Film Magazine - Second Draft

Teaser Poster Draft 2

Drafting Stages - Film Magazines

Here are the different drafting stages i went through when creating these products. From the photo shoot i developed the photo in Photo Shop to adjust it and make it fit in with the genre and idea trying to be conveyed. This is represented through the use of black as i thought it suited well with a magazine cover after looking at a few others. The difficulty was that since the character's costume is black, i had to find a way to make it fit and not look weird. By applying the 'outer Glow' effect i was able to do this as the outline of the character was easily visible but not too easily visible to affect the representation. After this, the sell lines were quite easy to create and again, it was done by just following the style of other magazines in this genre. Then its adding the little details that make it seem like a magazine for example, the website at the bottom and the social media icons. The final image is the potential final draft but it could possibly change in the future.

Film Magazine Front Cover

Teaser poster drafting stages

These are the drafting stages when i was constructing my film magazine. I used SlideShare to show the progression of ideas as then it is also easier to see how I'm progressing.

Magazine pencil sketches design ideas

These are my initial ideas for my magazine draft and since they are ideas then they can change in the future]

Film magazine Masthead font development

Audience research questionnaire results

Target Audience Research - Results from Chantelle_L

Teaser Poster font development

Potential film poster pictures

These are some of the pictures i aim to uses for the front confer of the film magazine that will feature the main characters of the plot or maybe just one individually as seen in the one example.

Potential Teaser Trailer Photos

These are some of the images i aim to use for the teaser poster. I've decided to use the rosary as a religious figure, this will allow the audience to recognise that the film will have some sort of religious connotations associated with it which could create interest as they await the final poster.

Pencil Sketch, teaser poster first ideas

Audience research video

We asked a variety of young students about their own experiences with films, of this genre and others, to see which elements we could include in our work.
The questions are as followed

!) What in a trailer would persuade you to watch a film?

2) What social media outlets influences you to watch a film in the past?

3) What would you typically expect in a slasher film?

4) What kind of film advertising do you find effective?

The purge teaser analysis

This poster is taken from the teaser trailer of "The Purge"

Who is our audience?

In this image, our group compiled a mood board sort get an ideal image of what our target market may look like, the things they would do, the things they would be interested in in terms of hobbies and or activities. We can also see the food and shows/films they may also like that would be similar in a way to our film. This aids us in providing information we could choose to include in our posters, trailers and other things that would be seen by the public. As a result we are able to see what things could influence the target audience to help use attract as many viewers as possible.

In Darkness poster analysis in relation to audience

Target Audience Research

Target Audience Research - Results from Chantelle_L

Horror Film magazine analysis

Magazine Analysis - "Sight and Sound"

The name of this magazine is "Sight and Sound". A reason why this name was chosen because in films, the sights and sounds are what make them iconic or memorable.
The sell lines are very limited and basic and in this magazine, they seem to focus more on classic horror films (as this is the genre of this magazine) .
The design of this magazine is suitable of that for a film from this genre as it features a chainsaw and blood but i feel it lacks some themes like darkness. Also the fonts stand out well but don't really convey they styles of genre as it all seems plain.
The genre it covers is clearly horror, it says it there and the inclusion of the chainsaw combined with blood emphasizes this. and it is owned by the British film institute. and opinions
The target market in terms of demographic appears to be adults due to it's mention of classic films as many wouldn't have been alive or it wouldn't have been possible due to their age. Also personality wise, it would suit people who aren't scared easily and enjoy the entertainment value of horror films rather than those who can be scarred of be offended easily by things
A major competitor of this magazine is "Scream" which is also UK based so it provides credible competition as they are both based in the same country..Another competitor is "Diabolique Magazine" and it isn't clear where it is from but as it is also a horror film magazine, it offers competition to "sight and sound".
The types of representation it conveys on the front page are gore and blood due to the feature of a chainsaw and  various spots of blood. in the front cover.
The content features show to the audience that horror can come from anywhere and its unexpected which is seen in various horror films.By trying to link it to real life adds to the realism of horror films and trailers.
The features in this film include articles about films and new releases to watch out for in this genre along with reviews and opinions. Some directors featured in this magazine are Mike Figgis and Simon Pummel who are all horror film directors varying in success.
This magazine follows a typical  house style but doesn't stand out as much as others. For example the "Scream"  magazine would appeal more to the demographic due to the colour scheme and sell lines. I feel that the sell lines and colour schemes are what let down this magazine as they are to basic and the white background doesn't fully explore the connotations involved with the horror genre

