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

Feedback and Adaptation of Poster

Movie Poster

After conducting extensive research into the production and construction of movie posters I have started to create my own poster. From the very beginning of the production of my movie trailer I have had a clear image of what I wish to produce for my poster. From research throughout this task I have discovered that keeping the design simplistic has a higher impact on audiences so, again, I have decided to keep the features of the poster to a minimal.

I have stared production for the poster by sourcing an image of a van with an open door from a copyright free website

 I then created the background of the poster simply by colouring in a textbox on a PowerPoint document. I felt as though the light fading around the front of the vehicle gave the subtle impression of headlights during the night time.

My next step was producing the text along the side of the van, 'more than meets the eye'. I have selected this tagline because it is a very common saying and, I feel, is applicable to the film. Before using this catchphrase I decided to do some research to check whether or not it has been used as the tagline for any other movies in the past. From what I have discovered no other films have used it as their tagline, it has only been used for a series of 'Transformers' comics. after this I went about producing this text so that it would be appropriate to apply along the side of the van. I wanted the font to resemble blood, however I wanted it to appear more hap-hazard than the font and style that I have used for the main title of the film. I wanted this affect so that it looks like the blood has been written on the side of the van in blood rather than the text just dripping blood. I decided to use the same website as I used for the title and after playing around with different fonts, decided on the one shown below:

To make the text look like it had been written on the side of the van I used PowerPoint again to make the left side of the text smaller then the right to give the illusion that it is coming in from the distance.

I then placed the main title text 'Vanish' towards the bottom of the page and enlarged it so that it is the first thing that the eye is drawn to when first viewing the poster.

I still need to add all of the information about the film at the bottom of the poster, such as production companies and names of actors. However, before I do this I plan to have it peer assessed so that I can make any improvements or be made aware of any fundamental errors.

Reconstruction

The following 'emaze' presentation goes through, in detail, the process by which I went about reconstructing my movie trailer. I t explains why I made the decisions that I have made and the impact they have had on the trailer.


 

Change of Font

 I was unhappy with the previous font that I used for the title of my film, as after editing it appeared to be fuzzy and made the trailer look very low quality. Due to this factor I have decided to change the font that I will use to improve the quality of my trailer. I have decided to use the same font generating site that I used for my magazine coursework last year. The link to this website is given below.

http://www.1001fonts.com/search.html?search=blood&page=1&items=10

I think where I went wrong with my previous font was attempting to make it too complex. For this reason I have now gone for a more simplistic approach, using one block colour and a simple font. I feel as though, while it is more simplistic, it is more effective and has a higher impact.

After discovering this font on the font generating website I also thought that it might be a good idea to play around with the text that is used in-between scenes in the trailer to see if I could make that more effective too. To carry the theme through I decided to use the same text as the main title 'Vanish' (as shown above) as this too is more effective and as more impact than the previous font and text used, that could be seen as boring. In making these changes I have discovered that it can be much more effective and have a higher impact on the audience if it is kept simple and manufacturing kept to a minimum as this avoids complex confusion.

Short Films

Todorov's Narrative Theory

 Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called equilibrium, dis equilibrium and restored equilibrium.

There are five stages the narrative can pass through:

1. A state of equilibrium
2. A disruption of that order by an event
3. A recognition that the order has occurred 
4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
5. A return or restoration of new equilibrium

 Direct Address

Definition:

 Communication that is explicitly indicated as being targeted at a current listener, reader or viewer as an individual.

Examples: 

Looking at or speaking directly to the camera/audience

Using on-screen text to address the audience

Using a voice over to address the audience

Research of Short Films

 From researching short films, particularly animated ones, I have discovered that they rely heavily upon sound effects and music as oppose to continuous dialogue. This perhaps is due to the fact that it will save time and money on using voice actors. In addition a lot of on-screen text is used to introduce the short film and help with the plot, again to avoid using voice actors. Furthermore as the film has a very limited time-frame the audience is 'thrown in' to the story in the sense that no background information is given or explanation about the plot. 

 Short films appear very difficult to create as the writer needs to compact a story into a short amount of time, while ensuring that during this process the film still connects with and engages the audience as well as creating enigma.

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.