No Film School - Unit Production Manager

No Film School is a website that provides students and aspiring film makers with information based on specific topics. In my previous blog post, I talked about what it was like being Unit Production Manager on The Kansas City Savior. Today on No Film School, I read about what it really means to be a Unit Production Manager and learned a few things.

1. Unit Production Managers are what make the ship sail in pre-production and post-production.
2. They're main job is to manage the budget and make sure spending doesn't exceed too much
3. Unit Production Managers are in charge of hiring the casting director and whoever else is needed on set.

When it came to being Unit Production Manager on the Kansas City Savior, I was not in charge of a budget or anything like that due to the fact I was a student. We had our own casting director within the crew so that was already taken care of for me. However, I do believe I did a good job keeping things going as smoothly as possible due to the fact that I made sure things were extremely organized. Overall, I do feel as if I completed my job as the Unit Production Manger on the crew of the Kansas City Savior.

The Function of a Poster

The Character and Function of the Poster 

The poster is meant to bring a message to our notice, publicize products, invite us to entertainment or proclaim campaigns. It is used to demonstrate the needs of the audience/costumer. Posters can be used to give information on almost anything, but is commonly known for political situations, government representatives, topical problems. It gives the audience concerns about social conditions. The poster is to vividly illustrate these things with as little words as possible. It is used to glorify what message it is portraying. It should inform, stimulate,  activate, mobilize, expound, query, provoke, motivate, and convince the audience. The viewer should feel as if it had an effect on his/her emotions. The poster should be something that reappears in their conscious time to time after only having to see it one time. 

The Laws of Poster Design 

Posters in the street should attract attention, interest, or curiosity. In order to do that, a lot has to take place. The poster most penetrate the emotional atmosphere. For a moment, it should be able to catch the viewers eye as they were to walk by and should influence the brain to not forget about it. To make this happen color, composition, contrast, proportions, quality, rhythm, dynamics, extensions, etc. need to be present in the design of the poster. The poster must be legible and understanding in the message but have maximum effect with minimum graphic means. Shops should be present in a large and bold way so it is noticed from afar. Color should be vivid, easy to read quickly, as well as placed in a way to maximize impact. The lettering on the poster should help impact information quickly and this is best done if they style is clean. The correct size will also help to see from a far and make an impact on the message. The designer should be able to examine the design and see all these elements. An effective poster always contains something in ponderous which cannot be measured and which constitutes the essential substance of the product of the creation. 

Conclusion

What I learned 

Posters should stand out in all locations. The audience should be able to take a quick glance at the piece and easily remember the information without a problem. In a busy work day, people don't have time to just stand around a read a poster on the side of a building, they are on the move to get from point A to point B and because of that it needs to be quick, vivid, and easily memorable. Posters should also stick to certain colors in order to draw their own attention because the contrast is what makes people curious. Finally, posters have the fit their atmosphere. If you plan to put your poster up in a supermarket, many people will see it, so you should make the poster accessible for everyone, children and adults that will be found in that location. 

My favorite part about the article was reading about all the secretes the creating a good poster because it gave really valuable information about what looks best on posters/what makes them more visually appealing. Those notes will be very helpful in the upcoming weeks as we start making posters because it will be something I want my class to notice. 

Final Thoughts 

Anyone who plans on creating posters in the near future should really look up what makes a poster visually appealing because the article gave really clear information on what all is needed in order to make you poster better and more noticeable. 

"The Bravest Woman in Seattle" By Eli Sanders

"For herself, for the woman she loved, for the justice, the survivor of the South Park attacks tells a courtroom what happened that night." - Eli Sanders

          The Bravest Woman in Seattle is about a woman (who is not named in the article for privacy reasons) and her partner Teresa Butz, and the unfortunate events that took place on the night of July 19, 2009. The article is a court case about Isaiah Kalebu, the rapist and murdered of Teresa Buts, and her partner who is still alive today. While this is not something I would generally feel comfortable writing a blog post about, I thought this was by for one of the most unique and interesting articles I have ever read in my life. The article was not written in a way to scare you off, but more as a made up story that keeps you involved and wanting to hear what happens next.
          The author sticks to telling strictly the victim side of the story. He write about exactly what the two women go through, their thoughts at every moment, what they did to try and get out of it, and of course what is happening present day (the court case).
          The article itself is a very strong one. It takes this event no one is really interested in hearing about and turns it into a story which in my opinion is what every journalist should be able to do. Sanders goes back a forth between his own writing of the story, and the victim testimony which is what we do in our digital feature stories when going from interview to voice overs. The only thing I would comment on is that Sanders has a really promising hook and unfortunately I feel as if the article just kinda stopped after she mentions waning ti hear Teresa speak again. I feel like there should be another sentence pulling it all together. In this article, 'main points' are not exactly prominent because this focuses on a real life case that happened a couple years back.
          I fell that the reason this story made such an impact on me is because I love writing. He took a sensitive subject and not only added a more positive connotation to it, but made it not seem 'so scary after all' even though the situation was terrible. As a videographer, the main goal is to have a story that pulls you in, that bring emotion, gives you a heavy feeling, but also does not leave you confused, or mislead on what the actual story was about and Eli Sanders was able to follow through with that just through his writing which is why I found it so amazing.
       

For anyone who does not get discouraged by sensitive subjects, this is something I recommend you read. It is quite lengthy, but it is most definitely worth your while.