Short Film Title Ideas

Looking back at my research and knowledge of films within the same genre I see that the titles are always linked to either the catastrophe, describing the earth in some way, or something about the character. Therefore I followed the trend and made a mind map with these titles and had some title ideas for each section. It is essential to have an interesting title so it will attract the audiences attention and make them watch it, a title itself is an enigma code pressing the viewer to look into the films, essentially. 

My favourites
SILENT EARTH & WORLD ON MUTE
Silent earth and world on mute describes the earth after the aftermath of the nuclear war. Its clear and once watching it you understand the title, that the catastrophe has made the earth so silent, abandoned and isolated. It has made the earth complete silent, when it would normally be full of life somewhere on the globe.
ALONE & SOLO
Alone and solo are simple, effective and explains the majority of the film in one word. It is effective as it makes you wonder, why is he alone/solo? what happened? 
LAST SURVIVOR
I love this title, as it makes the protagonist feel special as he is the last human a live. It draws your eyes to it and makes him seem very heroic which I like very much.
END OF TIME
This title stands out very well. It is also very dramatic as it means its the end of the world which will grab peoples attention and wanting to watch the short film.

Why I dislike some
LAST DAY
Last day does not technically make sense as it is not the last day as there is one survivor and perhaps many more out there. It is the last day for most of man kind but not completely so this is why I have not used this title as its not completely right.
LEGACY
Legacy looks great, its simple being one word and you can remember it very well. However I feel like it is too similar to one of my inspired films 'I am Legend' and therefore I do not want to use this as I want to be more unique.
A1ONE
I like A1one as it is has more meaning than 'alone'. A1one means alone however the 1 is mean to emphasise that he could be the only human left, theirs '1' human. It has great meaning to it however it isn't easy and catchy to say and comprehend and this is why I cant use it.
W.O.M.D

W.O.M.D meaning weapons of mass destruction is related to nuclear war so it is very relevant. However, it makes the short film sound like an action packed film with a lot of shooting and war. This is not what my short film is about as it is after all that has happened t (post-apocalyptic not action). So using this title sends off the wrong message and therefore I do not want to use it.

CONCLUSION

Having done this mind map I have came to a conclusion that I am going to use the title Outlaster. I think this title has never been used before. It sounds and looks great. It suggests he is special as he has outlasted something that not many have (In this case a nuclear attack). This title will intrigue people as they will be keen to know what he has outlasted and what happens next. It is short and simple and hopefully will bring people in to watch it.

Getting My Target Audience

Zombieland

I went on IMBD as this is the most popular movie review website and will have the most accurate feedback. I looked at two movies,' Zombieland' and 'I Am Legend', as they both follow similar plots and the same genre as mine. Getting information about the audience from already made films gives myself more a more specific idea of an audience to base mine off.

Gender

I Am Legend

Both of these charts show that males are more interested in these shows and are a more frequent viewer. With Zombieland having 281,891 males, 52,379 females and I Am Legend having 384,249 and 68,006 females. However on both charts over all both genders give the same rating, on Zombieland they both give it a 7.7 rating and on I Am Legend they both give a 7.2 rating. This suggests both genders equally like the film and this genre. However due to the protagonist both being male in the films this may suggest why more males have watched and reviewed it, as a male protagonist will attract males as they can relate more. 
In conclusion, I think post-apocalyptic genre is liked both both genders and they will both be in my target audience.

Age
Both 'Zombieland' and 'I Am Legend' have the most popular aged 18-29 as these have the most reviews by both on IMDB. This does make sense as this is where I would think the most popular age would be as they are the most frequent viewers of cinemas and streaming services. However, as for both films the age 30-44 is quite popular too, therefore I think I will increase the age range to 35, and also the protagonist in my short film will be old too so this should increase the target audience as they will be more a more relatable character. Moreover, I am also going to make the lower end 16 of the target audience as most people I know, being this age, like this genre a lot as it is some of there favourite films and series.

In conclusion:
From researching the reviews of already made post-apocalyptic films on IMDB it has gave me an indication of a more detailed target audience for my film. I have came to an conclusion that my short film will be targeted at both male and female as neither is dominant with the reviews so therefore it will be suited for both. Unlike other films you can see there is clearly a dominant gender such as looking at 'Grease' which is dominated by females mainly. Furthermore, I think my targeted age will be 16-35. I have gone slightly below the most popular age on the two reviews of similar genre and plot. This is as I feel like it is still very popular at 16 and 17 as this is my age and I know many love this genre. Moreover, I felt like I wanted a large age range as clearly higher ages is quite popular too looking at the information so I had to include them also.

