Monday, 26 September 2011
Font Research
Because we are creating a horror film combined with a magazine cover and trailer, doing research into this genre is important. The most common colour that is associated with Horror films is red, as it connotes blood. There might also be a contrast of other dark colours like black. Generally, film posters will also display dark backgrounds, whether it be the weather - they will make it rain, be very cloudy etc...
The title is also very important. Some film posters will have it in distorted childs handwriting to give that something extra. In other film posters they might have the font in some blood effect this instantly gives away the message to the audience that the film could be quite gory with a lot of blood.
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Doing further research, I searched where these type of fonts can be found. On a website http://www.dafont.com/ there are various different font effects that you can choose. I picked out a few examples.
This font example I would call the most popular one. It is the typical horror font where the blood is dripping from the bottom. It would generally be in the colour red to make it much more believable to the audience. The genre that this title would be used for is films that are focused around blood.
This example has a more distorted effect. This can also be featured on horror film posters. The scratch marks suggest that it could be a film about someone who is trying to escape from something or someone trying to hurt or kill them, making the genre fit to all genres, apart from horror comedy.
Just like the previous example it has a similar distorted effect. However each letter is slanted with some print behind it. The print looks like blood that has come from a humans hands. It looks like a DNA pattern also suggesting that someone is trying to escape from something threatening. Resulting in this title possibly being used in Slasher horror films.
Using Photoshop
For my film advert and magazine cover I'm going to have to use the software Photoshop to make a horror effect picture to sell the trailer. Lacking expert skills when using Photoshop I've created a picture with a texture layer put on, making the girls face look as i its been burnt or has some sort of scar on her face.
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| before (here, the model has normal eye colour and normal skin colour) After uploading this picture up onto Photoshop I worked on it for about 40 minutes. |
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| after Overall it was quite difficult producing a picture like this. I got confused at times when using Photoshop because Im not that familiar with using it. After successfully putting all my layers together and producing a picture like this one, Im sure Ill be able to make another picture even better to go on my magazine cover and advert. |
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Film Research
Acquisition: The acquisition of goods and/or services at the best total cost of ownership
Major Distributors: A company that releases a huge number films each year and consistently commands a significant share of box office revenue in a given market
Independent Distributors: Independent distributors are subsidiaries outside of main studios with half of their finances coming from a major studio
Marketability: is a film ability to appeal to an audience face to uncreative element.
Playability: is a term used in film marketing that describes the ability to appeal to an audience over a long period of time
When is the ideal time for a film's marketability to be assessed by a distributor?
The ideal time for a films marketability to be assessed is when the film is first released to its audience. For example, when the teaser trailer is shown.
When is the ideal time for a distribution deal to be in place?
The ideal time for a deal is when the distributor has viewed a teaser of a trailer and worked out its plans for marketability within the viewing audience.
How many films per week are released on average in the UK?
What generates more money in the UK for films? Ticket sales or Home Entertainment Market (Film rentals)?
I would say both as they both have positive and negative aspects. Ticket sales sell in large numbers during the week, especially on peak days such as friday and saturday when viewers tend to watch movies on the weekend. This generated money to the cinemas, which is then also generated back into the film that they are paying to see. Film Rentals also generate money as people who cant go to the cinema, or have missed the viewing of a particular film at a selected cinema, can watch the movie in the comfort of their home so will rent a film for a few days.
When is a good time in the year to release a film aimed at young people in the UK?
Arguably, a good time to release a film in the UK is during the peak summer month, july-august. Where it is the summer holidays for young people, and have more free time to spend money.
What is a distribution plan?
A distribution plan comes in three stages. Firstly, it includes working out methods such as the delivery terms, coding, pricing, packaging and shipping. Secondly. Outline the transaction process between your product and customers, methods of process? billing and processing orders. Thirdly, if its applicable to your product. Who is involved in sales?
Narrative Structure and Todorov Theory
Narrative structure is generally described as the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer.
What is the common narrative structure of a trailer?
