Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
For my A2 advanced portfolio i chose the following brief:
2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the film;
a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
a poster for the film.
I decided to choose this brief because i saw a really inspiring film trailer made by last years a2 students and thought about how much i would love to produce something that great myself. i also decided that the best options out of the three where: A) a film magazine cover, featuring the film. i chose this as i had experience in this field from last year and really loved making last years magazine covers and this is a great opportunity to expand my skills. B) a poster as i believe this is a key element in selling a film to its audience and i think it would work better alongside a trailer than the website option.
I responded to this brief by making a short questionnaire to open for anyone who is interested in films to pick up. here were my findings from this questionnaire:
- 44% of the people interested in taking my quiz about films were female, so the female/male divide is roughly half and half
- most of the people who took my quiz circled the 15-20 box, so my target age group is 15 to 20 year olds
- the majority of people said that they watched films about once a week to once a month
- the majority voted for horror as their favorite genre
- and 1 minute was the amount of time they thought a trailer needed to be
Starting with this questionnaire had both advantages and disadvantages: it helped me to decide on what genre people most want to see, how long my trailer would have to be and gave me a good set of information and ideas to start me off. it was also anonymous so people could be honest and i knew what they really thought. however, my sample was biased as they were all college students, and from the same college, and my film would be country, if not worldwide, so in real life this would not have been effective. i also had a lot of people messing around and writing silly things on the questionnaire, this was also mainly due to the maturity of the people in this location. if i was to do this again i would stick with the anonymity but perhaps email a selection of people all over the country, and decide on a target audience first so i don’t get such mixed results.
I began this years work by making smart targets as i knew from the first year that this makes good guidelines for time keeping and planning. to meet my needs these smart targets have to be:
S – specific, significant, stretching
M – measurable, meaningful, motivational
A – agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented
R – realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented
T – time-based, timely, tangible, trackable
Whilst making these i decided the most sensible way to do this would be to first focus on my film, then on my poster, then on my magazine. so i got to work making my targets for each. Unlike last year i didn’t stick to my smart targets as well as i should have done. i think its because we had lots more work to do this year and using the same scheme of smart targets, for something that has three times the work didn’t do my project any justice. if i was to do this again i think my entire project would be affected if i was to start with an effective way of making targets for myself, such as perhaps just making a list of this i have to do and giving myself rough deadlines instead of strict ones- after all, i didn’t have a clue how long it takes to film and edit footage!
I decided i would carry out my research in the format of analyzing existing media products and writing about what bits i will take into my own work. this then enabled me to narrow down what i wanted my different products to look like, and from here i selected a fitting story line. i found my research very effective in all 3 areas of my work, and i knew it was the best way to do this as it had worked so well last year. the only problem i had was when i looked at film trailers in this way i had to go into lots of depth to really capture the way the film works. this made a lot of work for me, probably more work than there needed to be so if i was to do research for film trailers again i would find a more appropriate way to do it, such as perhaps briefly commenting on a wider selection of trailers then making a write up of all the bits from each on that i have learned from and have given me ideas.
I also conducted secondary research. in my film this helped a lot as i looked at a theory of how films are structured and i learned about narrative and how the viewers receive content. i feel if i hadn’t have done this, then my film would not look half as professional as it does and i wouldn’t have been able to interact with my audience as well as i feel i have. i did something similar for film posters and i researched “how film posters make an audience want to see a film” which i found interesting. looking back there were probably more important things i could have researched like “the construction of film posters”. however i do feel some benefit as after reading this i saw a poster as more of an advertisement and realized how powerful my images and words needed to be, and my product defiantly benefited from this as i think the images and text are what makes the poster as effective as it is.
My research gave me enough ideas to know roughly what i wanted my products to look like. i was able to make mock-ups for my magazine and poster which enabled me to see which parts of my ideas would work and which wouldn’t. i was also able to get feedback from my focus groups for this which also helped in the final planning, and strengthened my final products. unfortunately when it came to my film, this would have been very time consuming and difficult to do, so i had to make sure my ideas were carefully planned so my filming went OK, i also filmed a few extra shots to what i had to in case some needed replacing or shifting around. this worked well as it gave me something to fall back on.once i knew what i wanted my products to look like i began planning every aspect of the photo-shoots and filming shoots. this was very thorough and i used the same method as i did last year which once again worked very effectively.
