The short film, Demise Of Man, revolves around gang leader Draco as he attempts to obtain an order of guns to ship to a threatening syndicate. The film is set in the gangster/crime genre, containing many of its typical elements such as drug abuse, violence, and general crime. From the start, the film was an ambitious idea, but I took it upon myself to make that ambition count.
Still from Demise Of Man
As I started the idea of doing a gangster short film, my idea was to make the gang look lower to the middle class: long-sleeved collar shirts that look disorganized, no jewelry or excessive accessories, and immaturity in terms of characterization. From the start, I wanted to do a gangster story that focused on the dilemma of one man and his demise in the gangster business. I thought a more typical, middle-class look fit the character “Draco” more than the overly luxurious look seen in many popular gangster films.
In more specific representation terms, I showed the mobster-gang/mafia environment in a pretty stereotypical way. Certain story elements such as the excessive use of cigarettes, mention of weapons, use of cursing, and the characterization of the ensemble culminate into a typical portrayal of the gangster-mob social group. Previous showcases of mobster/mafia gang films display the story in a similar way that I’m presenting, so my short film “Demise Of Man” goes off these stereotypes heavily. Typically, many post-modern productions are now working towards challenging stereotypes or challenging tropes. However, one of my main goals in this production is to go off the stereotypes set in previous portrayals and present them in my way, and I think that’s what I accomplished well.
My film consists of many aspects that create a strong foundation of “branding” instilled in my production. Firstly, the opening sequence of the film already establishes a general brand outlook. A man holding a cigarette walks into his members fighting and tells them to stop and gather around for a meeting in which he reminds them of the shipment of guns and prohibits the use of cocaine, with a thumping rock score adding to the chaos of the opening. In just the first minute, audiences gain a sense of the brand my short film outputs. It’s raunchy, aggressive, manly, shocking, and generally chaotic with a sense of mischief induced. Those who see themselves as having any of these traits should adore what this film has to offer them. My target audience is mostly leaning toward men as it is a full-man cast that’s part of a mobster, something that teenagers and young adults idolize. Throughout the film, the general gist of branding continues through excessive cursing and drug use, something my target audience would enjoy.
Other than the film, the most representative element of my production is my social media page on Instagram. @Demiseofmanofficial is my main source of reaching out to my targeted audience of ages 14-30 as well as providing them with content that gives off the general themes my short film will express. As mentioned in my blog, my Instagram contributes much to the branding of “Demise Of Man”, I post reels showing off the characters, behind the scenes, and the best bits of the cinematography in my short. Overall, the brand of my short film that comes off my Instagram gives audiences characters that most people may find “cool” and dominant, as well as those who enjoy simplicity in chaos, which is something my short film does so often. By doing this, “Demise Of Man” attracts more to its intended audience and expands on that.
Instagram Page
My postcard and poster go off the brand quite a bit as well, the simple, yet audacious pose of my character smoking a cigarette with the back of a blue sky provides my audience with an elegant poster, and those who’ve watched the film, know how impactful that scene is in the wider scope. I also had my friend Joey Coste in the class assist me in the poster, gave me a cleared idea for my postcard. The back of my postcard includes one of the most iconic lines, with a still from the very first shot of the film, again, attracting those in the film festival area to watch something ambitious and chaotic.
Cover of Postcard
Continuing, my research has also been a huge factor in establishing my products the way I wanted it to be depicted. I researched popular gangster movies and TV Shows such as “Reservoir Dogs”, “The Godfather”, and “Peaky Blinders” to aid me in producing my short film, and to make sure I was going in the right direction that fits my genre. On that note, I also looked into many gangster film productions' Instagram pages to gain some inspiration, I did go my own way with Instagram, but I always remembered the previous pages I looked back upon and I garnered some ideas from them. As stated before, my products utilize nearly all the conventions seen in the gangster crime genre. From guns and cigarettes to talks about syndicates and betrayal, these ideas are played around with at a very high rate in gangster films in the media.
Still from Peaky Blinders
Still from Reservoir Dogs
In terms of planning, I faced many roadblocks in going towards a successful production. I had a last-minute location change and a last-minute cast change which ultimately changed the scope of my production. Also, I never anticipated how hard it is to direct and star in the same film, especially with such a large cast, so that took getting used to. Speaking about the cast, it was very hard to work with people’s schedules, especially since they were days filming where I would need at least 6 people on set, and this caused many delays in filming.
All in All, my ten-week journey has been quite eventful, with multiple stories, cast, and location changes, it all came together (somehow). Taking the time to step back and reflect on the whole process has shown that even despite the challenge, one must always make ends meet, and this is my way of doing so.
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