Influences for Magazine Cover

The colours are very over-powering and dominant on the front of the magazine cover and all the images and text seemed to be placed centrally to highlight that the film is the main focus in the magazine. The shot used is a basic front on shot with the main character looking directly at the camera, to show how the magazine is trying to draw in the readers as if the character is looking at them, which makes it more appealing. The lighting used in the background is quite dull and dim, however the main image itself, the title of the magazine and the title of the film are all made to like bright, bold and 'electrified' almost. This helps to see what the main focus of the cover is and what features the film company is trying to highlight the most. The colours used are predominantly red,blue and white, which shows that maybe the magazine is aimed at attracting young males who have a love for action films. There isn't any props used and the only image is of the iron man to suggest that the whole film is focused around him.

I think the main representation from this image is from the title 'Iron Man 2' suggesting that all men are 'indestructable', as well as with the image, which makes all males look dominating, masculine and almighty. The slightly closed, glowing eyes makes him seem fierce and powerful as if he is looking at his next victim i.e. the audience, which makes it more entrancing. The 'first look' section on the left of the image says' All hail the king of 2010', which adds to the effect of him being over-powering and ruling e.g. like a king. And as a king, many people will look up to him and it shows how he has very high status. Overall it represents a very dominating and powerful side to society, even though it doesn't directly relate to reality, it could be perceived in this way where men almost see him as a role model. 

I think the target audience here would be for boys as the title very clearly hints that it is a male film and the colours used are seen as more male colours, whereas if it were targeted at women it would probably use brighter, softer colours. The image of the iron man himself is very masculine and gives a real sense of power, which may be something that males aspire to. I think the age range would be between young teenage boys of about 12 or 13 to young men in their mid 20's, because I think it would affect this stage of growing up, where all boys want to look their best and be the 'strongest' etc...Also it is predominantly young boys and men who love to watch action films and as we can see from the magazine cover that this is definitely an action film because of the lightning bolt effects used and the glowing images and therefore it is clear that a lot of activity is going to take place during the film. I think the way it aims to attract the audience is done very well with the different elements of misenscene used such as the lighting, colours, image and title. 

The main device used for promoting the film here is the image, as the iron man himself is a well known character from the first installment and so the audience would be well aware of who his character is. If they have enjoyed the first one, then it will make it much more likely that they will want to carry on and see the next installment. The tag line underneath the title is 'New Suit. New Enemies. Same Attitude.', which is very simple but yet catchy and will stick with the audience if they come to think of the film again. And again, with the 'Same Attitude' part of it, this will suggest that the film will have the same overall take as the first film, just with new characters and a new plot, which will make it appealing if the audience have enjoyed the first one. 

The promotion for this film takes up the majority of the magazine cover, which shows that they are very strongly trying to advertise the film and it will probably be a big success that many people will want to see. The other films promoted on the cover are very small in comparison to iron man, suggesting that they won't be as successful when released. Or maybe this is because they aren't well known films yet and it gives the readers a chance to get to know the basic plot of the films, so when they become close to their release date and are being promoted more, the audience will be drawn to buying that magazine because they already know a bit about it. 

The image on the cover definitely fits with the genre of the film as it seems very fierce and powerful, representing the perfect image for an action film. The other films promoted on the cover, also seem to be action films suggesting that the content of the magazine is primarily focusing on action packed films, which will captivate audience members who are particularly interested in this genre. 

Overall I think that all the devices and features used on this magazine cover are excellent in helping to promote this film and also targeting at people who are interested in the genre of action films.

Weekly Updates for our Poster

Week 1
We started off by drawing out several different design ideas about what we could use as our film poster. Some of the ideas we came up with were the picture of the eye with images around it, the picture in the centre of the pupil and one where Holly was in the background and Chloe was in the foreground. However we thought that using Holly and Chloe in the poster would give too much away about the film and in our trailer it doesn't reveal who the actual murderer is and so using them in the poster would defeat the whole purpose of suspense that we wanted to create. We began looking at influences as well such as The Eye and The Last House on the Left to help us come up with ideas we could use.
After the sketches and research into our poster, we decided to eliminate the idea of using the eye as it didn't have much relevance to the film. We then began to think of key images in our film that would be effective for the poster and the most striking one was the image of the house. This was used as our final design and we then had to work out how were going to lay everything out.
Firstly we had to decide where we wanted to place the house, in the foreground or in the background. We thought that having it in the foreground would make the house seem overpowering and dominant, which is how we wanted to portray it. We really liked the idea of splitting the page into two different colours, which would hint that surrealism and things from the past may occur but still doesn't give too much away that the audience are left wondering what is going to happen. So we had one half of the poster in red and one half in black and white to show a time lapse and how things havn't really changed.

