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Film Magazine Front Cover
As a group, we came up with certain changes and made certain decisions to come up with a final group film magazine front cover. Before we had to choose a group final I had came up with several film magazine front cover drafts which were included on my blog. Each draft is slightly different where I challenge the conventions and main images. From a glance you can see that our film magazine front cover has all the required conventions of a real media product, masthead, left-hand side third, main image, colour scheme, cover line, barcode, price, date and plugs.
~Colour
As the film magazine front cover we choose as a group final was a cover with contain a lot of the conventions, layout, masthead, main image, and left hand third which I designed for my individual final I think the colours work really well. The colour scheme I used was back, red and white. I used these three colours as the black and red resemble the horror theme while the white is used to help brighten up the cover. This makes some parts easier for a viewer to read and didn’t allow the black and red to over power the cover and make it seem dull. The reason why I thought these colours would match the genre so well was because most people see red as a colour that symbolises danger. Danger is defiantly one of the messages I wanted to get across to the viewer about the trailer. Even though the white was mainly used to help the text stand out most people see this colour as purity, the purity symbolises the innocent girl in the trailer who is being followed. Black is mainly symbolised darkness and evil, which is another message I wanted to get across to my viewer about the trailer. Using this colour scheme secretly gives away part of the plot to the viewer without telling them exactly everything.
~Image
The main image we have used in the final groups film magazine cover was an image of our main actress from the trailer staring straight into the camera. This image was a photograph that I had originally taken and manipulated into Adobe Photoshop. This image wasn’t used for my individual final film magazine front cover but I shown the rest of the group it anyway. They all really liked it and thought it makes the viewer wonder what she is looking at and the red tint contributes to the horror theme and the colour scheme. It also works well with the rest of the front cover. As this wasn’t my individual choose I prefer the previous main image on one of the draft I had created. The photograph of Kate looking to the left where you can only see half of her face. I think this image works very well with the cover as a whole as the red tint contributes to the colour scheme. It also adds mystery into the horror thriller theme as the viewer is unable to the other half of Kate’s face. I also really like how the bottom half of the image fades into the dark background. I did this by using the stamp tool and changing the opacity of the brush. During the shook I did take a few more photographs of Kate and manipulated them in a similar way to how I have manipulated these two images. But I defiantly thing that these two were the ones that stoke out best as they held structure for the front cover. They allowed the masthead, left-half third, plug-in and the cover lines to fit nicely on the page.
~Masthead
In our finalising meeting where we decided which parts of each others magazine covers we should used we decided to use the masthead which I designed. I think the masthead is very appealing as the contrast of the red and white stand out from the black background. I used the styling options in Adobe Photoshop to create the textured effect over the love heart and the text. Along side this I also added a black outline on both and a white glow. Altogether with the texture this make it looks like they were both attached. We all agreed that we really liked this masthead as it was very different to previous masthead we had seen as I used a heart symbol instead of the word ‘love’. I think this is where we challenged the conventions and I think it works very well as a masthead. But I don’t think the masthead goes with the horror thriller theme of the whole front cover but as with most film magazine mastheads, they are kept the same for each issue.
~Text
As the main image is placed in the centre of the front cover we have structured the plugs and text on the left and right-hand side third. This meets the conventions of a real media product and in doing so we have made our film magazine front cover seem realistic. At lot of the text used in the groups final was text that I had created in my individual final film magazine front cover. Creating the different texts to match the horror thriller theme was very simple as the background I chose was black. Having a black white and red colour scheme made it easier to create that horror thriller feel. Using the different editing options available in Adobe Photoshop we included a variety of different fonts and effects for the text also helped me to create the interesting text. The options that I mainly used were the style options. In one of the plugs that I have used I created a blood splodge with the brush options in Abode Photoshop. Using the styling option I made the blood splodge stand out more from the black background and contribute to the horror thriller theme. This follows the conventions for a real media product and makes the front cover appealing and interesting.
