Evaluation of Projects

My brief was to create a film trailer, of my choice, and also two ancillary texts, consisting of either a web page for the film, a magazine front cover featuring the film or a poster of the film. Due to not having any previous experience in using web page building programmes, and with working as an individual, I thought it would be best I did the other two, as this is where my strengths could be recognised more easily and it would also mean that my work would be to the highest standard I could give.

For my main task, I wanted to produce a thriller/horror trailer as I thought I would be able to effectively execute this with help from research and planning along the way. The research and planning I did previously to making my film trailer was textual analysis’ of other film trailers, of three different genres; romance, comedy and thriller/horror, I also did a detailed section on the history of film trailers and how they first began, I also did a LIIAR of film trailers, identifying the main qualities and representations a trailer should hold, but also the main production companies of trailers. Before I began to even think about what to do for my trailer, I researched film trailers in general, and then went into detailed analysis of how a thriller/horror film trailer was presented, and I also explored the ways in which the conventions of a thriller/horror trailer differed from other genres so that I was sure, when producing my trailer, it would be suitable to be classed as a thriller/horror trailer and not have the typical conventions of a comedy genre, for example.

As there were many conventions in the film trailers; ones that were typical of the process and production needed for it to be established as a thriller/horror trailer, I decided that when I would produce my film trailer, I would avoid trying to challenge the major conventions directly, as these conventions were important in creating the theme and genre that is required for it to be thought of as a thriller/horror trailer. Some of these conventions include the close up shots of the main characters, non-diegetic sound to create a desired atmosphere, dark and spooky Mise-en-scene, including costume, lighting and setting, the use of low angle shots to make the characters look vulnerable and also the inclusion of title pages being used to add extra information to allow the viewer to be more engaged.

By not attempting to challenge the major conventions of the film trailers, such things as close up shots, Dutch tilts, montages (which is a convention of most trailers, not just thriller/horror trailers), non-diegetic music, non-diegetic sounds used to add to the atmosphere, dark settings and dark clothing, I believe that I would be going with the ideologies and expectations of the audiences it was aimed at. The audience I was aiming my film trailer at were mainly late teens to older aged people of both genders. I came to this decision after surveying people of different genders, ages and people who enjoyed different hobbies which allowed me to discovering that this group of people were the most interested in this genre. Furthermore, I also found that stereotypical “moshers” were more interested in this genre, more than any other ‘stereotypical’ group of people. By definition, the term ‘mosher’ is referred to as a group of people who are a member of a subculture; they are also known to enjoy pushing and slamming each other into others within large audiences, usually at music events. This stereotypical group of people would also be expected to like such genres as horror and thriller, due to the dark and evil nature of most narratives. ‘Moshers’ are usually thought to be dressed in darkly coloured clothing with excess make-up (even male individuals of this ‘scene’) and also to have long hair which is either covering their face or is styled different to popular ways.

When creating my video, I did plan on having something different to the end product I ended up with. Originally, I wanted my trailer to have a linear narrative to it, which would almost present itself like a short movie, but after editing and trying to gain this effect, it did end up much more like montage presenting a non-linear narrative including a short scene and then a few other clips of the film which I thought would be more effective in creating the feel I wanted to receive from it.

In addition to this, I also changed the sound of my trailer quite significantly, this was due to the fact that, originally, I was going to be adding in quite a lot of dialogue, which would drive and direct the narrative, rather than just a glimpse of what the story is. So instead of placing in dialogue, I chose to use a simple song with no lyrics, which I believe complimented my film and unified the images and narrative. This song was called ‘Sleep’ by the band ‘Fightstar’.

Within my trailer, I did want to add in some narrative using title screens that had being placed specifically in place to match with the situation on screen, but also so that the viewer could read them and know what was going on, but also be prompted to think about where the story line could lead to. In addition to this, I also thought about adding in some spoken narrative, in the form of a voice over. The reason I thought about this was because it was a major convention of the other film trailers in which I analysed. This is possibly where I challenged how the presentation of a film is portrayed in the actual film trailer. This is because on other film trailers, there is the voice over to inform the viewer of the story line, but in mine, I decided not to put a voice over on, because I wanted it to seem slightly more mysterious, which would help with the development of the viewers desire to see the film.

While producing my video, much more skills were needed than what were needed in the first year of this course. This is because in the first year it was just editing still photos and adding in text etc, which was also needed this year as well, but in a more advanced way, with now knowing more about how to use Adobe Photoshop CS, and knowing how to take a still image further with editing and text etc. This year, it’s more working with moving images and needing to know what things to do, specifically, to achieve the feel I wanted, such as using the software ‘Adobe Premiere’ on the editing suites and being able to use all the different tools such as the ‘razor’ tool which I used to slice the shots into different sections, and the ‘stretch’ tool, which I used to extend the shots to make them slower, but go for a longer amount of time. Another way in which skills where needed to be developed over the two years, is the creativity involved. It is needed to be more precise and specific, which meant more planning and research, had to be done previously so that a precise direction could be achieved when deciding what to produce. The reason more planning is required is because, when working with the still pictures, you have more room to be broadly creative and you can practice and experiment with what you are working with, whereas in the second year you have to be more precise with your decisions and you have to know the exact end result in which you want to achieve, or else many things have room to go wrong. This also ties in with how my time management had to change over the two years. Last year, it was fairly relaxed and not much time was needed for all of the planning and creation of the product as it was a fairly small project, yet this year, much time and effort was needed for you to be able to achieve the end result. This is because you have more things to plan, such as planning the film trailer, with all the story board etc, and also being able to plan the execution of the filming and editing, getting the scheduling for the filming done, allowing time for errors to happen so that they could be amended and also to be able to acquire sound material.

