Slideshare for my Evaluation Question 2

1. H O W E F F E C T I V E I S T H E
C O M B I N A T I O N O F Y O U R M A I N
P R O D U C T A N D Y O U R A N C I L L A R Y
T A S K S ?
E V A L U A T I O N Q U E S T I O N 2
My short film ‘The Cup of Knowledge’ is a creative piece of my own
self expression, whilst my ancillary products (Film Poster and
Review) are promotion materials for my film. This combination of
products should be effective through the use of media language.

2. R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
• In my main product and ancillary products, I made the representation of genre
one of the main features.
• The genre of my film is Fantasy/Coming of Age. In order to combine these
two genres I had to focus on different features of my film and the ancillary
products to create this feeling.
• I chose to give the cup have a mystical quality, as this is the ‘titular item’ in my
film, I feel that it was an important part of representing the fantasy genre of
the film.
• So, in order to best represent the fantasy genre, I needed to create an aura of
mysticality in my products. This included;
• My choice of non-diegetic
music when the cup is
revealed (Monster Rally -
Wilson) - this song has a
quirky mysterious sound
which I feel represents the
mystery surrounding the
cup.
• In both my short film and my poster I chose to develop my
use of media language through the use of the colour
spectrum. I used purple lighting in the majority of the
bedroom scenes to connote the fantasy genre and create
the feel of mysticality. I positioned the cup against this light
in some shots to help connote the magical nature of it. I also
did this in my ancillary products, I chose to use stills from
the film in my review that best represented the fantasy
genre, and this of course featured purple colouring. And in
my poster I used purple as the colour of the liquid in the cup
to portray the idea that the cup contains the mystery and
fantasy of this story in a literal sense.
• The presence of the iconic
‘Cup of Knowledge’ on the film
review and the poster makes
reference to the title of the film
and also the plot of the film.
The positioning of the cup on
the poster also makes it clear
that it is of importance as it it
on top of the exam papers and
in the centre of the poster. The
angle used is a high angle
shot, I have used a similar
shot in my film as well, so this
further represents my film.
Also a shot of the cup in the
review is taken directly from
my film, it’s likely that this is a
defining image chosen by my
company ‘Orlando Media’ to
represent the film.
• I chose not to use the colour purple in my film review design
as it is a separate entity to my poster and film, it comes from
a different company and a different producer, the only input
my company would have is the images used in the review. I
chose the colours green and blue to create a ‘fresh’ look. I
mentioned and praised the use of lighting citing it an
‘unorthodox choice’ but it showed my creativity and
challenging of the coming of age genre.

3. • The representation of the coming of age genre comes from the use
of past A-level examination papers both in my film and my poster
in that examinations are usually a source of stress for young
people so, this is a specific representation of sixth form students
the UK. This also represents the age of my protagonist. (17-18 y/o
taking their A-level examinations) which is directly linked to my
target audience and I feel that due to the featuring of these items
that my overall product can be more relatable to that group. The
idea of the grades on the past papers also connotes the cup’s
influence on my protagonist and how it has helped him to improve
his performance on these papers. I feel that this succinctly
represents the theme of my film.
• My protagonist has been portrayed in both a positive and
negative way, this is a subversion of Propp’s narrative
theory, my ‘hero’ character becomes more of an anti-hero
as he has his own flaws and has to combat them, this
includes his laziness to work hard, and also his inspiration
to commit a crime. Across my poster and my review we
can see him in different phases of the story. The
positioning of him smiling into the reflection of the cup on
the poster represents his how he has gotten himself into
the mystery of the cup, and how to start with he’s pleased
about it. And on my poster it shows him looking confused,
which represents him at the equilibrium of the story, pre-
cup discovery.
• I also have a second character, ‘the dispatcher’
according to Propp’s theory ; who effectively
sends my character on his quest. In my film this
is a binary opposite to my protagonist. She is
female, and evidently hard-working which is a
complete difference to my protagonist.
• The editing I used to represent the
cup’s power. - I utilised quick
cutaways from previous parts of my
film, kind of like a flashback
sequence. And I also used non-
diegetic sound to further portray the
quick sequence of events.

4. • Overall I think the combination of my short film and my poster both represent
the fantasy and coming of age genres, and that the review does a good job of
consolidating all the information in relation to my short film. All three products,
main and ancillary, carry similar connotations and they present a unified
message that my film is of the fantasy genre through the use of media
language. The most difficult part for me was trying to represent my character
effectively, as he has both negative and positive representations. It was difficult
to choose which shots best represented him especially in the magazine review.
In the end I chose a more neutral representation so that the audience could
decide what kind of character he is.
• Barthes’ narrative theory works with my short film; Barthes uses a series of
codes to find similarities in narrative, these include: Action, Uses of
Enigmas, Symbolism, Semiotics, and Culture. The action that culminates my
film in the form of burying the cup during the field scene, restores normality
to the protagonist’s life. The Enigma is in the form of the cup, how did it
appear, why? And the powers it bestows drives the story. The purple hue
lighting is the main symbolism in this film, which is the connotation of the
fantasy genre. The semic representations include the literal knowledge on
the cup itself, which conveys the idea of the cup’s power. Past papers are
also an example of representing the age of my protagonist which are present
on my poster and in my short film. My film is also based on a student who is
6th Form College studying A-levels, which is a culturally specific part of life
in Britain.
• The use of language in my film review directly relates to the target
audience. I have written it in a way that any sixth form student could
understand. But I have also used media and film related terminology e.g.
’hue’ and ‘directorial’ which makes it more specific to media students. I
also included some comedic elements in my review in order to make it
more appealing to my target audience (16-21) and to make the film
review more light-hearted, like the style of Empire magazine.