King's Heart - Short Film Poster Research - Sam Swinson

King's Heart - Short Film Poster Research - Sam Swinson

This is a short film that follows a young American football player called Joey. His world is turned upside down three days before the stat Championship game. The film revolves around the question 'will he rise up or be defeated forever?'

MRANG Concepts:

These are the three MRANG concepts that I am going to apply to this short film poster:

• Narrative
• Representation
• Media Language

1. The protagonist (narrative & Media language) - On the poster, we can see the protagonist of the short film called Joey. The audience cannot see a lot about this character because low key lighting is used to make him appear as a silhouette. From the protagonist we can learn some things about the narrative of the short film, for example, we know that it involves American football because of the costume that he is wearing and the prop helmet that he is holding (5). 
2. Football field behind him (narrative & Media language) - Because of the costume of the protagonist and the fact that he is walking is what appears to be a tunnel we can assume that behind the protagonist is a football field. Also, we see the protagonist walking towards the camera and away from the football field which could foreshadow the hard decision that the protagonist has to make in the short film.
3. Lighting (representation) - The lighting of the short film poster is very interesting because behind the protagonist where the football field is there is a very bright light. This could represent that the protagonist is walking away from the fame that football brings. 
4. Setting (media language) - The setting of the picture is the tunnel that connects the football field to the locker room. This means that the protagonist could be walking away from the most important game of his life. 
5. Football helmet (Media language & narrative) - In the protagonist's hand, he is carrying a football helmet which suggests that he has just been playing football. However, the rest of his team is not behind him which could suggest that whatever he is having to deal with he has to deal with it on his own.
6. Half of the lighting is bright and half is dark. and he is walking towards the darkness (Media language & representation) - The lighting of the poster is very cleverly composed because behind the protagonist there is lots of light and in front of the protagonist, there is darkness. This means that the lighting could represent the problem that the protagonist is having to deal with because he is having to turn his back on football and fame and go into the darkness.

Layout:

• At the top of the poster, there are the names of some of the main actors that are in the short film.
• Then in the background, there is the main picture of the poster which has the protagonist in it.
• At the bottom of the poster there is:
• The title of the film
• The billing block
• The production company of the short film

Title:

• The title of the short film is the 'King's Heart'.
• This could suggest that the narrative of the short film is based around the protagonist having a strong heart or a loving heart.
• The title is in bold, block text to empathise the title.
• The font is a fancy style font which makes it look slightly 3D.

Tagline:

• This poster for the Kings Heart short film doesn't have a tagline on it.
• However, there is a tagline for this short film which is 'Rise up or be defeated.'
• This intrigues the audience into watching the short film because they want to see what the problem the protagonist has to beat is.
• Also, it gets the audience questioning because they don't know whether the protagonist will be able to rise up against the problem. 

Reviews and awards:

• On this short film poster, there are no awards or reviews stated on the poster.
• This is unusual because normally on a short film poster the reviews and summary lines are used to bring the audience into watching the film.
• Also, normally the awards it has won are shown to demonstrate to the audience the quality of the short film.

Website:

• There is only one reference to a website on this short film poster is to the production companies that financed and distributed the short film.
• However, with a google search of the title of the short film, there are lots of posts about it on social media including a Facebook page about the film.
• Social media is an effective way to market because it can push the film to lots of people for a low price.

Audience:

• There is no certification for this short film.
• The target audience of the short film is suggested by the protagonist.
• This suggests that the film is for people who like sports. 
• However, it is also, for people who like to watch up lifting drama films.
• I think the short film is for both genders because all the text appears to be unisex and even though there is a male protagonist it can still be enjoyed by females.

Billing Block:

• The billing block is at the bottom of the short film.
• It includes lots of different information about the short film:
• Production companies
• The title of the short film
• Director of photography
• Producers
• Composer
• Director
• Writer

Spacing:

• All the text that is on the poster is very spaced out and apart from the title all the other text is in the same font.
• This is good because it makes the text understandable and you can distinguish it from the background.
• The text is either to the bottom or the top of the poster which leaves the protagonist in the middle.
• This is good because the poster is not cluttered with lots of information and all of the text and the background image is spaced in such a way that makes sure it doesn't look overcrowded.

Presentation:

• The presentation of the information on the short film poster is very good. 
• This is because there is enough information to intrigue the audience into watching the short film.
• However, there is not too much information on the poster that makes it cluttered.
• We can see the actors that star in the short film and we can see important people that are involved with the making of the short film.
• The size of the font that is used to show the actors is not very big because lots of the actors that star in the short film are not very well known.
• Also, the director's names and the production company names are in the billing block which means that they are very small which is good because they are not very important pieces of information for the audience.
• On the other hand, the title of the short film is in big block bold text because it is the most important piece of information along with the background image because it is used to bring the audience's attention to the short film poster.