When starting my two auxiliary texts, I began in a similar way to how I started my main text, as in I began by researching firstly posters, and the different types of posters that can be seen in everyday media products, such as magazines, billboards and bus stop posters etc. When researching these forms of posters I discovered how they are presented in different ways when they are located in different areas of the mediated world which allowed me to decide which poster to create, which is the type of poster that would fit in to the centre pages of a magazine. This would also be the magazine I am making my front cover for, as I thought it would be an effective way of intertwining all the products I have created into one, which is essential when marketing a new product/production. I also liked this idea, as I thought that it would be good to make it so that the poster and magazine front cover would be part of the same production piece.

When planning my poster and magazine front cover, I went about it in a similar manner to both my preliminary piece of work in my first year, but also my advanced piece of coursework from this year. What made it similar to my advanced coursework was that I did in depth analysis of 3 thriller/horror posters, and also 3 textual analysis’ of a film magazine front covers, which was done to discover the conventions of them, to be able to create a magazine and a poster which would be suitable for the real mediated world. The reason it was similar to my first year project was because, for both the poster and the magazine again, I had to draft the ideas I had, of how I imagined and aspired them to look like. I did this in my first year, but although it was only drafting a couple of rough picture to have a guideline on what to work towards, I feel that even this method of planning has developed since my first year, because I have gone more in depth with the type of features which could be included on the both the poster and the magazine front cover, which makes it easier to execute the end product more successfully.

Scheduling to do the filming for my trailer and to take the still pictures was fairly difficult, due to the nature of my chosen cast. This was because I planned to use my family as the cast for my film, which I thought would be an effective way of controlling the way I wanted my trailer to present the film, as I feel I could have more control over the actors but also because I believed they would have more of an interest, as I was there family member. Another reason I did this was so that it would be easier to arrange the setting, costume and lighting of the shots I wanted to take, as I was more aware of the cast and setting, as the cast was my family and the setting was my home. If I could have changed the cast, I definitely would have, without question. This is due to the nature of my un-co-operative family members, one of which happened to be playing the main role, which made it very difficult to be able to schedule the time I would shoot my filming as this particular cast member would not respond to any form of direction, and would take any request as a insult to his ability to act, making it difficult to control the situation, which is what I thought would be easier to do, with using family members. It was also difficult to arrange with other family members as well, as with them being in full time jobs and having their own educational responsibilities, it was hard to find a time when everyone was free to take part.

One thing that was difficult was the fact I had a single chip camcorder. This made it difficult because if I had had a higher quality camcorder, I would have had more of an opportunity to do my filming, as I would have being able to do it on a night time or in a slightly darker setting, but as the single chip camcorder is not very good at capturing the full extent of detail when done in the dark, this opportunity was not available. This limitation also meant that some of the shots I wanted to get were not achievable, this is because, as I was producing a thriller/horror trailer which has one of the main conventions of being dark and spooky, I wanted to produce shots that had this feature, but unfortunately had to access other tools whilst in the editing stages to be able to achieve this effect. In order to do this, I used the Adobe Premiere software, and used the video effects tools, one of which was a colour correction tool which was included on the matrox effects card, which you would drag on to the desired shot you wanted to change, and then you would go to changing panel and darken the colour of the shot and add a tint of blue to make it appear as if it was night time. Although this worked fairly well for me, I still feel that using a higher quality camera would have given me the opportunity for these shots to be perfect in the way that they presented what that film was about.Another thing I used this colour correction for was to change two shots at the beginning of the the trailer. One of these shots was were the main character of the film and his brother (the one who gets taken) are passing a ball to each other. I made this shot seem quite bright and I increased the contrast slightly. The effect this has is that it gives off the feeling that it was a possitive atmosphere, which meant that the characters were happy, whereas the shot following this one is were the main character is outside with his dog after his brother has being taken and he is sad, so I decided to make this shot black and white to highlight that it was quite a negative and sad shot as the boy was upset his brother had being taken.

For the poster, I chose the two pictures in which I thought were the best ones at communicating the feel I wanted across to the audience, and then produced them both into a poster, to see which one looked the more effective in presenting the film. I created the poster with using Adobe Photoshop and also by using Microsoft PowerPoint to add on the text. The text I added on, I got by searching the Internet and using the website http://www.1001freefonts.com/ to get the new fonts that I thought would be effective.

After finishing this piece of work, I started on the magazine front cover again I started by analysing several different magazine front covers that have being distributed into the real media world. The magazines I analysed were two Empire Magazine front covers produced by Bauer Consumer Media; one of these covers had the ‘Joker’ from ‘The Dark Knight’ on it and the other had ‘Willie Wonka’ from the film ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. I also analysed a magazine front cover of ‘Total Film’ which was produced by Future Publishing. This cover has the main character from the film ‘Iron Man’ on it. I decided which conventions were the most important to add in to my magazine front cover after analysing these, and firstly, the most common ones seen on a magazine is the use of the title of the magazine, the main feature story, the bar code, date and issue number, the price and a main background picture. Secondly, other conventions which are also important to making a magazine front cover appear of real media standard are things such as colour schemes, fonts of text, size of text, positioning of text, added smaller features which help the cover seem complete and also a sub heading of the magazine. After doing this analysis, I decided which target audience I would aim to gain.

