My Film Poster

This was the original image

I decided to cut her out and have a medium shot of Angelica

I then added the title Sweet Dreams

I decided to put effects on the text to make it stand out and be eye catching

The next step was to use common conventions of posters such as website, date certificate and company logos to make my poster look authentic

This is my final product after adding in credits and the lead actresses name.

My Magazine Cover

This is to show how i made my magazine cover on photoshop.

This was my original image

I decided to call my magazine film preview. My title is at the top as it is a common convention in magazines.

I cut out film from the 'P' in preview to give my magazine its own sense of identity. This feature will most likely be picked up on by the readers. At this stage i had to cut out the head of the girl in the photograph and place it on top of the title as this is often seen in magazines.

I edited my models face to make her look like a scary character.

The main story is placed in the center of the page. I decided to link my poster text with my magazine text as it is about the same film.

From my print work research of last year i found that buyers of magazines like give aways. This is the reason for the strap line 'free giant poster' I also have put in a bar code, price, website, month, and issue number as these are all common conventions in magazines.

I justified other hooks down both sides of the pages. The hooks are there to interest other readers to buy the magazine.

Story boards

I have decided to create detailed storyboards to help with my planning. It will make it easier as i will know what filming is needed to be done and what should be happening in the shot.

Locations

These are some of the locations Rachel Allan has chosen to be in the teaser trailer.

Music

To make sure we were allowed to use the track Rachel Talbot took charge in emailing the music producer to ask.

Hi I am Rachel Talbot from Heworth Grange Comprehensive School 6th Form in Gateshead. I am working in a group on a media project, making a trailer for a horror film, and we have become very interested in using your song, 'Sour cherry'. Is it possible that we would be able to use this in our trailer? The only people who will see it is the examination board and my group. I can always send the finish project to you also.

Please email back when you can

Thanks

Unfortunately we didn't get a reply back.

Music Winner

With a total of 60% of the vote Sour Cherry by the kills won. Thanks for your votes.

Shout when you wanna get off the ride
Shout when you wanna get off the ride
Shout when you wanna get off the ride
'Cause you crossed my mind, you crossed my mind
Made my blood thump 7-8-9
Make my heart beat double time
Now I'm only sour cherry on the fruit stand, right
Am I the only sour cherry on the fruit stand

Shout when you wanna get off the ride
Shout when you wanna get off the ride
'Cause you crossed my mind, it crossed my mind
I'm a penny in a diamond mine
We could be movers,
We could be shakers
If we could just shake somin' outta the blue
and get off the ride

I'm the only sour cherry on the fruit stand, right
Am I the only sour cherry on the fruit stand?
If I'm the only sour cherry on the fruit stand, right
Am I the only sour cherry on your fruit stand?

G-g-g-go home, go home it's over
G-g-g-go home it's over
G-g-g-go home, go home it's over over
Go go home it’s over
G-g-g-go home, go home it's over
Go go home it's over
G-g-g-go home, go home it's over over
Go go home it’s over

The lyrics will also go well as it is about not fitting in and Angelica doesnt fit in with Katie and Grace

Music choices

By looking at a range of different pieces of music we came to a decision on eight songs we thought would go well with our storyline. To get audience feedback i decided to put a poll on my blog so readers of my blog can pick a song of there choice. Please go to the right of the screen to vote.

Synopsis of our storyline

Our main characters in the story will be three girls. Angelica (played by Jodi Zoric), Katie (played by Sarah Maddison) and Grace (played by Amy Etherington). Angelica will be new to the other girls school. She Will be the unpopular geeky character that people are weary about. Katie and Grace are both popular girls that find bullying and embarrassing other people amusing. Leading to them trying to embarrass Angelica. Katie is the leader, the more bossier character that Grace looks up too. The story will start with Katie inviting Angelica to a sleepover, where they have planned to put some kind of drug in her drink to make her make a fool out of her self. Angelica takes a big reaction to the drug and falls resulting in a blow to the head leaving her unconscious. Both girls panic as they believe she is dead but then Katie decides they must get rid of the body. Grace being the more softer character has doubts and cant feels as though she cant keep the secret. Incidents start occurring where the girls will be in frightening unexpected situations. We will leave the audience guessing as to who the villain really is as this is common in teaser trailers.

Plans

We decided to create mind maps on what we could have for storylines for our trailer.