Week 2
This was the week when we started putting all our ideas onto Photoshop and seeing how they would look for real. As we wern't that confident with Photoshop it took a lot of trys to get to grips with the different features and functions of it but we finally got the hand of it. We took some location shots of the house and the ones we got were really excellent and portrayed exactly what we wanted which was a spooky, eery atmosphere. The first thing we designed was for our logo, Mack, where we had a lightening bolt going through the middle, which even though wasn't very dominant on the poster, still gave off a shock factor especially in our trailer.
We then began importing the image onto our photoshop, which took up the whole of the poster and then split the screen into half, where we turned one half into a deep, blood red colour and the other half into black and white. Next was to decide how we wanted our title to look but we didn't want to over complicate the poster, so we kept the font consistent for everything, which ended up being Optima. We had the Talbur bit on the red side in a white font and the manor bit on the black and white side in a red font. The rest of the text used was in the same font but kept all in white, so it would be easier to read. We kept the amount of writing to a minimum otherwise it would draw away from the attention of the house, which was the main image that we wanted the audience to concentrate on.
Around the house were a few trees, bushes etc..., which were useful in portraying the right atmosphere but seemed to show the same dominance as the house, which wasn't what we wanted. So we thought it would be a good idea to experiment with the blur tool for the other objects around the house, so you could still see them but they seemed to be in the background compared to the house in order to make the house look more terrifying and to stand out more.
We had Holly Bradshaw and Chloe Redman at the top of the poster, to show the main characters in the film, which if used in a real film poster, would attract the audience if the actors were well known. We kept their names in the same font as everything else in the colour white but with a light glow around it to give off a scary kind of aura.
We were initally going to have Chloe and Holly on either side of the poster holding hands to show the connection between them but we thought that this would have been too big a hint and too obvious about what the film was about, which wasn't what we wanted to do. We wanted to create as much suspense as we could and leave it up to the audience to use their imagination.

Influences for Poster

For our Media project we had to create a poster that would help us to advertise our film and to look at other film posters that fitted in within the same genre as ours, in order for us to use them as influences when creating our own poster. Ours was a horror film, so we looked at films in the same category and recognised the way they structured the content of their poster, how much writing they used, colours, pictures etc...




Initally we were interested in having just Chloe's eye for our poster as we thought it would be very striking and effective and would grab the attention of the audience. The perfect example here was the poster from the film The Eye, where they also just had an eye with a hand reaching out of it. We wanted a similar sort of idea but with either different clips from the film around the eye or just one key moment from the film in the pupil of the eye. We also liked the idea of reddening the eye in order to create a more sinister look. After trying out a few different designs for this we came to the conclusion that the eye didn't have much relevance to the film and therefore wasn't going to promote the film in the correct way. However we did like the simplicity of it, which was something we wanted to do with our own poster to prevent giving much away about the film.

The second film poster that we became interested in was The Last House on the Left, which we used as the main influence for our final design of our poster. Because our film is set in the eery surroundings of Talbur Manor, we thought it would be more relevant to have a picture of the house as our main image, which is what they used with The Last House on the Left poster. It gives an idea about where the happenings take place, but doesn't give a lot away about the plot and leaves it up to the audience to use their own imagination. Also with this poster, there wasn't a lot of writing, which was something we wanted to corperate into our one too as too much writing can drag the attention from the main focus of the poster, which in this case is the image. The colours used in this film poster are very simple, yet work very well in creating a creepy atmosphere and we were interested in using this same sort of idea for our poster.

Initial Ideas for Poster

Filming Shots Day 2

Filming Shots Day 1

This shows Maria and Kathryn setting up the camera, making sure that it was working alright and that it wasn't on any uneven surfaces.