This time, when surveying people to discover my target audience, I went more in depth to see what type of people would be interested in buying the magazine, but also what people liked what type of films, to decide whether it would be best to create a magazine that would broadly involve all different genres of film or just to create a magazine that would surround itself around just one type of genre.

I decided that seeing as the film world was very broad and there were many things to write about, I would create a magazine that would be general in the way that it would write about many different genres so that it would attract many different types of people. Although this is true, I did decide that my main target audience would be younger people around late teens to people in the mid 40’s, of both genders. I chose this target audience because although it seems that many people of all ages, are getting more equipped with the technology which enables them to be able to acquire their entertainment and information on the Internet, many people are also still interested in purchasing hard copies of the information they like to read, not only as in interest, but also from a convenience point of view as well, for example, someone may purchase the magazine if they have no access to the Internet, or are just wanting something to read on their travels somewhere. These types of people are most probably going to be early 20’s to late 40’s, who have a job that may require them to get train or bus to their intended destination. It may also be that mid to late teens have limited access to the Internet, and by parental allowance may only be allowed to use it as a source of educational gain, which means that if they were highly interested in films etc, they would have to buy the magazine to be able to receive the information.

Before starting to produce my magazine front cover, I started to decide what features would be important to add on to my magazine, so that it would seem like it matched the conventions of the magazines that are in circulation in the real media world. This acted as a check list so that I was certain I had added everything that is important to add on to the front cover. On this check list were things such as the title of the magazine, a sub heading/title of the magazine, features which would be included and essentials such as the bar code, the date, the issue number and the price of the magazine.

I produced my magazine front cover in a similar way to how I produced my poster, using Adobe Photoshop to edit the pictures, and then using Microsoft PowerPoint to add in the text and pictures etc. I used this software as opposed to Microsoft Publisher, because I believed it was easier to position my text on the front cover than it would be with using Microsoft Publisher. I also used this software because I was more familiar with it, and with not using this software, I believe that I would have sacrificed some of the features I included within my cover, just to be able to gain knowledge about software I’m not comfortable with using. Again, when doing this part of the production, I did two different ideas, to see which picture looked best after the editing, but then decided that only one would be suitable early on. After this, I started to plan other features that would be included on my magazine.

One of these features was the font in which I would use for the name of my magazine. I created the name of the magazine in several fonts, and then decided which one would look the best on the front cover. I had originally decided upon one font, but then when it came to inserting it on to the front cover of my magazine, I didn’t feel it gave the right impression, so I chose the other font which I believed was equally effective.

Other features that were added onto the magazine front cover after this were things such as the subheading, the date, the issue number, the price and the feature stories that were to be included in the magazine. All of the text that is shown on the magazine front cover is in the same font as the title of the magazine, this was to keep it consistent and keep it feeling like it all belonged together.

One of the last things I added onto the front cover of my magazine was the ‘film strip’ effect at the bottom. I got the inspiration from the January 2010 issue of the Empire magazine, of which I analysed. I liked this idea, as it directly relates to what the magazine is about, but it also breaks the cover up and makes it easier on the eyes; making it more attractive to the target audience, making it appear more desirable.

Things I would like to change, if I had the chance to go back and do it again would be the cast of the trailer, as they were un-co-operative and very hard to work with, which given the chance again, I would spend more time on searching for someone that I believed would be a good actor for the part I wanted them to play, but also so that I would be able to have more control over the situation as I originally planned.

Another thing I would change if I had the chance would be to go back and completely change the brief, this is because, while doing the trailer, more things have had to be done to be able to make it a complete production, and, although I have enjoyed making the film trailer, I believe I would have enjoyed making a music video more, as I would have being able to highlight my strengths more by doing that, then I did doing this brief.

Another thing I would change about my trailer is the story of it; I would now have done more research into the different aspects seen in many more different genres, so that when making my trailer, I could combine many of these features together to make it seem like something new and fascinating to the people interested in film.

In addition to this, I would have used a different setting, this is because using my house, which is fairly dark place when it is not the middle of the day, means that the quality of the picture, because of using a single chip camera, is lesser than what it would be it much more of my filming had of being outside in the sunlight, but to have this type of lighting, may have meant that the ideology of this type of picture would have being wrong for the genre I wanted to gain, so to be able to include a shot like this, which connotes a fairly happy and joyful atmosphere , would mean I would have to change the genre from a horror/thriller to a happy, up-beat genre such as a romance or comedy.

Also, I would have changed the sound in which was included within my trailer, this is because there is only a song going over the images, which means that it’s harder for the narrative to reach the audience, yet if some diegetic dialogue or a voice over was used, this narrative would be easier to identify and it would mean that audience could relate to the film more easily.

Finished Magazine front cover

Magazine with bar code and price

On all magazine front covers, there has to be a bar code, which is located at one of the sides of the cover, somewhere near the bottom. In addition to this, there is also the price that needs to be included. This is important, simply because people need or prefer to know the price of products before they purchase something.

From looking at some of the leading film magazines, I have noticed that range of prices is between £3.40 and £3.80. Due to this, I am deciding that I am going to price my magazine at £3.20, this is because my magazine would be new to the industry, which means that if I were to put it at this price, it would be competing against the others, which may mean consumers would buy this as opposed to the others.

Magazine cover with twilight quiz feature

On this front cover I have added another feature which is included within the magazine. This feature is a quiz which allows the readers to relate to the characters of the new series of Twilight films and to discover which of them they are most like. The reason I have chosen to put this on the front cover is because Twilight was one of the most popular films of 2009, which makes it almost definite that the Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which will be released shortly after the issue of this magazine, which means that many people will be interested in this feature.