The Rite Trailer Analysis

From this trailer, it is very easy to distinguish what genre it is from straight away. The use of music and the writing in the beginning of the trailer, we could tell it would be based on religion due to the Latin writing in the opening followed by the sentences. We also see key iconography associated with religion, (the rosary and the cross), which consolidates the feeling we get that it's about religion. The use of sound also portrays a sort of religious horror as there are screams and in the trailer the characters suggest that there is a demonic being possessing people. We see this evidently in the actions of the woman in the trailer as she acts out of the ordinary.

Analysis of film poster from my genre -The Purge:Anarchy

Trailer - Mise en scene ideas

Mood Boards - Genre Iconography Dystopia and Stalker/Slasher hybrid (Shared)

Influential genre examples

Research: Websites on marketing

http://marvel.com/guardians

The design of the website is very graphical and accentuates the sci-fi theme of the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" with hovering interaction on the home page. 

The navigator for the website promotes clips from the movie, about the movie, photos, downloads etc. all aspects involving the movie to help promote it and show what its about. It even gives the option to sell tickets to watch the movie.In order for it to be also approachable for younger children it involves activities like "Make yourself a guardian of the galaxy" creating a shareable gif to yet again promote itself. It has social networking like facebook, twitter, google plus and pinterest presenting other promoting websites on networking.

The graphical designs would be as you would have in the spaceship or in the technical future embracing the whole idea that the future is going to be very hi-tech, computerised and sci-fi instead of the manual concepts of cars and books but  the idea of spaceships, aliens and with humans and animals in space with the characters Quill and Rocket 

Genre Research - Institutional Context

Top rated slasher feature films (IMDb)

Se7en (Drama, Mystery, Thriller) [1995] - 8.7/10


The Silence of Lambs (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [1991] - 8.6/10


Psycho (Horror, Mystery, Thriller) [1991] - 8.6/10


The Shining (Horror) [1980] - 8.5/10


Halloween (Horror) [1978] - 7.9/10


Deep Red (Horror, Mystery, Thriller) [1975] - 7.7/10


Grindhouse (Action, Horror, Thriller) [2007] - 7.7/10


Santa Sangre (Drama, Horror) [1989] - 7.7/10


Man Bites Dog (Comedy, Crime, Drama) [1992] - 7.6/10


American Psycho (Crime, Drama) [2000] - 7.6/10

Top-Grossing slasher feature films (IMDb)

Hannibal (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [2001] - $165,091,464 


Scary Movie (Comedy) [2000] - $157,019,771


The Silence of the Lambs (Crime, Drama, Thriller) [1991] - $130,742,922


Scream (Crime, Horror, Mystery) [1996] - $103,001,286


Scream 2 (Crime, Horror, Mystery) [1997] - $101,334,374


Se7en (Drama, Mystery, Thriller) [1995] - $100,125,643


Red Dragon (Crime, Thriller) [2002] - $92,930,005

Scream 3 (Horror, Mystery) [2000] - $89,138,076


Freddy vs. Jason (Horror) [2003] - $82,163,317


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Horror) [2003] - $80,148,261

Film Productions and Distributions for some 'Slasher' and 'Dystopian Future' feature films


The Purge (Dystopian Future)


Film Production Companies

- Blumhouse Productions

- Platinum Dunes

- Media Rights Capital


Distributed by:

