Post 16: Ancillary Task 1 - Postcards Part 1

Production Name, Logos, Posters & Postcards

Production Name

In class we were discussing production group names and brainstorming all the possible names that would suit the film that we are creating. I was then informed that our production name did not have to relate to the film that we were making as many production companies will have many different films all under one production name. An example of a British production company who have a universal name is "Working title". 
We were put on the spot when we were asked to come up with a name for our production company and we were all baffled and could not come up with anything! As we are using an all Columbian cast, I wanted to incorporate ‘Columbia’ in part of the production name but I found it hard to come up with anything that went away from ‘Columbia Pictures' - a very well know and established production company. Including this in my production name could cause a whole array of problems. After careful analysis and research as well as consulting my media teacher, Miss Shipp, it became apparent that using Columbia within the name of my production company could not only be very problematic, but would also lead the audience into assuming that any film that our company produces would incorporate something to do with Columbia, or its people, therefore limiting the amount of films that we could produce. So to conclude, we decided to rethink and come up with a name that would not limit the amount of films that we could make and that would not be personalised to any specific film.

I then came up with the name “Clockwork Production”, which the team liked and we then went about creating Film Posters, Film Postcards and Productions Logos.

Production Logo

The second task was to create the production logo. After we had all decided on using “Clockwork Production” as our company name, we then had to come up with a logo to accompany this name. I spent many hours researching pictures and phrases that would help me to create the logo. I had an idea of what I wanted the logo to look like in my head. It was to incorporate the cogs and gears of a working clock. I found these images on google which gave me inspiration and ideas as to what I could use. These would also come in handy 
when I create the postcards, giving me further inspiration and ideas as to imagery for the advertising of the film.

I then went about creating my own images which would be incorporated into my logo. I then thought about a old pocket watch that belonged to my Grandfather. 
I know that it uses a wind up system and would have similarities to that of the pictures shown above. I took a few photos of the watch which can be seen below. I hope to use this in the logo and or the postcards.

My Final Logo Design - Clockwork Production

This is my final design for the logo which will now be put onto post cards and posters and other places where we would want to advertise or inform people that the piece of work was created by our production company.
Furthermore I believe that using a easily recognisable name and logo such as ours makes it more user friendly and therefore more widely known. This will then help to create a larger and more established production company which will open further doors to everyone involved.




























Film Posters

When looking at film Posters, it became very apparent that the image of the film, or certain key markers and key imagery were a preferred method of advertisement, and this can be seen in many of the feature film posters today. So we began by analysing the conventions of a few, different film posters and looking at the methods by which they advertise their specific film. We considered  films such as 'Harry Potter', widely known by a huge variety of people. Having an image such as his face, or a snapshot, would send out a very easily distinguishable message. A first time film production is at a disadvantage and could not expect an audience to recognise or relate to any image shown. Careful selection of images that would suggest certain events will take place within the film or exposing certain key plots, is crucial to attracting the chosen audience based on the movie genre. 


I would also have to think about making my posters as universal an appeal as possible; it would be a serious risk to me as the producer if I was to make my film too subject specific and too genre specific. It is a fact that a short film never gets a significantly large audience. Limiting the already low numbers could be very costly to a 'rookie' producer who is trying to gain funding.

We then had a class discussion on what features/conventions a film poster should include and we came up with a list:

- Name and title of the film

- Date of release

- Bold and colorful writing

- Images of Specific parts of the film (in some cases many different parts of the film all put into one image)

- Catch Phrases

- Specific words which would give away the genre and kind of narrative the films entails (truly horrific or a comedy masterpiece)

- Names of main Actors

- Release Date

- Bright Colors

- Company Production Name

- Copyright Information 

- A Website

- Small Review extract from a journalist or paper such as (five stars says the daily mail)

- Depending on the genre of the film and the message they were trying to send out, Age Ratings/ Certificates are not usually seen on posters. Posters that are advertising children's films and animations such as 'Shrek' and 'Finding Nemo' are more likely to have an age rating on the poster as they would be advertising that the production is universal.

Post Cards

There are many different marketing strategies for films. Strategies range widely.  There are T.V advertisements for the large multimillion Pound/Dollar companies, such as Warner brothers who spend vast amounts of money on marketing and T.V advertisements, the best way to reach their target audiences. Then there is the first time producer who if lucky, would get a spot at a film festival to showcase their short film. The way in which they would inform people of their presence, date and time of the showing, would be through the form of post cards. They are an inexpensive, cost effective way of letting select individuals such as big name producers, know about the short that has be created.
Below is a example of an advertisement that Warner Brothers made for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1:

Not all film production companies can afford to advertise in this way and especially directors who are only producing short films. This is because they would generally have a very small budget which would have been spent on creating their short film and would not be able to advertise with posters and T.V adverts due to the high costs involved.


