The document discusses the production of a short film titled "Detention" and additional promotional materials including a postcard and social media page. It summarizes how the products represent social groups by depicting relatable student characters facing typical struggles. Branding and visual elements were carefully considered to create a unified identity across the products. Research informed conventions used in the short film and challenges some norms. The products aim to engage the target teenage audience by using an accessible storyline and sharing content in ways that appeal to their interests and behaviors on social media.

1. A2 Media Studies
Short Film Critical Reflection
by Dimitrios Kyriazis

2. Introduction
After having completed extensive secondary and primary research into the codes and conventions for each of my media
products, I have chosen to apply the skills and knowledge I have gained into creating my short film , postcard and social
media page under the heavy influence of the comedy genre conventions, alongside other notable ones such as the action
style in the short film and the feature film conventions in regards to my postcard and social media promo.

3. How do your products represent social groups or issues?
My short film clearly fits into the comedy genre, and as such exaggerates everyday issues that many students face on a
daily basis. My film centres around a young boy and his side-kick, who are obviously struggling with school workload and
authority. My intention was to light-heartedly depict easily relatable average student who is facing and rebelling
against consequences, which most people at some point in their student life have experienced. In order to represent a
specific social group, in my short film main characters in regards to overall appearance can be described as a lovable high-
school jocks. Both characters stereotypical look is based on the jocks films of the ‘80s and ‘90s, such as Varsity Blues,
Revenge of the Nerds, Dazed and Confused, and Lucas.

4. Same as in those mentioned films, my lead characters embody jocks key stereotype features of being antihero, ignorant,
rude, goofball, and obviously the guy who dates the most popular girl in the school. In most high-school comedies, the
jock is not exactly known for being clever. In fact, he is usually portrayed as dumb. But in my short film the jock characters
have evolved, and to some extent they have become more nuanced versions of the trope that do not always live up to the
expected stereotypes. The film of the two jocks and their silly school struggle challenges our perceptions which usually say
more about us than about them.

5. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’?
Branding is one of the most important element in promoting a product such as film. The sole purpose of promotional
strategy is to develop and establish a brand identity with a set of visual elements such as colour scheme, typography,
composition, language, graphical features, etc.. Using variety of advertising tools and platforms that stylistically unify range
of products, the designers create interactive visual identity that communicates between a film and an audience.
During the production of my short film, in order to create sense of branding and to establish design codes and conventions
I have researched existing film postcards and social media platforms. I was well aware that film such as mine, has a
relatively short life span of 12 to 24 months, and prior to realise date, the most important job was to create brand
awareness. In order to create brand identity my intention was to create a company logo with easily recognisable written
and visual features. In order to generate awareness, the follow up was to promote the film via social media platforms.
Carefully identifying platforms that are the best for my film as well as my target audience I had in mind layout,
mobile/responsive, social share buttons, logo, colours and choice of fonts. The typeface as an essential element in
designing such products, belongs into sans-serif category and is clear, bold, noticeable, modern and most importantly eye-
catching and easy to read.

6. In regards to visual elements and color scheme, the design concept is based on well-known phrase 'less is more'. In both
promotional products black and white colors are juxtaposed in terms of background and text. The design simplicity is
purposely done so that desired audience can quickly and easily get the intended information about the film. The choice of
images such as clock and classroom are symbolically and metaphorically depicting film subject matter in order for the
viewer to make visual connection with written elements. This is a simple yet effective use of imagery as the audience will
recognise that look and link it to the film.

7. How do your products engage with the audience?
The produced media texts aim to attract a broad audience while specifically targeting a niche audiences with a specific
interest. Once I have established desired audience, I have used certain methods to appeal to this group. These methods
have included; technical & audio codes, language, modes of address, construction, and context.
The main target audience of my short film and additional promotional materials, is the teenage group age between 12 to
19. According to the primary research that I conducted, I found that the social demographics of my target
audience is C2DE, which are teens or young adults. They are often portrayed as students with low moral standards and
lack of motivation. The psychographics of my target audience tend to enjoy hanging out with friends, and these days
they spend most of their free time on social media watching clips similar to my film topic.
My short film takes typical student light-hearted and slap-stick storyline in order for an audience to identify with the lead
characters on an emotional and personal level, as most students have been into similar mischievous situation. The desired
audience will be more inclined towards watching the film as it focuses on what the teenagers go through in their daily
school life.

8. As most teens are considered with short attention span and as social media has provided teens with ability to instantly
access and share information, I made sure that an official social media page and a postcard advertisement are easy to
understand and are easy to share. In order for my audience to engage with my film, for example on my film Instagram
page I have Included film title as a hashtag in all of my posts to form a branded film hashtag. Another way of increasing
interest and making my film promotion successful I have carefully created plan for posting. Those posts will included range
of photos and videos such as teasers, trailers, bloopers, photos from filming, behind-the-scenes shots, and stills from the
trailer.

9. How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
During initial stage of my project, as a starting point, I had to carry out range of secondary research in order to gain
knowledge and understanding of short film codes and conventions, through analysis of existing media texts and
concepts.
My short film titled 'Detention', fully complies to project requirements and embodies easily recognisable established short
film codes and conventions. The film is 4 minutes and 21 second long and is produced with minimal budget and without
any creative restrains, as most short films. The low cost production is achieved due to accessible location and
equipment as well as limited cast that worked for free. In regards visually depicting the story and to achieve continuity, I
have used established mainstream filming techniques such as scene composition, framing and camera movement. In
order to tell the story in terms of editing, most of the scenes are cut together so that the visual and audio are done in
straight cuts and therefore do not overlap.

10. The Detention, like most short films depicts simple and easy to follow, typical high school storyline which is aimed at
niche audience, but is assessable to wider audience as well, due to subject matter. In regards to narrative, the film
follows mainstream structure or so called Todorovs Narrative Theory (order – disorder – order restored). Due to time
constrains, main characters are established very quickly and they are easily relatable and recognisable. As the film is
character driven, both characters can be fit in a set of eight broad character types that are originally identified by theorist
Vladimir Propp. However, the only conventional challenge could be that there is no a female character, who is usually
acting as a supporting cast to a lead character.
Crucial short film norms in regards to genre and storyline, I have implemented into my short film after researching and
establishing short film codes and conventions as well as analysing existing short films such as 'The Heist' and 'Future
Hero'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlsV2ZdqTis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2w5WXpzVUM

11. Established design conventions are set of norms in regards to crucial compositional elements that an audience expect to
see and understand in a media product in order to consume it in a desired way. Before designing and making the
promotional materials I have carried out a detailed research into their generic conventions.
My film postcard follows key industry established codes and conventions such as:
• Simple eye catching design that is easy to understand
• Focal picture draws attention and interest
• Typography is clear, bold and eye-catching
• There is an indication of when the film is being released
• The postcard is appealing to wide audience
My short film Instagram page as well follows established codes and conventions:
• Above mentioned design conventions apply to Instagram
• Layout is organised and consistent
• Hashtag, text & image (CTAs) prompts and engage visitors
• Creative ways to involve your followers (teasers, shooting pictures, etc.)