Creating: Film Trailer Improvements

After going over my storyboards again and accessing feedback from my audience I made the following improvements to my film trailer.

Firstly I shortened the shots in the trailer which I felt were too long. This was to make room for a variety of other shots, which was suggested by my audience feedback. This was the only major criticism my audience feedback had for me, so I had to make sure I took notice. Once I had trimmed down certain shots I then added in some more of the footage I took whilst shooting on location, as well as a shot of the cinema release date and websites related to the film, this gives the audience extra activities to take part in and gather interest in the film at the same time.

Once I had added in the extra footage, I sharpened up the fading on the trailer, as suggested by another person on the audience feedback. I made sure that every piece of video footage faded in and then faded out again, apart from the set of quick cuts towards the end of the trailer.

Lastly I made sure that all of the audio was in the correct place, as this was something my audience feedback seemed to like a lot.

After I had completed these improvements I was happy with how my trailer looked and elected this as my final piece.

Creating: Film Magazine Cover Final Piece

This is the final edition of my film magazine cover.

Masthead

For the masthead on my magazine I made sure the text was incredibly large so it would be easily visible to the audience. I also used a bright colour to reinforce the visibility of the masthead. The name ‘Action’ refers to what is yelled by a director on a film set, and this word will connote a film magazine to the audience. As this is a fairly new magazine to hit the newsstands I decided to place the masthead on top of the main image. The audience will then be able to clearly see what the magazine is called. Only when the magazine has built up a loyal readership will it be more acceptable to have the main image overlapping the masthead. The font used in my masthead was a staple for the rest of the font used on the magazine cover and created consistency  which will appeal to the reader. The masthead is positioned in a conventional place as the readers will be drawn to this place on the magazine first.

Main Image

Unconventionally I used a two shot for the cover of my magazine. Film magazines tend to be liberal in their choice of shot, and even use long shots on their covers to cover a range of mise-en-scene features, however it is still quite rare to see a two shot on the cover of a film magazine. The main image itself was heavily manipulated using computer software so I could achieve the desired effect, a ghoulish girl. I manipulated one image more than the other to create a juxtaposition between the two images. Even though the pictures were of the same person, I wanted to create two different characters. The image location, which can be seen in the background, features on both the film poster and trailer to create cohesion between my media products. Using the location in the background should also appeal to horror film fans as well as regular buyers of the magazine.

Layout

This layout of my film magazine is conventional. It has a skyline and masthead at the top of the page, a main image occupying the entire space as well as anchorage text, cover lines, a starburst, a barcode, issue and price. Without even one of those features the  cover would not qualify as a magazine cover. I have structured my magazine in straight lines. This makes the cover appear tidy and more professional, even though the font used is slightly uneven. However I feel the uneven font can be justified by the price of the magazine. I wanted the layout to imply action and for the cover to live up to it’s title. Otherwise it would be weird having a magazine called action, with an incredibly boring layout!

Skyline/Slogan

I placed a skyline at the top of my magazine cover to allow more content to be displayed without taking up the space that more cover lines would. I stuck with the consistent orange for the background and used the same font. Because it’s a skyline you dont have the same amount of room for the detail a cover line would convey, therefore I placed the name of four actors which feature inside the magazine. This will attract fans of these certain actors to want to buy this magazine. Once I had a loyal readership for this magazine, I would then think about replacing the skyline with a slogan, but it didn’t feel right placing a slogan on the magazine just yet as most slogans claim their magazine to be superior, and I don’t think that could be possible for ‘Action’ magazine just yet due to the amount of issues already published.

Anchorage Text

Placing anchorage text on a magazine front cover is another convention I have used on my own magazine front cover. In this instance the anchorage text refers to my own horror film. To make this text stand out even more, instead of just using a larger font I used the title font for the film title too. I then used the standard magazine font for the rest of the anchorage text so I didn’t lose too much consistency on the cover. The alteration in font will make the anchorage text stand out to the reader because they will be automatically drawn to the differentiation in font. I have also coloured the anchorage text white, as opposed to all the other main text which is in orange. This again catches the attention of the reader and makes this text stand out more because it is a distinctly different colour.