The font used for this text, to advertise this feature, is the same as the font used for all the other text on the magazine front cover. This is because it will be consistent with the rest of the magazine cover.

Another reason I have decided to use this film as the 'quiz' feature is because I have used this film for one of the smaller feature films which will be featured in the magazine.

In addition, I have also added into the smaller features, at the bottom of the magazine front cover, small indications of the type of feel the article on the films are going to be like, or what the film is about. For example, Clash of the Titans is a re-make of an older film, so when people became aware that it was being made, they would have being excited for it's arrival in the cinemas. Also, Remember me is a romance film, which is indicated with the text 'New Lovely Film', and also the Eclipse film has the text 'The Great Saga' next to it, which refers to the fact it is the sequel to the popular Twilight film, which would gain more interest from the readers.

Front cover with added film strip effect

On this print screen, I have added the strip at the bottom of that page. I did this after researching other magazines with a similar feature, and feeling it was appropriate and effective in selling the magazine. I also chose to do this, as I thought it effectively denoted that it is a film magazine, and this is because it seems like it's a film strip going across the front of the cover.

I did this by using Microsoft PowerPoint. I firstly used that box tool, to make it so the lines were perfectly parallel and then I used the line tool to separate different sections where films could be shown to be featured within the magazine. The reason I chose the colour blue to be the theme for the 'film strip' is because this is the colour scheme I used for the text on the cover.

In addition to this, the background to the box I used for the 'film strip' is slightly translucent, which means that the reader of the magazine can see the background to the magazine front cover, but makes it seem less like a block, which means that it will appear more consistent.

The reason I chose the film's I did, which were 'Clash of the Titans', 'Remember me' and 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse', is because they are films that are recently going to be out in the cinemas, around the date of this issue of the magazine. I chose the pictures I did because they were close up shots of the characters from the films, which means that readers can immediately relate to the film.

Magazine cover with star feature

On this print screen I have added the star under the left side of the title of the magazine. I did this as I thought it was an effective technique of getting the reader's attention quickly. This is because I believe that when looking to buy a magazine, the consumer looks for something that stands out and something that makes it look special, which is what I believe this does.

Within the star, the text states 'The new film magazine... ready to excite!' I chose to use this as if it were to be going into production, it would be a new film magazine on the market, and I wanted to create the idea that it was different in some ways, as it would be creating a more close up relationship with the reader by asking them to participate with the production of the magazine, but also contemporary in the way that it fits traditional conventions of a magazine, and even more specifically, a film magazine.

Magazine cover with feature film

On this print screen, I have just added on the 'feature' film headline and information underneath. Again, with this text, I used the same font as for the title and all other text, just to help with the consistency of the front cover. It should be the same font, so that it doesn't stand out and seem like it doesn't belong on the front cover.

I kept the colouring of the font, for the feature film heading, white with the blue shadowing effect, so that it was the same as the main title for the magazine. This makes it seem like it has some importance, making it more similar to the title than what any of the other features will be like. I think by using the blue as the shadowing, which I used for the title as well, it helps bring the blue tint of the image come out slightly. It also helps make the cover sections seem related to one another by linking them with the colour in the images.

Underneath the text 'Notes of Fate', which is underlined with a line the same colour as the shadowing text, there is some more text, which is selling the magazine to the reader and making them want to buy it to read what the writers have to say about a newly released film, that they may find interesting. By adding in a positive comment about the film on the front cover, it allows the reader to think that the magazine writers, who write the reviews, like this film, which is probably understandable any ways, simply because it's the main feature on the magazine cover.

Magazine with new added features

In this picture, I have added in the date and the issue number on to the front cover. They are located slightly to the right, but not too far that it looks out of place compared to the title. I have also made it so that the font of this text is the same font of the title, this not only help them relate to each other, but it helps with the consistency of the cover and how it all comes across as a whole.

The date I have put on this cover is 27th April 2010 and the issue number of the magazine is issue 1. This is because it's a new magazine, so it's relevant to state that it is issue one for future reference.

In the print screen below, I have now added in the sub-heading which goes under the title of the magazine, which gives the reader an idea of the type of magazine this is, but also acts as a way of drawing the readers in with making them want to know just how 'honest' the reviews of the films featured are.

The reason I chose to use 'The most honest reviews yet...' is to build up some excitement for the reader by creating a controversial statement, but also by using the superlative adjective 'most' it makes it seem like it's to the extremes of something, in this case how extreme the reviews are about the films which have being released and also which films are due to be released.

Magazine with two possible title fonts

The pictures below are of the magazine front cover, with two different options as to what font I should use for the title of the magazine. At first, when looking through the different fonts by themselves, I thought I was sure I was going to use the number 2 one, as I thought it was fun looking and gave off the impression I wanted.

Now that I have seen the titles on the picture I have chosen to use for the background to my front cover, I have now decided that I am going to use this number 1 font as it look cleaner, as in neat and more snappy looking. Another reason I liked this font is because it's not a simple font, it has something the makes it seem different, which is another way in which I wanted my magazine to come across, as in it's new and it's something different for people to experience.

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Possible Fonts for Title of magazine

Here are the possible fonts I am deciding between using for my magazine title. Each of these fonts give off a different feel for the magazine, so to get the feel I want, it will be fairly easy to decide which one I feel gives it off.

The feel I want to create for my magazine is one where it's slightly childish looking, to be able to attract the younger generation, but also slightly retro looking, so that it could attract the older generation, as it would take them back to their younger days of watching films.