The common narrative structure of a trailer appears in 4 stages. The first stage is the Opening. This establishes the setting and introduces the character. The second stage is the Build-Up where we establish the relationships being developed and their actions in 'their' world. For example, its the first ideas the viewers recognise when they watch a trailer for the first time. The third structure is Problem. The convention of this is recognising a dilemma or series of complications and what the characters are faced with such as, an obstacle to overcome. There may be more than one problem in the narrative. The last convention is Events. This is a series of events as characters try to overcome obstacles and solve problems.
How does the narrative structure differ from Todorov's structure?
It differs from Todorovs structure because unlike the narrative structure, Todorov structure;
Todorov's narrative structure theory simply outlines the chain of events found in the storyline to conventional films. The sequence of events is said to go something like this:
Equilibrium - The starting balance in the story, where normality is held.
Disruption - An event that breaks the normality and causes irregular changes in the environment.
Recognition of disruption - The characters involved try to restore normality, but fail.
Resolution - Eventually, they succeed in overcoming the disruption.
New equilibrium - A new order is restored. Anything affected by the disruption is most likely to have changed, thus this equilibrium is new.
How does the structure of a trailer help sell it to an audience?
The structure of a trailer helps sell the film to viewers by not showing the ending of the film. This creates a need for the audience to find out what is the end result. The trailer will capture action packed, intriguing shots that will want to make the viewer see the film in full and chronologically.
[scream trailer]
At the start of the film we see a teenage girl in a house, behaving normally and representing the student body at the college she attends. This is the equilibrium of the film where everything is content and mellow. We see this through various mid-shots of the teenage girl with calm and diagetic sound.
The disruption begins when the young couple are murdered in the beginning of the film, which leads to fear as fellow students realise there is a murderer.
Students attempt to fight back and work out who the killer is. Protagonist emerges. Police get involved and try to protect. Which furthermore gives the viewer and other characters a recgonition of disruption.
Its resolved when the murderers reveal themselves and are then killed.
The new equilibrium is then demonstrated with the protagonist winning and therefore allowed to continue her life. Finishing with a happy ending.
What is the common narrative structure of a trailer?
The common narrative structure of a trailer appears in 4 stages. The first stage is the Opening. This establishes the setting and introduces the character. The second stage is the Build-Up where we establish the relationships being developed and their actions in 'their' world. For example, its the first ideas the viewers recognise when they watch a trailer for the first time. The third structure is Problem. The convention of this is recognising a dilemma or series of complications and what the characters are faced with such as, an obstacle to overcome. There may be more than one problem in the narrative. The last convention is Events. This is a series of events as characters try to overcome obstacles and solve problems.
How does the narrative structure differ from Todorov's structure?
It differs from Todorovs structure because unlike the narrative structure, Todorov structure;
Todorov's narrative structure theory simply outlines the chain of events found in the storyline to conventional films. The sequence of events is said to go something like this:
Equilibrium - The starting balance in the story, where normality is held.
Disruption - An event that breaks the normality and causes irregular changes in the environment.
Recognition of disruption - The characters involved try to restore normality, but fail.
Resolution - Eventually, they succeed in overcoming the disruption.
New equilibrium - A new order is restored. Anything affected by the disruption is most likely to have changed, thus this equilibrium is new.
How does the structure of a trailer help sell it to an audience?
The structure of a trailer helps sell the film to viewers by not showing the ending of the film. This creates a need for the audience to find out what is the end result. The trailer will capture action packed, intriguing shots that will want to make the viewer see the film in full and chronologically.
[scream trailer]
At the start of the film we see a teenage girl in a house, behaving normally and representing the student body at the college she attends. This is the equilibrium of the film where everything is content and mellow. We see this through various mid-shots of the teenage girl with calm and diagetic sound.
The disruption begins when the young couple are murdered in the beginning of the film, which leads to fear as fellow students realise there is a murderer.
Students attempt to fight back and work out who the killer is. Protagonist emerges. Police get involved and try to protect. Which furthermore gives the viewer and other characters a recgonition of disruption.
Its resolved when the murderers reveal themselves and are then killed.