~ Cover lines
As our trailer had to be the main cover story for this film magazine front cover I also needed to have cover stories for other relevant film. For example, if I had included all cover story which had nothing to do with the horror and thriller genre it wouldn’t have had the right effect on the viewer. As the main cover story needed to be about our trailer I decided to include the tagline I had made up, ‘It lies beneath the trees’ and mentioning that this issue contains on stage information about the film. This is an article which is likely to be a real magazine. This matches the convention of a real magazine product and therefore makes the magazine front cover which I created more realistic.
~Extras
Also in my individual film magazine front cover development I including a barcode, price, date, web address and a magazine tagline which all made the front cover seem more realistic as this meets the conventions of a real magazine front cover.
Film Poster
Also, as a group, we came up with some changes and decisions to create our group final film poster. You can see that our film poster contains all of the conventions that a real media product would contain, main image, colour scheme, billing block, tagline, actor/actress’ name, film title and release date.
~Image
From the several film poster drafts I have posted on my blog I chose an individual final film poster which I though work best to represent our film. The draft which I thought worked best was the one which had the manipulated image of Kate looking to the left with a purplely tint and seems slightly distorted. Also using Adobe Photoshop I blended in the bottom part of the image into the black background which gives the main image a more professional look. I really liked this image as it was very different to the others and it gave off a mysterious effect. It makes the viewer questions what the image is trying to say about the film. Only being able to see half of Kate’s face suggests that something is being hidden from the viewer. This makes a viewer wonder what this thing is and want to go and see the film. Having the image slightly distorted suggests that something happens to this girl and the viewer wants to know what. The main image for a film poster is all about keeping the viewer guessing and wondering, and I defiantly think this main image creates that.
The main image that we all choose as a group for the film poster is a collage made of photographs of Kate, who was our actress in the trailer. We choose this as the main image as it starts the viewer thinking about the photographs and the girls in them, together with making them wonder why so many photographs have been taken of her. This relates to the plot of the trailer where it ends with a shot of a girl discovering a shrine full of photographs of herself. I think by using so many images as the main image we have challenged the convention for a real horror film poster, especially by placing them in a love heart shape.
~Colour
Following on from the colour scheme I followed in the film magazine front cover I also used back, red, and while colours. This makes the continuity flow and emphasized the horror thriller theme. As I mention previously the colours represented different aspects of the trailer to the viewer and kept them in suspense. As the main aim in the film poster was to give away as much and as little as possible to the viewer I kept the whole poster very dark. This is why I decided to keep to a black background and include a tiny bit of red. The white text was mainly used to make it easier for a viewer to read and understand the text.
~Title
Another aspect that I needed to think about during the production process of the film poster was the film title. I couldn’t include a film title that was too long, and I couldn’t include one that wasn’t relevant to the plot. In the end I came up with ‘Flashing Trees’. This title was relevant to the plot and the story board I had created. In my story board I had decided to use camera clicking sound effects on some of the transition. This would foreshadow the ending of the trailer where the girl discovers the shrine full of photograph of herself. This is why I choose to use the word ‘Flashing’ in the title. As the main location of the plot was in the wooded area I thought that using the word ‘Trees’ in the title would also be relevant. This is how I came up with a film title which was relevant to the plot, story board, horror and thriller genre and wasn’t too long. Using the editing options in Adobe Photoshop we liquefied the film title to make the text look distorted. This distortion adds to the horror thriller genre. Editing our film title this way challenges the usual film poster conventions as most horror films keep their film title simple.
~Tagline
In all film posters they rely on using the tagline and main image to draw in a viewer’s interests. I used this to my advantage and made sure I used a very appealing main image and tagline which would stay in a viewer mind. As the final plot what we came up with as a group was about a girl being followed in a forest or wooded area by some man I thought it would be appropriate to include something about the forest in the tagline. In the end I came up with the tagline ‘It Lies beneath the trees’. This tagline alone draws the viewer in and allows them to question what this thing is that lies beneath the trees. It also sets the scene for the film and a viewer will be able to connect the tagline while watching the trailer. As my aim was to produce a film poster for a horror thriller genre I thought it was very important to keep the viewer in suspense with every aspect of the poster. I think with the tagline I fulfilled this aim as it creates mystery and leaves the viewer wonder what the films about. In the final decision for the group final film poster the group also agreed that the tagline that I created worked well with the rest of the promotional package. This is why it was also included in our group final film poster.