- Universal


The Silence of Lambs (Slasher)


Distributed by:

- Orion Pictures


Divergent (Dystopian Future)


Film Production Companies

- Red Wagon Entertainment

- Summit Entertainment


Distributed by:

- Lionsgrate


Scream [series] (Slasher)


Film Production Company

- Woods Entertainment


Distributed by:

- Dimension Films

- Konrad Pictures

- Outerbanks Entertainment


Hannibal (Slasher)


Film Production Company

- Scott Free Productions


Distributed by:

- Universal Pictures

From the research of some of the films listed, it has come down to a conclusion that Universal Pictures seem to be one of the top distributors for slasher-feature films as well as dystopian future feature-films. It's one of the main and most known film manufacturing companies in the film and media industry. Universal Pictures works with the parent company known as NBC Universal and is also known as one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios. The company offers range of production services such as set lighting, grip to proper and special effects. For post-production media services, it also has on offer a variety of services such as sound editorial & design to picture editorial. Universal Pictures is mainly known for its creating and distributing of theatrical and non-theatrical entertainment on film. The Purge: Anarchy has achieved a total gross of $71,562,550 and is ranked number 108 overall the movies produced by Universal Pictures. The company is also in a partnership with Blumhouse Productions, Focus Features, Illumination Entertainment, Laika, Legendary and Working Title.

Blumhouse Productions is an company in partner with Universal Pictures. It's an multi-media American Film Production Company that's founded and run by Jason Blum. The film production company produces low-budget genre films such as Paranormal Activity and Inisidious. The majority of the films Bluehouse Productions produces seem to mainly be horror, thriller and slasher films such as The Purge and The Purge: Anarchy. The film production company is known for it's debut movie 'Paranormal Activity' where the budget is estimated to be about $15,000 and grossed at $107,918,810 in 2010. The film production has more of a known-title within the horror-genre films since for Halloween 2012, they did an event called 'Blumhouse of Horror' which is an innovative haunted house experience located in Downtown Los Angeles; an escape game experience as a sort of marketing for the next upcoming film 'The Purge: Breakout'.

History of our genre

Slasher/slasher is a sub-genre of Horror films but mainly due to the involvement of psychopathic killers who stalks and plans murders that are usually random or many within a day etc. The psychopathic killer usually has a sort of disguise like a mask to remain anonymous to the public.

The slasher film as a genre can be connected to a real-life event in the 1957 a man named Ed Gein was known to be a psychopathic killer, who was obsessed with dead human bodies which started to become an extreme case collecting them. This real-life event of Gein inspired a book called Psycho by Robert Bloch in which lead killer movies to be created in the 60's like Hush, hush sweet Charlotte,  What ever happened to baby Jane, Maniac, Satans Bed and Strait Jacket alongside Psycho itself. There are also recent movies within the 2000 till now like Cherry Falls (2000), Cry Wolf (2005) and the well known final destination.

Horror is the main genre of this whole slasher/stalker kind of films so we have to ensure to also have knowledge on this genre as a whole too. Horror's aim is to frighten the audience and induce the whole feeling of terror and horror by creating an eerie and frightening atmosphere throughout the whole film.

Dystopian future

Dystopia is a community or a society that is undesirable and is the opposite of utopia. Dystopian future genres concept produces these undesirable disrupted futures such as dehumanisation, corrupted governments, environmental disaster etc.  The idea of dystopia was cacotopia before hand, which is the word for the imagined seating of the worst government.

One of the earliest dystopian films is Blade Runner from 1982, and American neo-noir dystopian science fiction film based in Los Angeles in November 2019. It is about humans being genetically engineered replicates who were indistinguishable from adult humans created by a mega corporation.

They were made essentially for labour and entertainment purposes and are illegal on earth, if they make it to earth they are to be killed. A Blade runner, a hunter of replicates seek these replicates who wish for their lifespan to be extended.

