Final Magazine Cover

This is the final magazine cover we created. Like the poster, we made a few changes at the end of production as all three of our products came together. We changed the font to synchronise with the poster. The blue tone of the photograph looks unusual and effective, and overall i think the magazine cover turned out fantastically, and compares well with existing film magazines in the market.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For the trailer, magazine cover and film poster, we researched into existing products in similar genres to analyse conventions throughout, as well as what is more effective than others in terms of technique. conventions are extremely important as they are an immediate code to the audience and signal to them using image, colour etc. that become regular and therefore familiar to the audience.

However as well as keeping to conventions, they can also be broken to make the plot more exciting or unique. Although it is best not to break too many convnetions in one piece of media. We have used forms and convention throughout our media through the use of colours as we have kept to the obvious thriller colours such as black and red, as well as through font. With our film trailer, we used many close up shots which portrays intensity and is also mysterious. The most common thriller convention used in our trailer is probably the fast paced editing at the end, as well as the dramatic music, which we edited alongside to match the pace. We used a split screen technique in the improved version of our trailer, which can also been seen in the Taken trailer as it is again, a thriller convention.

Our group decided from the very start that we wanted to challenge a major thriller convention in order to give our product a unique selling point. We evaulated how we could challenge a range of different forms, such as time period and location. We settled on challenging the concept of gender in a trailer as the commom plot is for the male to play the hero, whilst the female character portrays someone weak and in need of help. Therefore the reversal of these roles would be extremely interesting and also something unique for the audience. Propp has a theory of there only being 8 characters in any one media text. Although the genders are reversed, the explanations and motivations of each character still fits into his character theory as shown below;
The female protagonist is the hero, whilst the male is the "damsel in distress" as well as the typical bad guy, and the helper - Elana.

We used 2 very conventional pieces of non-diegetic music to enchanse firstly "dragster wave" the regular scene of Mia's everyday routine at work in her office, and then the action packed thriller mood which is suddenly introduced - "code breakers". Using 2 pieces of music made the trailer a lot more interesting as the calm music being overshadowed by the panicked and quick paced track symbolises distruption, and it is very conventional to change the music during a trailer. The other non-diegetic sounds we used were the thunder sound effects, the phone ringing, the dial tone at the end and the heavy breathing.

Tzvetan Todorov has a theory of disrupted equilibrium, which our plot follows, alike many Hollywood Blockbusters do also.
1) State of Equilibrium in the beggining – Brett proposes to Mia at a restaurant. Romantic and happy occasion with friends. Everyone is having a good time which - relaxed atmosphere.
2) Disruption of the Equilibrium by some action – Brett is missing for a couple of days, Mia currently unaware and is carrying on with her everyday routine, but is concerned that something is not right
3) Recognition that there has been a disruption – Mia receives a phone call from a mysterious caller informing her that Brett has been kidnapped.
4) Attempt to repair the disruption – Mia goes in search of her boyfriend and has to go through clues and obstacles in order to find him.
5) Restoring the Equilibrium – When Brett is saved, happy ending.


After watching 'Film Noir' in class, i discovered and learned about chiaroscuro - the contrast of light e.g. this portrait is chiaroscuro


We used chiaroscuro in the phone call scene on Deans character, which is fitting to his characters dark and mysterious personality. You can see in this screencap how we used the chiaroscuro effect, which was acheived by turning out the lights & holding up a lamp on one side of deans face whilst filming. I think this is extremely effective, especially for the plot situation as our main protagonist dosnt know who is calling her.



We mainly stuck with the forms and conventions for both the magazine and poster, such as colour scheme and font.

How efective is the combination of your main product and arcilliary texts?
The way we worked throughout the entire process was by constantly contributing ideas and working on the trailer, movie poster and magazine cover simultaneously. We flicked back and fourth between the three different projects, keeping each one fresh & meaning we didnt get a chance to get fed up with any of them, which was a great technique and far better than if we had worked constantly on the trailer, then moved onto the poster then magazine etc. We made sure that small details, like the same font being used throughout, because this leaves a strong impression on the audience and it is a sign that the particular font is linked to our movie franchise. Also, having the female actors face on both the poster and magazine will get her popular with the audience is another image they can relate to. and on Therefore i believe our group successfully produced a synergetic campaign.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?
During our planning process, each member of our group created an online poll on our blogs, each concerning a different matter about either the trailer, magazine or poster. The poll i created was regarding the movie slogan; i came up with 4 potential sloagans, all in realtion to the plot, and asked the audience which they prefered. However, 2 of the slogans got a tie on the votes, so i therefore combined them both, coming up with 'An epic tale about a girls fight for true love' The poll was a really good idea to get our audience involved with the planning process, as well as get some outside ideas and opinions.

