Monthly Diary- January

This month has mostly been spent editing our remaining footage and incorporating transitions and animations to make our film trailer look more effective. Furthermore, I have also begun to look at film posters and magazines and narrowed down my search to base my magazine on "Little White Lies" magazine. From this I then produced my magazine front cover using pictures that we had taken at the abandoned house, the picture fits the brief of a little white lies magazine as it is iconic and stands out and will be appealing to my target audience.

Film posters influences

Before constructing my film poster it is imperative that I research around film posters from my film genres and the codes and conventions that they contain. From my research its evident that for an iconic film poster colours need to be addressed. Before researching film posters I planned to construct a film poster consisting of a editing picture that would be dark with a striking image within the picture that would draw the audiences attention. However, from my research I have discovered that to correspond with my film genre no magazines use this concept therefore it would not be suitable for me to do so. Therefore instead its evident that most film posters display more than one image. In terms of my magazine I would like 4 images a extreme close up of Giannaz (The kidnapper) an extreme close up of Jodie (Girl who gets kidnapped) and a close up of Matt (Jodie's boyfriend) with a medium shot of the abandoned house which will signify where Jodie gets taken. All four images will be striking and grasp the audiences attention. From my research it is clear that a lot of action/thriller movies use this concept as their film poster.

The film posters of "Trade" all contain four striking images that signify what to expect in the film. The poster on the left is more dominant and conveys more emotions. The poster on the right is fairly plain with similar camera shots this makes the poster less eye catching to the audience with  no real bright colours used the poster is dull.

The film poster of "Don't say a word" works very well and suggests the film may be about the girl in the top picture from her facial emotions it's clear that she is scared however the poster does not reveal a lot about the film. Micheal Douglas is in bold at the top of the poster which conveys that he must play a big roll in the film as his name has been distinctively put there. Not much information is listed about the film although this could be due to having more than one trailer, most films trailers don't display massive amounts of information about the film as this will give the narrative of the film away.

"Kidnapped" highlights a different approach to grabbing the audiences attention. Minimal information is displayed on the poster. However,  a striking image takes up the vast space displayed on the page. The picture has a lot going on and by the film name "kidnapped" its evident that a kidnapping occurs so the picture doesn't give to much away. Again in this picture editing is minimal, the font however is bold and stands out. In some respects it could be argued that the font over powers the picture, by looking at the poster the audience is drawn to look at the font first. The strong powerful phrase "home used to be a safe place" this highlights that something bad will happen from home, suggesting that the main location of the film will be inside a house.

Little white lies examples

After identifying that little white lies would be our magazine company we researched in more detail the different styles and of images and the effects that are used. It was also interesting to see how text was included to revolve around the picture. From this the draft of our magazine front cover has been established.

Story Board Development

From deciding as a group we felt that the trailer needed some more shots therefore I produced another storyboard including a final three shots that will help link the trailer together as well as including our title timings within our trailer.

The shots included are a panning opening shot of Corfu. The shot is interesting as it overlooks Corfu with a contrasting light and dark sky that makes the shot unusual and I felt that it would me a great opening shot to use in our trailer. As in some respects it links the trailer together. The second shot is a picture of Matt's phone where he has 10 missed calls from Jodie after the argument which he chooses to ignore, this shot will create tension and link the trailer better together, furthermore it is reflects our film name. The final shot is a shot of Matt in Corfu asking a lady along  a road where he can find the address listed on the card he found at Jodie's, again this scene will create tension and link the film trailer together better.

Looking at action magazines

Possible magazine companies

When creating the magazine front cover for our film “10 missed calls” we need research possible magazine companies that we can use. 

Impact Magazine

The first possibility was the magazine company impact. This magazine we perceived looked unsuitable to attract our target audience. Furthermore, it also lacked the codes and conventions that we were looking for in a magazine lacking an  iconic picture. Although, from this magazine we could use some ideas. For example the layout of the magazine is effective however this magazine does not reflect an action theme. 

Empire Magazine

After rejecting impact magazine we looked into empire magazine. After researching different issues it was clear that empire was to broad in terms of a specific target audience for specific film genres. Therefore this magazine company also had to be rejected. From looking at empire magazine we did like the iconic picture with minimal amounts of text surrounding the picture it made the picture stand out more and make the overall style of the magazine more effective as everything is revolved around the picture. 