Audience Theories

Aiming at the right audience is very important in media studies so I have decided to thoroughly research to get the most accurate target audience possible. All media products have an audience in mind, and this makes it easier for them to advertise and promote their product too, saving money. I am going to use questionnaires, focus groups, target audience theories, existing media products and more to find out the right audience for my short film.

When a media business is defining an audience to find their target audience some of the factors they consider are: Age, gender, religion, race, sexuality, education, occupation, annual income, current and desired lifestyle, media interests, buying habits, loyalty to brands. Firstly I am going to research some audience theories:

Demographic Table

A demographic table is essentially used a lot for audience profiling as it defines the adult population into sections from what work they do. It splits the population up into 6 groups, and labels them by a letter code A,B,C1,C2,D or E, this described the status of each member in the group. The Upper Class are people inherited with wealth and great power. The Middle Class are what the majority of the uk population is currently in, business people, shop owners and professionals. The Working Class are people working with agriculture, mine and factory workers.

This is the newer grading scale however and this goes with '1-8' and even the old equivalent grade in the right hand column.

Then on below this is the population of how much percentage of the demographic are in each sector.
Having this table makes it easier to target an audience so you can specifically know you are aiming towards and also when you market you can save money by targeting the right people and not wasting on marketing to the wrong.



Psychographic Table
A psychographic table however does not divide them through work titles, but this table divides them into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. This table has the the belief of types of products a individual purchases reflects on the person's characteristics and patterns of living. The advertising agency ‘Young and Rubican’ invented a popular and successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model stand, ‘Cross, Cultural, Consumer and Characterisation.’



Researching these audience theories have been very significant. It is major to research audience as a mass audience is too large therefore these theories are breaking ti down into categories which has made it a lot simpler and easier to get a target audience.

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Short Film Analysis 3

All That Remains.

Diegetic Sound
Dialogue
The dialogue is quite minimal with the main character and others, he comes across as a very irritated and egoistical person, most probably since the catastrophe occurring - it made him this way. He is a man of very few words and has a very serious tone, showing that he has to be to survive. With lack of words it makes the film very suspenseful as you are not sure what is going to occur next. However, he can seem to be nice and generous to some people he comes across, such as when he says to someone else 'Do you have any water', and then gives a stranger water. But he also comes across as harsh when someone asked him if he could follow him, and he replied a short and blunt 'No'. He is a very difficult character to get a sense of with very little dialogue. However, dialogue is not needed that constant as the short film is mainly about his journey and fights with other gangs, the action makes up for the limited words.
Sound Effects
There are many sound effects used which helps the overall short film seem more intense and overwhelming. Obviously they are using sound effects for the gun shots, but they found gun shots which seem very fitting and perfect for each gun. Moreover, there is slashing sound effects when they stab someone with a knife which makes it sound more Gorey and entertaining and when the knifes connect there is added noises which sounds great. They also add in sound effects when they are simply moving or grabbing items which would be quiet in real life so adding the sound effects make it a better experience for the audience. They also add in screams and grunts to make the fighting intense and extreme, if it was silent it would not be enjoyable to watch at all. Lastly they have added some simple ambient sounds that make it seem more life like such as the wind in the background and bird noises. Overall they did a great job with sound effects and I am very impressed.

Non-Diegetic Sound
Intense music:
They have added intense music within the fighting scenes which makes it more exciting to watch, and gets us grabbing onto our seats to see what happens next. Without music it would be a very dull fight so this is a great technique they have added.
Calming music at end:
Juxtaposing to the intense music, right at the end after a legendary fight, they play calming and gentle music right after. Showing the protagonist is finally at peace whilst walking off into the distance. It is a great scene and they have pulled it off extremely well.
Dark sounds:
When a scenario is silent they have added dark sounds such as low piano sounds to get rid of the awkward silence which is a smart and effective technique.

