RANZ PRODUCTIONS

Final Film Production 'Alone'

2010-03-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2010-03-08T14:33:00.000-08:00

As we have been influenced by several other film trailers that we have analysed such as Eagle Eye and 28 Days Later, we tried to pick out the conventions that our film can adhere to from those different thriller trailers. One of which is characters. It is conventional as well as expected by the audience in a thriller film to be a victim or a victim/hero like in our film as well as villains or criminals that in constant chase of the victim/hero throughout the film. Another convention of thriller films is also the lead role being male. This is where we have subverted a convention because we chose for our lead role to be a female. This is because we thought the experience of an immigrant in London would look more effective if shown by a female character as she can show more vulnerability and innocence.

To make our characters look 'real' and portray their roles properly, we had to carefully pick out their costumes so they match the role they take in the film. For example, Nancy the main character is an immigrant and also homeless. So we had to pick out a costume that looks dirty and ragged. Her hair also had to be messy and no make-up on. As for the villains, they were dressed smartly in black because they are high status criminals and the colour black adds mysteriousness to their roles. Rawan, who is another victim was dressed casually with jeans and a jacket. Her hair was down which implies she's innocent.

The props were another convention we had to follow. We used 'typical' props that are expected to be used in a thriller film like blood, a knife and a car. This also helped portray realism and also added elements of horror to the trailer.

The lighting used in the trailer was dark. This is to add a sinister feeling to the film and is also a convention that we had to follow as the genre implies that the colours and the lighting of the film cannot be happy and bright. So even in bright weather and brightly lit locations we had to edit the colours and make them darker which we thought worked very well to help show the gritty side of London. This leads on to the locations we shot our film trailer in. We chose two different varieties of locations to compare and contrast between them. We chose locations that are mainly tourists attractions and places in alleyways and mainly working-class to show the different things that happen in the two and how different people are in different areas of London.

The soundtrack was also another element of the trailer we had to carefully think about. This is because we had to have different paced music throughout the trailer. This worked very well and added something to the trailer as it portrayed the characters feelings and their situations under different circumstances. So when the main character is alone, the music was slow and it speeds up with a chase or fast edited shots. We also had a voice-over at the beginning of the film. This helped establish a bit of the film to the audience as well as give a brief description of what the main characters life is like and what her role in the film is.

We had a variety of camera shots and angles in the trailer which also said something about the main character. We had more than one high-angle shot. This is to show the main characters' vulnerability and weakness at times when she is alone and the final shot when she is caught by the criminals. We also used P.O.V shots which put the audience in the characters shoes and made them feel the pressure. The P.O.V shots we used were of a hand-held camera angle. This also added agitation and tension to the characters situation.

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

2010-03-07T15:45:00.000-08:00

The way in which we are going to display our brand identity is by keeping a coherent style, by following certain rules such as, keeping the font the same style and using the same colour scheme throughout all of the media texts such as moving image, print based and our logo.

We have applied more than one element of our film to the rest of our production pieces, this is to help enhance our brand identity and make them easier to be identified by the audience. For example, the dark colours used in the trailer was added to all three posters and the magazine. This helped signify the relationship between them as they all look like they link together. Another aspect which helped familiarise all the products is the font. We specifically made sure that the same font is used in the trailer, magazine and posters.

The locations where we filmed our trailer were also similar to those in the poster and magazine. However, the ones in the ancillary tasks had to be mainly locations that are iconic of London which was one of the main aspects of our brand identity as it helps shows the glamorous side of London that is glossed over by tourism and consumerism, this contrasted with the gritty, working-class side of London that tourists do not usually see through main attractions.

As we have three different posters, we also tried to keep a coherent style within them. So the font was the same, the black & white and red writing was the same, the iconic places of London were also another thing the posters had in common. But we wanted to add something else that the film and the magazine did not have. The eyes added at the top of each poster signifies that someone is always watching, and that the main character is always being chased and watched by the criminals that would not leave her alone until they take away her life. We thought this worked well in connoting elements of plot of the trailer as well as keeping all three posters similar in a way.