Little white lies Magazine

After further research we found the magazine company little white lies. As I have already addressed the iconic picture is imperative to best attract our target audience and feature our film therefore this magazine company was perfect. We feel that with a little editing the pictures we have taken can be adapted to a white lies magazine front cover. 

What a film magazine includes

Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. It is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain.

"Empire writers select the smart, arty and expensive movies that sum up the magazine for them. From the brilliant to the bizarre, Fight Club to... Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me?! Pithy writing, inspired (and odd) choices."

Features

Each Month Empire provides a wide range of different features, from full coverage from this years award ceremony, to full-length interviews and photo shoots with established up and coming actors and directors. To the previews of major films such as Les Miserables. All issues contain a one page parody of recent releases and a film interview- with a detailed chat with a casting actor or major director.

Key sections within the magazine

Dialogue
This section is about the interaction between the readers and the magazine. Where Empire readers get the change to declare what they want from specific future releases. The interaction can be from the magazine's social media followers such as forums, facebook and twitter.

Buzz
This section includes "sneaky peeks" from exclusive on set visits and videos and first look pictures from upcoming films. Also includes the latest movie news  on the latest trailers and news on actors. 

Reviews
With every new movie for that month reviewed and rated. Major releases recieve comprehensive coverage, the star rating is usually out of five. The section also includes a brief listed recommendations "see this if you liked" It also includes the UK and the USA box office charts. 

The Empire Quiz
A double page spread with questions answers and clues. Empire also features a monthly competition, entered by post,text message or online. The prices usually related to a film experience or activity. 

Experimenting colouring for the magazine front cover

An iconic picture is imperative when constructing a magazine front cover. I have spent some time editing my chosen picture into different colours to see which looks most appealing to my target audience. Colouring is important as the magazine front cover relies heavily on the main picture the colours displayed gives an indication to the theme or the genre of the magazine.

Editing Title Sequence

To stand out to the mass audience unique features about our trailer had to be considered therefore we proposed the idea of not only cutting the length and incorporating background sound for a trailer title sequence but also editing the colour and saturation of the title sequence.

Production Logo

After constructing our film trailer we had to outline which production company would produce the film. As our film is based on a relatively mass audience we decided that paramount pictures would be a perfect company to use. Therefore, like most trailers at the beginning of the film we edited our own paramount pictures title sequence that we would use with the addition of background music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIv1Em9FKZw the video cannot be incorporated into this post therefore a hyperlink is made to our edited title sequence.

Peer Feedback

This was my second piece of feedback from my peers and again I was happy with the response from my peers about my blog. All the recommended improvements from my previous peer feedback post were completed and my blog was updated.

Dow- "From reading your blog its clear you have been busy. Your posts are still really good you also have good detail and write your posts in a fluent manner. Make sure you add as much multimedia as possible in every single post you put up. Keep using a variety of features such as Wordie to display your posts in a different way. And make sure when uploading youtube videos into your blog you insert the video through youtube and don't just put a link into the post."

Kassie- "Will your blog is still very impressive. Your storyboard is good but have you stuck to it? If not do a post on the changes that you have made producing another storyboard. Think about producing an animated storyboard which you can film and will give you an idea of the length and variety of shots you will need to complete your film trailer."

Monthly Diary December 2012

This month has been a very productive month. As a group we have all worked hard into completed assigned tasks. Sadie has foccussed on constructing a storyboard and using shots that she has produced to incorporate it into the story board. Brandon has been editing our feedback and editing our title sequences. Frankie has been editing our presentation that was performed to the class. Whereas will has been looking at props and soundtracks and possible locations for our filming. Towards the end of the month we focussed on our filming and have now completed all of our filming and edited most of our footage and produced a first draft for our trailer. At this stage the sounding has not been produced so the first draft lacks sound which does make a signifcant different as the music is incorporated to create tension.

Feedback from our initial trailer

Within class today we showed the class our initial trailer. We asked for one thing they liked about the trailer and one thing they did ike about the trailer.

Alex- " I like the title sequence at the beginning, it looks good"
           - "I dont like the fact you haven't got much dialogue"

Dan- "I like the contrast between some shots of light and dark"
           - "I dont like the title in the clouds at the beginning"

James- "The build up is really good, your music is excellent"
                - "some shots are filmed in different quality this makes it look not professional"

Dow- "The final scene is impressive"
            - "At times some shots seem a bit out of place"