Camera movements, angles and shots 
Tracking shot:
At the very beginning we see a tracking shot, following the action of the of a guy going backwards for his life then gets trapped both ways. It makes the scene more inetense as there is a lot more movement and makes it more pure, making us feel like we are there in the scene with him.
Tilt shot: 
At the beginning we see a tilt shot going upwards at a character, this makes the audience feel smaller as we are looking upwards at him whilst the camera is going upwards gradually. This makes the character feel very superior and the audience on the other hand powerless as he is looking down at us with a very noble pose.
High Angle:
Then a high angle shot is shown, this makes the character who just had a tilt shot of him more significant and the captured human a lot less. It is shot over his shoulder so he has the upper ground looking below the captured human, giving the audience an impression that he is worthless compared to him.
Extreme Long shot:
Later on, an extreme long shot is used. This is used to show the setting around him, of what kind of area he is in. The land is very basic, with no life seen at all. The colour correction of black and grey make the surrounding seem even more dead and the rusty boat shown in the shot expresses what the post-apocalyptic world has resulted to, everything is slowly dying.
Low angle:
Then whilst the fighting is happening below ground, the protagonist, another character from the beginning, comes along on a high ledge. We see a low angle which increases the height of him, and makes him feel more dominant and us and the other characters powerless. The background is plain, being the sky, which focuses us on him.
Close up:
After the fight they show a close up of the protagonist. He shows that he didn't care by saying he cant follow him, even though he just saved him. However, we see he has an even more generous whilst is a close up of his face saying 'Walk with the sun to your back, that will lead you to a village'. The close up gets the audience to see his real emotion, that he does have a very charming side also. We see that he does care. The shot focuses on him with a blurred background, which magnifies himself and shows how important he is and skillful.

Editing
Slow motion:
Slow motion is used many times throughout, when the protagonist is walking alone by himself. When something is slowed down, it brings our vision in higher focus. slow motion makes the scenario more intense as it allows much of us to be taken in. This is done when he is alone so we get sympathy that being in a post-apocalyptic setting is a very lonely place that you can not trust anyone. It makes it extremely more effective than being in normal time pace.
Dissolve:
At the end of the short film we see a dissolve overlapped when he kills the significant character shown at the beginning of the film. We see his head drop dissolving over whilst he walks off into the distance, showing he is at peace. This is very popular to use at the end of scenes and is a very great ending as it is a very effective technique.
Blood:
They add in blood when someone gets shot or stabbed which make it look very surreal which I love. Without these added effects it would look very stupid and unnatural but they seem to pull it off well, making the blood direction and amount very realistic.
Colour Correction:
They have colour corrected it extremely well. Making the overall short film very dark, dull and bland. They have colour corrected it so they have made the short film yellow, with browns and blacks giving it a sort of mad max feel about it. Making the colour correction in this way makes the audience feel very depressed so it has worked very well.

Mise-en-scene
The costume design of the characters are amazing. Typically in short films they are not that great and focused less on costume design, however in this it amazes you. It is very similar to the professionalism of mad max. In other short films you generally see camouflaged outfits, which is very overdone - so it is nice and welcoming to see something different. They all wear scarfs, expensive skull masks, googles, old fashioned bags, gloves, bland jacks and other clothing which all look old and wearied down which adds to the surrealism. Moreover, they also use many props that look realistic and make the short film that much more enjoyable. Within the short film we see many guns, bow and arrows, telescopes and other objects that make the short film entertaining and real life like. Not a lot of make up is used as it is not necessary as most wear scarfs or masks. You can see some make up that simply makes them look dirty and like they have been in fights and not had showers for a while. The expressions on there faces are very professional as they all keep a serious face throughout and there gestures are more and less very surreal also. The setting is perfect for a post-apocalyptic setting as it has barley any life within it and the trees and plants look like they are dying also, a long with human life. They have done a very good job with the colour correction and lighting as it looks very depressing and old by using very dark colours, using grays and yellow. This makes the overall situation even more depressing and miserable.

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Short Film Analysis 2

Dystopia.

Diegetic Sound
Sound Effects:
Then other than ambient sounds we also hear implemented sounds such as when he opens and closes doors we hear an added sound to make the creaking door louder, to exaggerate the complete silence of the situation.  The lights flickering sound is a very cool effect as it makes the place seem overrun with no control anymore over buildings. When there is an explosion we hear a large bang to make the scene intense and to go with the visual of the explosion otherwise it wouldn't be dramatic. After this we hear what he is hearing after the explosion, ringing in his ears, as he was too close to the bomb. This makes us feel like we are in the scenario as we are hearing what he is hearing.
Ambient Sounds:
There is various ambient sounds which make it very genuine. We hear wind sounds when he is outside, almost sounding like we are actually there. When he was inside we hear gun sounds of gangs fighting outside which is a nice effect. 

Non-Diegetic Sound
Dialogue:
There is very limited dialogue however it is understandable as it is not needed as he voice overs every so often - narrating what he is thinking within the scene. It is quite smart as the quietness between each narration is very suspenseful and makes us clench and uptight to know whats going to eventually happen. At 4:05 we get a jump scare as a pigeon noise breaks the tension but then carry's on being suspenseful and quiet.
Mysterious Music:
When the scenario is silent he has added a mysterious instrumental sound in the background. Which makes us question the scenario, being very suspenseful, makes us superstitious. It is effective and makes the scene less boring and complete dead silent.
Intense Music:
When the scene is not silent and suspenseful with the mysterious music, intense music is sometimes used to make the overall scene more dramatic and entertaining. 

