Film Poster Plans

Film Poster Plans

PLAN 1

Above is my first plan for my film poster of 'Insanity'. I think that this poster is really interesting and is appealing as the font is BOLD and is appropriate to the thriller theme making this poster a BOLD statement. The eyes are very blue as I edited the picture by adjusting the contrast and brightness which is something so simple yet is so effective. The line below 'Is it you or something else' gives an eerry tone to the poster and film in general. The colour of the blond hair shows the normality still inside the girl. The printed t-shirt shows that she is not plain and suggests there's something different about her. You can see a rough shape to her face and her features I could improve on this poster by having more of an outline around her features and have more text about the film, however I like the way it is quite plain as the picture gives a narrative itself. I love the way that the picture fades into the background and the them of white to represent her purity and the unstable side of mental things that relate to white and plain objects. I really love this poster and is it well photo-shopped and planned out I think. However there are some improvements I could make to it.

Could this be my final one ( positives and negatives)

+ BOLD statement

+ Has a clear message

+ Appropriate colours and styles

+ Well photo-shopped and contrasted.

- Does it not have enough text on it?

-There could be more information about the film on the poster.

PLAN 2

I wanted to incorporate the tunnel where I'm going to be filming in the poster as it will relate to what the film is about and where it is set. I like this concept as the actress looks like she's trapped. The font is appropriate to the genre of the film as sometimes 'insanity' does effect the mind and may feel like you are enclosed the feeling of being alone or trapped which is what I think I captured in this poster was the expression on her face of the confusion. However, this image is photo-shopped really badly and I could improve on the quality of it; as the photo shopping could look better. Also the photography I took on an-iPhone I could have taken on a normal camera as it would have been better quality and a better picture. I do think that the font for the title 'INSANITY' looks good as it is BOLD and brings relevance to the poster as the font shows the thriller genre. Also the line below it; 'Is it YOU or SOMETHING Else?' I used a rhetorical question to question the audience and to have a gripping line to entice the audience into watching and being interested in the film and to also show a glimpse of what the film is about. Also I made 'YOU' and 'SOMETHING' bigger to make it stand out more and have a different concept.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

+ The font is enticing and interesting.

+The picture presents something new and different.

+The font is appropriate.

-It's too plain.

-Doesn't give enough information about the trailer.

-There isn't really a clear message.

-Photo-shopping needs to be better.

PLAN 3

In this poster I wanted to experiment with a different layout, adapting the image, more text, to follow some of the typical conventions. I think so far this is probably the best laid out as it has the narrow font, the star rating with critics comments above them. The picture behind the character is an ironic metaphor to show that there is light as the end of the tunnel. Also the tunnel represents darkness and mystery of the film and applicable to the genre of the theme. The star rating is to show other peoples opinions of the film. In my final I'm going to ask a small group of people to fill out a questionnaire and have a rating from them abnout what they think the trailer should be rated. The font used for the name of the film 'INSANITY' is well suited for poster as even the font seems a unusual thats the 'S' is back to front and the line going through it could symbolise the condition she is in as it is looks like a monitoring chart which relates to health issues, making a statement that something serious could happen. The picture of my actress was photo-shopped; I edited her eyes to make them blue to make her look quite strange and make them more BOLD, Also I made underneath her eyes look quite dark to make her look tired and give her a kind of strangeness about her. She is wearing a animal printed top to show that she different and could represent that she is becoming something that is not a human and animalistic in a sense.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

+Shows the location of where it is going to be set.

+Good layout following some of the typical conventions.

+Critics comments and ratings makes it look more professional.

+The picture of the actress looks good and has alot of symbols.

+The font is well suited to the genre of the film.

- There are two release dates one says 'In cinemas now' and below it says '16.09.12' so I need to decide which one I'm going to use.

- It doesn't look very professional I would like to make it to a better standard.

-The critics comments could be bigger.

PLAN 4

Personally I think this is my best as I used my best font and the picture does show in the face 'Insanity'. There are alot of symbols in the picture itself, the setting compliments the picture as it is dark. Where the light shines out from behind her shows that she stands out there is something different about her and that she is not just a normal girl. The trees behind her set the location and suggest lonelines and that she is in a dark place. I really like the star ratings and the critics comments as it makes it look really professional. However it could have been photoshopped better also the picture doesn't blend in very well to the background and stands out in the poster as it doesnt really blend in very well with the poster in general. her top suggests that she is different and that there is an unusual side to her an animalistic side maybe. He hands placed on her head resemble that she is trapped in herself.

