The construction of the magazine front cover

For my magazine front cover feature I used the programme 'paint.net' to manipulate the photograph, add a title 'total film' and manipulate fonts, images and shapes in accordance to what I was aiming to achieve with the layout.

This is the photograph that I am going to use for my magazine front cover feature, as I need to ensure that there is a sense of branding across the ancillary products and the teaser trailer the image is of the young female protagonist (which is also evident on the poster and within the teaser trailer) and accompanied with the title 'flat 39' the film is constantly advertised and the genre reinforced. The only thing I had to ensure with this photograph was that it had higher key lighting so that the audience could easily recognise this female character.



These are some of the photographs I am going to include on my magazine front cover so that the audience is enticed by behind the scene action and interviews and 'never before seen footage' of set and location:







Looking back at my mock up of the magazine front cover feature I must ensure that I place the appropriate graphology/typography in the right place so that it appears as though it is a genuine magazine front cover feature with the appropriate conventions of a horror genre poster including an element of darkness, set/location indicators and traditional conventions such as other features in the magazine '100 greatest horror movies' and a barcode. A magazine front cover feature must include an element of informality such as colloquial language/ideas 'See what's inside!' so that the audience are enticed by this slight familiarity.


Above is a mock up I constructed on 'paint' so that I can establish where typography/graphology is going to be placed. I will refer back to this when constructing my final magazine front cover feature on 'paint.net'. I have decided that I am to include a section of 'this month's movies' so that the audience are enticed and I am also to include a 'review and preview' section so that the audience are again, enticed by other features in the magazine as well as my film 'Flat 39'

Below are some screen shots of me working on paint.net to construct my magazine front cover


I used the tools on 'paint.net' to make the backrounds of the image of the young female and the 'flat 39' title invisible so that I could place them as a seperate layer of graphology on my magazine front cover feature created on microsoft word


This is a screen shot of me placing the various layers of graphology on my magazine front cover feature for desired effect. As a dominant image of somebody looking at the camera over the 'total film' mast head is a convention of a magazine front cover I had to ensure that I included this. Microsoft word allowed me to move images around with ease and create the magazine layered effect whilst paint.net allowed me to get rid of backgrounds that I did not want.


This is my first draft of my magazine front cover feature:

The construction of the poster

I am going to use 'www.picnik.com' in order to upload my photos and manipulate them effectively so that I can create my poster. This website allows me to change the colour, sharpness and size of my images so that I can create the desired effect for each product according to their individual conventions.
This is a screen shot of 'picnik' as I was working on my poster:


For my poster I must ensure that I have a significant amount of darkness connoting mystery and isolation as this fits in with the narrative of my teaser trailer. I must also include traditional conventions of a poster, including the film title and simplicity of the poster to create intrigue as well as a cast/crew list at the bottom of the poster.

For my magazine front cover feature I must include specific conventions such as a lighter image so that the film brand is recognisable (an image of the young lady) and I must also include traditional conventions such as colloquial language, various colours and fonts and different features advertised on the front cover. (USP)
I used the audience feedback for my mock ups to recognise what I must include on each ancillary product.

Whilst constructing them I must keep in mind that I am aiming to create a promotion package so I must create branding across the teaser trailer, poster and magazine front cover feature. I am going to do this by including the young lady within each product, so that the audience recognise the brand as well as establishing that the young lady is a key part of the narrative.

This is the first draft of my film poster that I constructed on www.picnik.com



During the first draft construction I tried to incorporate specific conventions of a teaser poster and for my second draft I have established that I must include a tag line for the film to create mystery surrounding the narrative which will be 'who do you fear?' the use of the verb 'fear' will ensure a particular emotion will be evident when somebody views this poster and the use of the rhetorical question on the poster will ensure audience involvement and create mystery which is what a teaser poster is supposed to do, so simplicity is key, here is my second draft:


I must ensure that I have simple information on my poster 'in cinemas 2011' This is the only form of date advertising I am going to use so that the audience is more interested in the actual poster and what the narrative may be. The darkness is very significant as it draws people in. I have decided to flip the letter 'e' in fear to suggest that what a person may fear may not be the correct thing to fear, it may be something else. This is my third draft:


For my final draft I decided to incorporate the cast and crew list as I did in my first draft, it is a convention of a film poster and I think it makes the overall product look realistic, I have still included all of the typography discussed above and believe that this draft is my most successful.


