Film Poster :

Twilight Franchise Film Posters :

 

Narrative:

 Eva and I both sat together and spoke about what we did and didn't want In our story and in which way we wanted our narrative to go. We focused on how to make a thriller without the stereotypical narrative of a conventional thriller but still including enough conventions to define it as a thriller therefore we have decided to include a car break down in a unknown place, we have decided to do this as it strongly suggests that our film is still a thriller, but have decided to challenge the conventions of the genre by making the main focus on 'Stan' the main character being a male, this challenges the conventions of a thriller because usually in this situation of being abandoned with a broken down car would be females, this is as they are seen to be 'weak', which supports Laura Mulveys 'Male Gaze theory' so in doing this we are disproving Laura Mulvey's theory.
'They wake up after uncomfortable nights sleep hearing noises and screams in the night.' We have decided to add this in as to hear things like this in the night isn't anything out of the ordinary, birds flying, tweeting and other various sounds are normal, but when in a small group in unknown place it is clearly very scary, and not hard to imagine how scared yourself you'd be. 
Stan and his friends notice that one of his friends, Harry has gone missing and start seeing the ‘men with animals for faces’. We decided to go with farm animals faces as this is different. It's freaky, and unnerving as, the characters and audience are thinking 'Is it an animal or a person?' and not knowing and the uncertainty fits the conventions of a thriller. 
 'They call the police but they just think it’s a prank call and don’t take the group seriously.' This is the perfect example or 'The boy who cried wolf' he has previously prank called the police before, therefore this is his own doing not being believed. Now he has tried to get the only help he can he has been rejected, now he is totally alone. We feel this is effective as that audience watching are going to watch on, wondering what is going to happen to the boy. Will he get the help he wants? If so will it be to late? This is the kind of tension we wanted to create not only to draw the audiences in but to keep them watching and wondering, also this 'what will happen next' question fits in with the conventions of a stereotypical thriller.

Synopsis:

After Stan has completed his school career it hits home that he has absolutely no idea what to do with his life. His parents have had enough of him acting like a child and end up giving him an ultimatum “ Do something with his life or leave”. So he decides to go on a road trip with his friends Harry, Lucy, George and Jenny on a ‘ journey of self discovery’ but the moment they leave their quiet, secluded town they have grown up in the dangers of the ‘ Big wide world’ hit home. They break down on a winding road heading to the Capital city ‘ London’. Stan and his friends go to look for help but it’s getting later and darker. They notice they are literally in the middle of nowhere so decide to set up camp in the forest and go for help in the morning. They wake up after uncomfortable nights sleep hearing noises and screams in the night. They notice friend Harry has gone missing and start seeing the ‘ men with animals for faces’. The end up trying to get out and find Harry. The creatures of the night are chasing them and they have to get away. They get back to the car and map out where Harry could of be. It is a investigation they have to take into their own hands to save their friend from the ‘ Creatures’.  They call the police but they just think it’s a prank call and don’t take the group seriously. They go through hell, Lucy gets murdered. There is a sound of a little girl’s voice reading riddles going through their heads. Then the final face off with this ‘ Creature’ and Stan eventually gets his friend Harry. He travels back home alone after all his friends have been killed.  But the creature has decided to hitchhike a way back without an invitation. 

Research: UNFINNISHED

 Eva and I both know that to create the best film trailer we possibly can we will need to carry out a lot of research, both primary and secondary to get all the information we need to certain of what genre we want our film to be and what target audience we want to aim our film and trailer too. It is vital that Eva and myself are aware that for what ever genre we pick we research into the conventions of that genre, without knowing these there Is no way we can be certain as to what we are creating is a thriller or not, as this Is our chosen genre. It is essential that we also research into necessities for a thriller trailer, during our time of watching various thriller trailers we have realised that lots of them entail many quick cuts, non diegetic music to create tension and also it is often night time. From our research we have found to make a successful trailer to a thriller film it is vital that we include these 3 features.

 Eva and I will study trailers that cater for a variety of audiences, as we feel it will be interesting to recognize what prospects are needed in order to fulfil the requirement of our chosen genre.
 One of the most significant aspects that maintained the same throughout all thrillers that I had explored was the duration of the showing. From the research I carried out It appeared that most thriller trailers usually lasted for two minutes thirty seconds, because of this Eva and I had took into account this convention, and will make sure that we stick to this when creating our film trailer.

Convention of a Film Poster :

 For a film poster there are a variety of conventions, depending on the genre that is trying to be represented. The central image is the most important element for the poster, as this is the thing which captures the audiences attentions. As all genres vary this means what is presented on the poster can vary, some poster may just choose to show a location or prop which relates back to the main image. 

 The title of the film is commonly posted towards the bottom of the poster, but some posters chose to defy the conventions by posting the title towards the top of the poster.   The title of the film is the key future which will promote the film and media, if then film was to end up doing so well it extends into franchise it will often rely on the film title and font from the original text. Examples of this are Harry Potter and Twilight. 

