HOW E

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EDUCATING IDIOTS

The main task in A2 media was to come up with a product. We chose a short film but were split on which type of short film we would like whether it be horror comedy or spoof etc. We all had discussions and realised we had a common interest in the TV educational documentaries such as Educating Yorkshire and Educating Essex. After realising this we decided to subvert the TV school documentary and make a short film mockumentary. We initially did a lot of research and watched things such as Educating Yorkshire to learn what angles and storylines would be entailed in a real documentary so we could then go and exaggerate them completely and it carried on from there.

ANCILLARY TASKS AND MAIN PRODUCT As part of our coursework we were asked to produce two ancillary tasks which were a film review and

poster. Both products’ purposes were to promote the short film which was in production and it is very important that they do so successfully so the film is a successful one.

For inspiration of our film poster we looked at a few existing short film posters in an attempt to gain further knowledge of the codes and conventions and see first hand, how they are applied.

The combination of both ancillary products is an effective one because each seem to link to each other.

Both of them use informal fonts for their mastheads and this is because the short film is going to be informal. Also they show the protagonists faces and the facial expressions they are pulling reflect on their characters personalities within the short film so the audience get a slight insight into the film. They both include a common theme of education (aside from the title “EDUCATING IDIOTS”) in the way that the still images and main images are set either outside of a school or in a school/classroom.

CONTINUED…

The ancillary tasks entail a lot of teasing as to what the plots and release dates might be. Obviously the title is a parody of the already popular “Educating Yorkshire/Essex” so that is a big clue on what it is going to be about but there are no specific dates on when it will be shown. “IN CINEMAS MARCH” here we say march but there is no specific date on the poster which will make the audiences anticipation grow.

The mise en scene in the main images for the poster and film review work well together as the characters are in the same costumes and are wearing student badges which instantly shows the audience that the film is educational based and with the things said in the review “From toilet jokes to crazy humour” they know it is going to be a fun take on a popular program. With these two ancillary tasks complimenting the film, it helps to promote the film in a positive light and the film justifies the reviews and the posters statements and it appeals to it’s target audience whilst still adhering to the codes and conventions of short films therefore making the combination of the three products extremely effective.