At the minute, I am thinking about using either font 3 or 6. I have chosen these two fonts as I think they give of the impression I want my magazine to achieve, but also because I feel that these two stand out more than the other fonts, making it more attractive to anyone who sees it.

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Things to be included on my magazine front cover

Things that need to be included on the front cover of a film magazine are things like:

1. Name of the magazine

2. Sub-heading of the magazine

3. Features that are included within the magazine; main feature and smaller ones.

4. Bar code

5. Date

6. Issue number

7. A section stating it's a new magazine.

The title of the magazine I am producing is 'Glued', this is because I wanted it to be something related to films, but films that were exciting enough for the viewer to not want to look away and that they were 'glued' to their seat. Another reason I chose this name over some of the others I was considering, is because it's short and snappy, and I also believe it's memorable.

The sub-heading I thought of using was 'The best film reviews'. I chose this because, as it's a film magazine, it needed to be film related, so I chose something that seemed as though it had been awarded the title of having the best film reviews, yet it is just an opinion of the writers which could be having their reviews published in this magazine. Although I first wanted to use this, I have now decided that using 'The most honest reviews yet' would be better, as being honest in modern society, especially in the media, can be controversial, which would be more attractive to people who like indulging in the mediated world.

Other features which I wanted to include on my front cover are going to be other films that are going to be out in the near future. Films such as 'Clash of the Titans', 'Remember Me' and 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'. When presenting these features on the front cover of my magazine, as well as stating that there is going to be a review of the film within the magazine, it will also state other things related to the film feature such as quizzes etc.

I would like the date of the magazine to be April 2010, as this would account for the production time if it was to be put into production, but also because of the date releases of the films it's featuring would still be suitable for this release date of the magazine. The issue number on the magazine would be issue 1, which I would also want to mention somewhere else on the magazine, by stating something like 'The New Film Magazine.. Ready to excite!'

Process of Making Magazine front 1

When beginning to create my magazine front cover, I decided that the pictures I had taken, I wanted to darken, so that it appears as if the character of the film is standing in the dark, with some light on them. To do this, I used the same method as for the poster of the film, where as I put the original picture into Microsoft Picture Manager and darkened the picture. I then 'save as' as a different file from the original so I could layer them in Adobe Photoshop.

He are my print screens of me layering the 'light/original' picture with the 'dark/new' picture, and erasing the front darkened layer to show the lighter picture underneath. As well as erasing the top layer, I also used the blur tool to darken the edges that I caught with the eraser. After this I used the darken blur tool to darken the outer edges of the picture further.

As well as darkening some of the picture, I also lightened some of the picture. Instead of using the lighten tool, though, I used the eraser to get rid of the top layer to show the bright torch light in the back layer picture. This gives the effect of the character being in the dark, and also that the torch is giving off some light.

In the print screen below, I did the same thing as for the print screen above. I created a darker version of the picture by using Microsoft Picture Manager, and then inserted them both into Adobe Photoshop to layer them and edit to my liking. In this picture I didn't darken the main focus as much as I did for the picture above, because there wasn't much to focus on, as the character had his head down with his hood up, which meant that the picture, even with being lightened wouldn't have had the same effect.

On both of the above pictures, when using Microsoft Picture Manager to darken the photo, I added in a slight tint of blue, which help create the effect that it is night time and helps towards being able to create the feeling that the character is in the dark.

From editing both of these pictures, and deciding that these two were the best ones to practice with from the picture I had taken, I feel that using the first one, with the young boy, holding the torch, would be the best one to use, simply because it has more focus than the second, as the second one has the character facing down, and after researching other magazine front covers, I have noticed that the character on the front cover is posing for the camera, and in this picture you can't be sure that they are posing, or if it was just a still shot taken from the film.

Possible photos for Magazine front cover

Drafts for my magazine front cover

For this magazine front cover, I am wanting to use a picture of the killer/older brother from the trailer as the main focus. I feel this will intrigue the readers more, about the film and make them think about the story of the film. I want the cover to appear quite dark but also have text that is bright, so the cover doesn't seem dark and boring.

For this magazine front cover I am wanting to use the youngest of the boys in the trailer to be the main focus. I would like it either if he is sat on the stairs looking at the camera, scared, or below with a torch searching for his brother, but both times being fully aware that the camera is there.

In both the last 2 draft ideas I want the text to be quite bright, but with a colour that doesn't drown out the picture. This is because the pictures are going to be fairly dark with not much colour, so to just suddenly add bright colours is going to shine over the picture, so the choice of colour I decide on has to compliment the pictures.

Possible names for my magazine

Every magazine needs to have a name, and it would help if it was a memorable name that somehow relates to what the magazine is about, in this instance it's film. In order to try and think of some names for my magazine I have being using a thesaurus to think of similar words to film or cinema, but not many seemed catchy enough to be a name for a magazine. Here are a few names I could think of that briefly relate to film and are catchy enough to be a magazine name.

1. Imagine

2. Glued

3. Footage

4. Rushes

5. Record

6. Flick

7. Cannister

8. Fixation

Out of these 8 names I could think of, I feel the best are Imagine, Glued, Flick and Fixation, just because they don't directly relate to film, but give an impression that what is being read is about films that can trigger your imagination and keep you excited about what they are watching.

I think, because of the audience I am targeting, I am going to use the name Glued, as it is young sounding, and seems quite like it could be slang, which is what younger people are more associated with using. Although this is true, it could still be attractive to the older generation, as although it is slang, it is widely used to explained someone that is fixated on something they are watching.