 A tag line or slogan is a convention commonly used for film posters, this is often  used to give the audience a slight insight as to what will happen in the film, the main purpose of a tag line is to tease the audience. The tag line can be a direct or non direct rhetorical question, usually places at opposite ends to where the title will placed, but the option the have it placed under neither the main font.  

 The film realised date is a obvious necessity to let the audience know when they will be able to view the film, the date is often red so it is clear to the reader, this is not always the case, it is up to the directors and their preference, there design and colours used.

 A common convention is to include film ratings, but this is not a necessity. The ratings will be used to enhance the positive or negative reputation of the film, if positive it will help to lead more people to view it, and it is for this reason designers would only include the best ratings, these ratings would usually be situated at either the top or bottom of the poster. 

 It is a common convention for crew and cast members names to be added to the poster. If a well known/celebrity stars in the film they will often be advertised to draw the audiences attention or if a well known director, producer or editor is to work on the film. These names will often be referenced towards the very bottom of the poster, in small bold  print. This is often small to allow the main features of the poster to take centre stage. 

Conventions of a Magazine cover :

   Magazine covers have certain conventions to meet, but their are a large range of conventions, often different convent fit in with certain Genres of film.

 Main Image: There is often one image, at the centre of the magazine, being the main focus and relating back to the main feature of the magazine. This is an image often studio shot, but some times can also a shot taken from the film and this would be a shot of a character playing a big part in the film relating back to the main feature, which is usually about a film to be realised soon. It is often the case that the image is a close up opposed to a mid or long shot, but this is not in definite, just majority of the time. This obviously only applies for film, for a genre such as sport or music the lay out of the image could be completely different. 

 

 Masthead: The masthead is the large writing often bold and placed at the top of the page, also known as the title. It often has a trade mark font and colour, the title varies often from one - two words long, such as 'Empire' or 'Total Film', below the title the date is often placed, along with the price. 

 Buzzwords: Buzzwords are words often used to draw in the reader these words usually relate back to the main feature. 'Exclusive' 'Plus' or 'Free' are words commonly used, these words are often bold and stand out.

 Barcode: The barcode is usually placed on the right side of the magazine, towards the top or bottom. It is often positioned along side the date and price.

 Cover Lines: Cover lines are the lines of text on the cover usually on the left or right side, these cover lines are used to frame the image, meaning the main image isn't covered. They relate back to stories featured in that specific issue. They are often short and witty to grab your attention. 

 Main Cover line: The main cover line is the large font on the cover that is not the masthead, this cover line is related to the image in some way. Also beneath this there will be a sub line in smaller text giving more information about the main feature/article.

Magazine Cover Research:

 This is a typical poster for a well, established magazine well total film, immediately we are aware that total film is a well established magazine as the title is covered up by the character featuring on the front, this suggests the lack of importance of the name, as everyone is aware of the magazine and the features it initials. The title is also covered up due to the way the character is standing, this has been set out in this way due to the fact 'Harry Potter' is a very popular and a well established film, and the character is easily identified with the film, being one of the three main characters. Stragiht away people will.
 'No School. No rules. Hermione faces her darkest demons.' We are hoping to find a little insight of what happens in the long awaited Harry Potter and the deathly hallows.
 Hermione name isn't big and doesn't stand out, it is of a similar colour and font to the rest of the text, this is because Emma Watson is a star who is known world wide for playing this role. This magazine is aim towards middle aged men, hence why the writer had decided to put Emma Watson on the front opposed to Daniel Radcliff and Rupert Grint, men are more likely to want to buy a magazine with an attractive women on it rather than a male, yet the designer has been clever in making the back round a mixture of blacks, pinks and also purple, purple is a royal colour suggesting that she is in charge and in control of the situation, while the black could suggest the darkness that the film contains as audience members who are familiar with the film know the dark lord is coming and those who are not are familiar with the film are  aware that the film is all about magic and knows something negative is going to happen. The different shades of pink complement Hermione along with drawing in females in wanting to buy and read the magazine, but still keep the deep shades of purple and blacks to appeal men. For this reason the font are light colours, whites and greys to make them stand out from the dark back ground, the title 'Harry Potter' is so white to the point it is glowing looking as if it could be transparent.
 This magazine has an add on which is appealing to a wide variety 'PLUS? are you in our social network?' Social networking is now a big part in everybody's life from older people to young children and social networking is something that is of interest to everybody, which I feel is enough to draw people in. Social networking is much like the film Harry Potter, loved by a mass audience from a variety of age groups.

Primary Research I have carried out:

Media Questionnaire

1.       Are you … MALE    or    FEMALE    (PLEASE CIRCLE)

2.       Within what age gap are you?    18-25    26-40    41-55    56-70    71+    (PLEASE CIRCLE)

3.       If you see a trailer for a film that intrigues you are you really more likely to go out of your way to watch it at the cinema? YES    NO    (PLEASE CIRCLE)

4.       Where are you more likely to see a film advertised? (PLEASE CIRICLE)

Internet    TV adverts    Billaboard    Social networking websites

5.       If you were to choose a specific genre of film to favour which would it be? (PLEASE CIRICLE)

Romantic    Comedy    Thriller    Drama    Action    Adventure

Crime and Gangster   Historical    Musical    Sci/Fi