in order to buy some chocolates and sweets from the store because she knows when she enters home, she'd see her three younger siblings waiting for her to surprise them, with eyes full of innocence and hope, and once she hands over the sweets and chocolates and sees the happiness and joy on their faces, she feels all her dreams just came true. Point being, great money cannot buy happiness, but happiness can come from anywhere in any way, even to those who never get to live their dreams.

It was very hard to find films with stories of such kinds. However i managed to find three big famous films. These are Children Of Paradise, Slum Dog Millionaire and  Stanley ka Dubba.

CHILDREN OF PARADISE

Starting with Children Of Paradise, despite being a film of the small film fraternity, Children of paradise  has proven to be a very beautiful, simple and admired film by many areas of media in the world. I have happened to watch this film myself on television around four times even though it is not a Bollywood, neither a Hollywood film. The dialogue sequence and scene to shot divisioning has been done so well that even watching with sub-titles makes it feel equally interesting and heart throbbing. This film Les Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film directed by Marcel Carné. It was made during the German occupation of France during World War II. The film was voted "Best Film Ever" in a poll of 600 French critics and professionals in 1995.

The basic purpose of choosing this film as a reference film is mainly because of is characterization, and to some level, the story. This film is about a brother and a sister who belong to a very poor home, but are being provided with education by their father who works hard day and night, and the entire time, they both share one pair of shoes, a very old and worn out pair that even hurts their feet. But they don't afford to buy a new pair. The brother even runs for a race only because the second prize is a new pair of shoes. He does very well and actually wins the first prize, but he's not happy, because all he wanted was a pair of shoes. The films ends on scene where the children are very upset back home because the brother could not win the shoes, but their father while coming home has a twp pairs of shoes in his cycle basket, and one can only imagine what the reaction of the children would be when they see what their father got for them.

Basically, the concept of the small dreams and desires of a poor child who does not afford to purchase a big happiness but can get the same happiness out of something small is what made me choose this film as a good comparison to mine and the characterization and relationship between siblings is another reason of comparison since in my story the main character feels responsible and careful towards her younger siblings.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

Coming to the Slum Dog Millionaire, this film has proved to be one of the greatest films of the year 2008. Being a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan, this film was a great success to both, the Hollywood as well as Bollywood industry. 'Set and filmed in India, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a young man from the Juhu slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati in the Hindi version) and exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. The movie combines elements of crime and adventure'. This particular sentence basically tells the entire story of the film. Even though this film is barely comparable to my film, i have still chosen it as a reference film, mainly just to compare the way of life of the poor and under privalidged children. That s the only aspect of common interest of this film to mine, but i still felt it is important to mention it. Actually, what really attracted me into choosing this particular media text is because of the way certain scenes are shot and the characterization in accordance to appearance, living standard and language. I feel i could make good use of such planning and shots for my film when i start my shoot.

STANLEY KE DABBA

Stanley Ka Dabba is one of the most beautiful films i have seen on the topic of child labor and is one of my very favorites. This was a low budget film as the famous Bollywood director Amul Gupte wanted this film to be out of the main stream cinema. However, Stanley Ka Dabba attracted positive reviews from critics across India. The film is based on a boy, Stanley, who is vry creative, talented and popular amongst his friends and teachers. But one thing about him was strange, he never carried his lunch box 'dabba'. There was a teacher in the school, who was known as 'khadoos' (miser) amongst all the children. He never got his own lunch, but always used to take away lunch from the students. Stanley's friends used to share their lunch with him, hiding from khadoos. Unfortunately, one day they got caught by him and he strictly told Stanley that he either has to get his own lunch or leave school. Ever since then nobody saw Stanley in school again.' Khadoos' felt bad for what he had done and left school, while on the other hand Stanley happened to win an inter-school festival prize. The same day his teacher Mrs. Rosy, who was very impressed by him, offered to drop him off. But Stanley lied and said that his mother was waiting in the car. Later on, Stanley’s secret is revealed when he rushes to a restaurant. Turns out he's an orphan who works at the restaurant and earns for a living. From next day onwards Stanley takes his restaurant left over to school and shares them with his friends, lying to them that his mother made everything. 

When he goes back home he looks at a picture of his mother who looked just like Mrs. Rosy, and the resemblance is the reason why Mrs Rosy was so special to Stanley.