Roles

We decided that we need to even out the roles between us all so that we could spend a lot of concentration on getting our work complete to a good standard that could compete with other real media products.

I took charge in the planning, storyboards, some filming and also picking and editing the music.
Rachel Allan took charge in choosing the locations and sorting out the mise-en-scene, taking the photographs and part of the filming.
Rachel Talbot took charge in the editing, helping with the music and some filming.

Analysis of Film Posters

Analysis of Film Magazines

I have decided to look closely at ‘Total Film’ magazine as from all the film magazines this one is my favorite. I will look at the common conventions and follow some of them to create a successful magazine cover. I won’t follow all of the forms and conventions as I don’t want my magazine cover to look just the same as others on the market.

• Full image with background.
• Medium close up of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
• Title goes across the head.
• Red ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
• Strap line ‘must-see’ draws readers in.
• 4 different colours used.
• 3 different fonts used.
• Text justified down both sides of the page.
• Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.

• Full image with background.
• Medium shot of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
• Title goes behind the head showing that it is a well knowing magazine as they don’t need to see the full name without recognizing it is a ‘Total Film’ magazine.
• Cut out ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
• ‘World exclusive’ draws readers in as it sounds as though they will be the first to know the information.
• Quotations are effective as it shows other thoughts on the films.
• 3 different colours used.
• 3 different fonts used.
• Text justified down both sides of the page.
• Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.

Analysis of another horror trailer

The next trailer i decided to analyse was 'Orphan'

Mise-en-scene

It started off with a big white house and it was snowing, the colour red seemed to have been drained out taking the warmth out of the shot. The white could suggest vulnerability as it is the victims house. The shot of the school looks happy, it creates an equilibrium. Then when Esther is sitting in the class room alone it suggests she is lonely. When Esther joins the new class all the pupils are staring at her. Again showing she is lonely. When Esther is in the toilet cubicle it is a small enclosed space shows connotations of the character being trapped. This links well with the storyline as she is trapped in a child's body. Esther seems to wear a lot of dark clothing which represents that she is a dark character. The rooms are all dark and the weather is raining and dull and gloomy, this helps create an atmosphere.

Sound

It starts with quiet strings with some piano chords added in. It is slow at first but builds up and is happy during the start to go with the equilibrium. The keys become lower when Esther gets angry. We also hear the children laughing at her. The bangs have been edited to make them sound louder and scarier and give the audience a fright. There is a sound that sounds like wind blowing when the location changes. The music builds up to a big bang then goes quiet and we here Esther scream very loud. The music dims down to let us here the voice over. after hearing 'i think there's something wrong with Esther' we here the swings creaking. This gives a creepy effect to the trailer. The music starts to get faster once bad events start occurring. There is fast banging to go with the fast cuts. It ends with Esther singing which creates a scary tone.

Camera shots/ movements and angles

Establishing shots are used a lot to show the location of the scene. There are also a lot of close up shots used when people are talking to each other. This helps to show the emotions. There is a extreme close up of Esther and the Mother first holding hands when the voice over says 'connection'. There is a shot of the family in the car. The camera is directly above the car. This could show vulnerability. The camera is also above Esther when she is going crazy in the toilet cubicle. This could show us as viewers peering over to watch her. The camera is at a low angle looking up at Esther to make her look powerful. It pans up to a very high angle when on the mother to show she is vulnerable. Another way Esther is mad to look scary is by using a close up of her staring straight into the camera.

Editing

There are a lot of quick cuts used. This makes it look more exciting. Fades are used a lot to indicate change in location and also to fade to white to allow the writing on the screen visible. The screen goes all black when the voice over is on. There is slow motion running used to give a sympathetic view on the mother. A jump cut from a long shot to a mid shot of Ester is also used.

Analysis of horror films

I have decided to analyse some horror films as this is the genre my trailer will be. By doing this it will help me to find out what are common conventions of horror films. It will also help broaden my ideas.