3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

2010-03-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

In the early stages of our production we had an audience feedback to help us add or takeaway things from the trailer which will help make it better. A lot of it at the time was negative as they scenes for a trailer were too long, the lighting was too happy and bright, and that various angles and shots should be added. After doing all those we carried out interviews with about 6 different people to give us feedback to the final production of the trailer after all sound and effects were added.

Fortunately, most of the feedback that time was positive but we also did have some negative stuff about the logo, some of the scenes and the characters roles. So we made a vox pops out of the interviews we carried out. We added bits from the film to the vox pops which made it look professional.

Adding our film to YouTube was also another feature we benefited from as we got feedback from people that watched our film and fellow students from out school. This enhanced our view of our film as most of the comments were positive and the audience seemed impressed by the trailer and the way we helped portray each characters role.

4. How did you use technologies in the construction stage, and in the research, planning & evaluation stages?

2010-03-05T16:22:00.000-08:00

The hardware we used throughout the process of filming our trailer helped enhance it in different ways. The camera we used was HQ and it definitely added a better look to the film as it was clear and of a high quality. It also helped when we were filming at night and the depth of zoom we used in certain scenes. The voice recorder we used for the voice-over was also HQ and helped make the sound clear.

Final Cut Pro helped us with the editing process as it had many features we used in our film to help develop it further. For example the colour correction which helped us play with the colours and lighting of the film moved our trailer a step further as it looked more professional and gritty especially locations such as the underground. Final Cut Pro also helped us with the vox pops and evaluation of the trailer as it allowed us to embed our Powerpoint slides and images. Additionally, it helped us embed our soundtrack for the trailer from Soundtrack Pro.

Other software we used were Photoshop and InDesign CS4. Photoshop was mainly used to edit images so we used it when making our posters. The effects Photoshop were great they were also quite similar to Final Cut. Effects such as the colour correction were similarly used in Photoshop and that's how this helped develop our brand identity. We also used Photoshop to edit the main image of the magazine. But the rest of the magazine was made using InDesign CS4. It had many effects that go into detail which only made InDesin easier to use. Effects such as the colours, shapes and outlines really helped bring out the best of the magazine as we added many elements to it which were influenced by Empire magazine and the Avatar issue specifically.

Soundtrack Pro is another software we used. Soundtrack was used to pick those different pieces of music that were added together to make our soundtrack. It had a different variety of music which really helped us pick out the right ones for our film. We used about 5 different pieces of music and put them together in the right order which went with the order of things happening in the trailer.

Powerpoint is the final software we used throughout the process of the film. We used it for our evaluation and pitch .

Blogger is where we laid all our work for the rest of the group to look at and edit and for our teacher to give us feedback on. Blogger was extremely useful when being used as a group as we all had access to it from home and we didn't have to be together as a group when working on it.

'Alone' Magazine Cover

2009-10-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Again, after looking at other film magazines we acknowledged that it did not adhere to the conventions of an ordinary magazine. This is because it had a couple of mistakes such as the title of the film being bigger than the title of magazine which did not look balanced, the magazine cover also did not have any secondary features or other subtitles of articles it contains or even an issue date. We then went on and produced a final draft of our magazine and added all the missing conventions to it.
The brand identity of the magazine is keeping with the same images of iconic London and the same dark yet bright colours we are using such as red, black and white.

The only character that will be on the front cover of our magazine will be Nancy. This is one of the conventions we will adhere to on the magazine cover as most magazine covers always feature the main character(s) of a film. Other conventions we will be adhering to are secondary images of different images from our film, a sky-liner placed at the top of the magazine title. We are also adding a slogan for the magazine and a tag-line for the film.

We have chosen the style of our magazine to be simple and clear-cut. That is part of our brand identity as we have also decided to follow that same style on our poster campaign. The colours and the effects we have added to the image of the magazine is also coherent to our other products as it follows the same style as our brand identity.