Cover Lines

As well as the anchorage text I have placed three other cover lines on the magazine. There isn’t a particular number of cover lines to be placed on the cover conventionally, however it is important to get the right amount as too many can make the magazine appear messy and full, but too little can make the magazine seen bare and empty. Both of these are then unappealing to the reader, and they will be less likely to buy the magazine. The cover lines are in an orange text as this distinguishes them from the anchorage text because these are other things included in the magazine but is not the focus of the main image. I decided to keep the generic font for this magazine to create consistency on the cover and make the text flow better because too many different fonts wouldn’t look very nice. I also kept the size of this text relatively smaller than the anchorage text so that the text could be easily distinguished as cover lines and not the main story. The cover lines were placed in this position as it didn’t obstruct the main image too much and the best parts of the main image were still visible, but the cover lines are also still easy to see and read. They are also placed on a dark part of the main image which contrasts with the orange text, making it a lot easier to see from a distance.

Starburst

Starbursts are becoming an increasingly common convention on magazine covers and it involves placing an exciting piece inside of a coloured shape to make it stand out. I have decided to use a starbursts to alert readers that this issue of the magazine is a horror special. I have stuck to the orange colour on this cover and used a black text and the same font as the cover lines, against to create consistency. This starburst will appeal to my audience because it is informing them of the horror special. Horror fans will be interested in this issue as well as regular readers. The starburst is an adequate size, if it was smaller it would be a waste of time as it wouldn’t be very visible or eye-catching but if it was any bigger, it would be too big and cover up parts of the image and make the cover appeal messy. I also placed the text on an angle slightly so that is would contrast with the other text on the cover, which is all in straight lines, this makes the starburst text stand out even more.

Direct Address

I used a conventional form of direct address on my magazine cover with one of the characters in the two shot staring at the camera, as if they are looking at the reader. A lot of magazines do this as it makes the reader feel as if they image is staring directly at them, almost willing them to buy the magazine. This type of direct address also appeals to the reader more than the use of personal pronouns for example as it is less effort for them to look as something as opposed to reading it. I decided using against personal pronouns on my magazine cover as I had already used them on my film poster and after creating my cover lines it didn’t seem appropriate to add in personal pronouns.

Colour Scheme

The colour scheme used on this cover was to coincide with the October issue which is the month when Halloween is. Orange is just one of the colours which has a Halloween connotation, but after thinking about a few colours which also connote Halloween, I chose orange as this worked the best along with the other colours on the main image, such as the green trees, green being another Halloween connoted colour. The orange was also bright and eye-catching, which was popular on the audience feedback I received  As previously stated I used white text to display the anchorage text. This became part of my colour scheme because I couldn’t use black, the other colour used for text, on top of an already dark place on the main image. I also used the orange for the skyline at the top of the cover to create consistency. If I had used any more colours to what I have already then the magazine would become untidy in appearance and inconsistent and this is most likely to put potential customers off picking up the magazine to look at it more.

Barcode

A barcode is a must-have convention on a magazine cover, unless it’s a free publication, because without it a checkout till will not be able to recognise the product to allow the customer to buy it. I placed it in a corner of the magazine, which is also conventional, as this keeps the barcode out of the way of important text and the main image. The right hand corner was the best place to position the barcode because the anchorage text and cover lines were both on the left hand side, so the barcode could sit right under the starburst.

Price

I chose to price my magazine at £1.50 to correspond with the overall look of the cover. While the issues are published monthly, the layout does not have the same class as most monthly glossy magazines, and the bright colours and cartoon-esque font only cement this further, therefore I feel £1.50 is a suitable price for the magazine. This price also means that there won’t be any more than 100 pages within the magazine, with a fair amount of them being advertisements.

Creating: Film Magazine Cover Improvements

From the audience feedback I received I have a fair amount of improvements that can be done to my magazine cover.

It appeared from my audinece feedback the orange colour scheme was a highlight, however one person suggested a variation in the orange may look good, this was the easiest improvement so I did this first. I made the orange slightly lighter, which I think makes the magazine cover look better as there is not too much of the same orange colour and the variation avoids the overwhelming the audinece with bright orange.

