Postcard? Research? (Portfolio Project Post #11)

IT'S OVER! FINALY QUARTER 3 IS ENDING! My grades aren't ideal but at this point I'm just happy this quarter didn't kill me.

Welcome back, Glorp! Today we will be researching postcards. 

(DigitalRyanCreations, n.d.)

I spent a good while searching for a post card I liked, which took a while until I found a strategy. Film Festivals have lists of their wining short films, just look at the postcards on their website.

In my search, I also found this slideshow, which explains the conventions of the front of a short film postcard (there was nothing about the back of the postcard). As a summary, postcards tend to have a title, the director's name, the nominees or selections, the actors/directors/ext., and a URL to the films website. I'm planning on mimicking these things in our postcard, but I'm also adding a place for social media since that might be more attractive to our target audience. 

I SWEAR

The film "I swear" is about a young adult, named John Davidson, with Tourette Syndrome in the 1980s to 1990s. It shows the adversity John faced, and how he overcome it through campaigning and bringing awareness. It's based on a true story. I can't watch it fully, because the film festival didn't post it and it's not on Youtube. But I did find this excerpt and this trailer which gave me a good idea of the film.

I chose this postcard in particular because of how well it demonstrates personality. Starting with the title, the anaphora above it implies that John does a lot of things that aren't socially acceptable, with the repetition mimicking the consistency of ticks. The bold teal might be representative of how John learns to grow into himself, becoming more outspoken about his tics. This theory of mine is supported by this screenshot from the trailer, 

where the teal text says "Find your voice". 

(British Independent Film Awards, n.d.-a)

I'm not sure why John is wearing a track suit, the excerpt and trailer never explained it. But, that leather tag he has around his neck was explained to be a something he bites to resist ticking. Him having it out also follows with John's outspoken attitude towards his torrents, when earlier in the story I never saw it so I'm assuming he'd hide it under his clothes.

(StudiocanalUK, 2025)

URCHIN

I was first drawn in by the style of the postcard, I assumed it would be something very abstract. As it turns out, it kind of wasn't. The story covers a man named Mike who's trying to overcome his self disruptive habits and become a better person. Again, the full short film wasn't available online, so I looked at this trailer and this trailer instead. 

The British Independent Film Awards website calls it "Raw and absurd", which I took as the film being absurdist fiction. This explains the postcard, I'm assuming the producers wanted to market the movie as absurdist. I think this is what made the film sickout to me, since not many films have such an abstract postcard. The green isn't explained either, and I don't have much basis on it. But I think it's meant to be a contrast of sorts. Where green is meant to signify growth, but it being shown in this image with such harsh unnatural shadows establishes a malleolus sort of tone. Sort of to show the conflict Mike has in the film, where he's learning how to be a functional member of society.  it's unclear where health begins and harm ends. 

(British Independent Film Awards, n.d.-b)

CITES (in order of appearance)

DigitalRyanCreations. (n.d.). Today I will eat two corn dogs PNG, badass skeleton corn dog meme digital, ironic offensive PNG, cringe skeleton meme [Digital file listing]. Etsy. Retrieved March 12, 2026, from https://www.etsy.com/listing/4341047723/today-i-will-eat-two-corn-dogs-png

British Independent Film Awards. (n.d.). I swear. BIFA. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://www.bifa.film/film/i-swear/

StudiocanalUK. (2025, July 10). I SWEAR - Official Trailer | STUDIOCANAL [Video, 1:38]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeWqQN3snCU

British Independent Film Awards. (n.d.). Urchin. BIFA. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://www.bifa.film/film/urchin/