I decided to make some final changes and decided to change the verb phrase 'who do' to 'who should' because I believe that this verb phrase is more intrusive and will scare the audience as it is suggesting that this film doesn't involve obvious fears but perhaps something that you do not think you will fear. This links in with the typography I have included in my teaser trailer 'what happens when the people you trust become the people you fear.' This creates a sense of branding across the two products as part of my promotion package. I have also decided to place the tag line 'who should you fear' more central across the divide of the 'two' female characters to create an effect that the typography is depicting the narrative and paralleling the image. A sense of two people is created.



I have decided that my poster will be a quad poster. A quad poster is landscape in style and allows more of an image to be seen and more emphasis to be put on the size of image/images or particular typography. These are a few examples of quad posters:




I have decided to make my poster a quad poster so that there is an emphasis on the idea of 'two' people, two different sides to this vulnerable female. The line of the mirror inbetween the girl and her reflection represents the divide between her two different sides and I believe a quad poster would place effective emphasis on the idea of the two sides to this young woman and how she has been negatively affected by 'Flat 39'.

Computerised Mock-Ups/ Conventions of horror

This is a very basic mock up for the magazine front cover feature that I constructed on a word document so that I could establish where I would place individual typography/graphology. The writing in the white text box simply state what I would have in that area for example, in the middle I would have 'a mid-long shot of the female character looking straight into the camera or down'



This is a computerised mock-up for the poster I will be constructing. The white texts boxes explain what images are going to go where, for example in the middle of the poster there will be a mid shot of the female character looking into the mirror and in the background there will be very slight layers of graphology of the exterior of the flat. On my poster I must ensure that I follow the codes and conventions, for example, I will have at the bottom of the poster in small, undefined font all the members of the cast and crew (the credits)
In researching conventions of a horror movie poster I found that 'darkness' is an important element 'since horror posters inherit a lot of gothic conventions' I also found that 'if someone is shown being menaced it is usually a woman -- the persecuted maiden is often the viewpoint character in those stories.'
And finally 'There is often a picture of the setting of the tale. Not always but often.' I aim to try and incorporate some of these conventions into the construction of my own horror poster for maximum effect.

Production credits

At the beginning of my teaser trailer before it begins I need to ensure that I have suitable production credits to introduce a production company. Here are a few examples that are used in film:




For these production logos I have established a common trend: They all have an establishing shot style landscape with the title placed in the middle or playing a dominant role on the whole image.
For my own production credits at the start of my teaser trailer I will have an image which will be on the screen for 2-3 seconds with a landscape image and the title of my production company.

I plan to use this image as the logo for my media production company. I have decided that in order to indicate to the audience that the teaser trailer they are about to view is of the horror genre I wanted to incorporate dark lighting and a sense of isolation/vulnerablity, a wide open space with nobody around.



I am going to place the name of my production company on the water landscape of the image and make it similar colours to the background so that the genre as well as the company is established effectively. A few names I am considering are 'independent media productions' and 'dynamic media productions' I have to think about the connotations of these words and how they would represent my media company. Dynamic connotes force, energy and spirit. Independent connotes freedom, self governing and self reliance. I have decided that I am going to use 'dynamic media productions' as the title of my production company as the connotations are more interesting and what I would like to associate my production company with.

I constructed my production credits by using Adobe Premiere. I added 'Dymanic Media Productions' as a title over the photograph of the sea landscape and the moon. To make it conform to the horror genre, I then edited the image with the typography on it to darken the water and give my teaser trailer a tense/dark atmousphere from the very beginning through the production credits.