General features of a magazine front cover

There are things that definitely need to be included on the front cover of any magazine, simply because it's a sale item, or just because it's necessary for the reader to be able to relate to it more and be able to differentiate between my magazine and others.

Things that need to be included are:

1. Magazine name

2. Subheading

3. Possible awards that the magazine may have being awarded

4. Main feature text

5. Picture to advertise main feature film

6. Matching Colour scheme, involving photo and text

7. Bar code

8. Date and Issue number

9. Smaller feature in magazine

It's important that these features are included on the magazine front cover so that it consists with the other film magazines that are in circulation in the real media world. In order for my magazine front cover to appear like it belongs in the real media world, these things are essential as they are the things that are included on the other magazines.

Textual Analysis - Total Film

One main feature of every magazine is the title. This is one of the main features of any magazine, because it allows people to differentiate between different ‘types’ of magazines and also different ones within that particular genre of magazine. The name of this magazine being ‘Total Film’ allows the reader to directly identify it with it’s content; being about films. The use of the red against the white highlights the colouring of the picture behind the title and helps it be more consistent.

Another feature which is commonly seen on magazines are subheadings. Under the title of the magazine, there is a sub-heading which gives insight into either what the magazine is about, or how the magazine portrays themselves in terms of quality. Both these things are evident in this magazine’s sub-heading which state it’s ‘The Ultimate Movie Magazine’ as it shows what the magazine is about and also giving an opinion of how good they are at presenting the topic.

Probably the main feature which is on all magazine front covers is a background picture. The picture which is used as the background to most film magazines is taken from the feature film in the magazine. This particular photo is of Johnny Depp playing a part in the film ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, which is what this issue of the magazine is focusing on. As well as the picture being the main focus, we can also tell that this film is the main feature because the name of it is central on the front cover, which makes it easier for the reader to view. One main thing to point out is that the character in the picture, seems to be posing for the camera, in order to engage with the reader of the magazine.

The colouring of the text is important in being able to maintain the consistency of the presentation of the front cover. In this front cover, the colouring of the text is mainly white, to show smaller text, and grey to show headings to the text. The fact the text is this colour makes it contrast against the bright colours of the picture in the background. As well as the use of white and grey text, there is also the use of the colour purple, which is used to fill in stars, which act as bullet points and separations between features, and also used to surround other text to add emphasis.

The fact that this colour is used, very cleverly intertwines with the colour of the character's gloves and eyes on the picture. This allows each feature on the front cover to seem relative to each other and make it seem like text and other things such as ‘stars’ haven’t just being added there, but it seems like they belong there.

Another thing that is essential, when producing a magazine, is the addition of a barcode. Although this doesn’t help the magazine company in anyway to increasing or receiving sales, it is required in order for the sales that do happen, to be completed. As well as a barcode, a date is also required for a magazine front cover. This is because it makes it easier for classification or an issue number for the magazine to be made, this is why an issue number is also needed to be placed onto the front cover, near to where the date is. This makes it easier for the readers to know if they have already bought this issue or not, and also to make it easier for them know if it is a recent copy, or if it is and old copy.

Textual Analysis - Empire Front cover 2

The title of the magazine is an important part of any magazine front cover. This is so that people can differentiate between this one and others of the same genre or type. The quality of any front cover would automatically trigger any reader to assume that the content is probably of the same quality. In addition to this, the fact that part of the title of the magazine is covered up by a section of the picture which is featured on the cover, shows that this particular magazine is a highly achieving magazine which is very popular, meaning everyone already recognises its usual presentation.

The picture on the front of any magazine is the main focus, as this is what the reader will see immediately when noticing the magazine. This particular picture is taken from the film ‘The Dark Knight’ which is a sequel to the ‘Batman Begins’ film. The character that is seen on the front cover is the Joker, who is the antagonist of the film. The reason this photo is used as the front cover photo is because this the main focus feature of the magazine. It is also done because this film was going to be released close to the date of this magazine. The character in the picture is shown to be almost posing for the camera, which is different to the poster picture, as the poster has to reflect situations in the film, whereas this is to engage with the reader.

The colour scheme of the magazine front cover is based around the picture that is used. For example, on this picture, the main colours are purple and green; seen on the characters shirt, waistcoat and socks. To highlight these colours, they are brightened and made more visible. The fact this is done makes the picture stand out more and also makes it seem like the picture and the surrounding text belong together.

As well as the text and surrounding of the picture being purple and green, much of the text is also white. This adds contrast and helps the text stand out and be noticed by the reader. The use of white also helps include the colour of the title of the magazine, which is red.

On this magazine front cover, there are some other smaller features, which are included in the film. These features are about Sweeny Todd and The Mummy 3. The reason that these are included on the front cover is because variety needs to be included to reach a larger target audience. The is the case as some people may not be fans of the batman films, so to combat this, the magazine decide to put other film features on the front cover to show people that other interesting things are included in the magazine.

Included on this front cover is the iconic logo of the main feature film, this being the Batman logo. I feel this was done, as the main character, Batman, was not shown at the main picture, the Joker, the main antagonist, is shown instead. The use of the iconic ‘Batman’ logo allows the readers to quickly recognise what the main feature is and quickly gain interest in it.

Lastly, the main things to be remembered when producing magazine front cover is things such as the barcode, date and issue number. These are simply important for recognition and so that readers know when they were released and if they have missed an issue etc.

Textual Analysis - Empire Front cover 1

The title of the magazine is an important aspect of any magazine. This is so that it can be easily recognisable to people who are new or current fans of the magazine. It also makes it easy for it to be differentiated from other magazines that focus around the same topic, in this case films.

