FINAL FILM
FINAL POSTER
FINAL REVIEW

The process of making a spell effect took me a while to do, but after I had done it a few times I was able to experiment with it and change colours as to how I wanted it; I then applied it to my composition and I had a spell. An example of this is shown in the GIF. For a typical spell, I would use a lens flare, a spell I had created or a stock footage spell and then I would layer different compnents such as duct hits and smoke to make it look more magical and to give the effect more depth. I then had to make out certain things, such as the wall and my arm so it looked like the spell was behind me rather than inforn of me. This also gave the spell effect more believability. I am quite happy with how the effetcs turned out in After Effects considering I have never done anything in After Effects before. I also believe that it has made a great impact on my film and has helped the film and genre come to life.
decided that it didn't look right and decided to take a screenshot from the film and use that for my poster instead. With the final poster, I experimented with how I could make this look magical and how it would link to my film without giving too much away. I finally decided that having the little balls of light coming from the book made the poster feel magical without giving too much of the plot of the film away. I looked at similar posters that were within the same fanatsy genre and they all had some
sort of magical and fantastical element to it. The credits for my film are located in the bottom right hand corner of the film poster. Most cinematic film posters have this central along with the title, but I felt that this wasn't a good place to have my title as it would have covered the book, which is what I wanted the audience to focus on.Okay, so I’d like to start off by saying I LOVE the film; one of the best student films I’ve ever seen. In fact it’s so polished that there’s very little to say on the negative side. But anything and everything has room to improve slightly so here we go!
The opening is very intriguing. Though the first shot could have more focus on the girl, as the shot makes me want to focus on the chair in the middle of the frame. When the boy sits down to talk, the music is too loud, or the dialogue is too quiet, but everything can be heard so this is a nit-picky issue. The delivery of the dialogue isn’t fully in-keeping with the music, but that’s more of a note for the actors. At 4:07-4:08, the line “Hey give me my book back” should be heard sooner, there is slightly too large a gap between when the girl stops running and says her line. 4:25, music changes too suddenly, this could have been done in a more seamless manner (maybe the big orchestral music could have started sooner at a much lower volume and slowly increased in volume as the scene’s intensity arose). Not all of the attacks blend into each other; it looks like sometimes the wand is used but doesn’t go anywhere. 5:14, music begins to fade out but comes to a sudden stop, this can be a little jarring. 5:17, goes silent for a second, sounds jumpy. 6:10 more sudden silence, 6:45 takes a while to focus. Title “SPARK” doesn’t stay in focus long enough, it fades out very quickly and we never see it very clearly. I assume “Fran Wallace” was added in later? It’s jittery and a different shade of white but not a real issue.
Now I’ve been super nit-picky here, I think SPARK is absolutely fantastic. Special effects are done really well, my favourite scene is the fight between you and Connor as Bruce walks in. The shots and cuts are perfect as is the timing. I’m glad you use simple cuts instead of all the special fades and cross-cuts and pre-rendered transition nonsense that most student films use; they’re barely ever used professionally and when they are, there’s a real purpose for it. To some extent I wish you were allowed a longer duration as it feels a little rushed due to the duration limit in the course requirements. But it is clear that a lot of time and effort has gone into this film and I BEG you to keep doing this, you’re so talented. Even if you choose a different path you have a knack for film making and should continue to do so, even if they’re just short amateur films. I particularly love the lens flares caused by the wands, very well done.
It's incredibly well shot, brilliant effects! There's not a lot wrong with it apart from perhaps the story? Apart from that it's wonderful!
Good things: Well shot, great effects, the Bruce cameo! Less good bits: The story wasn't obvious until the monologue at the end, some of the shots were over exposed (unless that was the look you were going for???) and the music sometimes over powered peoples voices!