Photographs for poster and magazine front cover feature

These are the original photographs that I took that were then to be manipulated for effect on 'picnik.com' and paint.net On set I decided to experiment with various styles of shots and here are a few of my favourites for my poster:


This photograph would be effective as the dominant image on my poster for 'Flat 39' because it portrays the core of the narrative: The female protagonist possessed by an evil force within the flat. The darkness of the image is effective as it connotes the horror genre perfectly and the use of the mirror as a prop in the image is significant because it is presenting two sides to the female's personality. The facial expression of the female portrays a sinister personality and on photoshop I will be able to manipulate the eyes of the female in the reflection to present a change in persona to the viewer.


For my magazine front cover feature I am going to use a long low angle shot of the female character as she is now recognisable to the audience therefore they will be able to establish what film is being advertised on the 'Total Film' magazine front cover. Also, I have established due to my magazine front cover research that there is usually a mid shot of the main character of the film in a higher key lightig than the poster (if it's horror) as the audience need to easily recognise the character, thus, the film itself. These were my favourite images:


I had to do a re-shoot of the images for my magazine front cover as I needed to ensure that I had suitable photographs to include in the 'usp' section of my magazine of the female character on set and never before seen set and location shots. I also needed to ensure that the image of the female was mid shot and relatively high key lighting so this is the new image that I now plan to use:

'Total Film' titles

Here are a few examples of diverse 'total film' titles adapting to the genre of the film they are featuring on the cover. When I construct my film magazine cover feature I am going to ensure that my 'Total Film' title or the title of my magazine will effectively portray the horror genre evident in my film.

Sounds for my teaser trailer

During the editing process i need to include certain music/sounds to accompany the edits so that the right atmousphere is created for the audience viewing the teaster trailer. I have used www.freesound.org to search for the kind of sounds I want, for example, 'a door banging' and 'eerie music'. I type phrases such as these into the search bar on the website and then listen to the sounds that appear and select the one that I think will suit my teaser trailer best. I then save the sounds and insert them into adobe premiere so that I can edit them to my liking and so that they fit the shots/edits correctly. This is a screen shot with the search bar and an example of a search I made, with all of the possible sounds I can save and insert into my teaser trailer

Completed Storyboard

This is a photograph of my completed storyboard that I used during filming so that I could film the shots efficiently and I am also using this storyboard during the editing process so that I can edit the shots in the order that I have placed them on the storyboard. This storyboard as part of the planning makes the practical task a lot easier and enjoyable.

Stills of set and props

These are my recce shots that I took before my filming so that I could establish the types of shots I would use in the teaser trailer. For example, low angle long shot of the flat exterior and long shots of the individual rooms as well as close ups of certain aspects of the set such as the lock of the door (to establish a focus on security)


This is going to be similar to my establishing shot of the exterior of the flat, it is dark, and the high angle shot portrays a dominance of the flat and makes the audience feel vulnerable and inferior


In my teaser trailer I am going to have a close up of the female character looking and latching the door. This ensures that a focus is on security and is some what ironic as the audience will establish from the trailer that perhaps the inside of the flat in which the character is not safe.


This is an example of one of the long shots I am going to be filming of three different rooms in the flat, in the teaser trailer they will be black and white as to give the trailer a more horror genre sinister feel and to connote that the rooms are not safe. The three photographs will straight cut from one another to establish a quiet yet tense atmousphere within the flat, some what foreshadowing an event that will disturb the peace.

Set/Props/Costume/Actor ideas

Set
The set I am planning to use is the exterior and interior of a flat. It will appear quite isolated as it is surrounded by vegetation and no other buildings which will effectively convey the vulnerability and isolation I wish to portray. I plan to use the exterior of the flat to establish location and to establish that this flat has great significance regarding the narrative and I plan to use the interior of the flat to delve deeper into the narrative and show a complex series of events, for example, draws being opened, doors being slammed, chairs being moved. I plan to focus a lot on security and to portray the notion that even when you feel secure, you may be putting yourself at greater risk.