This shows me (Anna) making sure there is enough room in the boot to chuck some of the bags in.

Day One of Filming

This was our first day of shooting, which was basically just a trial run where we tested out a variety of different ideas that could be suitable for our production. After watching back on this, we decided not to use the beginning part of the clip as we thought it was to rehearsed and went back to the location to re-do this to make it look more realistic. However the clip in the car, which was all hand held worked really well and looked natural and professional so we decided to keep it.

Location Shots

These our some of our first location shots to help us see where we could start filming and any problems that we may face. These pictures could also help us to go back to any locations if we needed to re-film anything.

Casting Shots

Initial Ideas For The Title

We thought a mind map would be a good way to jot down all our ideas and work off them etc. after a lot of deliberation, we came up with using an anagram. This would make it more interesting but also give a meaning to it. We tried out a lot of different names and swapping the letters around etc until we finally came to TALBUR MANOR, which when you re arrange the first word, it spells BRUTAL which fits in exactly with our trailer/film.

Initial Storyboard

This is the initial storyboard for our trailer, which could help us see the order in which all the events happen and maybe what aspects we need to improve on. We have already analysed this and realised there are certain areas where we need to add more detail.

Sorting Out Shots

We put together a rough draft of all the different shots we want to use in our trailer and to try and make sure there is a good variety of them. This was to try and make our piece as professional as possible and to work and timings.

Shooting Schedule

We decided to plan ourselves a shooting schedule so we could clearly see what sections we needed to film on what days, so we could keep on task and finish the project on time.

Weekly Updates

WEEK 1-
This week is the first week of our production process, it has been successful in the ideas that have bee raised as well as location talks and casting shots.We have completed our target audiences and influences as we have looked at different trailers in depth, to get an understanding of what is effective and would make the trailer more appealing and making the audience wanting more.The casting of characters have been made, and the background of their lives as well as of the film.We have completed our questionnaires, the next thing is too look at our results and to see which aspects are most popular. The next part to complete is our storyboard and fixing in place what comes next.
The process is going well so far and we are on task!

WEEK 2-
Over the past week, we have fully updated with our schedule, draft of a storyboard, casting shots, synopsis along with carrying out the questionnaire and analysing the results. At the beginning of the week, we were going to attempt to start filming the first couple of shots but due to a member of our group being ill, we are now going begin filming on Monday 28th September. During the week, we also went to some of our locations to see we could see how everything will work.

WEEK 3-4
On monday 5th of October, we were planning to re-film our trailer and make improvements to the opening section, however due to bad weather conditions that would affect the mood and atmosphere of the trailer, as well as an absence within the group we have had to postpone are filming session until the following day, Tuesday the 6th of October.
Therefore continuation of our blog is in process as well as more improvements and ideas our being suggested.
As for the filming session we carried out last Monday 28th September, we felt the filming session went well, and shot the trailer how we had visualize, we shot it a few times to enable us of timing and shot angles, however when looking back on the filming session we saw many problems of the trailer, for example we needed different angle shots, for it to give you an understanding of the settings as well as the full view of what's happening. We also thought it looked a bit staged and to well rehearsed, therefore looking fake and unrealistic not what we intended for the film.
Looking at these criticisms we have made it enables us to go back and film again and making those improvements we want to change, for our piece to look more professional and what we intended.

Questionnaire

As part of our research, we decided to carry out a questionnaire on twenty different people, ranging in ages from eleven to twenty. We felt that this was a representative sample and therefore would give us a valid set of results. We asked standard questions to do with horror films just so we could get an idea of what aspects to include in our trailer and what people want to watch.

When we gave or questionnaires out the majority of people asked were between the ages of 17-19, however this is alright because most people in this age range are between 17 and 19. The most popular results for question 2 was blood, screaming, suspense and disorientation. The 3rd question was would you want much of the trailer to be given away? And everyone said no to this. In answer to question 4, everyone said yes to it being fast paced. In terms of question 5 the most popular results were eery, creepy, high pitched and nursery rhymes that have a different twist to them. Most people said that they would want a voice over in the trailer, in answer to question 6 and that they would want the characters to be doing the voice over, which was the last question. This has helped us a lot in deciding what features we want to include in our trailer and different ideas have come up that we hadn't thought of initially.