~Billing block
One of the conventions that all film poster include in a billing block. The billing block contains the names and logos and everyone and everything that was involved in the process of the product or products. This is why I knew it was important to include one as the film poster wouldn’t fit all the aspect of a real media product, which is what my aim was. In the individual film poster that I created I placed the billing block at the bottom of the poster which follows the conventions of a real film poster.
In our group final the way how we created and structured the billing block more fitted the conventions of a real product.
~Extras
Not all horror film posters include an actor or actress’s name unless it is a well known name, but I have challenged this convention by including the actress’s and actors names. I think by including Kate McCormack’s and John Dwyer’s name adds to the content of the poster. I placed them both in the left and right top corners of the poster as this is mainly where film poster includes the actors and actress names. I used white text and similar font so the text would stand and contribute to the continuity of the poster. When it came to the groups decision on the film poster we had all decided to only use Kate’s name as giving away the other actors name doesn’t create enough suspense for the viewer. We had also decided that the viewer would not be able to see this other person following Kate, so therefore there would be no need to include his name.
Trailer
As part of the promotional package we needed to create a teaser trailer for the film poster and film magazine front cover. This teaser trailer would follow a story board and plot where each member of the group came up with individual ideas and then combined them all. The teaser trailer followed the horror thriller genre, the plot we all created, consisted of various shots and angles, editing effects, sound effects, transitions and text.
~Genre
Throughout this project as a group we have been planning transcripts and story boards to prepare for our film and editing periods. We had various meeting discussing our individual ideas or for plot, genre and which would be more relevant for our group. We came to the decision to use a Horror Thriller genre for all three media products in the promotion package. From analysing previous promotional packages the Horror and Thriller genre excited the whole group and I was looking forward to the challenge. Straight away from looking at these trailers, film posters and film magazine front covers ideas were coming to me for what we could do and use. The whole idea of Horror and Thriller is creating tension, suspense, excitement, mystery, fear, disgust and making the viewer feel involved in the film in some way by using certain sound and editing effects.
~Plot
From each analysing various Horror and Thriller promotional packaging each member of the beginning to come up with all sorts of ideas and created our individual story boards. The individual story board that I created was mainly focusing on the idea of having a trailer that contained a dramatic change. I wanted the trailer to start off as if that girl was having a normal day, and when she figures out that someone is following her the whole trailer changes. The music changes, the shots change and the transitions change. Having the change catches the viewers attentions and creates tension for them. Including the short cuts adds to the suspense and excitement. The story board held all the ideas for an initial horror thriller teaser trailer, but it more shots needed to be included. In the story board the plot that I had created was of a young girl walking her dog through a wooded area and all of a sudden she realises she is being followed by someone. This someone or something was trying to kill her, which is what the blood hand print and the blooded stick represent. The whole idea of the viewer not being able to see the person or thing follow the girl create mystery and suspense, which is what all trailer need to encourage a viewer to go and see the film. Using various close up shots and a heat beat sound effect creates fear and makes the viewer feel more involved in the trailer. In a meeting we all shared our story boards and our ideas. After this meeting we then came up with a group initial story board which contained a similar plot and shots, but with different and more shots included.
~Filming
At the beginning we decided which individual tasks we would all have in the group depends on previous experience. My role was Editor and Directors Assistant, Laura's was Director, Hannah's was Filming and Sally's was Sound. During the filming periods Hannah filmed the shots while Laura directed Kate what to do, Sally make sure the continuity was right while we all suggested different shots Hannah should take. for example, during the third shoot I gave the suggestion that Hannah should take an extreme close up of Kate eye while her eye is opened widely and looking around ferociously. This would create tension and mystery as the viewer wouldn't know what she is looking all. After Hannah had taken all of the shots for our trailer it was time for the editing stage.