Props
I am planning to use very naturalistic props to convey a realistic lifestyle so that the audience will be able to relate and therefore become more frightened when things begin to take a turn for the worst. As I am focusing alot on security I plan to shoot a lot of extreme close ups of door latches, keys, door locks. I plan to use chairs, kitchen drawers (as part of the set) the television fuzzing to portray supernatural events occuring. A significant prop that I am going to be using is newspaper clippings that I am going to create to use at the start of the teaser trailer, fading onto the long shots of friends walking into the flat. I will be using these so that the audience have prior knowledge of an event that has happened in this flat and they can therefore establish that something bad is going to happen.

Costume
I plan to use naturalistic costumes such as 'normal' everyday clothes for the friends and I am particularly going to concentrate on the female character and make her dress in predominantly white clothes to potray that she is the potential victim and is vulnerable (gender will contribute to the vulnerability also). As the trailer progresses however I plan for the female character to wear darker clothes to portray that she is adopting a darker side and is therefore not so vulnerable anymore but frightening and dangerous.

Actors
Building upon the gender idea discussed above, my main character is going to be a female victim. Traditionally in films females have always been able to portray a victim very successfully (Drew Barrymore in Scream for example) So i have decided to build upon this stereotype and cast a female as the vulnerable character. I have decided to use two male flatmates as the 'extras', the female's friends who live in the flat with her, I have decided to use two males to show that even when men are present, this will not stop the female becoming more vulnerable and effected by the supernatural. Males will help to enhance the fright and worry.

Ancillary product planning

As part of the promotion package I am going to be making, I have to create a film magazine front cover featuring the film and a film poster. The ancillary products will advertise my film just as effectively as the teaser trailer.

Initial poster ideas
For my poster I am planning to use a dominant image of the flat. I have decided that it would be interesting to use a few layers of graphology on the poster to portray that the narrative of my film has many layers and is not just a simple plot. For one of the layers I am planning to have the flat number '39' somewhere on the poster to draw the audiences attention to that specific flat number and it's significance. As well as the exterior of the flat and the number '39' I am planning to use a close up image of the female protagonist/victim who will be featured throughout the trailer. By using a close up image of her, a particular emotion can be conveyed through her worried facial expression and with the effect of the layer onto the flat it will show that something inside the flat or perhaps the flat itself is making her troubled. I have decided to use very dark colours on the film poster, similar to that on the shutter island poster. I am going to use a lot of black surrounding the flat and the girl, perhaps to convey that the flat itself is part of a bigger 'evil' than first percieved. I have decided to use the bold colour red on my film poster as red has connotations of danger which is what I wish to convey on my film poster so that the genre can be easily established. I think that the composition of images on my poster is going to be one of the most important things as my main aim is to convey a complex plot and to attract my target audience by allowing them to realize that there is a lot to the narrative which makes it appear interesting and intruiging.

Initial magazine cover feature ideas
As I want to establish a sense of branding across the trailer, the poster and the magazine front cover feature I must decide on a dominant idea/image to work with and alter for both the poster and the magazine cover feature. I must do this so that when my target audience views the promotion package they will be able to establish what film it is and it's genre. I plan to have a dominant image of the exterior of the flat as well as the iconic image of '39' and the close up image of the female character as my dominant idea/image. I have decided to be experimental and maybe for the magazine front cover feature, or the poster (I am yet to decide) have an extreme close up of an eye with the faded number '39' inside the pupil.
The use of these layered images will be recognisable for my target audience who would have seen the poster and it's similar style. As the poster can effectively 'speak for itself' because it just features the notion of the film and nothing else, I must establish a unique selling point when constructing my magazine front cover feature. As researched, both the 'Empire' and 'Total Film' magazine front cover features for The Dark Knight have USP's, Empire's being the interview with the character 'the joker' and Total Film's being the use of graffiti to attract the already established target audience for The Dark Knight. For my USP I am going to include 'on set' images and commentaries from characters and the director so that the target audience are intruiged by what is happening behind the scenes of this new horror film.