Camera movements, angles and shots
Extreme close ups:
There is many extreme close ups of the protagonist. As there is very little dialogue and narration, his face also shows a lot about his current state and how he is feeling. Being an extreme close up we see is truly deep emotion without being distracted by the background. 
Long shot:
A long shot gives the impression of the setting, there are many shots where they use a long shot and extreme long shot in this short film. We see the derelict land and abandoned buildings from the catastrophe in the background. At 2:50, there is writing saying 'forgive us lord' and also a dead body hanging from a building. The long shot shows how dead it has became and then he is walking around alone, being the only living thing there. This expresses how lonesome he has became and sad the post-apocalyptic world is. 
Tracking shot:
When  he sets off an explosion we see a tracking shot of him going backwards quickly, trying to escape the explosion. This makes the scene more entertaining as its a quick movement being shown and also more life like. We follow the action which is what tracking shots are typically used for. It is an effective shot and they used it well.
We see this again at 6:22, however this is a long tracking shot which firstly follows him right then carries on behind him. This goes on for at least 15 seconds without any cutting making it very pure and again surreal to the audience.
Zoomed out shot:
At the beginning when he is getting chased by a gang we see a shot being zoomed out at 0:22. This gives the scene more energy, making it more engaging which draws the audience in, which is important for the first part of the short film. It allows the audience to also see more in the shot which is helpful also.
Eye level:
When he has his only really dialogue with another character, this shot is an eye level shot. Making it feel like we are there as an eye shot is like we are actually observing a scene - Basically a POV shot. This adds surrealism towards the audience which is a great angle to include.
High angle:
There is a short clip of a high angle shot of the protagonist. As we, the audience, are higher than him this may suggest he is quite powerless. Relating to the fact that he is young and weak, very helpless in this cruel world being alone.

Editing
Special effects:
The special effects in this short film is astonishing. Obviously he has great talent in special effects and animation. At 0:29, we see a shot with dead bodies in plastic sacks all over the ground which is added with special effects. Which looks great and very professional. Moreover, at 1:07 we see a scene of him walking down a path where there is a broken down car completely destroyed by the catastrophe on the side of the road. This makes the short film look more professional, by looking like they had a large budget, even though it was just added in a software. This is again done in many other clips where there is cars crashed in the road, the road missing parts and buildings looking very old. Lastly, he even added in explosions which adds the value of the short film again. He is very talented in this aspect and it paid off extremely well.
Colour Correction:
The colours are very dull and boring and the colour correction is almost black and white however more blue. Showing the over all impression that they are not in bright times but extremely serious and dark times.
Fast cuts:
When there is action within the scenes such as at the beginning, he has made shots very short with many quick cuts and fast movements. This makes the scene more intense and straight away gets our attention of watching the short film - being very effective.
Dissolving/ overlapped shots:
After this has happened he screams then other scenes such as the map and other shots are mixed together, overlapping. This makes it very dramatic and engaging to watch as he is very angry and paranoid over the situation is in. Makes us want to watch on and wonder how he is going to get himself in better terms.  

Mise-en-scene
Firstly, the costumes are quite good with all characters. With the protagonist we see his shirt is teared up, dirty and bloody all over which gives the impression he has been in tough situations. He has a large back pack as he is exploring, gloves so his hands do not get ripped apart and he also wears a gas mask which makes his costume look a lot more professional and surreal - the gas mask is so no chemicals are breathed in by him. Other characters such as the ones chasing him at the beginning are wearing similar clothing with different masks such as a skeleton mask and a burglary one. This makes them look quite threatening and scary. They also have great props like the weapons they use, we see snipers with scopes and more. The settings were great and fit the post-apocalyptic feel very well. They chose many broken down places that are over grown and dull which added to the feel of isolation of the world. Moreover, the make up seemed great, on the protagonist we see mud marks on his face and more showing he has been through a lot and he has left with a dirty face. His facial expression comes off very serious as he is a lone and hopeless, it is a very serious matter. The colours are very dull and boring and the colour correction is almost black and white however more blue. Showing the over all impression that they are not in bright times but extremely serious and dark times.

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Short Film Analysis 1

Elegy.