Could this be my final one? (positives and negatives)

 

+A bold statement.

+ The way ther hands are positioned it looks like something is coming out of her head and fits in well with the theme of the poster and trailer.

+Follows the conventional layout for a film postet.

+ The Ratings and comments make it look more professional and the colour of the white make it more bold.

+ The background make the poster intrigueing.

+ Her hair fits in well with the colour coming out of her head.

+The fonts are appropriate and all fit in well with the thriller genre of the poster.

-It could be photoshopped better on the left arm.

- Should've removed the bracelets and create more of an impact.

-I Could of made her fade into the background a bit more.

 

Overall I think this poster is probably the best and I really like the layout, I think I am going to take pictures when filming so she is in the the location where the trailer is set. And it will fit better altogether but I will use this layout.

Experimenting Camera Test Shots

I wanted to do some test shots to perform different angles and compositions which I could use in my trailer, also as I'm not very experienced in filming I thought it would be best to see what is good and bad before filming. Above is my first short clip I wanted to experiment on a flower something simple to try and do a focus pull as it would be a good edit and I think this looks effective as the white could represent the innocence of the girl and the gender as girls are percived as dainty and fragile. I would use synchronous non-diegetic music to go along with this to complete it.

This is my second camera shot which I filmed on myself as a close up on my eye as some upbeat storylines capture this shot to make it more intense and to show the panic, fear and emotion in the actor/actress's eye. Also how they can be percieved it also sets the mood for the trailer. I think this camera shot would look better on someone else and if there were more noises of panting of breath, and the ey to move about less and then just look directly at the camera to make this more of an intense part of the trailer and maybe even the person to cry to make the scene more emotive and believable.

Fonts and Themes

The fonts above are a brainstorm of a few fonts that I think personally will be appropriate to use and suggest the theme of insanity I would like there to be a constant theme in the way in which the font matches the eery tone and theme of the film trailer. Each of these fonts are both similar as to me they portray the thriller tone to the trailer.
My favourite fonts are font numbers; 2, 3, 5, 8, 9. These to me are the fonts that stand out the best as they demonstrate thriller in the font by the portrayal of something going to happen. I also need to think about what colours I want to use to show thriller; so really I need to use dark colours greys,browns, blacks maybe even a silver or white.                                                            

Critical Theories

Critical Theories

Psychoanalysis

In my trailer it is important that the portrayal of the character is perceived in a strange way in which the camera shots, composition and angles are at different angles and capture the emotion of what the character is feeling so that the audience become emotionally attached. Also to show if the character is an id, ego or superego so that we realise how selfish or selfless they are towards the other characters. Also if I do use the word insanity for my trailer it needs to present the character as the meaning of insanity;

Feminist

As I am a woman It's highly likely that I will make the woman have more sympathy than the man in the trailer. As it may spice up the storyline, however I do want the trailer to be a uni-sex trailer as it will have a larger target audience. However I will need to take into consideration which character I want to use to be perceived as the protagonist and the antagonist.

Deconstruction

Looking at my trailer from a deconstruction point of view, you cannot compare something to something else if you don't know what to compare it to. E.g the ying yang; if you only saw the evil side in people how can you see the good. Everyone has both good and bad in them just some have one section bigger than the other. The ying yang demonstrates how we can portray our characters as in every film they may be seen as the protagonist when all along they could reverse the role into being an antagonist. This theory, I need to think about as I would like to have a villan and a 'goodie' this must be represented in my trailer and I must decide which character/s must be shown as which roles and if I will challenge the conventions.

NARRATIVE  AND AUDIENCE THEORIES

Todorov's Theory helped me to plan the structure to my trailer by having an equilibrium-disquilibrium- new equilibrium, I think that my trailer will be a good example of this as I will have build in tension creating the structure of the equilibriu but also using sections to cut from one part to another to show the contrast of the situation but also to heighten the tension of the parts that have more tension to keep the audience interested and want to see more.