Stanley Ka Dabba attracted positive reviews from critics across India. Raja Sen of rediff.com gave it a rating of 5 stars out of 5 stating that it was the "Best, purest film to come out of Hindi cinema in a while". Film critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it a rating of 4/5 calling it "heartwarming". Anupama Chopra of NDTV said - "I recommend that you make time for the film. It has an inherent sweetness and honesty that will stay with you long after the film is over" and gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India wrote "Don't miss this rich and nuanced soul curry for both, the young and adult heart", giving SKD once again 3.5 out of 5 stars. It has an aggregate rating of 8 out of 10 on ReviewGang. Stanley Ka Dabba made Rs 3.8 crore in its first two weeks, eventually grossed just above Rs 5 crore.

The reason I chose Stanley Ka Dabba as a reference film is due to the concept of child labor, and care for others. Despite Stanley's financial position he still takes along whatever little lunch he has and shares it with his friends happily. In my film, my main character Saima is just the same. She works hard and in the end collects money and spends it on her siblings rather than herself. On the other hand, she is also very creative just like Stanley himself, full of talent as she is into drawing and can make beautiful art work.

Now, putting main-stream feature films aside, i have chosen a number of short films produced by independent film companies. The purpose of choosing such films is basically because these are closer o my product, not just in terms of story and characters but also film type. What i will make is a short film, just as these. So it is simply justice to chose these instead of some more famous blockbusters.  The names of the films i chose are I am Kalaam, Struggle, When the stars go down, Home sweet home and  Incredible India.

I AM KALAAM

I Am Kalam is a Hindi film directed by Nila Madhab Panda. The plot revolves around Chhotu, a poor Rajasthani boy, who is inspired by the life of the former President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and his eagerness and desire for education. The character of Chhotu has been performed by Harsh Mayar, a Delhi slum boy. The film was released in August 2011.

Chhotu is an intelligent boy who belongs to a poor family in Rajasthan. Born into poverty, he is forced to find work at a roadside food stall under the owner, Bhati. Bhati is impressed  by Chhotu's astonishing abilities. Near the food stall is a heritage hotel in the palace of an erstwhile royal family. Chhotu happens to make friends with the lonely Prince of the royal family, but the Prince is forbidden by his father from mixing with commoners, mainly those as Chhotu. One day Chhotu watches President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on television and it inspires him. Chhotu changes his name to Kalam and decides he wants to meet the president. He studies in his spare time and writes a speech for the Prince for a contest. The speech wins first prize at the contest, but soon after palace guards search Kalam's room and find the Prince's clothes. Kalam is labeled a thief and the rest of the story deals with how his actions lead to his destiny. Despite being accused of being a thief, he does not reveal the source of his clothes in order to protect the Prince from his father. Kalam hitches a ride to New Delhi where he tries to meet the President. Meanwhile, the Prince tells his father that it was he who gave the clothes to Kalam and that Kalam wrote the speech which earned first prize. The nominal King realizes his mistake and sends the prince to find Kalam in New Delhi. Kalam is found near the India Gate and is brought back home. The King tells him that he can study in the same school as the Prince and employs Kalam's mother as well.

The idea of choosing this film is of course, due to the character being poor and working. But also, his desire of education can be linked to the desire of learning of my character as it was the one privilege she was given and eventually taken away from.

THE STRUGGLE

The film tells the story of a poor family struggling to survive against all odds. The children are represented as a symbol of innocence and hope, while the father is seen as a helpless individual with an empty wallet, who is well aware of the harsh realities of life.

SOME MORE REFERENCES: 

THE INCREDIBLE INDIA

Directed by Mayur Kachhadiya

Present by GRiNMATION Studio

This short movie is all about Indian culture, traditions, hospitality.

HOME SWEET HOME

The film is on a thought that education can be the guide to lead the poor and underprivileged children to their dreams, also an ironical view on how the academicians ignore the poor homes and print only the colorful and hard to attain houses thereby dividing the children into haves and have not at that tender age.

SHORT FILMS - A COMPARISON

SHORT FILMS - A COMPARISON (poster) 

This particular poster represents a film on child labour, and how small poor children are driven into child labour instead of education. However, by looking at the poster, it is understood that the child gets some sort of education and that delivers a little happiness into his life as it id obvious by the smile on his face, holding a book in his hand, and there is a small phrase at the bottom of the poster that says "all he needed was a hero" which indicates that someone somehow helped him out and lead him to taking a positive step.

