Movie Magazine Front Cover

After extensive research into front covers of movie magazines I have begun to produce the cover for an edition of 'Total Film' promoting my movie 'Vanish'.

I begun with using the original logo from 'Total Film' as I decided to work around this. I have noticed that movie magazines tend to adapt the their logo to fit the specific themes of the movie that they are promoting on that issue. As shown in the examples to the left and right. For this reason I played around with the logo for a while until I found an effect that I feel best fits my movie. To create it I just used the recolouring effects on Microsoft Power Point on a plain white version of the 'Total Film' logo. The effect that I have selected, I feel, gives the impression of blood splattering across the bottom. This I feel is appropriate as it fits with my horror genre.

Once I had produced this logo I then when about producing a suitable background. Again, I decided to play around with the effects on Power Point, however, I was very careful when selecting the background that the colours did not detour away from or wash out the main logo. I felt that all of the potential backgrounds produced this way made the front cover look cheap, low budget and very unprofessional. After much experimentation I thought that it may work if I were to use a screen shot of the film footage that I had already gathered. From this I used a screen shot of the outside of my house as it is a central location of the film and adds a very eery feel to the poster. In addition to this I have added a black and white filter to it for more impact.

Movie Magazine Research

Unlike the previous poster the one below is very simplistic and is more of a 'teaser'. However there is still a simplistic colour theme that is used with this cover and is also restricted to three colours; gold black and white. This is effective as it excites the viewer and creates desire to want to know more about and later view the movie. Because of this produced effect it is limited edition for subscribers only, adding exclusivity to both the film and the magazine.

Again the poster below from 'Total Film' is very simplistic. Brad Pitt is clearly the main feature of the magazine and so will obviously be the main character of the film that he is promoting. There is a clear colour theme with this poster too that gives a hot/desert appearance, along with the sunglasses that he is wearing. The text in the background is very subtle but adds effect to the poster while conveying informative information at the same time.

The cover below again from 'Total Film' promoting 'Man of Steel' is very similar to the coverage of the film by 'Empire'. There are very similar codes and conventions used, for example the colour scheme. However, as shown by this poster, the 'Total Film' covers tend to have more than one lead character featured as opposed to only one used for 'Empire'.

Ideas for my own magazine front cover

The positioning of the actors on the cover above has given me a few ideas for my own magazine front cover. I wish to have my main character, Ellie, in a similar sort of position to the woman on the right and then my villain similar to how Superman is standing. However, on my own cover I will;

-Have the villain with his back to the audience

-Have the villain glancing over his shoulder slightly

But I wish to keep similar:

-the inter-linking legs

-a similar sort of colour scheme

-characters overlapping the brand of the magazine

-simplistic yet, sophisticated look

-exclusive subscriber's edition

Film Trailer Planning and Filming

 

The following Prezi consists the production of my movie trailer, including;

planning

filming

explaining decisions that I have made

and preparation for the trailer

 

 

Storyboard

 The very first thing that I wanted to do, before anything else, was to create my storyboard. I felt this way because I wanted to know exactly what I am dealing with with regards to:

-setting
-time of day
-actors required
-props required
-lighting
-camera angles
-equipment needed (such as a tripod)
-also so I could establish all of the things that I already have to produce the trailer and all of the thing  that I need to source.

 In addition I feel that since I have produced my storyboard very early on in the process this will give more time to develop and adapt the trailer in order to make it as successful as possible.

The following images are of my original storyboard:

Horror Movie Genre

The below Slideshare presentation is research that I have conducted into the different codes and conventions used in horror movies. All of this research will help me with the construction of a plan to produce a trailer for my own horror movie.

Extended Research For Movie Trailers

 Today I have looked at how movie trailers are structured and the transitions used between the clips. So I began with selecting a movie trailer (Interstallar) and worked my way through looking at what is essential for movie trailers and how they are typically organised. Every trailer usually starts with the green audience card displayed below, therefore, I have decided that it essential for me to include this in mine, in addition I have made a note of how long this card is shown for so that I can apply this to my trailer. 

From watching this trailer I have learnt that it is more effective to show the institution identifications slightly further into the trailer and show some clips of the film before hand.

Another tip that I have learnt through watching example movie trailers is that the institution identifications should only be displayed for a very short period of time - a second.

This trailer has also demonstrated that when informative text is displayed on screen neither the font of the text nor the background of the text need be very complex. As shown above a simple white font can be use on a plain black background. I feel that this technique has more impact upon the viewer  than making things too complex and confusing for them.

As shown it is also very effective having a very simplistic background for the main title of the film as it adds impact and gives more emphasis. For this reason I am planning on having bright red text for the title upon a plain black background so that the title of the film is very clear.