Desinsitisation  Theory  will allow me to not make my trailer have graphic content in my trailer, As my trailer is going to be a thriller I wanted to prevent any elaborate content which made the direction of the trailer turn more towards the horror genre. Therefore I applied this theory to not shock my audience and prevent any graphic content or revealing too much of the 'good' parts of the film so my audience would be enticed to watch my film.

Initial Ideas

Initial ideas

I have two different main ideas for the film trailer I want to do,  I brainstormed ideas around a film name which would suit a thriller film. I have also talked in detail things I want to include symbols and extra meanings in my trailer and I am going to think it through well so the trailer has a clear meaning.

Idea 1

Here is my brain storm...

'Insanity' is what I would call it as I looked it up in the dictionary it means; 'The condition of being insane; a derangement of the mind.' This makes it clear what I need to make clear that this is shown in the trailer that they are not 'all there'.  The plot of the film trailer is basically about a woman whom is going insane, her and her boyfriend and walking nearby a park when her boyfriend ties up his shoelace and the woman is gone. no-one or nothing is in sight. situations are shown of it happening to other people. Til the girl comes back and is something else. I thought of phrases I could use throughout other trailer to give an eerie tone;'I didn't know if it was me, my vision or my fear.' ,'I turned around and no-one was there', 'My footsteps haunted me.','unknown or unreal.' Throughout the trailer I may use voice overs to say these sayings either using a deep voice or a Young childlike voice as people see this as scary. I want to make this film more of a thriller also and make things ambiguous.
Idea 2

Here is a picture i scanned in of my brainstorm...

'Unknown' is my second idea, the plot is: A girl/boy who is being followed by someone but it turn out to be her best friend as they are obsessed with her, or it could be cyber bullying and the durastic measures people go to effect people. This is only a rough idea but I think it fits the film genre well as it is surprising, however I'm only going to reveal certain scenes in the trailer as I want to leave the audience wanting more. I would really like this to be interesting, to use phrases like; 'when trust becomes nothing.', 'not even footsteps make sense.' phrases like these will add an eerie tone to the trailer and give an impression on the audience.

Conclusion

However compared to my other idea I think idea 1 is better as it will grip the audience more and I can visualise this idea more. This idea 1 will be ideal as it know what i want my trailer to look like, i want it to be professional with well thought out edits and camera shots with a clear understanding. My trailer will also link well to my poster and magazine cover as you can see on my picture of my brainstorm.

My Film Trailer Questionnaire

My Film Trailer Questionnaire

I constructed a questionnaire to ask for feedback about trailers in general to generate ideas for myself and so I can follow some of the typical conventions of a trailer and ask for what people want so I can figure out my target audience,genre, length of the trailer, edits and camera shots and the importance of them in a trailer. Ask them about my ideas for a trailer and what they think. I handed out ten questionnaires here is the layout of my questionnaire below.

Film Trailer Questionnaire                                  Please circle your answer.

Q1) What gender are you?
male     female     other

Q2) How old are you?
15-25        26-35        36-45       46 and over

Q3) Out of these four film genres which would you prefer for a film genre? choose one.
Drama         horror        thriller        comedy

Q4) What do you like in trailers, or best appeals to you into watching the film?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q5) Would you like an unusual story line in this trailer, or best appeals to you into watching the film?
Yes     No    Maybe

Q6) How long do you expect a trailer to be?Choose one.
30seconds       1minute       1minute 30 seconds    2minutes     2minutes 30 seconds       3minutes

Q7) What do you think the main purpose is?Choose one.
Inform the audience what the story is about                To make the audience look forward to the film

To keep the audience interested throughout the trailer

Q8) Pick two choices from the selection below on what you think a good trailer consists of?
Quick paced edits          upbeat music and storyline      a clear trailer with some humour

A voiceover of the main character talking about the film        a range of camera shots
Q9)How much of the storyline do you think should be revealed? Choose one.
The whole story        most but leave out some         some good parts are revealed 

 none of the biggest,only the main parts

Q10) Do you liketo see critics reviews/opinions and star ratings in the trailer?
Yes       No      Maybe

The results showed...