Enormous thought and preparation goes into the creation of a short film, and it is aimed at benefiting all parties involved in the finished object. When creating a short film and showcasing it at events such as film festivals, the aim is that the Script Writers would want their work recognised, Producers would be showcasing their talent and the Production Crew would be hoping to get further jobs with bigger companies. It is important for the script writers to have their work acknowledged and appreciated as they would hope that Directors and Producers might take a look at their next script. It is important for the Producers to be able to showcase their talent, because talent is what the "Big Names" such as Danny Boyle and Mike Leigh are looking for. There can sometimes be a very fine line between talent and sheer luck when creating a winning short, and this is why it is down to the professionals to spot and pick out any Producer who shows the characteristics that they are looking for. It is important for the Production Crew and technical crew to also showcase their contribution to the production. Being a man who has a serious passion for cars and the auto-mobile industry, I compare the Production crew to a Formula 1Pit Lane crew, the faster and more harmoniously they work together, the better the end result (lap times) and this can be shown within the Production Crew as the harder they work and the better result they achieve, the more employable they are and their chances of working in a feature film are much greater.


Another route to gaining funding for a film, is showcasing a short film to a private investor or entrepreneur who would be able to financially cover the costs of filming  and producing. The downside to this is that although financing is a big part of what is needed to create a feature film, approaching investors who have no knowledge or expertise in the specific field could incur great financial risk to both the investor and the director, and in my opinion would not be a preferred method of gaining funding.

So the best way to advertise a short film, such as the one I and my production group are creating at the present moment, is to create Film Post Cards which would be carefully designed to give the reader an insight into the film, showing key imagery of the plot or crucial iconography that would invite and entice the audience in, whilst not giving away too much, maintaining interest leading to them attending the screening and a hopeful contract.The idea is to show a small picture or snapshot of our film whilst leaving the audience wanting more.

Looking at this post card “On A Life’s Edge” and comparing it to other short film postcards, the overall conventions of this method of advertisement differs, depending on what genre of film it is and the kind of Director the produced it. Looking at ‘On a Life’s Edge’ the producer has provided the post card with very short description or synopsis of the film, followed by the cast, the length and then the credits which include the director ‘Michael Walker’ and the producer ‘Kenny MacDonald & Rebecca Knapp'. This gives the reader all the information surrounding the film would be accompanied by a picture which should be iconic and related to a point or the message in the film. In this case, Michael has used a council estate high rise block with a very dull and dark football pitch in the foreground. This automatically gives out certain message about the film; it is not going to be about the aristocracy, upper class glamour but that of the working class and the pre literate, quite likely to be under the social realism category. I am sure that if I had seen the post cards to short films such as ‘Cubs’ or ‘Wasp’, the images on them would have had similar characteristics.

In class we had a discussion about the importance of the layout of the post card and as part of this session we looked at other post cards to compare and contrast the differences. 

Looking at these post cards and comparing them to other post cards, it is becoming clear to me that there is a general trend in the layout of the back of the post card. 


Although the front is important in catching the readers eye and imagination, the rear of the post card is equally important as it lists:
- The times of the showing
- The location of the showing
- The Producer, Cast and Crew
- Who the Writers and Directors are
- The length of each showing
- Any sponsors

The back of the post card would also hold the production company logo and in our case this would be "Clockwork Production".

My Post Card Designs took a lot longer than I had planned. I found it very difficult to come up with images that best represented my production, would entice viewers of the post card and capture their imagination enough for them to want to pursue it and watch my film.


This is my first design for the post card features a clock with a train coming out of it. As the the script writer of Synchronicity, I wanted the train to be synchronized with the clock which I hoped would give the audience a feeling that the girl (Isabel), the clock and the train were all in perfect timing with each other. There is references to the clock within the film, showing how time effortlessly goes by whilst she is told to "go away and play" and neglected. The trains within the film also play a significant role as the parents, Simon and Lisa are the lawyers, investigating a major train crash. It also makes reference to her train set which  she can't complete, wanting her mother and father to help, which they refuse many times and eventually this causes her to throw her teddy at the train and completely destroy the set.


My second post card design, features the clock with the train, just the like the first, but this time the train is going around the clock instead of coming out of it. Both the clock and the train have been placed on the table where Isabel finds them in the film. I chose this as a design, as it is an iconic part to the film. The idea of this was to have the entire front blacked out apart from the table which illuminated by a beam of light coming from the top of the post card. I then tried to transform the light into a table and this is the result. The back of the post card is very standard. It has the Clockwork Production logo, and screening times. It also has space to write who it is addressed to plus space for information regarding the film premier. 

The third design for my post card is of Isabel cuddling her teddy bear. This image shows loneliness and sadness. She is cuddling her teddy which she will clearly be doing throughout the film. This shows how lonely and sad she is and how the teddy is the only 'person' who is there for her in her life. It also features the Name of the film "Synchronicity" as well as the tagline "Refusal is the worst form of neglect". I chose this as my final post card design. I want the audience to feel sympathetic toward her and want to see more.  My hope is that this dilemma, which many children face in the real world, can be recognised and resolved. The back of the post card features the production company name, along with everyone involved in the production of the film, Anton Richards - script writer and director, Ryan Thrussel -  lighting director, Tim white - camera director and finally Nicola Carlisle who was the production designer.

Cubs - Tom Harper

Wasp – Andrea Arnold