It was also suggested that maybe adding some more sell lines to the cover would enhance the product. Although there was much room to add anymore cover lines I managed to add another one, which I think makes the cover look better, and more appealing to the audience.

As well as the extra cover lines, I was also able to move the cover down more and add in a skyline. On this skyline I put the names of actors that also feature inside the issue. If the cover lines and hook were not enough, this will make the magazine appeal to even more people.

After I had completed these imrpovements I was happy with how my magazine looked as decided that this would be the final piece for my magazine cover.

Creating: Poster Final Piece

Here is my finished, final piece poster.

Below is a breakdown of how I have constructed this to be my final piece as well as an explanation of the forms and conventions I have used and gone against with the reasons for this.

Layout

I have tried to stick to a conventional layout as much as possible. The film credits are displayed at the bottom of the page, like every film poster that I analysed. This is also the case for every film poster I have seen in my life, so I figured it was best to leave this convention as it was because if I did move the film credits the audience may not understand that this was a film poster and ignore it and become disinterested in the poster. I also placed the film title above the film credits. This is also a conventional place to position the film title. By placing my film title in this position I can also align it so the dark figure on the poster is positioned inside the letter ‘U’ and this creates a nice aesthetic. The film review placed on the poster is not completely unconventional, but is less common on the film posters I analysed. As previously mentioned I used ‘Action’ magazine as the film supplying a quote because this was my own creation and that allows cohesion between my two ancillary media products. Lastly I placed a hook line at the top of the poster, which is another film poster conventional aspect.

Main Image

I have been completely unconventional when it comes to the main image on my film poster. Horror film posters tend to use medium to close-up shots on posters and in some cases extreme close-ups. This varies slightly when I analysed three horror film posters and the shots used in addition to the previously mentioned were long shots. In my case I have used an extreme long shot, although this is risky and extremely unconventional I have good reasoning behind the decision. This type of shot allows the audience to see the location surrounding the character in great detail and I have shot the poster, magazine cover and film trailer in this location. The location is a stereotypical horror film setting, so by showing this much of the location in the poster reinforces the horror genre. The small dark figure displayed in the main image also connotes horror to the audience and shows how isolated the figure is.

Hook

Using a hook on a horror film poster is conventional, as the hook entices the reader to look at the poster in more detail and gets them interested in the film the poster is promoting. For my own hook I used the question ‘What has been following her?’. This question will get the audience to think about an answer and they will become more interested in the film without realising. As the hook is placed at the top of the poster it will be clearly visible to the audience straight away. Using this hook also makes the audience more likely to study the poster as opposed to having a quick glance at it. From looking at it more closely they will be able to find out information about release dates and the website for the film which will be more likely to be remembered.

Lighting

The lighting on this poster has been created synthetically using an image manipulating program. Although the shots were taken on a particularly overcast day, this was still unconventional lighting for a horror film poster. By adding a darker colouring to the image, the image automatically becomes more gloomy and sinister. This lighting may also garner interest from the audience as they will be intrigued to see why the image is so dark and sinister-looking. The audience will be able to tell form the lighting used that this is not going to be a light-hearted comedy, but it will have more of a serious tone. The darker lighting could also make it harder for the audience to see the dark figure on the poster so they will go nearer to the poster to get a closer look.

Direct Address

The hook I have used on the film poster appears as a form of direct address to the audience because they will answer the question in their head when they read it. But the main part of direct address I have included on the poster is in the film review quote. The use of personal pronoun ‘you’ makes the audience relate that quote to them. The audience will read the quote ‘This film will have you looking over your shoulder all the way home’ and will either want to challenge the quote or will be excited by the potential to be that scared. Either way they will end up booking tickets to see the film when it is released at the cinema.

Text

I have used the ‘About Dead’ font for the majority of the text on this poster. This font will connote a sinister tone to the audience and will potentially make them more intrigued at the poster. This is also not available on a generic computer like one of the posters I analysed which makes it more unique. All text on the poster apart from the film quote is also displayed in capital letters, this is purely for aesthetic reasons, as the capital letters make the font look more scary that it did when displayed in lower case letters. After searching the internet I found the font used for all film credits on film posters. It was important to stick to this convention as I have not seen one film poster without this, and I feel the poster simply would not look like a film poster without this feature.