Q1)Male- 5      Female-5     Other-

Q2)15-25-3      26-35-3     36-45-2    46 and over-2

Q3)Drama-1      Horror-0      Thriller-5    Comedy-4

Q4)the feedback I got from this question was:
- To be kept interested at all times
- To be relevant to the film
-Fast paced trailers showing action and dramas
-Key points
-I like that trailers show you some of the best bits of a film, but leave it on a cliff hanger. It makes me want to see it more.
-Something that grips me, gets me interested.
-The story,how the characters interact with one another
-Fast action abd that it gives a clear flavour to the film
-Short to the point
-The people in it and to be interested into watching the film
Q5)Yes-6    No-     Maybe-4

Q6)30seconds- 1     1minute-1      1minute 30 seconds- 4    2minutes-3     2minutes 30seconds-0

3minutes-1

Q7)inform the audience what the story is about- 2       To make the audience look forward to the film-5

to keep the audience interested throughout the trailer-3

Q8)quick paced edits- 5       upbeat music and storyline-6     a clear trailerwith some humour- 5

a voiceover of the main character talking about the film- 2        a range of camera shots-2

Q9)The whole story-          most but to leave out some-1       some good parts are revealed-8

 none of the biggest parts, only the main parts-1

Q10)Yes-6    No-2    Maybe-1

After looking at my results/feedback from my questionnaire it has made it clearer to me what my trailer is going to be about; It will be a thriller trailer its length will range from 1minute 30seconds - 2minutes 30seconds. In my trailer it need to be clear that I make the audience look forward to the film and have; quick paced edits, upbeat music and storyline and a clear trailer with some humour. I will also include a star rating or a critics review at the end. Also my target group will be aimed at 15-25 year olds as they are a similar age to me I will know what interests them and what doesn't. They also liked my idea about a unusual story line and something including cyber bullying  in general from a students point with a twist.

Film Magazine Cover Analysis

Film Magazine Cover Analysis

This film magazine cover is what I would perceive as being as having the typical conventions of a film magazine. It has a picture of the main character Sherlock Holmes, bold font for the film title, bold masthead and the puffs are neat with subheadings with larger font to show the importance and what is in the puffs.  The bar code is in the right hand corner, there are three images overlapping in the corner which show different films of the '10 coolest movie being made now'. Also it is obvious that the image has been photo shopped and has text boxes to inform the audience of what the films are called. A colour scheme of blue, white and grey are used throughout this front cover to relate to the background and the genre of the film and type of colours that represent that genre which is a thriller film. I really like this film magazine cover as it presents the typical conventions and the picture of Robert Downey Jr overlaps the masthead which is very effective.

  

This film poster is one that challenges the conventions of a magazine cover as it the puffs are uneven as the picture of his arm cannot be overlapped as it is part of the cover which makes it obvious what the genre of the film is. There is alot of overlapping of Jack Sparrow. There are alot of colours in the colour scheme;red,yellow, black, blue and white. However in some parts of the cover you cannot make out the font and this makes the cover harder to read. The font is bold and quite chunky, words such as; 'essential', 'preview' encourage readers to read the magazine and to intrigue readers into the film, which is what the magazine is supposed to do;advertise the film. 

This film magazine cover 'Film In' challenges magazines conventions by having the scenery of the background as the film, it sets the film in where its actually filmed at as it has an eerie background. The font colors all match; red, white, yellow and white some outlined in black, also some orange font. The picture overlapps the masthead, This is a good front cover for a magazine of this film as the boldest font shows that the films title; 'Twilight'. This is a good representation for a film magazine cover, it inspires me to be creative with my cover. Highlighted fonts are used;'Exclusive sneak peek!' words to engage the audience are used to make it more appealing for the audience to read. However the barcode is in the left hand side corner of the page which challenges the conventions as its normail at the right bottom hand side.

This film magazine cover 'Empire' is a bold front cover as it has bold and bright colours to represent the fire and the action in films. The layering of the pictures show that 'Men In Black 3' probably has he biggest section of the magazine as the picture is the biggest out of the three. The others pictures are in the background show that their stories will be smaller. The grey subtitles inform the audience what films the actors are in. The bottom pictures are set out like a comic strip a most of the films at the bottom are comics,animated or have a story to them. This is a clever layout as it presents comics in a different way also the bold yellow outline makes the box stand out more. This is my favourite film magazine cover as it shows the typical conventions; the barcode being placed at the bottom right hand corner. Also challenges them as it doesnt have puffs or a slogan.

These magazines are all inspirational in different ways as I have different ideas for my magazine now and I can also use my skills from last years coursework to help me develop my magazine skills.