Target Audience

The strong themes of an adult life in this short film along with the ages of the characters will make this film relatable more from an adult audience within the 20-30 age range. However, I feel like the messages in the film regarding limitations and sacrifice can easily connect to most teenagers.

One of the main audiences we are targetting with this film are people who are coming close to graduating or have just graduated university. The year that a university studenty finishes their studies is the year that they believe they either know exactly what they will do with the rest of their lives or are just as unprepared for the real world as they were in their first week of university. Frame follows a character who left university knowing exactly what he wants to happen and I feel like this will reassure the people who believe that planning out your next 5 or even 10 years is something they must do to live life in the best way that they possibly can.

 

VALS

An abbreviation of ‘Values, Attitudes, and Lifestyles’, VALS is a research methodology created by Arnold Mitchell which is used to identify specific markets. VALS is used in market segmentation which enables companies to tailor their products and services to people who would most be inclined to stand as consumers.

The diagram above shows the 8 segments of the VALS framework. The X-Axis shows the primary motivation for consumers, while the Y-Axis consists of their resources.

The target audience for our short film will fall into ‘Achievers’ and ‘Makers’.

Achievers – These are work-oriented consumers who are motivated by achievement. They live through their own success and gain their satisfaction from their jobs and family life.

Makers – The main trait carried by these consumers is self-sufficiency. They rely mainly on themselves and are motivated by self-expression. Makers tend to stay focused on their direct life rather than the broader world.

We selected these categories based on the central character of our film. As a young and methodical man, he is a person who strives for success through his repetitive lifestyle which he himself has structured.

 

Young and Rubicam’s 4C’s Value Segmentation

John Orr Young and Raymond Rubicam are advertising pioneers who developed the idea of the 4C’s – ‘Cross-cultural consumer characterisation’. This is a probing research tool which uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to see where people fit into it.

The system explores the way in which people consume brands. It removes the effects of cultural background in order to create characterizations based on human beings rather than ethnic groups. The 4C’s divides people into seven different categories dependant upon their core motivation in life. These are – The Explorer, The Aspirer, The Succeeder, The Reformer, The Mainstream, The Struggler, and The Resigned.

Our film targets The Succeeder – a strong-minded person with their own goals and a knack for organization. These people must always feel a sense of control and as the protagonist of our film is losing this, I feel like Succeeder’s will be able to relate to the effects that this can have.

Short Films

A short film is a film which is significantly shorter than a feature film and even shorter than a featurette. There are no set boundaries for the exact length of running time for a short film however they are usually anywhere between 3-40 minutes long. They are most often made on a small budget by independent filmmakers which has led to one of the main conventions of short films being a simplistic and low production value.

Major media companies will only usually make short films in order to support a larger brand or project. Dreamworks Animation will often produce short sequels which are released with video releases of major feature films. Pixar took short films even further when they produced and released a short film alongside each of their feature films released between 1995-2001. More recently, Disney’s Frozen was shown in theatres with an included new Mickey Mouse short film entitled, Get A Horse! which appears before the film.

Independent filmmakers will usually begin by creating short films in order to gain experience in the industry, some recognition, and material for a portfolio. They will usually rely on film festivals  in order to get their film shown. However with a new age of technology, it is more common for independent filmmakers to use the internet to give their films some exposure. Youtube has gradually become the hub for short filmmakers with a lot of careers built by the exposure gained through the site.

 

Shell – Wong Fu Productions

A personal favourite short film, Shell explores the unique idea of the conservation of memories – real or not.

The film contains strong cinematography throughout. The focal conversation of the film is placed against the backdrop of the view from a downtown apartment in the evening and the only other scene uses an enhancement of natural sunlight to create a dream-like perception. The use of only two separate locations in the film showed me how a simplistic approach to creating a short film can be extremely effective. The dialogue is very emotive and I especially appreciated how the music was able to marry well with it and the use of silence when necessary.

 

The Alienist – Chester See

This film works to put forward a current issue in the USA – How moral is it to not execute a mentally ill person who has carried out a severe crime as a result of their clinical incompetence?

This piece is very performance-based which means there is a lot of dialogue. However, the score also has the addition of stings to mark sharp points made in the piece. Coincidental music is used throughout to create a sinister mood but there is a juggle between who the villain actually is in the piece – a classic moral imbalance.

 

Fire – Lawrence Kao

A dominantly performance-based piece, Fire explores the relationship between two ex-lovers and their remaining connection with each other.

The main body of this short film is the conversation that takes place between both the characters who are lying in bed together which relies on the 180 degree rule coming into play from a high angle. The film also includes various monologues which come in the form of long takes. Despite it being a performance piece, there is no central conflict in the film but rather just a deeply explored reminiscence which works well to provoke feelings in the audience.