Synopsis

Car+Girls+Roadtrip....

As four girls hit the road for the summer of their lives, little did they know it would be their last. The film follows the unexpected happenings of Amy, Beth, Zoe and... Serena. The joyous laughs of the teenage girls are short lived as they approach Talbur Manor where a sudden flashback unravels a series of unfortunate consequences. One of the girls has a sudden flashback from her not so distant past. As they events begin to unroll Serena gathers distorted images which eventually reveal a male figure. With fear and anziety running high, the girls do everything they can to escape the viscious acts of the mstery man. But little did they know that the real offender was a lot closer to home....

=BRUTAL

Target audience and Influences

From planning our production, we have concluded that our target audience should range from the age of 15 to 30, as our storyline for our film would be most appropriate for a 15 certificate. This chosen certificate is down to the fact that the content of the trailer includes horrific aspects and flashing images that could be disturbing for a younger audience.

We have decided to range the age up to 30 as viewers over this age, may not take an interest in the young aspects of the trailer. Also, because the characters of the film are of a younger generation, we feel that the younger audience will be able to relate to it better and get more involved in it.

Part of the film is based on a group of female friends going on holiday together so have therefore decide our trailer is suitable for both male and female viewers, however we have touched upon the idea that females are more prone to fear and anxiety. Males, on the other hand are more interested in the thrill factor. This is reflected on our decision to cast only female friends as the main characters in order to give a sense of vulnerability.

In terms of influences for our production, we have watched a number of trailers of existing films which we feel are similar to the production we intend to make.

The first trailer we watched was Bruno. Even though this is far from a horror film, there were certain aspects we felt we could use/work with. The main aspect was at the very start of the trailer, where there was use of slow, almost eerie music in the background where all of a sudden, there was a very strong drum beat every two, three seconds or so where a different review flashed up every time. As time went on, the reviews flashed up quicker and quicker until it then led into the title of the film. I think this worked very well especially as it was more unusual to have it at the start of the trailer. The use of sounds and plain text (just white over black) we could definitely incorporate in our production as even though this example wasn’t a horror film, it gave that feeling almost immediately.

The second trailer we chose to look at was The Strangers. It is set in an almost derelict house close to a forest which is similar to how we want our production to be. It starts off as a couple having a normal evening in the house, and then things begin to change. The use of loud noises for the nagging on the window etc works well as you can not see what is happening, only hear the sounds. There is also use if two empty swings swinging in the wind where it is clear people or something has been on. This works well as it gives the feeling of suspense as to what was there, and where have they now gone. The use of a swing is typical in many horror films and we hope to use this in our production. The creaky sound of the swing is also carried on in the background of the trailer which was an interesting aspect to have, but it worked well. The use of sounds is very important particularly in horror films so it’s very useful to see how different sounds are used throughout the films.

Initial Ideas

During the initial planning of the trailer, we started off by making a rough sketch, of notes to do with the genre, plot, characters and a chronological sequence of events to happen in the trailer.

Study of Cloverfield

The teaser trailer for Cloverfield really gives a big sense of bewilderment, excitement, suspense and a whole other range of emotions. The average teaser trailer dosn't provide a lot of information but this one literally shows you a few clips without even mentioning the title of the film. It starts off with quite a relaxed and fun atmosphere at a part in a New York apartment, which is suddenly thrown into mayhem as a firebomb hits the city. There is no explanation as to whats going on as it is all hand held footage, which again leaves the audience feeling indecisive about whats happening. The hand held camera makes it feel so real and authentic that it is hard to believe that it is a film and not real life, almost like a Blair Witch Project sort of feeling.

Shortly after this, a second trailer was released, which actually announced the films title, Cloverfield. Unlike the teaser trailer, this had quite a dissapointing effect on the viewers as it gave away a lot of the basic structure and plot of the film. However the constant rickety movements of the hand held camera, definitely still give a sense of suspense and anxiety, which is very effective. However this could also be seen as a negative point as this second trailer really shows us what the hand held camera can do and for many viewers they would find it quite nauseating, which makes it ineffective.