Films like this with a futuristic disrupted society has helped influence films now like The Purge, The Hunger Games, In Time and Divergent.

Repertoire of elements for our genre

Our film pitch

The Rite Poster Analysis

Repertoire of Elements

Repertoire of elements are a list of things film makers think about when producing a new film. They are a list of things they will need in order to create a good film and to organised how everything will be handled. These elements are Characters, audience setting, themes, style iconography and narrative. The genre of each film has implications for the repertoire of elements as ideally you would want your film to be successful and actually represent the genre you are trying to depict.

For example, for characters, the directors would have to consider what characters to include in their films depending on the film's genre. In a horror movie, you would expect characters such as a victim or victims a villain/monster and survivors, in an action film, you would have a hero vs a villian which you would expect

Audience is all about the target market/audience. This is about who the filmed is aimed at which is usually young adults as that is where most money is made Again certain genres would appeal to certain people, romantic comedies would appeal to women whereas action or sports films would apeal more to men.

Settings is about where the film will be set in order to match the genre or the situation. Sc-fi films would often take place on a "different planet" ore in space simply due to match its genre and attract its audience.

Themes are how the genre is represented.For a horror film, for example, to be successful it needs to conform to some typicial themes such as purity vs. evil  alive vs. dead etc.

Styles is more about what makes your film belong in that genre. This involves lighting, costumes  and different camera angles to create suspense  or tension.

Iconography, its mainly about what makes your film stand out, in slaher films this would be a weapon of some sort which is sometimes used in the trailers to draw the customers in.

And narrative is about whether or not the film has a running narrative or does not. Mainly films do not but some like "The Great Gatsby" do.

Film Trailer Analysis

Film Title - The Town This trailer is very effective as from it, the audience are able to grasp the concept of the storyline. The slow start at the beginning builds anticipation because as a viewer, you want to know what's going on straight away so you can understand the whole situation but by controlling the pace of the trailer they are able to slowly feed the audience's anticipation until the trailer is at full pace. The use of different shots are also effective as some of the shots a montage effect allows the audience to gain information about the storyline and different scenes without giving away too much which leaves them curious enough to want to watch the film to see what happens. Also we are able to see the emotions of the characters in certain scenes which helps create emphasis and sometimes suspense. Another positive from this trailer is that the storyline is easy to comprehend which is pivotal as if your storyline is not understandable the audience will not respond well to it. The genre is also established early on in the trailer which avoids causing confusion to the audience.
The dialogue is also key here as from it we are able to establish that the film will be focused on two main characters and gives the impression they are both chasing the same goal. It also depicts that they have some sort of relationship with each other which may also attract a wider audience as relationships within action films usually do.
The mise-en-scene is also important as, the guns, masks, blindfold and settings help create the genre as without these things , we wouldn't know this was a heist/robbery action based film or why certain things were occurring in the trailer.

The Purge trailer analysis (Dystopian/horror Genre)

Beginning (0:04 - 0:25)

The beginning of the trailer portrays how the American world was perfect. The use of the sunset with the idealistic happy family silhouettes demonstrates this. A romantic scene was also displayed among one of the cuts which displayed heterosexual love and this could commute to the audience that it's a time where people are happy in their relationships.The scenes of the adults wearing casual clothes shows how relaxed and content they are with life which is accompanied by facial expressions such as laughter and smiles to show that they're happy. An establishing shot of the neighbourhood with the sunset shows that it's a peaceful time and it's a perfect world in their sight of the audience as well. The editing uses quite a few inter-titles to give facts about the perfect world that's being portrayed which is accompanied by the calm sound of the piano playing a few keys with a small interval each time it changes onto a different scene. The piano usually comes under the music genre for classical since classic music can be quite soothing and calm; making the audience feel that it really is a perfect world.