This film is again, representing poverty, but in a completely different way than the first one. The entire problems and circumstances of poverty in this film are shown by a simple story in reference to the relationship of a brother and a sister belonging to an under-privileged household. Yes, they are given the rights of education, but for a poor child, just being educated does not mean everything. This film shows the two siblings sharing one old pair of shoes because they cannot afford new ones and feel embarrassed and ashamed to tell their father they need another pair. Can little education buy them shoes? I do not think so.

Hence, the two films are completely different while catering to the same genre. So basically, Genres can remain the same, but if the ideology differs, the entire text will create a completely different meaning and deliver a completely different message in its own way.

MY GENRE is also alike. As mentioned in my proposal, i will be making a film on child labor and poverty on my own maid. This genre belongs the 'art and drama'. My audience will be little, however, my film will create social awareness which is my mian goal. This is one reason why i have chosen such a topic.

MY INSTITUTION : INDIAN FILM INSTITUTIONS - SHORT FILM PRODUCTION a closer look

Films Division

The institution named Information Films of India was renamed to The Films Division in 1948. The headquarters of Films Division is located in Mumbai, the film city of India. They have got sub-units in Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. It is a well equipped organisation. The major goals of the films division includes making the people aware of the changes in the society and educating them, implementing programmes on a national level, uphold our pride before Indian and foreign audiences etc. Their major functions are the following: Films division releases a short film once in a week, usually Friday. This is done in 15 important languages in India. They keep a record of the entire history of Indian cinema since Independence. They also have the responsibility of Mumbai international film festival. They produce many creative documentaries and short films as well.

National Film Development Corporation

National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) was established in 1975 in order to increase the quality of cinema released in India and to integrate more technology into audio-visual aspects of cinema in India. Corporation takes effort to produce creative low-budget films and thereby promote upcoming film making talent in India. NFDC finances and assists the production of such films, they look after the post-production works if any, and they also makes an effort to distribute such cinema through notable channels. They also conducts many film festivals in India. The largest trust in Indian cinema field, The "Cine Artistes Welfare Fund of India" is set up by the NFDC.

Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity

This directorate work almost as the PR section of various ministries and looks into the publicity matters of these organs. This include publicity through print media, outdoor display media, electronic media and nowadays internet too. They publish brochures, diaries, calendars etc for various ministries, they create hoardings and flush boards. They create small short films and advertisements for the publicity of various ministries. Nowadays they look after internet media too.

Film and Television Institute of India, Pune

The Film and television Institute of India is popularly known as the Pune Film Institute. Unlike the other institutions mentioned above, the Pune Film Institute is a training organisation, a film school to be precise. The Institute grooms film students for their talent in film making, editing, camera, sound and other similar aspects of a film. The students get the opportunity to be exposed to national and international cinema, learn various aspects of cinema, make their own short films etc. The institute enters these creative films by students to various film festivals. Many cinema by these students have won many awards. Satyajit Ray Film Institute is another film school like this situated in Kolkata.

Satyajit Ray Film Institute

Government of India established  Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute in 1995 as an autonomous academic institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.The Institute was subsequently registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961. Located at Kolkata and named after the legendary film maestro Satyajit Ray, the Institute, the second of its kind in the country, is a National Centre offering post-graduate diploma courses in Film and Television. Besides offering regular full time courses, the Institute has plans to undertake project development, funding and production of fiction and non-fiction films.

All these institutes help in improving cinema as an industry and as an art form in India. They have been doing a noble work for so many years. It is because of the presence of these institutes that our films are at a level where they are at present. Further growth of cinema as a medium is expected from them.

REFERENCE TAKEN FROM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

Now coming to my own words, i chose to do this particular research since i will be involved in making a short film myself, showing our Indo-Pak culture, hence it was important to study small organizations of India that indulge into production of short films and cultural and social documentaries.

Film Poster Conventions

FILM POSTER CONVENTIONS

Just as other forms of media such as film, magazines, advertisements etc, film posters, being part of the 'print media' also have their own set of codes and conventions that they tend to follow and create attraction, an informative character and a sense of meaning.

Reference : Myles Roache Daniel's A2 Media Studies coursework

The poster shown above is a simple poster of THE HULK that has been divided into compartments that illustrate the technical convention of film posters. Let us take the first convention to be the name of stars. Film posters tend to 'highlight' the names of the stars that will appear in the film. This is one way of gaining audience involvement into the poster, and eventually, the film. This is because actors themselves act as brands. Fans automatically feel interested in the movie due to their high expectations from their admired actors, and at times when the actors are loved immensely, fans not only feel attracted, but tend to feel obliged to watch the film. This is basically a way of branding the film producers make sure to do this if using very big actors and make money out of the fame created.