The new equilibrium is then demonstrated with the protagonist winning and therefore allowed to continue her life. Finishing with a happy ending.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Functions and conventions of a film poster
In lesson we were asked by sir to annotate a non-horror film poster and write about the functions and conventions that every film poster had. Some examples are: a film title, credit, actors names, release date and many more. I chose the film 'Limitless' which is an hybrid-genre film made up of action and romance. I saved the film poster onto Microsoft Word, printed it and annotated around the image in pen.
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| Limitless |
I then went on to annotate film posters that were included in the film horror genre. I chose 5 different variations that showed different conventions of a horror film and how successfully they promoted the film and how well the poster supported the film.
I looked out for conventions included in 3 groups. Symbolic, Written and Technical.
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| The Roomate | Orphan Link to Uses and Gratification: (Roomate) From the film poster we see a woman who looks like a student who is attending university. The title of the film also gives this away. In addition, the location behind her shows that the genre is set for young audiences, giving them something to relate to with similar experiences (Orphan) The film posters title is in childs handwriting which compliments the picture. Suggesting that the genre gives the audience information. |
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| Drag Me To Hell | The Crazies Links to Uses and Gratification: (Drag me to hell) The genre of this is obvious, we see a fire with a woman who has a hand on her neck. From this we can immediately see that the film focused around horror, and possibly comedy, because it has all the conventions shown together at once. (The Crazies) In the film poster you see an empty location with a girl in the middle. This suggests that the film has something to with a town be attacked and becomes extinct. |
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| No Vacancy |
Links to Uses and Gratification:
(No Vacancy) There is a couple staring out the window with scared expression. This could suggest that the genre of the filmis a hybrid one. A mix of horror and romance.
(No Vacancy) There is a couple staring out the window with scared expression. This could suggest that the genre of the filmis a hybrid one. A mix of horror and romance.
When annotating these film posters I used a table that labelled points I should look out for when picking my posters. This is the piece of paper that I used to help me.
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| Conventions of Horror Genre Table |
Friday, 9 September 2011
Functions of film trailer | Uses of gratification theory
Spidergram conventions of a film poster
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Both presentation slides show my work and thoughts on where a film trailer can be found.
Another convention that can be found in the method of a film marketing campaign is
'Uses and Gratification Theory'
'The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people” The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs.'
The needs are:
1. Diversion - a form of escape or release from everyday pressures. The diversion represented in this film is that if young black girls and women are experiencing the same tradegys they don't feel alone. Example?
For Coloured Girls.
2. Personal - Companionship through identification with TV characters and sociability through discussion about TV with other people. The Inbetweeners is a great example as the TV characters are young and can relate to todays youth. They also go on holiday to a very popular place with teenagers in todays present society. Example?
Inbetweeners Movie
Both presentation slides show my work and thoughts on where a film trailer can be found.
Another convention that can be found in the method of a film marketing campaign is
'Uses and Gratification Theory'
'The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people” The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs.'
The needs are:
1. Diversion - a form of escape or release from everyday pressures. The diversion represented in this film is that if young black girls and women are experiencing the same tradegys they don't feel alone. Example?
For Coloured Girls.
2. Personal - Companionship through identification with TV characters and sociability through discussion about TV with other people. The Inbetweeners is a great example as the TV characters are young and can relate to todays youth. They also go on holiday to a very popular place with teenagers in todays present society. Example?
Inbetweeners Movie
3. Personal Identity - the ability to compare ones own life with the characters and situations portrayed and explore individual problems and perspectives. This is a great relation because, people living in a similiar situation can identify their own life through a film. It also enables them to recognise how they can overcome any problems they do have. Example ?
the Pursuit of Happiness
4. Surveillance - Information about 'whats going on' in the world. This gives insight to the viewers about current affairs in the world. For some people who dont understand the issues within the goverment or international relations can get it simplified for them through a film. Example?
2012
2012
Year 13 | Brief
For Year 13 our brief is to create a film trailer, magazine cover promoting the trailer and a poster to support it too. The genre has to be a horror genre, but it can be a hybrid genre too, for example a rom-com. Our audience target for the film is teenagers; the preferred age is 15-25. The deadline for this is December the 5th. Along the way we have certain deadlines to keep. Throughout the process we will have to blog all our production evidence using images, videos etc..
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