The document discusses conventions of short films that the film "Signed" adheres to, including: - Having 3 main characters to allow viewers to relate to them in the short time span. - Sticking to a low budget with 1-2 locations and few actors, as is typical for independent short films. - Following Todorov's narrative theory structure of equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium to keep the narrative on track. - Targeting a niche audience of 18-35 year olds interested in independent music and documentaries.

1. Form Conventions
SIGNED
Jake Bird

2.  Short films’ tend to stick to 2 or 3 main characters. Being ‘short’, short
films don’t have time to create deep back story or history for the
characters, therefore character numbers are kept low in Short Films to
allow the viewer to relate to the characters in the small amount of time.
 Signed Contains 3 acts which fits in with the form conventions of a short
film. These 3 acts are all introduced and all become familiar with the
audience, in addition to the performance the comments which they
make give the viewer a personal bond with the artists. These personal
aspects are prominent within independent short film.
Characters

3.  Short Films typically have a low budget. This is based on the fact that
most Short Film Directors are independent without the sufficient
backing in terms of funding. They keep their budget down by sticking to
one or two locations and only using one or two actors.
 Signed is an independent documentary which features acts which
contributed to the production for free. This also links to the convention
of characters within short film as you can only afford to use acts willing
to contribute for no fee.
Budget

4.  Short Films are typically ‘Short’ and usually have a max length of 35 Minutes. They are
typically around 5 – 10 Minutes in Length. If these ‘Short Films’ were any longer they
wouldn’t be classed as ‘Short’; and would be named Feature Length.
 Due to our brief we has to stick to the minimum requirement for a short film –
however this was slightly extended due to the vast amount of footage and in order to
produce a strong narrative with the convectional use of Todorov’s narrative theory
within short film.
 The short length of Signed links to the role of the short film
 We wanted the length of the production to be a signature of our direction e.g. at
festivals this will encourage production funding to move into feature film, due to a
preview of our style.
 Short films also act as precursor to feature length films at art cinemas and are more
likely to secure widespread online distribution if they match the criteria of short
YouTube videos.
Length

5.  Short Films usually take an everyday situation that we can all relate to
and then flip it on its head in some way. This allows the viewer to relate
to the Short Film, but at the same exploring the intellectual pleasure/
enigma of the audience/viewer.
 Our production aims to take the topic of music, which is a big part in
some way of a lot of people lives, therefore we hoped to flip the way in
which people think about the music and the industry behind it.
Plot

6.  Equilibrium- Everybody has the opinion that the music industry is dominated via
the big mass market co-operations.
 Disequilibrium- The constraints and difficulties of unsigned bands competing in
the market. – focus of the film is shifted towards those bands due to a culture
Identified by Anderson (long tale).
 New Equilibrium- Understanding that the industry can be broke independently
and not always dominated via the conglomerates – this is shown by Jersey
Budd’s heartfelt statement at the end of the documentary.
 Short films are sometimes more challenging than this as the independence gives
them the freedom to break from conventional structures. However we decided
to stick to this conventional theory are during both planning and production due
to the nature of what our interviewees where saying, we were unsure where the
production narrative was going. Following this traditional model helped us keep
it on track and put a purpose/message within the production.
Todorov’s Equilibrium Theory

7.  Signed tests Andersons theory; can niche products compete with the mass market.
 Can unsigned bands dominate the industry with the growing need for new music, is
what we aimed the documentary to question.
 The term long tail which Anderson presents has gained popularity in recent times as
describing the retailing strategy of selling a large number of unique items with
relatively small quantities sold of each - usually in addition to selling fewer popular
items in large quantities.
 This can be seen proved in the music industry with unsigned artists developing and
with the large number of unsigned artists increasing their own record and gig sales.
 In an example of postmodernism, isn’t only a production about Anderson’s long tail
but an example of it – this can be seen via online distribution which it has received.
Signed has been uploaded onto YouTube for its online audience, since this Web 2.0 has
allowed the production to be distributed via Leicester TV. This is inline with the long
tail model as our product which is aimed at a niche audience has reached a large
audience via artists used and its distribution network.
Anderson

8.  We have targeted a niche audience as the demographic selected fell into this category.
 Our primary audience will be B-E.
 It has to be this big to encompass the young audience of the music but also the sophisticated audience of
documentaries and niche products (e.g. uni graduates), who also appreciate the independence of the genre
you are mostly focusing on (not mass market pop).
 Mosaic audience categorisation would suggest that would audience which the main production is aimed at
is in H36 (foot on the ladder) audience but hoping to climb via practice experience. Whereas our ancillary is
aimed at a B05/6 catagorisation, hence the more educated niche.
 We used theory surrounding audience such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the mosaic categorization to
confirm this.
- Our Audiences are fulfilling the following of Maslow's categories;
 Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.
 Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
 Self-Actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth and peak
experiences.
Niche Audience