Next we can take the Icon Image. The icon image tends to appear in the background or at a spot somewhere behind the main picture, but at the same time, creates and gathers most attention  In the example given above, the huge figure of the HULK is in the background but it still manages to gain attention and gives the audience a sort of idea that the man in front might turn into that creature, or somehow, that creature is the main essence of the film. This particular convention is used in film posters to create the 'charisma'  and curiosity regarding the what the film would be about and what that particular thing, place or character in the background has to do with the story. This builds up the indulgence and desire of the audience into watching the particular film.

Moving forward, our next convention is the Rule of Thirds. This convention can be a little tricky, however, as part of an audience, we always tend to examine a film poster by this particular convention  unconsciously  while not knowing what it really is. This convention suggests that each and every image within the poster should be placed and highlighted in such a way that some what idea of the story and main conflict of the film is delivered. For example, in the poster above, the Hulk i behind the guy, while both are prominent  The idea of placing the guy in front of the Hulk gives an idea to some level, that this guy probably terns into that creature and since the Hulk and the guy seem as if they have their backs towards one another shows that their characteristics do not collide with one another, and that maybe the character is destructive and that guy does not like that side of his personality. The rule of thirds effect also makes use of some hints of the story for example the location, the color scheme, that reflects the genre. In other words, just as for films we require the perfect mise-en-sene, for posters this effect acts as the mise-en-sene of poster conventions.

Furthermore, we have the Production title and the Release date. Both these conventions are basically used solely for information purposes. The production title is mentioned so that the audience would know which institution is financing and distributing the film. At times this is also used as a marketing and promotion strategy since some institutions have a brand image for example WAlt Disney Productions. Disney fans tend to watch films mainly because they have an idea of what type of films Disney would produce that they admire. Release title is simply mentioned so that the audience would know when the film is finally releasing on celluloid and start buying the tickets and generate profit for the film.

Lastly, the Film Title, is the most important part of the poster. The film title basically acts as the identity if the entire set of conventions  story line, and everything in the film. It is the brand name within itself, and the entire media product is recognized and refereed to, by this particular title.

TARGET AUDIENCES

TARGET AUDIENCES:

The target audience is the percentage of people, film makers consider to cater to while making a media product. It can be categorized in two ways, demographic and sociological. These consist of the following; age and gender, income (profession), residence and social back ground. On the other hand attitudinal demographics and sociological can be classified as another category. These consist of; intentions  habits, likes and dislikes, responses, behavior etc.

It is a must for film makers to be aware of all these things of their particular target audience, only then they know how to cater to them. Knowing what age and gender your target audience belongs to help film makers know what kind of films they like, their income levels help them to know what amount they’d be willing to pay to watch a film, and their professional life helps them in analyzing when they have time to consume the product.

Interests on the other hand are very important while making a film. If your target audience has a high percentage of boys between the age of 13 to 25, then you know your product will be consumed most if it caters to genres like action, horror or thriller, but if your target audience has a high percentage of girls between the age of 13 to 25, you should know they’re probably expecting a chick flick or a love story. This is how audience affects your product.

Coming to my own film, I have researched and managed to find out, that for an art film, my target audience consists of multi-sex people, mainly above the age of thirty with high income levels. Also, their interests are more towards consuming whatever conveys an sort of intellect, rather than enjoyment n entertainment. My target audience also consists of art film critics and scholars, who would watch the film in order to observe it completely, including its presentation, construction, story and mise-en-sene.

Their age tells me that they want a mature film with a mature story line, closer to reality which they can relate to. Also, they are grownups, so the use of indirect language throughout the movie can be easily understood, however, media language must be easy to read. These people often come to consume such products with immense interests, mainly due to their habits and likes and also because this film line is small and art films tend to release within gaps, leaving them curious and anxious to watch it.

Income levels make it easier for art film makers. They already know their audience is full of intellectual people with classy and open minded backgrounds having enough money to consume their product, more than just once, or very often. Their backgrounds are mainly from the elite, or educated class, which enables them to critically analyze the product and accordingly, give the truthful response to it.

All these things about my target audience will help me know, what type of scenes I can shoot, what media language I can use, what my mese-en-sene should look like, keeping in mind what my audience is expecting, what type of music they would approve of, and what story would appeal to them to the level that they relate to it.