After a magazine has built up a large fan base and it is well established as a leading producer for a specific topic, it can then be more creative with the way the front cover of its magazine in presented. For example, in this front cover, because ‘Empire’ is well established magazine, they can make the main focus of the magazine cover a film feature, instead of the main focus being around the actual magazine. This is done by the picture which, is advertising the film ‘Iron Man 2’, covering up part of the name of the magazine.

Another feature which is important for a ‘film’ magazine to have on its front cover is a feature film which has being out in the cinemas recently or which is about to be in the cinemas. This is to attract the attention of people who are interested in new and upcoming feature films and are wanting an opinion on if it is good or not. The feature film on the front of the magazine can be presented in a few ways; by having a main focus picture that many people can see clearly, by having a large title of the film and also by changing or editing the rest of the magazine front cover to relate to the main focus film, which in this case is done by having the title of the magazine glowing, with electrical looking lightening coming off it.

The colouring of most magazines would change with each issue, mainly to prevent it from becoming boring and repetitive, but also to keep it so that it is consistent with the feature for that particular issue. For this magazine front cover it is a dark blue colouring, with the contrast of red and white. This is to coincide with the picture that is advertising the film, yet in previous issues the colour scheme of the magazine has being different, to match the film that is being advertised on the particular issue.

As well as there being a large section of the front cover devoted to advertising the one film, there is also a section of the front cover that is shown to advertise some other smaller film releases that are included within this issue of the magazine, one of these being Avatar. This section of the magazine front is at the bottom of the cover, which is done to ensure that the main attention is on the main film. This section is also presented as being like a roll of film cells, to highlight the fact that this is a film magazine and relate the magazine to what its content is about.

As well as there being these smaller features at the bottom of the magazine front cover; there are also some relations to the content of the magazine at the top of the magazine, above the title ‘Empire’. These are to highlight some extra things that are included within the magazine, and the fact they are put there without much detail makes the reader of the magazine become more intrigued to find out what there is to be said.

To show the readers of the magazine how good it actually is, awards that the magazine have won are deliberately presented on the front cover to gain more recognition for what they do, and how well they do it. In this case they are showing the fact they won ‘ultimate review of 2009’. By doing this, it is allowing the readers to have confidence in what they are reading, and know the opinions are decent and honest and facts of interests they may have.

Other important features to include on any magazine front cover are bar codes, a date and an issue number. These things are important to have for it to look consistent with how magazines are presented and produced and also that sufficient information is available for readers and people selling the magazine.

Target Audience for my Magazine

As I am wanting my magazine to be about many different genres of film, that are recent and possible older films, I feel that my target audience could also be as broad. This is because the films that are featured in my magazine could attract different people and also because some people are fond of many different genres of films, so it's difficult to target one main audience. In order to be able to get an actual idea of who my magazine would be best aimed at, I did a survey to see what types of people liked what types of films.

After doing this research, I have decided that my target audience, although quite broad, would be people who are of both genders, but more specifically, older males and younger females. I also believe that the people who are students will be more inclined to purchase the magazine, as these are the people I believe to have more of an interest in going to the cinema.

In addition to these questions I asked, I also asked them if they would be interested in buying the magazine, but only 45% said they would be interested in buying it. One reason I believe this is so, is because many of them are very computer literate and are interested in online reviews. This would mean that they are able to obtain the information included in the magazine, on the internet for free.

I would also say that it is open for many ages to be my target audience, but to be more specific, I would say the older market (40s upwards) would buy the magazine, as they are less likely to be able to obtain the information on the internet, and also because they have had to buy magazines to be able to get this information in the past, and so they may just be carrying on their normal tradition of buying magazines.

Magazine Institutions

Instead of looking straight for the two main magazine publishers in the UK, I looked for what I believe to be the two main film magazines in the UK. This way I could see who the producer of these two magazines were and work that way. The two magazines I believe to be the two main ones are Empire and Total Film.

Empire's production company is Bauer Media Group, which is based in Hamburg, Germany. This company produced and sells approximately 38 million magazines per week, and some of these magazines sold include Empire, Closer, FHM and Kerrang. All of these magazines have very different target audiences, which is why the company are gaining that many sales. As well as each magazine attracting different audiences, they also cover many different aspects of entertainments and lifestyle. For example, Empire is based on film, Closer is about celebrity lifestyles (aimed mainly at females), FHM is about sports and male related activities (FHM= For Him Magazine) and Kerrang is based around music.

Total Film's production company is Future Publishing, which is based in the United Kingdom. This production company has over 150 different magazine ranging mainly in technological, computing and gaming topics, but also dipping into other things, such as film and music. Examples of some magazines that this production company produce are Total film, Edge and Classic Rock. As this production company focuses on mainly one or two topics, it only gains only 1 million sales per week, which is small compared to the previous production company. This is due to the specialist topics that are discussed within these magazines.

For my magazine, I think it's going to be fairly broad in the sense that it's going to look at all different genres of film, that are recently out and films that have being getting a lot of attention in recent months. As this is true, I feel that if it is compulsory for me to chose one of these two production companies to produce my magazine, I think I would choose Bauer Media Group. This isn't just because they receive outstanding amounts of sales each week, but it's because I feel they are more established production company, as in they are more popular with the main public, and don't specialise specifically in anything directly.

Research into Film magazines

Firstly, film magazines obviously revolve around the topic of films, which can reach many different audiences where ever the magazine is distributed. The reason for this is there are a wide range of genres that films can fit into, and film magazines have to make sure that they are a broad film magazine, so that they can attract readers from many interest, rather than just one.