The first trailer i have analysed is Wolfman which is due to release in February 2010. Here is the trailer;

'Wolfman' Theatrical Trailer en Yahoo! Video

The trailer starts in a dark and gloomy forest with a man that is walking with a lantern. The mise-en-scene looks threatening and makes the character look vulnerable the sound starts off as slow strings that gradually builds up. You then here a slash off the wolves claw and you see a close up of his reaction. One of the characters voices is used as a narrative voice over which helps explain the story. His voice is deep and croaky which gives a more scary effect. The music gets faster and louder as more action takes place and the action gets scarier and scarier building up to a big scare at the end. The use of elliptical editing also helps to create the scary effect as it is only showing short snaps of events which helps create suspense. As the narrator says full moon the universal logo turns into the moon in the scene. A lot of the editing fades to black then fades back up again which is a common convention in horror trailers. The mise-en-scene of every shot is mainly dark and gloomy and the costumes fit into the setting of the past which makes the film believable. The use of a bridge suggests the community is isolated. Like many horror films a lot of things are emerging from shadows which makes the audience scared. Like all trailers it is a common convention to keep the beast/monster hiding so in this trailer we always seem to get close ups or extreme close ups of the wolf as they don't want to show too much and spoil the film for the viewers, we also see the wolf in the flare of the gun but it is only for a split second. They use a match edit with the girl in bed to the boy in bed which shows the two characters could be related. The girl lights the candle which in some movies connotate that she could be the light in the story, the heroine type of girl. The editing is always moving there is a quick cut, then the camera is moving towards a character then another cut then the camera is moving away from a character which makes the film seem exciting, like there is always something happening. The quick snappy editing stops the audience seeing too much. By using the point of view shot of the wolf running through the forest it helps make us feel sympathetic towards him. Iconic lines are used in the trailer 'Darkness comes for you' which the audience will remember. The quote 'let me help you' suggests he isn't evil he has been taken over. Quotes like these are normally shown in a different place to what it is in the original film. At the end it is all quiet with a girl in the forest the music isn't there any more and you can here the girl heavy breathing. She looks very vulnerable alone in the forest and we can see the wolf looking for her in the background which creates suspense. Then the last big scare is the wolf growling.

Questionnaire 2

We handed out a questionnaire to 30 people to find out what we should and shouldn't have in our film trailer.







How often do you watch horror films?
1. Everyday
2. Once a week
3. Once a month
4. Occasionally
5. Never

2 people picked everyday
8 people picked once a week
12 people picked once a month
7 people picked occasionally
1 person picked never

What do you think are the main conventions of a horror film?
1. Monsters
2. Blood
3. Death
4. Suspense
5. Ghosts

1 people picked monsters
7 people picked bloods
11 people picked death
7 people picked suspense
4 people picked ghosts

What do you think makes a good location for a horror film?
1. Beach
2. Forest
3. Graveyard
4. School
5. House

2 people picked beach
11 people picked forest
6 people picked graveyard
2 people picked school
9 people picked house

Who do you prefer to be a victim in a horror film?
1. Male
2. Female

12 people picked school
18 people picked house

What name sounds suitable for a horror film?
1. Sweetdreams
2. Midnight
3. Nightmare
4. Party House

12 people picked sweetdreams
5 people picked midnight
7 people picked nightmare
6 people picked party house

Should the trailer be in chronological order?
1. Yes
2. No

9 people picked yes
21 people picked no

What time period do you like a horror film to be in?
1. Olden days
2. Future
3. Present

6 people picked olden days
5 people picked future
19 people picked present

What makes you scared? (Pick 3)
1. Gore
2. Storms
3. Chase sequences
4. Screams
5. Ghosts
6. Blood
7. Weapons

Gore 19 points
Storms 3 points
Chase sequences 25 points
Screams 23 points
Ghosts 10 poins
Blood 5 poins
Weapons 5 points

Who do you like to see the most of?
1. The Hero
2. The Villain
3. The Helper
4. The Victim

9 people picked the hero
12 people picked the villan
1 people picked the helper
8 people picked the victim

What camera angles do you think are most effective in a horror film? (Pick 2)
1. Close up
2. Extreme close up
3. long shot
4. tilt
5. medium shot

close up 24 points
extreme close up 9 points
long shot 12 points
tilt 5 points
medium shot 10 points

What sound effects help to add tension to the film? (Pick 2)
1. Explosions
2. Wind
3. creaking
4. Bangs
5. Screams
6. whispering

Explosions 5 points
wind 9 points
creaking 12 points
bangs 12 points
screams 12 points
whispering 10 points

What is your favourite horror film?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We got a range of answer but 'the grudge' 'the ring' and 'hostel' were noted a few times.