As well as using my creativity to construct a poster and magazine cover feature, I will also be including conventional text captions on my magazine cover feauture - "coming soon", "most anticipated film of the year", "5 ***** - Empire", "Thrilling - Total Film" are some examples I may use.



Here are some practice 'mock ups' of my initial poster and magazine front cover feature ideas.

Planning my teaser trailer technical decisions

Camerawork

-Long establishing shot of flat building at dawn
-Long Shot of three friends walking/talking into the flat
-Close up/Panning of newspaper clippings - 'Flat 39','Mysterious murder','Shocking'
-Mid shot of friends walking up the flat stairs, LS low angle of friends walking up the flat stairs
A normal atmousphere with a mystery hidden is established, foreshadowing the mystery to be revealed later on
-Close up of the flat door shutting, being locked and latched, a focus on security, are they protecting themselves from what is outside? Or should they be scared of what's on the inside?
-Long shot of individual rooms in the flat to show stillness
-Close up's/Mid shots of doors being banged, pictures being moved, chairs on the floor, LS of all cupboard doors open in the kitchen, CU of fuzzy television
-Frequent close up's of the girl who lives in the flat, focus on her, she is more involved in the narrative, show reaction
-Close up's of other friend's faces, 'what is going on?'
-Long shot of outside, nobody is there
-Long high angle shot of outside, something standing in the gardens looking up at the flat.
-LS of people running outside
-As the trailer progresses, more Point of view shots, running/breathing, a character is more involved in the narrative than first percieved, shown through camerawork
-CU of hands, nervous, on edge
-Long, low angle shot of the flats 'FLAT 39' isolation, vulnerability

Editing

-Fades from the friends walking to the flat, to newspaper clippings, fades to large print 'MYSTERY', 'SHOCKING' to show that something is going on underneath the normal, everyday life exterior.
-alot of straight cuts used to establish a narrative of some kind, quickened pace in editing as the trailer progresses
-use of graphic matching of a high angle shot of a girl in the gardens to the female flat mate standing in a dark doorway to show the possession between the murdered girl and the girl now living in the flat, this shows a complex narrative.

Sound

-Begin non diegetic with piano chords perhaps as there are fades to the newspaper clippings of the mysterious murder, extablish that the event is sad
-diegetic dialouge of laughter, talking between the friends as they enter the flat
-As there are fast paced straight cuts of the door locking etc the music becomes eerie, louder as the atmousphere transforms from natural to paranormal.
-Sharp blasts of music to accompany the discovery of strange happenings such as the chairs being on the floor, the cupboards and drawers being open in the kitchen
-At a point in the trailer when there is the graphic matching of the girl in the gardens to the girl in the doorway, the music slows right down as a tense atmousphere is created
-The pace then quickens as the non diegetic bursts quicken in pace and increase in volume as the POV shots occur and the trailer overall increases its pace therefore tension and mystery.
-As the trailer progresses there will be an underlying non diegetic sound of a girl perhaps singing/laughing to signify that the girl's presence has not left the house, this sound could accompany the straight cuts of the different rooms in the house being empty and silent.
- I will also include if i need to, non diegetic sound effects such as the banging of a door or the ringing of a doorbell to shock the viewer and make the events seem real.
- There will always be underlying non digetic music to signify that even when events seem normal there is an underlying worry/presence, something is not right.
- I plan to get my sound from sources such as records or youtube and use the program 'audacity' to manipulate the sound, change it, slow it down, speed it up to create my desired sounds

Mise en scene

-Naturalistic lighting at the beginning, as i plan to shoot the outside establishing shots at dawn
- naturalistic props will be used in the flat to establish a realistic living area, so that when events do begin to occur they are more shocking to the viewer as the set is so natural yet there events still happen.
-The lighting becomes darker as the trailer progresses symbolising the ever growing mystery and fright of the narrative
- There will be a particular focus on character's body language and facial expressions to show the change in mood, for example, they are initially laughing and smiling, but towards the end they will be nervous and tense to show the change of events, so that the genre is established.