The construction stage of my film trailer began with story boarding. obviously i knew i would have to make changes to this as i went along, so i kept a few ideas open in my mind for how i could change it if things went wrong on the day.i also knew that when i had filmed i would not know how to use final cut pro: i had never even seen this program before, so i arranged some training with my subject tutor and also found a really helpful video. so i did not forget any of this i made a post with all the things i learned. this was key in my construction and helped so much. my filming went particularly well and i was so relieved to find out it turned out how it did, it was my first film, i was working alone and i had produced something that was actually really good!
when it came to editing the entire order of the shots had to be changed when it came to editing as they were in an order that made sense on paper but not on screen. there were also too many flashes of the villain on screen which killed the effect so i had to minimize the number of those. there was also a scene which looked really bad where the victim was banging on a door. this did not look effective because due to us having to keep the noise down in our location she couldn’t actually bang on the door so she pretended. this was very obvious so i combated this problem by cutting out that scene.
The construction stage of my poster worked similarly to the magazine i had constructed last year: on photo shop. my photo shoot did not go so well and if i was less experienced i would probably have to look much harder for a model and perhaps even need to use a studio for the photo shoot. however i was able to add various effects to one of the photos for my first shoot that made it look so eye catching that i felt i had no need to re-shoot what so ever. when making the poster i had to keep checking back at my research as this was a field i was not experienced in. i felt that i was able to make the poster look very professional and i particularly like the color schemes and strong words and images i have used.
The construction stage of my magazine was probably the easiest part of my construction as i had already made one last year, so i had twice the amount of research and experience to fall back on than i did for the other two. this enabled me to really experiment with magazine conventions when making my cover and i feel i have produced something really unique as a result of this. once again i had a very poor photo shoot and i know i could have done much better given a studio however once again i managed to make it look professional by just using photo shop. when making it i really enjoyed it and loved that i was able to experiment with crazy fonts and styles.
I am particularly proud of my construction and overall i wouldn’t change my poster or magazine at all. the only thing i would change about the construction of my film is that given more time i would have made a mock up and received feed back on the mock up before making my final film trailer.
When i look at the completed products together i can see how they all relate to each other. the film and the magazine cover have a clear connection between them as they both have the villain in them. however i feel i could have improved the connection between the poster and the other two by having either the villain or the victim in the poster. instead i chose to have a different victim no the poster to imply the villain comes after more than one victim- or maybe even everyone! however looking back i can see that the connection would have been better if i had made it more obvious. i think overall the genre stood out as horror and none of my work did not fit this genre. this helped make a connection between all three of my media products. also i like the variation when looking at my film trailer and magazine in terms of social groups because it represents young women as powerless and inferior, however when you look at the poster it shows equality as men are also victims of this villain.
with my film in particular i really like the finished product. it differs a lot to the storyboard and when i go back and look at it, i can see that i have ended up with a much stronger version of the film than was originally in the story board. this is why i think the storyboard was a strong way for me to plan my work as i had clear benefits from this. for example before i had made changes on my story board i had a clip where the girl was banging on the door, then i changed this and i have ended up taking it out, giving me a stronger version . even though i would like to go back and make a mock up before the final trailer i think my story board did a good enough job. however i also like the other two products and i think in comparison to the drafts they both really improved. with my poster the main inspiration came from the girl screaming in my draft and with my magazine my main inspiration came from the hand print on my first draft. i took these ideas and made them look more professional to make my final drafts. now my audience react much better when i show them these drafts and say it is a film they would want to see. whereas before they could think of a whole list of criticisms.