This is the final production of our magazine cover:

'Alone' Film Poster

2009-10-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

The poster of our film will have an image of one of the locations of where the trailer will be filmed at. And above it will be another image of two eyes. They represent the fact that the girl in the big city of London is on her own and is being watched by people all the time.

We think that the eyes will add mystery to the poster and that is what we want.

We have mostly used dark colours such as red, black and blue this is to represent the mysteriousness of the film. The brand identity of the poster will be clean-cut,simple and easy to look at and understand. Even though the eyes will be there to symbolise something, it still won't be something messy and crowded by many items being in the mise-en-scene.
The conventions that we will be adhering to in the poster are things such as the title of the film placed at the bottom of the poster with the date of release under the title. As the slogan exemplifies what happens in the film, placing it at the top is like giving them an idea of what happens in the film and then they move down to look at the image in the poster itself.
After analysing a couple of thriler posters, we realised that the first draft of our poster did not follow the conventions of a film poster as it only had an image and the title of the film. So in our final draft we added The release date of the film as well as a website and a tagline for the film. This made it look more professional as now it could fit in with other real film posters.

We decided to put 3 poster campaigns that all looks different and are set in different iconic London locations:
For the posters we used Photoshop. I used Photoshop to crop and resize the main image, erase background that is not needed, fade colours, colour correction, used a variety of fonts to layers to create a depth and drama to the main image.
We used these tools to give our posters a familiar style to our trailer also to stick with our conventions.

Editing Diary

2009-10-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

Day1: After filming was over, we started capturing everything on the Macs using Final Cut Pro. We then started cutting the bits of our footage that we thought we can use in the trailer.

Day2: As well as the editing going on, we started making the poster and magazine cover of our films using InDesign and Photoshop. Everyone in the group had a task to do every lesson.

Day3: This is when we started thinking about what pieces of music we should put together to put on the film. We looked at the music on Soundtrack and we used more than one piece to put together which made a perfect soundtrack for the trailer.

Day4: This is when we started to record the voice-over for the trailer. We edited it on Soundtrack and put it together with the film.

Day5: We were putting the finishing touches to the film and the ancillary tasks.

Day6: This was the final day for everything and it was when we put everything together and everything was done.

Filming Diary

2009-10-13T07:23:00.000-07:00

Day 1: We needed a few props for our film such as a car, fake blood and a knife. So we made sure everything would be ready and available on the day. Abul called his friend and asked him if we can borrow his car for some of the shots. His friend agreed and said he would be available. We also decided the locations we needed for each shot. We chose to film the shots of Nancy lost in Trafalgar Square as it is iconic of London. We agreed to film all our shots on streets as it would be more realistic and it would relate to our target audience. We chose to film the stabbing scene at night as it would be dark and more interesting.

Day 2: We all met up in Trafalgar square at 12am and had all the filming equipment. We set up and started off by filming a few shots of Nancy walking. We chose this location because it is very iconic in London also it would establish the films location. . We spent 1 hour filming shots of Nancy walking, lost and had no one to turn to. We made sure we filmed for continuity and match on action. We then travelled to Marble arch Station to shoot more shots. We took few shots because we did not have more time to film the rest because two of the group members couldn’t stay for longer so we decided to meet up the next day.

Day 3: We had finished filming and captured all our footage; however after we watched the film we realized we needed a few more shots of Nancy (the main character) from different angles. Also, some of the shots were too bright so we had to do it again. We all decided what shots we had to do again and what shots we had to add.

Day 4: The next day everything went really well, we all met up in Trafalgar Square at 11am again. We set up the camera and started filming all the shots that were bright. However, we couldn’t film one of the shots which were in the public toilet so we decided to shot that scene in the school toilets when we all had a free period. We then travelled to Oxford Street. We had to choose the right place to film in because it was very crowded. We filmed the shots required from different angles so that we had more options to choose from. We had a few problems were people would walk past the camera but then it went well. Again we chose this location because it is one of the most popular places in London. We started filming at 1pm, we had plenty time so were expecting to finish most of the shots by the end of this day. After that we went to the station again and took a more shots because we didn’t have time the other day.