The poster allows me to show what the film is about without giving my away. The little glowing orbs suggest to the audience that some sort of magic is involved within the narrative, and with the main character reading a book, the audience will know that the film has something to do with reading. The fact that the young girl is wearing a school uniform also suggests to the audience that the film will be set in a school. Although this is the main poster, the teaser posters give much more information away as to the narrative and the plot of the film. They include visuals of the spells being used and a text quote that reflects the overall message of the film.
The film starts off with a slow tracking shot of one of the main characters sitting down and reading Harry Potter. The tracking into the character suggests to the audience that she is pivotal to the plot/narrative of the film. The shot then changes to a close up of the book that she is reading. To the eagle eyed audience, they will be able to tell that the book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I liked the idea of including the book at the beginning of the film, but not excplicitly telling the audience what the book is, so just a chapter header is seen 'The Journey To Platform Nine and Three-Quarters'. The shot after that is of the characters eyes reading.
The audience can then clearly see that her imagination is captured by the book. Her eyes are also moving as she is reading the page. I really liked the idea of having a close up of the eyes within the opening of the film as eyes are often seen as 'the window to the soul' and the audience can clearly tell that the girl is enjoying reading. The setting indicates to the audience that she is in a school, and her costume also tells the audience this as well. 
In the scene where the girl confronts the boy for stealing her book, there are close-ups of the two characters faces, suggesting some sort of confrontation between the two, but also suggesting that they are equals and that they are both equally able of the same things. I thought that the two close-ups were vital for the film as it shows the audience that the characters are strong and are not afraid to stand up for themselves, which I think for a film that is shown to young children, is necessary. In the scene that follows, frenetic editing is used to show the fast-paced action; this is when they have the wand fight in the courtyard. This shows the audience the magic within the film, but it is not until later on in the film that they discover that it was all in their heads.
In the last part of the wand fight scene, the two characters take their battle inside to which the boy casts a spell and the girl crouches down to protect herself. The low angle of her crouching down and with her arms up shielding her face portrays her to the audience as venerable and scared. A shot of the character when she is grown up (in the second part of the film) is also used that is similar. This shot is used when the older boy casts a similar spell at her and she again shields her face using
her arms whilst crouching down. The slight low angle in this shot portrays her in danger and distress, but it is only seconds later that the audience discover that it is all a game. The camera work in part two of the film is still quite frenetic when the second wand fight occurs, but his all changes in the third part of the film when the camera-work is slow and paced, reflecting calmness.
The distributors for this film is my own film company, Firebird Films. The logo has changed from the last time it was used and has been updated from the last due to the progress in my abilities to use Photoshop and After Effects. because this project is really personal to me, I felt that using another film distributors company would take away the message of the film, whereas if an audience see's a company that they have never seen before, they would think that it is a more independent film, therefore makes it a more personal film.
The next two shots are a comparison of the Harry Potter teaser poster and the shot that I used for my teaser poster. They are quite similar, except from the shot angle. I really wanted to include a shot like this within my film as it made my character look stong and powerful.
The next two shots are stills from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and my film Spark. These two are very much the same and I like how they are very similar.
All of the films that included some sort of magic or fantasy within the narrative/plot, have some sort of 'light' within their titles, so that is what I wanted to re-create. The Hobbit title served as most of the inspiration as I really liked the way the light came through the text. This is what I wanted to re-create. Whilst the Hobbit title unfolds, my titles get pulled back together after an implosion. I experimented with how I wanted my titles to appear on screen. I fist designed them to fade out of blackness with the light shining through them, them explode into tiny fragments of light. I then reversed this so the tiny pieces of light get pulled back together and the
text fades back into darkness. This is how the titles look now. I really liked how the title explodes as it gives it an even more fantasy-like feel and draws the audience in. I also really like the colour of it; as the gold also makes it feel fantastical, almost like The Hobbit titles.![]() |
| Mockingjay Teaser poster |
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| The Maze Runner teaser poster |
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| Haar Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 poster |
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| My teaser poster |
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| My main poster |
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| An example of a Lens Flare |