Now, coming to the big question, how do i know what my target audience is? Well for this i would need to know a lot of things. First of all, as mentioned, not a lot of people tend to watch art films, and also, not a lot of directors want to produce art films. Let us use pie charts to make our understanding clearer.Coming to my own film first, I have researched and managed to find out, that for an art film, my target audience consists of multi-sex people, mainly above the age of thirty with high income levels. Also, their interests are more towards consuming whatever conveys an sort of intellect, rather than enjoyment n entertainment. My target audience also consists of art film critics and scholars, who would watch the film in order to observe it completely, including its presentation, construction, story and mise-en-sene.

Their age tells me that they want a mature film with a mature story line, closer to reality which they can relate to. Also, they are grown-ups, so the use of indirect language throughout the movie can be easily understood, however, media language must be easy to read. These people often come to consume such products with immense interests, mainly due to their habits and likes and also because this film line is small and art films tend to release within gaps, leaving them curious and anxious to watch it.

Income levels make it easier for art film makers. They already know their audience is full of intellectual people with classy and open minded backgrounds having enough money to consume their product, more than just once, or very often. Their backgrounds are mainly from the elite, or educated class, which enables them to critically analyze the product and accordingly, give the truthful response to it.

All these things about my target audience will help me know, what type of scenes I can shoot, what media language I can use, what my mese-en-sene should look like, keeping in mind what my audience is expecting, what type of music they would approve of, and what story would appeal to them to the level that they relate to it.

ANOTHER ANALYSIS

PEOPLES' GENERAL CHOICE

DIRECTORS' GENERAL CHOICE

This shows what interest people have in art films. Since only 5% people tend to watch art films, that means my target audience consists of a very little amount, within this 5%. However, even this little amount of audience is what my film would depend upon. Not a lot of money is given into the production of an art film, neither making profit is one of the main aims. I would launch my film for the main purpose of awareness about child labour and poverty and the trend of keeping servants in our third world country. And as long as this 5% is willing to go ahead and watch and criticise my film, I will feel I have contributed, little, but some level of awareness to my country. I also sent out a random questionnaire sample to a few people asking their age and genre preferences. Here are the results :

This evaluation explains everything. Most of the answers i got were supporting romance and comedy and most of these belonged to the younger age group from 10-25. However, only two results were supporting 'art' films and both these belonged to the age group of 40-70. This indicates that more older people with a higher level of intellect and concern over society tend to enjoy art films, hence my target audience consists of aged people being part of the 5% well financed population. I did not choose gender as an option because unlike stereo-typical results of gender towards romance and horror or action, my genre is versatile and men and women both can enjoy it equally as it highlights social affairs and also, the age group my target audience belongs to consists of mature people who would think beyong what we say is 'girly' or 'boyish'.

QUESTIONNAIRE - A CLOSER IDEA

QUESTIONNAIRE - A CLOSER IDEA

Question : Do you have a maid or any servant working for you?

Question : What is the approximate age of your maid or servant?

Question : Since when has you made or servant been wrking for you?

Question : Did your maid or servant have to drop out of school in order to work or never got the chance to study?

Question : Do you have an idea of the amount of family members your maid or servant has back home?

Question : Hoe often does your maid or servant go back home, are they permanent or work on a daily basis?

Question : Why do you think we have this trend of keeping servants and maids in Pakistan?

Question : Do you think we are taking advantage of our country's poverty level and promoting child labour?

Question : Do you think servants and maids are paid as much as they work, if not, why do you think so?

Question : What would you have to say to the Government in accordance to child labor in Pakistan?

( The particular questions will be asked orally on video ).

                                                      More General Questionnaires

Poster Ideas

POSTER IDEAS - FOR MY OWN FILM

When I started off with thinking about what to do with my film poster I thought of using photographs of my lead actress and transforming them to black and white through photoshop. I even thought of making the poster as in a collage form, containing all the pictures i have taken, placing them in different sizes.

I decided to convert one or two of the picturEs in 'pop art' through photoshop since the colors of pop art represent personalities, gender, thoughts and genres. I could use the right colors in the picture i would like to transform and create meaning of the picture in a completely different way, that i haven't ever done before.

Samples Of pictures in Pop Art :

Some paintings in pop art i made myself:

I even thought I'd use some poetry that would be written on the top left hand side of my poster, mainly in the 'Urdu' Language since i feel that goes well with my theme and genre and creates the required feel.