Day 5: On Thursday we all had a free period so we decided to film the toilet scene. We went downstairs and got all the equipment we needed and we took permission to film in the girl’s toilet. Me and Abul filmed many shots of Nancy the main character and Zinuk one of the criminals in the school toilet. We made sure we repeated the same shot more then once incase we had a problem while editing. When we were done with the toilet scene we had to go down to the ground floor to film a few shots in the dark room.

Day 6: On Sunday we all met near school and travelled together to Waterloo Bridge. We took some pictures for our poster and magazine covers. Also we set up the camera and took many shots of the London Eye for our establishing shot. After, spending 2hour filming we were waiting for abuls friend to arrive so we can start with the car scene. When he arrived we all went together to the unkown place to start filming. We had to choose an empty place where not a lot people would travel in. we finally found the place, got the equipment ready and stared filming. We made sure we repeated each shot to save us any problems later with one shot turning out wrong. We took a very long time filming the scene. We took many shots and made sure we took them from different angles just incase something would go wrong when we start editing in school. When we finally finished we all went to eat somewhere, we were all starving. We then took the underground to go to the next unkown location to film my part, the stabbing part. We got to the place at 4pm it was dark and the place we choose was amazing at that time. We set the camera and were ready to film. Nancy took many shots of me walking and of Abul and Zinuk trying to kill me. Again we made sure we took it from more than one angle. After that I took shots of abul and zinuk chasing nancy. We took 3hours filming, it was a very long and tiring day. By the end we were all happy with our footage.

Outline of 'Alone' Film

2009-10-11T16:23:00.000-07:00

The trailer of the film 'Alone' ended with Nancy in a darkroom with a figure of a person coming towards her with a knife. The person then gets distracted by his accomplice and has to help him. Nancy then sees a chance of escaping through the door. She walks through the door carefully avoiding making any noise, she then creeps through the front door and runs away from the house.

The criminals notice that Nancy has escaped and go searching for her once again. They spend the whole night trying to track her down but end up not finding her. Nancy is then confused and distraught and has no-one to turn to. She just wishes that she could return back to her homeland where all these feelings would vanish away. Nancy is so paranoid that she avoids going out in the daylight and waits for nightfall before going in search for food and shelter. Days go by, her still fearing for her life.

After a week had gone by with the criminals trying to track her down, they have a few leads on where she might be. The criminals investigate with the leads they have and after a few days they find her sleeping near the canal. They wait for her to wake up and they make there move. They tie her up and put her in the boot of their car. But what they don't notice is that they are being watched by a man. The man follows the car back to the house, the criminals drag Nancy in the house.

The man then phones the police, the criminals are getting ready to kill Nancy. This is when the police barge inside the house and arrest the criminals. The police take Nancy away and explain to her that she is safe. After a month Nancy gets help from the police and starts a new life.

Outline of 'Alone' Trailer

2009-10-11T15:19:00.000-07:00

The trailer for our film 'Alone', introduces the main character Nancy. Nancy is a teenage immigrant who had come to London for the very first time. Nancy is all alone in the big city of London and has no-one to depend on. She is living rough on the streets and has barely any money. Nancy is also struggling to feed herself and often has to beg pedestrians for donations. Nancy was looking for shelter to sleep for the night, She heard arguing and this had caught her attention. She could see two males dressed in smart clothing arguing with a young female.

Nancy then sees one of the males lashing out to the female and realises that the female has been stabbed. Nancy knowing that she had just witnessed a murder, decided to run away unseen. She then runs and steps on a can, which made a noise and had alerted the two criminals that they have been seen carrying out the murder. Nancy looks back and sees the criminals running towards her, this is when she also run trying to get away from the two male criminals.