~Editing
As editing was my individual task I started off by importing all of the shots for the trailer off the cameras. I then imported them into Final Cut Pro on the Apple Macs. This is where I edited each shot changing the brightness contrast, cropping the edges, changing the scale, the speed of the shots, using the sepia and echo effects, and using variously transitions. As I have never used Final Cut Pro before I really enjoyed learning these new skills. From analysing the When A Stranger Calls trailer I had came up with the idea to include short cut shots of Kate’s eye where I had used the sepia and echo effect. I think including these two shots in the trailer contributed to the horror thriller genre. The aim of the teaser trailer for Click was to keep the viewer engaged and in suspense. A way to do this was to create tension and excitement for the viewer. I think our trailer fulfils this as the short cuts create tension and excitement. The trailer leaves the viewer wonders who or what this thing is follow the girl. The way how I have included the tagline and a quote from the film magazine Empire makes the trailer seem realistic. Comparing to a real media product I haven’t really challenge any of the conventions as I wanted the teaser trailer to seem as realistic as possible.
~Transitions
The transitions included in the trailer were also used to create tension and excitement for the viewer. The thing that most creates tension for a viewer while watching a teaser trailer for a horror or thriller film is how realistic it seems. This is why all of the transition I used in the teaser trailer was straight cuts apart from two. Using these bring the plot in the trailer to life and makes the viewer feels that this actually happened even though they know not all horror thriller films are based on true stories. The other two transition that I used were fades. I used one of the fades on the transition from the last street establishing shot and the producer’s logo. And the next one was at the end of the trailer with the last action shot and the blank screen with the film title and release date. As the shots following on from the fade transitions weren’t action shots the fade shot separates the two. I don’t think I have challenged this convention of a real media teaser trailer as I wanted the trailer to seem as real as possible. This is why I mainly used straight cuts as most horror thriller teaser trailer does.
~Sound
As Sally’s individual task was to create the sound for the Click teaser trailer I am unsure of every detail for the process. Sally used Protols to insert different sound effects into Final Cut Pro. She also recorded her self playing an acoustic guitar for the beginning sound track. I think the acoustic guitar sound track sets the mood at the start of the trailer and leaving the viewer wonder what is going to happen. This is exactly what I would expect the sound to do, create tension and leave the viewer questioning the trailer. Sally has then included various sound effects from Protols which also creates excitement and tension for the viewer. During the trailer when the black and white close up eye appears a backwards boom sound effect is used which is used to catch the viewers attention. The viewer wouldn’t expect this shot of sound to be in this part of the trailer, which creates tension for the viewer at the very beginning of the trailer.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?
How have you created links across all three products?
~House style
To all aspect of the promotional package linked we tried to include the same film title for all three products. On the groups final film magazine front cover me and Hannah included a similar font, text and effect to what Laura had used in her individual film poster and magazine front cover. I also included this same ‘Click’ text which was used in the film magazine front cover. This connects the two products together and makes it clear to a viewer that they are promoting the same product. The same film title was used in the groups final film poster, but a different font, text and effect had been used so it didn’t look the same.
In my individual promotional package I had also tried to link each product. In the film poster and film magazine front cover. Using Adobe Photoshop I had used the same font, text and effect for the film title. In doing show I have made it clear to a viewer that these two media products are being used to promote the same product.
~Colour
Throughout my individual film magazine front cover and the film poster I have constantly used a black, white and red colour scheme. I have used these colours as they represent the two genres, thriller and horror very well. As I have mentioned previously that these colours works extremely well together as they give away certain aspects of the plot away to the viewer. Also, showing continuity between the media products helps a viewer recognise what they are advertising.
In the group final promotional packaging we also stood by this colour scheme. We had used the same red, black and white colours in 5the film poster, film magazine front cover and teaser trailer. This again has the same effect on the viewer and makes a clear link between the three products.