(0:31 - 1:10)

The start for this section shows the watershed. This is where there is a turning point in the plot. How everything that was once perfect; comes at a price (meaning there needs to be some sort of sacrifice). This is demonstrated through CCTV footage of clips with people getting killed; arson and gun shooting (linking the past event with what's going to happen to the present-day). The follow up scenes after the footage clips; links with the father's explanation to his son as to why the event happens (which is also letting the audience know as well). The son questions his parents as to why don't they kill anyone and his question becomes a voiceover for the next scene of (supposedly) his parents gearing up with weapons which creates a sense of irony since his parents respond with the answer that they don't feel the need to kill anyone.

The voiceover of the "annual report" for the purge occurs which then shows various side-view and front close-up shots for each of the family members gathered in the living room. Each face expressing a similar motion to the next. And in-between each shot of the faces is a establishing shot of different parts of the city, demonstrating how empty it is. It could've been seen as peaceful but the eerie sound from the report makes it creepy; making each scene a taunting-gesture to the audience that something is about to happen (making everything worse). There is loads of dip-to-black being used when the scene goes from a family member's close-up to an establishing shot of the empty city.

(1:52 - To End)

At the beginning of this section, it's the start of the build-up to the montage. The bass-sound creates a sort of heart-beat sound as it starts to build up. The bass sound is accompanied with choir-singing at a high-pitch. It starts off a bit quiet at first then as the inter-title comes up (sort of the marker for the start of the montage) the singing becomes louder throughout the whole montage. There's barely any words said but there's loads of sound effects such as a 'shhling' when seeing someone un-sheath a knife and gunshots.

At the end of the montage, the man says "everything is gonna be okay" and the woman responds that "nothing is ever going to be okay again" which is then followed up by a glitch noise for the inter-title then the title for the film comes up with the credits and social media.

There's a sense of polar opposite being demonstrated since at the beginning it was a perfect world and at the end everything goes wrong; with the families' ideal perfect world destroyed within one night.

Analysing Movie Website

I decided to  analyse the website of the film "Fast And Furious 6"

When you first enter the website, this is the option we see. This is because this is an international film and with films like this, English is not the main language so many big name movies have this option. Although web browsers like chrome have a translate option, not everyone uses chrome especially people from poorer backgrounds or countries.

This can also give it an unique selling point as people do visit film websites for more information and the content which usually influences their final decision on whether or not they go and see the film. Film websites are important and by offering different languages people from other countries it allows them to also get important information.

When you proceed on wards, the website then brings up this page with various links, from watching the trailer to buying tickets.. These links are very helpful to the viewers/customers as it helps direct them to what they are looking for. There are also social media links for example the Facebook page,and the YouTube pages on this website. Also the appearance of the website is vital, the picture is always constantly changing showing the viewers different images that hypes up the film even more making more people choose to go and see the film..

Analysing Film Poster - Iron Man 3

My Film Consumption

I don't go to the cinema very often due to me being very busy  but when I'm not i tend to go to the cinema so it really depends on when the films are released.

A film on demand service i have is Sky On demand as usually they have a variety of films available especially if you miss them when they are shown on tv.

I usually don't download films because they take too long to download and there's the risk of being caught Also it is far simpler to just stream the movie as i don't think we intend to keep them we just want to watch it then and there

The last DVD i was given from a shop was the movie 2012 and i am not a fan of DVDs which is why i haven't bought any in the last year.

Some of the last films i watched at the cinemas were Fast and Furious 6, Iron Man 3 and The Zookeeper, i don't remember watching anymore as usually i didn't have time to go to the cinemas.

I do watch films on convergence devices, the last time i did so was fast and furious 5, i watched that on my PS3 a long with the other 4 movies in this series.

I don't rent films online especially with streaming them being easier and free to watch.

I have not downloaded films in the last year as i usually just tend to watch them and be done with them and i don't use a specific website i just search for it until i get there, which is why i don't visit any film based websites as i usually judge the film on it's trailer alone as the trailers offer so much information and as the viewer, you get to see whether it is a film you would be interested in watching or not.