When looking at an appropriate institution that would publish my work i had to think of products which are similar to my own. i thought that for a horror film i have considered institutions such as twisted pictures, who published films like saw. however in the end i decided warner bros. would be most appropriate as i know in that institution they have branches to make every part of the film, like the trailer and the magazine, and the poster. whereas in most institutions it is all made separately.
The audience will receive this film as a horror film due to the tense music, along with images on the screen which make you jump. it also has commonly used features for tension such as text, and a cliffhanger. these are all features that are common in the horror film industry. they will be attracted by the cliffhanger at the end, and the short sharp jumpy bits that make your heart beat faster. i can tell this by the feedback i got off my peers when they said things such as “wow that’s actually really scary”. i do not think this film can be played to a wide audience though, as people such as young children, the easily scared and the elderly would not like it so in a way it is kind of looking at a niche market.
the magazine has been received as really “professional looking” as one of my peers told me. however they still also think it looks different to what is on the shelf. this makes me feel pleased as it shows that i have challenged media conventions and not just copied things i had already seen. it has also been received as kind of a 50′s style magazine said one person i asked. i thought this was quite a coincidence as i had looked at that era in my research, so it must have had an impact in my final design!
People have told me my poster looks as if it could be a real one and when people see it they empathize with the man on the poster as it is such an extreme photo. they all have reactions like “ahhh” and it sparks curiosity and they start asking questions about the film. this to me means my advertisement was successful as that was the aim: to make people want to know more.
in comparison to other media products my poster fits in the best. this is because of the layout, the strong images, little text and the credits at the bottom really finished it off. i think to improve this i could have challenged the conventions a little more as my poster doesn’t really have a “WOW” Factor. my magazine, in my opinion is the other way around. it challenges conventions but would not really be a realistic magazine to see on the shelf. i think this is because it is slightly too busy which gives it an unprofessional “put it together in 5 minutes” look. my film on the other hand looks like it could be a real trailer in some aspects, however i had hold backs in terms of quality (where i was not using the same equipment the media industry would use these days) and also because i had never made a film before. i think with more time and better equipment i could have made it so it would be on the same level as existing media products. i think it challenges media conventions very slightly, however as filming was a new thing to me it was hard for me to challenge these conventions as the conventions made good guidelines which i would rather have followed than ignored on my first time.
overall i think i had a really good experience as a whole making my advanced portfolio and i have made so much progress and learned so much about the media industry that last year just did not cover. i feel like my work went really well and considering the time i had, and that i was on my own for the first time of making a film i did it really well.
here is how i made my magazine cover, and all the ideas that went into it:
firstly in the original photos my image looked a little bit rubbish because of the background was a pair of curtains.
i used the brush tool with a feathered edge to combat this problem. the black from the brush covered up the background whilst the feathered edge helped the villain blend in.
then i edited the levels and curves and saturation to give the photo a creepier look.
i then decided on a name for the masthead… “twisted film magazine” and a font which i found on www.dafont.com. i then uploaded the word twisted (which was the word i wanted in that font) and clicked “select” then “colour range”.
this will select the whole word so you can change colour and drag it.
i had to select a red for the outside, as i wanted to invert the colours and making the background black straight away would have confused the colours. i then filled the middle white and the outside black to match my magazine cover.
then i dragged it and positioned it around the photo to put it in place to be my title for the front cover.
i added the word magazine, and then later decided it was not specific enough as it does not tell its audience exactly what it is. so change it to “film magazine”.
i then put a picture of a bar code into photoshop, and dragged it to where i want. this gave my magazine a more realistic look.
i decided to keep most of my fonts the same, with two really wild crazy fonts to break it up. this was so the most important bits looked eye catching, but it did not have a million different fonts and make it look too busy.
this is the second crazy font i decided on for my headline. i added this in the same way i did the masthead.
i added the words “if your home alone…then dont answer the phone” to explain the headline “ring ring”. i put the words “dont answer the phone” slightly bigger as this is also the film title so i wanted it to stand out more.
to capture a wider audience i also added a sub-story at the side, a section at the top which does “name dropping” of the films inside and a section at the bottom which tells you exciting features of the magazine such as posters.