~ Tagline
The tagline ‘It lies beneath the trees’ is used in all three of our media product, film poster, film magazine front cover and film teaser trailer. Using the same tagline for all three contributes to the continuity of the products and meets the original conventions for a real media product. Also, if we used different taglines for each media product it would confuse a viewer and they would wonder whether these are all part of the same promotional package. For my individual film poster and film magazine front cover I also used the same tagline for both. I included it on both products to show a clear link and make it clear to the viewer that these to products were both promoting the same product.
~Characters/Actors
To make all three of the final products link even more we used the same actor and model. Using Kate as our actress and our model for the main images worked well and follows the conventions of a real media promotional package. If we decided to use different people for our actor/actress and our model it would confuse the viewer again and question whether these media products are part of the same promotional package. I also followed this process for my individual film magazine front cover and film poster as it creates a clear connection. Also makes it obvious to the viewer that this girl is the main character in the film. Viewer would see this image as an icon for the film, and if I had two separate people to model for the image it would confuse the viewer.
~Relevance to trailer
It was important to make a clear link between the group final film poster, film magazine front cover and final Click teaser trailer. This is why in our meeting we came to decision to use the collage main image idea. The idea of placing several image of Kate in a love heart shape was relevant to the teaser trailer as it ends with a shot of Kate discovering a shrine full of photographs of herself. The love heart shape is something very unusual to see on a horror thriller film poster. This is one of the reasons why we really liked the idea as it creates mystery and suspense for the viewer. They wonder what the love heart represents. We also choose to use the ‘Click’ film title which Laura created as it was relevant to the teaser trailer. We had decided in our final story board that we would use camera clicking sound effects some of the transitions. The sound resembled this person or thing following Kate and taking photographs of her. This then foreshadowing the ending shot for the trailer which was a wide shot of Kate discovering the shrine full of photographs of her. This is how the film title ‘Click’ was extremely relevant to the trailer. I think if the film title wasn’t relevant to the plot at all it wouldn’t encourage the viewer as much to go and see it. But on the other hand if the film title was too relevant and gave away too much of the plot it would be pointless for the viewer to go and see the film.
In my individual film magazine front cover and film poster I had used the film title ‘Flashing Trees’. This title was also relevant to the individual story board I designed as the location for most of the shots were in a wooded area. As I have mentioned previously in my evaluation the ‘Flashing’ part of the film title resembles the shrine and all the photographs of the girl. Whereas the ‘Trees’ part of the film title resembles the location of the plot where the girl is being followed through the woods.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
What do your audience think about your final products?
For our audience research we came up with two different ways to measure our audiences’ opinions. The first way to find out the audience feedback for the Click teaser trailer was questionnaires. We all created a questionnaire which ask questions to help us get a good understanding of whether our teaser trailer was fit for purpose and the outcome was how we expected it to be. We gave this questionnaire to two year eleven classes and various friends and family members. A problem which occurred during this process was that the year elevens were not giving proper answers and didn’t take the questionnaire serious enough. Therefore for the rest of the audience research for the film poster and the film magazine front cover we decided to do differently. We choose to print off images of our film magazine front cover and our film poster and get different classes and friends to write a positive and negative opinion about each media product. This made it easier for us to recognise as a group whether our media products were fit for purpose and what we expected as a final outcome.
From the audience research I have realised that the main attraction was the main image. Most of our audience agreed that the image was very effective and appealing. As I have already mentioned about the film poster is that the two main things that are mostly used to attract its audience is its main image and the tagline. According to our audience research we have defiantly used this to our advantage and used a very powerful and exciting main image. The main negative that I found in our audience research was following the original conventions for a film title. In the film magazine front cover and Click teaser trailer the film title logo is exactly the same, but for the film poster the logo is a little bit different. We would have liked to change this problem as we see it as a huge part that plays in the original conventions of a real media promotional package. Therefore if we had the change to make any improvement I would change the film title logo and import the film title logo from the film magazine front cover onto the film poster. This would follow the house style of the whole promotional package and solve this problem.