We have shown the final pieces to our target audience (people aged 15-30) and they enjoyed the trailer, and think the magazine and poster looks proffesional. Through all the feedback, the one consistant opinion that most seemed to agree on is that the trailer was repetitive. Therefore our feedback for our improved trailer recieved far more positive feedback, as we managed to correct any of the negative feedback from the first time around, which is exactly what we were aiming for when improving.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
During the project i have gotten the chance to use a wide range of different media technologies to help contribute to to the construction of our final products, as well as throgh the planning stages. During filming, we used a sony handycam, which was fun to use, as well as a tripod in certain shots. We also used lighting equipment, for example for Nicks phone call scene, we shot in the dark and used a handheld light to shine on Nicks face, giving the chiaroscuro effect.
Obviously to record all of the obstacles and decisions I have used Blogspot. Not only was using an online blog easier than creating a portfolio/foolder, but it was also quicker, leaving more time to spend on our actual product.
I used the schools Apple Mac Computers as these have photoshop installed, to create my film poster and film magazine, which i really enjoyed doing and found far more easy than last year when i was using photoshop for the first time. As well as photoshop, our group used a software called 'Premier Pro' on which we edited our trailer, I enjoyed experimenting on premier pro, and although it is more advanced than any editing software i have used previously, the general layout and controls are similar.
Alex used garageband to edit some sound effects that were used in the trailer, as well as a green screen for the commentary. Of course i also used internet explorer to research on exisitng trailers, posters and magazine covers.
Youtube helping considerably as it contains hundreds upon hundreds of trailers to reference to throughout. As well as the social newworking website 'Facebook' which was a great way to acheive some client feedback from our target audience
In my second year of taking media, i know i feel far more comfortable using the technologies and understanding the process of reseach, planning and evaluation stages and what needs to be done.

Film Poster Development

We decided this photograph to be the one featured on our poster because the stance that Steph is in shows vulnerability and synchronizes with the plot extremely well, giving the audience a correct idea of the tone of the film. There is also alot of background space, big enough to fit all the text a poster would need on. The background also demonstrates that the plot is set in a city location, which is in keeping with other thriller films, as well as informing the viewer even further. We chose a bold and powerful font for the title, as it is the most important part of the poster. It is in white to contrast against the black background, making it eeyevatching to the public.


Next we added the cast members names along the top of the poster. Red symbolises love and danger, as well as being a typical colour associated with thrillers. We experimented with an image of Nick in his character pose of being dominant. Making the image a little trasparant, giving the effect of Nick being the 'ghost of the past' in terms of the plot storyline. We used the magnetic lasso tool on photoshop and cut around the sillohette of Steph, and layered it over Nick, to demonstrate her importance of character in the film.



Using the results from the online poll i created, we added underneath the movie title the official slogan. It is in red text to keep to the simplistic colour scheme and match the actors names which are placed at the top. After analysing existing posters, we found many of them contained credits situated at the bottom in a white font. It looks extremely professional and we therefore decided to add this feature to our poster. The white shows up clearly on the black coat Steph is wearing. As well as this production information, we included a website especially for the film, making it easier for the audience to access further film details, as well as being another promotional element.



In the next stage, we experimented with adding our third main character, Eugene, onto the poster. In this photo he is happy and smiling, as this represents him as being innocent, especially contrasted with the stern expression Nick is giving. However, we all decided that the image was unconvention for a thriller poster and distrupted the heavy mood.



After removing the Eugene image from the bottom right hand corner, we then placed the film production credits in the middle of the page, to make it more central and balanced.I think it looks far more professional in this position. We also added a release date as this is a vital piece of information for the audience, once again in red text, tieing in with our colour palette. As well as the release date, an age certificate was added into the bottom left corner to make the audience aware of how violent some scenes may be, which once again enforces the thriller genre, as they conventionally contain disturbing scenes.

Final Film Poster

This is the final film poster we created to go as part of a set along with the trailer and magazine cover. As you can see, we changed a few more things at the end, such as the title font. Not all of us were satisfied with the block font, and prefered someting more original. Together we searched www.dafont.com and after experimenting with a range of different fonts, decided on this one. It is unique, yet slides perfectly into the thriller genre thanks to the shaky looking letters and white 'scratches' around the edge. Originally it was a black font with a white forground, we therefore had to invert the colours so that it would stand out. We therefore changed the font on the magazine cover also, as this synchronizes the image, sending a stronger message out to the audience. We added a rating of 4 stars as this makes it look even more proffesional, and 4 stars is more realistic than 5. The credits at the bottom are stretched across more as this looks more appealing to the eye. After many weeks of research, consideration and experimention, we have conculded on this being the final draft of our film poster. It is conventional to the typical thriller poster and was inspired from the research we each carried out.