this way if a fan of one of the things mentioned (such as the ring, George hook or quizzes) looks at the cover, they are more likely to buy the magazine.
i also added the website too so the reader knows there is more than just a magazine, the magazine continues even after it is read…
i liked the shape of the edge of the villain so i decided to make another sub-story around this shape. i like the way this turned out and it also makes it look like there is more in the magazine to read.
i played around with things so it looks like there is an imaginary boarder around the edge as this looks more magazine like. i also stretched things and moved things such as the words “ring ring” have been separated to make it look like the villain is trying to grab them, this also looks good as the words underneath have this same effect.
overall i am really proud of todays work. particularly the heading as i think this looks really professional. i like the way the font “twisted” has a twisted hand in to emphasize the word.
i also like the font the “ring ring” is in as it is next to the blood on the villains hands and makes it look like hes kind of splattered the words on the screen.
the simple red and white colour scheme helps to make the villains mask stand out, as this is the freakiest part of the whole page i like it standing out.
overall the only thing i would change is i was to do this again would be to allocate myself more time, as i felt slightly rushed to get it finished when i was doing it.
to begin naming my magazine i decided to brainstorm words that gave me a sence of horror. here i what i came up with:
- massacre
- doom
- death
- twisted
- corpse
- decay
- mutilation
- infested
- insomnia
- bleeding
- cannibal
- suffering
- nightmare
i think the most effective out of these is “twisted magazine”.
i asked a small focus group of my target audience which they think is most effective and catching name for a film magazine and here is how they voted:
- massacre- 2 votes (comments- “it would sound good as massacre magazine -alliteration”)
- doom- 0 votes
- death- 0 votes
- twisted- 6 votes (comments- “it reminded me of films with weird twisted storylines which i love”)
- corpse- 1
- decay- 1
- mutilation- 0
- infested- 4 (comments- “it sounds like your addicted to the magazine”)
- insomnia- 1 (comments- “it sounds like you dont sleep as the films are so good”)
- bleeding- 0
- cannibal- 0
- suffering- 0
- nightmare- 2
twisted was my favourite and the target audiences favorite so it is undoubtedly going to be the title!
here is the outcome of my photo shoot. i have decided to go with the villain “reaching out” for the audience and the scary pumpkin mask similar to my favorite mock up. i have added a knife to this photofor extra scary effect and used fake blood to replicate the bloody hand i liked in my mock up. i have tryed a few different angles and poses to see which one looks best. i will then edit this.
this photo and many of my other ones came out really blurry so i will not be using these photos.
this was the basic idea of what i wanted for my cover, however to subjects posture is very upright and posed so i do not like it.
i like this photo as we are looking at the villain from a below angle and it indicates that they have power over us.
the hand in this photo looks really freaky as it is out of focus, it also adds to the villains anonymity as we can not identify the villain by their hand.
i like the angle of this photo however i think it needs alot of editing. and the hand is kind of reaching out to the side, not directly for the camera.
i tried a different idea of just the villain holding the knife. i dont really like this one as much as the villain does not look as threatening when they are not grabbing us.
i also decided to see if it looked more threatening, however i feel like it looks like the villain is just messing around and not serious. it reminds me of a game like “peek-a-boo”
overall i think my photo shoot could have gone better, but i will wait and see how the photos come out edited. i have still not managed to decide on which photo i prefer so i will edit a few and see which one is best. i may even have to re-shoot. if i was to do this again i would have a few different ideas befire i start shooting, rather than just one mental picture in my head. this would give me more of a variety to choose from in the end.
these are the two of my favorite photos that i have edited. i first uploaded it them thought it less scary as the arm was on show… so i corrected this by getting rid of the arm. i much prefer this version and have decided this will be used for my magazine cover.
i think the editing went very well and i will now be ready to start my magazine cover.
Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
My idea for my front cover is that the villain will be against a black background, holding a knife with the other hand covered in blood reaching out for the audience.
- Cast:
i am going to use my sister as this is the same person who will be wearing the mask in the film.