Pictures Of My Actress ( lead character ) that i took and am willing to use :

FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Poster One : Slumdog Millionaire

The construction and placing of this poster i done in such a way that the idea of the film is instantly delivered  Firstly, let us observe if the poster is following all the technical conventions of film posters or not. The film title is highlighted in a very prominent way. This gives identity to the entire project, and also, to some level, creates meaning of the film. The word 'slumdog millionaire' instantly provokes the audience into thinking and gives and idea that this film has something to do with a poor personality turning into a millionaire.

The poster simultaneously draws attention to the guy in the center  in front. Once the audience's attention is drawn to the guy, it is instantly understood that he is the lead character and that probably the title is referring to him, that he was once poor and belonged to the slums but somehow turned into a millionaire. The link between the title and the guy automatically provokes the audience into thinking, what could possibly happen in order to transform him into a millionaire from a kid on the streets. The poster is using both the conventions, the rule of thirds, the icon image. We can examine the city view in the background and the guy in the front as the combination of these two conventions  Even though the city is in the background, it gathers much of the space and attention in the poster and instantly delivers the idea that the main location and ideology of the film revolves around the happenings of a metropolitan city, and that the guy belongs to that particular city.

At the same time, there are five small pictures aliened at the bottom of the main picture and each picture reflects a separate ideology and story within the film. The first picture shows the guy sitting in front of a computer screen  and it seems like scenario of the famous show 'kon bane ga carore pati'. This gives the audience an idea that, maybe the guy signed up for the 'big game' and that is how he became a millionaire. The second picture shows him hugging a girl and the hint of a little romance is given, and it is then understood that the film has some sort of a love story within the main story. The third picture shows kids belonging to the slums that gives an idea of his previous life and the last two pictures shown the girl and the Taj Mehal, that instantly tells the audience that the film is probably shot in India. The star names and the name of the director is mentioned.however there is no production brand name mentioned  and in this case, most of the stars are unknown so no promotion and marketing has been done by taking use of the star names or the institution, it is mainly all in the appearance and characteristics of the poster itself.

Lastly, the title name, and the images let us know that the film belongs to sub-genres of art, drama, adventure and romance.

Poster Two : Behind Enemy Lines

This poster, unlike other is different as it has not used some of the poster conventions, like the star names, production brand name, however, still manages to deliver meaning the moment it is looked at. The first thing that pops into the audiences' minds when looking at this poster is 'action' and 'war'. This meaning is transferred by the use of the icon image and the rule of thirds as well as the film title.

Firstly, the film title is placed exactly in the center of the poster, and is written in white that contradicts the colors used in the rest of the poster, hence becomes prominent  The character shown in the center in front is in an army outfit holding onto a gun, and there are a few men behind him in the same attire  Their dressing and the location ( barren land with spiky bushes ) show that they are soldiers in a matter of major crisis and are off on a mission to fight off their enemies ( that is also made obvious by the film title ).

                                                                                                                                               

The use of icon image is done very well in this case. Despite being completely in the background, an hint of the American flag is given which automatically tells makes clear to the audience that the men are probably american soldiers off to an expedition, fighting for their country. The colors used in the entire poster, shades of red and orange represent the genre, emotion and personality of the adventurous, dangerous and dramatic characteristics of the story. Therefore, it is easily understood that the film caters to a sub-genre of action-adventure.

Another meaning of placing one guy ( the lead ) in the center and the rest at the back could be that he's probably leading the expedition  or if not, he has to be the one who does something outstanding during the main arrival of the conflict. In other words, it is made obvious that he's the 'protagonist' whilst his enemies, whoever or who all he will eventually fight off will be the antagonists.

In this particular poster, their is an additional convention used, the phrase at the bottom of the poster. The phrase states, 'framed, abandoned, but never defeated'. This gives a slight idea of the character in front who happens to be the protagonist. framed and abandoned could mean that he was blamed and looked upon for some crime he hadn't committed which lead him to being abandoned, left alone. But despite the circumstances, he managed to stand steady and eventually win and prove himself as the 'good guy' or in better, more typical words, the 'hero'.

Overall, the poster, despite challenging some conventions of film posters, has managed to deliver the concept and synopsis of the film as well as the genre it caters to mainly along with the sub-genre and also managed to create the poster in such a way that it gave complete idea of the character sketch of the protagonist as well as the story-line.