From the audience research I realised that most of our audience were impressed with the final piece for our film magazine front cover and believe that we had followed the main conventions of a real media product. Most of our audience had agreed that they really liked the different fonts and effects used on the text and that the main image was also really effective. They believe that it gave the whole front cover character and make it look really exciting. There was one small negative that I found front our audience research, that the whole front cover was too dark. But as our genre was horror and thriller and our film magazine front cover followed this theme you wouldn’t expect there to be any bright colours. As our audience still believed this to be a negative for the front cover, if I had the chance to improve on it I would changes
The colour scheme slightly to add less dull colours to the front cover. I would only change the colour scheme slightly though as I think it matches the horror and thriller genre and the other media products in the promotional package.
The questionnaire that we created for the Click teaser trailer consisted of the following questions.
(What most stuck in your head from the trailer?
What did you most like about the trailer?
What did you dislike about the trailer?
What was your first impression?
What genre do you think the trailer fits into?
How do you think the trailer expresses the story line?
Do you think the sound and effects interlinked well with the trailer?
Your overall opinion?)
From our audience research I found out that the plot for the Click teaser trailer was something that viewers were impressed with. Some of the audience were impressed with how the storyline kept them in suspense and the shots never shown the viewer what or who this thing was following the girl. From most of the comments from the questionnaire I also realised that they were really impressed with the final outcome, and put comments like ‘Wow’ and ‘Amazing’. I am really pleased that our final product has had this sort of effect on viewers and from these comments I believe our Click teaser trailer is defiantly fit for purpose. Most of the audience also really liked the sound involved in the Click teaser trailer. They believe that the sound effects and sound track fitted well with the rest of the trailer and really helped to create the effect we were looking for. Although most of the audience research shown this some of them disagreed and didn’t think all of the sound in the trailer fitted that well. If I had another chance to improve on our Click teaser trailer I would defiantly try and improve on the sound by including more dramatic sound effects and dimming down some of the sound effects as some of them were a lot louder than others.
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
~Camera
To start planning my individual film poster and film magazine front cover I needed to take photographs. As a group we took it in turns taking photographs of Kate on two separate shoots. The first shoot we used a camera and tripod outside of school to get the right location. As an Art and Media student I have previously used a camera and tripod to take good quality photographs. The second shoot was located in the media suite at our school. We used a camera, tripod, lighting and a green screen. I think taking photographs on the second shoot was a lot easier as we could use the lighting to our advantage. I enjoying takes these photographs as I had never used a green screen or this sort of lighting before.
~Camcorder
Before we had decided who in the group would film the trailer we had an introduction of the equipment we would be using by our technician. This is where I had a test go at using a camcorder. At first it seemed very confusing with the amount of equipment you need to use and remembering what each button did was a bit of a challenge.
~Adobe Photoshop
After I had taken all the photographs I needed to created my individual film poster and film magazine front cover. To help me decide which image works best as a main image for these media products I manipulated them in Adobe Photoshop. As I took Media at AS I already have a clear understanding of Adobe Photoshop and I knew how to crop, change the contrast, cut out, change the effect of images. I did this to all the photographs from the first shoot and the second shoot. Using the editing options Adobe Photoshop and some secondary primary sources I created a masthead, plugs, film title left hand-side third and cover line for the magazine front cover.
~Apple Macs
As the Apple Macs supports many different pieces of software every member of the group used these. The software that I used during my time using the Apple Macs was Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and iDVD.
~Final Cut Pro
As my individual task was editor I had the chance to use Final Cut Pro to edit our teaser trailer together. During this period of editing I learnt the skills to cut, crop, change the speed, change contrasts, change colours, use different distortion options, render, and use different transitions on shots. I really enjoyed using Final Cut Pro and it will be a life long skill, which I will treasure.
~iDVD
After editing all the shots, editing the sound and transitions, and finally completing the teaser trailer for Click I needed to burn the trailer onto a disc. Before I needed to do this I had to export the whole trailer from Final Cut Pro into an mp3 file. After this I imported the file into iDVD and used the templates to create a menu. After doing so I inserted a blank disc into the Apple Mac and burned the file onto the disc.