- props:
i have a knife, mask, and a black wall at home. i also have fake blood to cover her hands in left over from Halloween.
- setting:
this will be in my house in front of the same wall the villain flashes in front of in the film.
- equiptment:
i have a very good camera (a Nikon D60) which is a DSLR camera that shoots high quality images.
- software training:
last year i was very familiar with photo shop but will re-view my video tutorial i looked at in my research before i begin to remind myself.
Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
This is my first draft of my mock up magazine cover. i have to say that it didn’t all go to plan and i will be re-drafting.
i really like my idea for the logo, i chose the clapperboard as it made an instant link in your mind to the word “film”. i also thought the words “lights, camera, action!”
helped add to this effect, however it gave a kind of “light hearted” look and i think it would look better on the front of a comedy magazine, for my final magazine i am looking for something much darker than this to reflect the horror nature of my film. i am very fond of the image on the cover but it would be hard to reconstruct in real life and i do not think it would be effective, i think i will have to re-think the kind of image i want n my cover and perhaps brainstorm a few ideas.
the price and barcode are standard for front cover and i will be keeping them, as i think it adds a more “realistic” look to the magazine.
i do not like the “crowded” look most magazines have on the cover, where there is no space and so many bright colors and fonts jumping out at you everywhere. i prefer simpler designs and think these are much more effective as they are not like every magazine you see on the shelf. this is why i decided to keep it simple, but i thought i best add in a free promotion to help draw the reader in
i decided that i will not have to write the film title on the cover, as my film is such a well known squeal, the viewers will know what film it is by simply looking at the picture of the villain. they will also know the series of films are about the phone ringing so just by putting the words ring ring it creates tension…
i think this version of the cover is a much better draft and this is the one i am going to base my real thing on.
i like the way the hand reaches out at the audience, almost literally grabbing and pulling them to the headline.
i also like the slightly more full up look, and i like the fact its not too over the top busy and overboard.
the title horror quest has a much darker theme and goes with the film better than the light hearted action logo.
i also believe that this title will draw the audience in more as it imediatley grabs the target audience- horror film lovers.
i like the slogan too although i think i will try and think of a better one, but the slogan there adds effect.
i also like the different horror film name dropping along the top as fans of any one of those movies will instantly look at them and read on, this catches a bigger target audience.
Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
this questionnaire helped me learn more about my target audience, what they want in a film magazine and how much they would pay for it.
i reserched the 1946 study to find that in terms of wealth, people could come into categorys named:
Grade A is the highest level of income.
Grade B is the next level down.
Grade C1 is the non-manual (office) worker.
Grade C2 is the manual (skilled) worker.
Grade D is the unskilled manual worker.
Grade E is the low income reader, who is retired on unemployed.
when the people who did my questionnaire selected £3/4 as the maximum they would they for a magazine i could instantly put them into the grade C2/D category in the wealth scale.
- the majority of my target audience were male as the vast majority of the questionnaires i actually got back were from males, showing males have much more of an interest in films, and males had a much higher “yes” response on the “would you buy a film magazine?” question.
- common answers i found with the “what draws you to a film magazine?” question were 1. recognizable logos 2. free DVDs/gifts/posters 3. up and coming films 4. the cover film – i will make sure i use all these elements when making my magazine.
- the majority of my target audience would prefer to buy a magazine once a month, so i am going to make it a monthly magazine.
- other suggestions included “a bold picture on the cover” – i am going to take note of this as i do agree that eye catching images help sell magazines.
- another person also suggested using bright bold colors, but i do not always think this can look good and at times it can look tacky, so i may try to have a few bright colors without going overboard.
Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
i have written a questionaire based on my reserch that i will give to 30 people in my target audience of 15-20 year olds.
here are the questions i have included:
this is a questionnaire about peoples idea of an ideal film magazine.
please circle or write the correct answer.
are you: male female
would you buy a film magazine? yes no
how much would you be willing to spend on a film magazine? £1 and under around £2 around £3 around £4 £5-£10 any price above £10
What most draws you to music magazines? the cover film The inside stories Free dvds/gifts, posters interviews film reviews up and coming film recognizable film titles recognisable logos (e.g. Total film) any others?…………………………………………………………………………………………………….