Initial teaser trailer ideas/ plot synopsis

I have decided to construct a trailer of the thiller genre, subgenre horror.
I have taken great inspiration from the trailers i have analysed, specifically the last exorcism and shutter island.
The narrative is going to revolve around a group of friends that have recently moved into a new flat. Strange events begin to occur as the friends become more and more convinced that there is something wrong.
The idea of the trailer is that small things happen such as doors banging, pictures moving, objects falling (similar to that of paranormal activity) but they all add up to a climax at the end of the film that one of the friends has actually been possessed by something (perhaps the girl) within the flat and is subconciously making these events occur.
The trailer is going to begin with the friends light heartedly talking and moving into the new place with fades onto newspaper clippings etc of information about a young girl that died in the flat before they moved in, words such as mystery and shocking fades into one another. There will then be a close up of one of the friends locking the door to the new flat. then the tone of the trailer changes as the events begin to occur (doors banging etc) Throughout the trailer the pace is going to quicken as more things start to happen and at a point within the trailer the pace is going to completely slow down as a bedroom door creaks open and there is a shadow of one of the flatmates standing in the doorway.
Within the trailer also there will be close ups of scared faces, hands picking at finger nails all to show the nervous/tense atmousphere. At some point there will be a point of view shot of somebody running and breathing heavily outside to indicate that somebody is trying to get away from something. There will also be a point in the trailer where there is a long shot of a girl standing in the flat gardens looking up at the flat accompnied with a burst of tense music, this will indicate that this is perhaps the girl who died in the flat.
The mise en scene will be quite naturalistic to indicate that this group of friends lead normal lives but as the trailer progresses the lighting will change becoming darker and indicating more mystery until the end shot of the dark figure standing in the doorway.
Throughout the trailer also sentences of texts will appear after certain camera shots in the trailer, my initial idea for this text is 'What happens when...' 'The people you trust...' 'Become the people you fear...'

A2 Course outline and Teaser Trailer information.

For my A2 Media Studies coursework I am going to be creating a promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer (1-2 minutes) as well as two of the following three options: a website homepage for the film, a film magazine front cover, featuring the film or a poster for the film.
When I have completed these tasks I will then be creating an evaluation via powerpoint. In this powerpoint I will be explaining:
1. In what ways does my media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products
2. How effective the combination of my main product and ancillary texts are
3. What I have learned from my audience feedback
4. How I used media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.
I am going to be producing a teaser trailer along with a film magazine front cover featuring the film and a poster for the film.

What is a teaser trailer?
The wikipedia definition is 'a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming movie, game or television series'
There are conventions of a teaser trailer and some of them include:
- they are short in length
- they evoke intruige and excitement
- they establish some form of narrative
- they are released a long time in advance of the actual film
- the pace is usually fast or is slow and then picks up



This is the teaser trailer for 'Inception', this teaser trailer was released a long time in advance of the actual film. The teaser trailer is used to evoke intruige, touch upon the narrative by using effective text 'Your mind is the scene of the crime' and use music effectively to set a mysterious tone. I am going to use similar techniques in my teaser trailer, but I am also going to use techniques used in trailers which I will be analysing, such as: pace, use of edits, mise en scene (low key lighting) use of music building up in volume and pace and text to evoke excitement and intruige. A teaser trailer is different to a trailer firstly, because they are shorter in length and have less camera shots used, this contributes to the mystery potrayed and it makes people want to go and see the film to find out more about it. A teaser trailer is a taster for the film, only giving the audience a slight bit of information so that they are grasped and excited by it.