Colour Scheme

I have stuck to a simply colour scheme on my poster with black, white and blue being the most prominent colours. I have used the blue and the additional green colour in dark shades. This along with the black connotes a sinister tone to the audience. The white has then been used so the text is visible over the darkest aprt of the poster. Film credits are mostly displayed in white, so that convention was kept for my own poster. As the film title was being displayed just about the film credits I decided to also make that text white. This then creates a big enough contrast so the text can be seen from a long distance away.

Film Companies

I have stuck to another major film poster convention by displaying the logo of the film company responsible for producing and creating the film. The logo is displayed along with the film credits and allows the audience to see who created the film. If they are already a fan of this film company’s work then this may encourage them to watch my film.

Creating: Film Poster Improvements

Here is the process of improvements I undertook on my film poster. This was to get my film poster to as high a level of professional quality as I could.

I decided to improve my poster by adding in a quote to accompany the review from a film magazine. The magazine I have chosen to display a review from is ‘Action’ magazine, which is the magazine that I have created myself. I did this to try and create cohesion between my two ancillary media products.

I then made the film title font slightly smaller as it looked as if it was struggling to fit on the page, and this made the poster look slightly untidy. I re-sized the font from 150pt to 140pt.

After that I then moved the film review upwards to create a better use of space.

After these subtle improvements I was happy with how my film poster looked.

Creating: Film Trailer Audience Feedback

Here is the feedback I received from posting the film trailer on various social networking websites.

From this feedback I can see that the font used on the trailer is favoured by the audience and is something that will be kept in the final trailer. Another aspect of the trailer that the audience liked was the sound effects, so that is something else I will also be keeping in the final piece. Areas where I can improve now are the variety of shots used. When filming a I took a range of panning shots that I could add in for the final piece if I did end up needing more shots, so that is something I am going edit in. Tweaking the slide transitions would also be a good improvement, as suggested by one person giving feedback. Personally I want to improve the trailer but cutting down the length of some of the shots to make room for some panning shots.

Creating: Film Trailer First Draft

Here is the first draft of my horror film trailer. I have tried to incorporate a range of horror trailer forms and conventions, which I have previously researched, such as eerie sounds and isolated locations, although when playing it back I can see many things I need to edit, change and add in. I am now going to post the link to the video on social networking websites to gain feedback, and I presume that my desired improvements will also be picked up on.

Creating: Film Trailer Development

To create my film trailer I used video editing software Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. To begin with I opened the program and opted to create a new project.

The next screen that appeared allowed me to adjust the settings of the video project. I left most of the settings as they were because I felt that they didn’t need to be changed.

A new screen appeared with the editing timeline and other windows for me to adjust and edit features. The first thing I did after loading this new screen was import all of the things I had prepared for the trailer such as images, videos and sounds.

I then began adding all the features to the timeline and assorting them in the correct order, adding in certain effects such as fades, where necessary and before long I had created the first draft for my film trailer.

To save the trailer it wasn’t as simple as going to ‘Save As’. Instead I needed to export the file which brought up a whole new window where more settings could be adjusted to achieve the best final result.

Creating: Film Magazine Cover Audience Feedback

Here is the feedback I received from posting the film magazine cover on various social networking websites.

From this feedback I can see that my choice of colour scheme was popular, so this is something that doesn’t need to be changed, however a slight variation in the shade of orange used on the cover lines may work better, this also develops the colour scheme, so that is something I will experiment with when improving my magazine cover. Another suggestion for improvement would be to add more cover lines or a skyline, which I think is a really good idea and will be added to the list of improvements for the magazine cover.

Creating: Film Magazine Cover First Draft

Here is the first draft of my magazine cover. Once I had finished creating it I posted it to social networking websites in order to gain feedback from the audience, from feedback I can then distinguish the aspects of the cover which work well and are liked, but also the aspects which don’t work so well and should be changed. Like the poster I created this image in Abode Photoshop CS4 and stuck to conventional magazine cover features such as a large masthead, cover lines and even a starburst. A bright colour scheme was also used in the hope of catching a wide audience’s eye. As this is the October issue of the magazine and I was creating a horror film trailer and poster, I decided to make the issue a ‘Horror Special!’.