How often do you buy film magazines? daily a few times a week once a week every few weeks once a month hardly ever never
do you have any other suggestions for what a film magazine should include? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Filed under: A2 advanced portfolio
properties of this cover:
- magazine title
- very eye catching strong image including lighting and abnormal things that we are not used to seeing
- website
this cover is eye catching as it shows the abnormal. the magazine would sell well without a doubt as they have chosen to put a very famous face on the cover. this means that they can get away with having such a simple design and still sell magazines. they do not even need to write about other stories on the cover, they will just sell straight away. the purple color used helps to display he is a wizard as purple has wizard like connotations. and the image is very clever as it is drawing us in by “harry” pointing the wand at us, which directly evolves us in what going on.
properties of this cover:
- film title
- “free” promotion
- barcode
- website
- interesting looking writing making the cover look eye catching and giving it a unique selling point.
- this writing uses words like “freak” which are also in typical joker style
- advertising inside articles
this magazine cover catches my eye as it is very unique. the way the scribbling is all over the cover looks as if the “joker” from batman has tampered with it. this however, can only be got away with because of the popularity of the film: lots of people know the film and therefore will recognize what they are trying to get across. with many other films they wouldn’t be able to get away with it as they are not as well known.
i think this design is pretty crowded and as i have said, i prefer much simpler designs. the free promotion really helps, as this make the reader realize they get something extra out of buying this particular magazine, then comparing it to other magazines where they will not always get something out of it. also the words “sex and spandex” are very clever as sex is very good for selling things- “sex sells”.
words like amazing and definitive are also used as positive describing words which make the reader excited.
properties of this cover:
- very dark color scheme
- website
- tagline “the modern guide to movies”
- headline
this design is very effective and would stand out on the shelf as being different. the dark colour scheme makes things hard to read, however because they have a well known picture (batman) people will pick up the magazine and pay attention to it anyway, they do not really need words jumping out at them to make them want to read on.
the website is a good idea as this lets viewers know they can read more online, the magazine does not just stop at the end.
although they are also not easy to read the magazine still has a tag line and a headline, to make the viewer think more highly of the magazine.
properties of this cover:
- very busy design
- special edition advertised by saying “issue of the decade”
- special offer promotion
- phrases like #1 and words like astonishing and epic
- list of different types of genres- something for everyone effect
- colors to draw you in
- barcode
- light shining out at viewer, draws them in
- well known figure on the cover
- website
this is a very complex design but for this particular magazine i think it works. as it is a special edition it needs to look busy, like there is alot to make it worth buying.
i think the most effective thing about this magazine is the light shining out at you. it really grabs the readers attention like its sucking you in.
i also like the bight colour scheme, also eye catching, while the rest of the magazine is brown to mathc the character on the front. the title is in red which is a firey action packed colour, which could connotate what is on the inside.
properties of this magazine:
- glowing title- helps get the the vampire effect of the main feature film (new moon) as it also looks like a moon.
- barcode
- writing about inside stories
- free giant posters- gives the reader a benifit from buying this magazine rather than any others
- website
- very long anticipated film on the cover, very well known.
- well known names in cover storys- matt damon
the colour scheme is blue which adds to the vampire effect as vampires only come out at night. words like “hollywood” are used to make the whole thing seem much more glamorous.
well known starts photos on the cover and alot of “name dropping” of other famous stars is seen all over the cover.
i like this cover however with the strong storyline behind the film i think the image could have been alot stronger and more eye catching and unique, the design could have also been simpler
properties of this magazine cover:
- very old magazine cover
- well known face on cover
- headline
- tag line
very old design, so not as good technology although i really like the simple design.
if released nowadays this could attract an audience who is into vintage style stuff and there is definatley scope for it in the market. however i do not have the resources to base my entire film around the 1960s unfortunately so am going to make a more modern style film, poster and magazine