Although this is true, there are some magazines that do just circulate around the one genre of film, making it specialised in this one area, although they will not achieve as many readers as a broader film magazine, the readers that are interested in this one genre will make sure they buy this as they then don't have to go through the magazine having to find the one section they are interested in. An example of this type of magazine is 'Shivers' which is produced by Visual Imagination and the main focus of this magazine is horror. This magazine is now out of circulation, as it's last issue was on the 14th May 2008.

Film magazines generally are interested in the newer releases out at the cinemas, or films that are going to be in the cinemas in the near future. As this is true, the readers of the magazine, I believe, will be between the ages of early teens to late 30's. The reason for this is, as people get older, I feel they don't have as much interest in the more contemporary things going on in the world as younger people do. Although this is true, people that are older than this age range that are interested in new films and new ideas being brought into the film world are also going to be part of the target audience for the magazines.

Although most issues of films revolve around modern or new releases, it is also possible for them to go back in time and talk about older popular films. Many magazine's wouldn't do this without a reason, and one main reason for them doing this may be that it is the film's anniversary of some kind, or it's the anniversary of the producer/main actor. An example of this would be the latest edition of the Empire magazine, which has Back to the Future as the main feature of the magazine. This film was released in 1985, which makes it a non-contemporary film. The reason the magazine did this was because it has being 25 years since it was made.

Final Finished Poster

Possible Finished Posters

Here are two possible finished posters which I am deciding between using as my finished piece. As both pieces of work are practically the same, and the only difference is the picture, I feel it's fairly difficult to chose between the two due them being so similar.

Although this is true, I think that the second piece of work, with the character peering from behind the door, is the one I am going to choose. This is because you can clearly see who the main character of the film is, and it would make it easier for the viewer of the poster to become more intrigued.

Another reason is that, being able to see the characters face makes me want to use this version of the poster, because you can clearly see his emotions, which clearly denotes something bad happening, or a scary situation, which is what the film is about, as it's a horror.

Features to be included on my Poster

Things that are to be included onto my poster are things such as:

The production company logo(s):

The actors in the film:

Edward Gledhill

Dawn Gledhill

Christopher Gledhill

Grahan Gledhill

Martin-Lee Smith

The sub-heading:

How long till you believe?

All text included in these features which I am putting onto my poster, is going to be in the same font and colour as the title of the film on the poster. This is so that the poster feels consistent and it feels like it all belongs together. Another feature which needs to be shown, is the crease where the middle of the magazine would have been. This is so that people are aware it is a poster featured in the middle of a magazine.

Possible poster 2 with title

As well as focusing my planning on the previous picture, I have chosen to also test out other pictures, which I believe could become an effective poster for a horror/thriller film. I feel this picture would be good as it clearly shows the character of the film, but also shows his emotions, which appear to be scared and worried, which are two main emotions associated with horror/thriller films. The fact these are clearly shown makes it easier for the viewer of the poster to see them, and quickly identify what genre the film it.

In order to get this picture up to the level I wanted, I pretty much used the same techniques as with the first picture. I made a duplicate of the original picture and used Microsoft Picture Manager to edit the colour balance and the brightness of the picture. At this point, I made the duplicate very dark, so that it could be used as the dark surrounding of the character on the picture.

I then used Adobe Photoshop to layer the two pictures on top of one another, with the dark being on the top, and then I used the eraser tool to wipe away parts of the darker version of the picture I didn't want. This then left me with the underneath picture peering though the top one, resulting in the dark room with a spot light effect, which is exactly what I was aiming for.

After completing this part of the editing, I simply saved the picture and opened it in Microsoft Office Powerpoint to add on the text for the title, as I did with the previous picture.

Poster with different fonts and colours

For me to be able to achieve the title font I wanted, I used Microsoft power point to add in the text. This is because it is easy to change the colour of the font, with many to choose from, and it is also easy to change the size and arrangement to make it suit the background/picture.

This is one of the fonts in which I believed would suit my poster best, and so I developed my poster further by testing to see if it looked as good as I thought it would. I do think it looks quite effective and does give off the impression of the film being a horror/thriller.

In addition to trying this font on my poster, I chose to try this font as well (below), because I believed these two fonts are most suited to the type of impression I wanted the poster as a whole to give off.

The reason I chose the colour I did for the testing of these fonts is because it contrasts well against the dark colouring of the picture, but it also helps to highlight the parts of the picture that are lit up slightly. Other colours which I believe may work well for this poster, as well as this overtly olive colour, are a deep red or bright white with a deep red shadowed effect. Here are the two other colour possibilities.

At the beginning of my planning that I was going to have my title like, I was sure I was going to use the original overtly olive colour to present the title of my film, but now, after practising with different colours, I have now decided that the white with the deep red shadowing title would create the right effect for my genre and also it will present the film in the way that I wanted.

I also feel that the font in which I presented second; the one I presented with the chosen colour theme of the poster as well, is the font I feel I am going to use. I feel this is because it suits the colour better than the other font, and also gives off more of an idyllic horror theme.

Possible Fonts for Title on Poster

These are the fonts I am considering using for my poster. Although they are all black here, in the process of placing them on my actual poster, they will have to be changed into a different colour in order for contrast to be made between the title and the background.

I am currently thinking that either number 1 or number 6 would be the most appropriate for my poster as they give of a sense of drama with the mismatched letter levels of no.1 and the distorted image no.6 gives off.

As well as these fonts being used for the title of the film on the poster, they will also be used to state the actors in the film and the producer and also for the sub heading of the film.

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.