Planning for our promotional poster

Shanyse came up with these plans in preparation for when we begin to make our poster. This gives us a chance to experiment with different potential layouts and decide which is best both for our audience and a selling point of view, as well as fitting with our thriller theme. Each draft is different, and there is a selection of both close ups and long shots. As well as the movie title being placed in a range of positions. Comparing all four together will help for us to decide which looks best and which is most effective. My favourite is the first one as the close up shot showing only parts of the face is intriguing and perfect for a thriller. I think having the movie title spelt down the side like how it is in number 4 is not such a great idea as it makes it harder for the audience to read and therefore is not an effective selling technique.

Photoshoot

We arranged a photoshoot with our main female protagnist Steph as she is a vital character, and having a female on the poster and magazine cover continues our tradition of breaking the gender conventions. Nick took these photos on his proffesional camera, and i think they turned out amazingly well thanks to the high quality. As well as the emotion expressed by Steph through her eyes and body language.

Film Poster Comparison Analysis Table

Film Poster Analysis

Movie Poster Analysis

I chose to analyse this poster for 'New Moon' because i have watched the movie, and as well as partly being a thriller, the love triangle sitaution is also present. This is represented through the stance of the three characters on this movie poster. The current boyfriend is positioned on the far left, with the jelous character in the middle attempting to seperate him from the female character. From this image alone, the audience can guess there is some sort of love triangle happening in the plot. Therefore, if we position our characters well enough, like the way we practised in the mock photos, we can portray an extremely strong message to our audience.



I chose to analyse this 'Panic Room' poster as i also analysed the film trailer, and therefore as a pair it is helpful to see how corresponding they are of one another. There is little image on the poster, as either side is taken up in a black block. This makes the main image, even more concentrated and important. The eyes stand out the most, as they are alert and full of emotion and apprehension. The black figure walking in the background is also a vital point on the poster, as it defines the thriller genre. The fact that the female character cannot see the figure builds the suspense even further.

Costume Designs

As I also take Textiles for A Level, I volunteered to brainstorm what costume our characters should be wearing to fit their character. Costume plays an important part in the appearance as it helps for the audience to easily identify each character due to conventions across all movies.

Our Cast

Stephanie Ashley plays the main female character 'Mia' and we chose steph because she looks the the stereotypical college student & down to earth girl. She is also confident and was excited to take on the role, which is exactly what we needed as she carries the story. This breaks regular thriller film conventions, and therefore by having a female as the lead and responsible for saving the situation, it becomes our unique selling point to the audience.



This is Eugene McIntyre, who we have selected for the part of the new fiance 'Brett'. Once again, his appearence is stereotypical of the male student. He appears to be a strong character and in control in the relationship, which is shown through his proposal to Mia. However, this image is shattered when he is kidnapped, and the role reversal of Mia, then trying to save him.



Nick Jackman is playing the role of the 'bad guy' Dean. He was a part of our media group last year and therefore has experience infront of the camera, and also understands all of the techniques etc. we have to consider when filming, which made him a great cast member.

Script

We spent a lesson working on the initial outline of what the script for our trailer should be. We decided as a group what dialogue was vital, as thriller trailers typically do not give a vast amount of the plot away, in order to sustain mystery and suspense. The majority will likely be voiceovers, as these are once again typical of the thriller genre, so as to not give away exactly what character is saying what.

Photoshoot Ideas

Last Week we had a session of composing mock photos, playing around with interesting compositions, ready to take our real photos with the cast. The characters we focused on were Brett and Dean. Therefore the actions and emotions between them needed to look terrorising, and Dean must look especially powerful over Brett. We used a chair as a prop, so that Brett could sit down, making him appear shorter contrasted to Dean, who would be standing over him. These mannerisms will send a clear message to the audience, about who is the conventional bad guy, and who is the weak victim. This is a photo of myself, instructing Alex and Leyla, who were acting as Dean and Brett, how to position themselves infront of the camera as i was taking the photo.

My Poster

I made my own draft of the reprisal poster, once again experimenting and practising on photoshop. The photos Nick took of our main female character Stephanie turned out amazingly well. I chose my favourite which was one of her with her hood up and with tears in her eyes where she had been crying. I then cut the photo in a lightening bolt shape, which i chose the signify the anger within the film of the characters, making sure to include her eyes in the shape as they are the most effective part of the photo and show alot of emotion. I wanted the overall poster to look simplistic and placid as this would fit with the thriller/mystery feel. I chose black to be the background colour as this is a typical colour for this genre, and it is very contrasting against the white. All of the text is in the same font, emphasizing furthermore the simplistic theme. The movie title is placed at the top and in the largest font because it is the most important piece of information on the poster. I rotated the tagline, making it fit along the lines of the lightening bolt, adding some intersting composition and angles. The actors names are fit into the other side of the lighening bolt, as well as some vital production information at the bottom of the poster in the smallest font.