Diegetic Sound
Sound Effects:
There are various sound effects implemented into the short film to make it more appealing auditory for the audience. Such as the phone ringing at the beginning, and the voice mail message later on when he plays a message of his wife. It makes the scenes more interesting adding sounds. Moreover, he adds warp sound when waking up from a dream making it more dramatic when he wakes up. I am going to hopefully do this also in my short film.
Ambient Sounds:
There is a subtle ambient sound of birds and crickets in the distance, making the outside scenes that little more bit surreal, acting like we are there also. 
Dialogue:
There isn't a lot of dialogue, the only dialogue is at the beginning of the short film when we are seeing a flashback. There is no one else to talk to as he is completely alone, so dialogue is not possible. Instead we hear a narration throughout the whole film and this is practically what he is saying inside his head.

Non-Diegetic Sound
Narration:
Instead of dialogue with other characters, we hear a narration of the protagonist whilst seeing his life in an a post-apocalyptic world. His voice is emotion less, with no enthusiasm at all. It is dull, deep and he sounds incredibly bored of his current situation. He is tired from repeating the same bland routine everyday and missing human contact.
Music:
Once we see the flashback and he starts to narrate, an Baroq-ulele instrument or something similar plays gently in the background. As the backing music is very slow, low and soft it fits in with what he is saying that his routine is repetitive and boring just like the instrumental itself. There is nothing exciting for the music it just makes it interesting to watch with a soft instrumental. This is played throughout the short film, the same melody, and piano is added later. Until the end we hear a very deep, loud and long note played when a light is turned on from a house he walks past. Leaving it on a cliff hanger, it makes us want to watch more as it has intrigued us. Having a sudden change in sound from soft music to a hard and long note played gained our attention, just like his would be at that moment in time.

Camera movements, angles and shots
There is many camera movements, angles and shots within this short film, and this is one of the reasons why it is so popular and successful, winning awards. Within scenes we see many angles and shots instead of just one or two making us see the scene with different aspects. It is very smooth and enjoyable watching it. I hope to pull off the same effect within my short film.

Tracking shot:
There is a tracking shot at the beginning of the short film when he is at work in the office. It goes from left to right of his mouse clicking then typing on a keyboard. It is a great shot and is more engaging than simply just a still shot.
Extreme close up:
Once he picks up the phone, his wife is on the line in distress and we finish seeing an extreme close up of his eyes when he hears his wife is in danger, the background is blurred so we are fully focused on him and we see that this worries him and his eyebrows are down showing concern. Being an extreme close up we see his emotion very closely making us feel more sympathy towards him. 
Long shot:
We see various long shots, showing his whole body within the scene. A long shot is the nearest shot to our eye sight so this makes us feel like we are within the scene actually there. A long shot also shows a lot of the scenery, it is important for this short film to show how quiet the surroundings is. A complete ghost town.
Panning Shot:
At 3:54 there is a panning shot of the building, showing the location he is in. It is an interesting shot and more complex than just a still shot looking at the building. It shows how overgrown the building also that he is in. Making sure the audience is definitely aware of the run down world.

Editing
Fast/Slow cuts:
The editing in this short film is very clean and to a very high standard. Most probably another reason for its great success. The cutting between shots is so smooth and clean it goes perfectly the way through. At the beginning the shots are more fast paced for the flash back, gaining our attention straight away - engaging us in. Then once it is too the present world he is in the shots are a lot more slow once in post apocalyptic world. This suggests that the world has no excitement in it, that it is very dull and unexciting.
Cliff hanger:
The ending is so well put together. We hear him talking about 'your the only one left in the world' then a light turns on from a nearby house and he turns and stops talking then it cuts there. This is a very smart cut and end of the short film, it leaves us wanting more. They did this so well and it intrigued in me so much that I might also use this same effect.
Colour correction:
There is just a subtle colour correction in this short film, not actually making the scenes look incredibly more dark and depressing like other short films within this genre. However just making the scenes look more orange and making the over all feel quite bland. This goes with the general feel of the video, along side the music played in the background. 
Time lapse:
At the end of the short film there is a time lapse of him gathering resources in a warehouse. They decided to use a time lapse which I think is a exciting and great technique as it turned out really well and is more entertaining to watch than normal scenes. 

Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene is good, and seems overall very professional. Firstly, the lighting is done  extremely well and feels like natural light when watching making it that more surreal. The scenes are shot clearly and the lighting is very even and correct. The locations are great, there is a large variety of locations which make it that more interesting towards the audience. At the beginning we see a shot in an office, next we see him in his house, then in an abandoned house searching for food and lastly in a warehouse. It is more entertaining with more locations as it maintains our interest of him adventuring in new places. Moreover, his gesture seems very professional and normal which makes the representation of being in a post-apocalyptic world seem real.