Nancy is then on the run and feels paranoid thinking everyone is against her, she can hardly speak any English and is petrified to go to the police to report it. The two high class criminals then finally find Nancy and kidnap her. The trailer ends with a cliffhanger with Nancy seen in a darkroom with a figure of a person with a knife coming towards her. This leaves the audience wondering what has happened to her.

Conventions that we will be following throughout our trailer is characters and their costumes along with the props they use. Our characters will contain villains and victims etc.

Other conventions include music high and low paced which suits the style and genre of the trailer.

'Alone'- Storyboard Animtaic

2009-10-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

A story board is when the actual scenes of the film are put in to hand drawn still shots, from the story board you can see the what different types of camera shots are used. The story board was a rough outline of our actual trailer. In the trailer we used a variety of different shots such as mid long shots, high angle shots,etc. we used these shots to add tension and excitement as well as keeping the trailer fast paced, this will help keep the trailer unpredictable as well.

RANZ Logo

2009-10-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Our production company logo would also have something that is iconic of London which could make a good link to our trailer as well as brand identity. The logo will have the Sign of the London underground on it with a background image of Big Ben, however instead of the sign saying London Underground it will say RANZ. This is effective and looks very creative and makes a good link to the storyline of our film. The shown images are examples of how our logo will look like.
We have used these two icons as they show a very good contrast of the posh area of Big Ben and the gritty side of the London underground which is shown in our film. It also shows the contrast between they different hierarchies of people that live in the big city.

These are the final RANZ Logo Productions:

Shooting Script

2009-10-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

Int. Waterloo Bridge, London Eye and Big Ben

CUT TO

High-angle Shot of Nancy walking in Trafalgar Sq.

CUT TO

Subway, main character walks and picks up a cup of coffee and drinks from it. Walks further and picks up a coin from the floor then to Restaurant, Marble Arch.

While V.O. in background

"I came to London looking for happiness, security and to follow my dream. Ended up homeless, desperate and alone..."

Music Starts

CUT TO

Clothes Shop, Marble Arch

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Empty Street, night time. Zinuk and Abul (criminals) walking towards Rawan (victim)

CUT TO

The characters talking:

Rawan: " leave me alone, I'm not involved in this."

CUT TO

Nancy realises something happening behind her, she turns around.

CUT TO

Abul stabbing Rawan

CUT TO

Nancy watching the stabbing and trying to run away so no body realises she was there.

While trying to escape, she makes a noise which the criminals hear.

CUT TO

Criminals looking at her from far and then running after her.

CUT TO

Nancy running.

CUT TO

Rawan's dead body on the floor with blood surrounding her.

CUT TO

Nancy in the toilet washing her face.

CUT TO CCTV SHOT

Nancy looks up and sees Zinuk's face in the mirror. She turns around and sees no one.

CUT TO hand-held camera from an inside of a car

Nancy running away from the car that's chasing her.

CUT TO P.O.V shot of Nancy trying to escape from Abul that had just come out of the car to put her inside it.

CUT TO

Nancy being pushed into the back seat of the car.

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Alone title and website

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Final Scene of Nancy sitting in a dark room. Abul approaches her with a knife.

THE END

Audience Profile

2009-10-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

Our film target audience are young between the ages of 15-21. Our audience is fairely young and this goes back to the fact that the characters in our actual film are young too so that is a way the audience can relate to our film.

Through the questionnaire we gave out to decide on our general target audience we found that the majority enjoys wearing casual clothes on a daily basis. So we decided to put our characters in costumes that the audience can relate to. For example, Rawan is dressed casually in jeans, a top and boots. This is something common that any other girl her age can dress up in. Similarly with the boys, they are both dressed in black jackets and trousers which again is something young people can relate to.

Another question for the audience was which genre of music they would rather hear in a trailer. There was a variety of answers like hip/hop and rock which we thought may not suit the genre of our film or the style of it. There was classic which we thought is idea we can take on as we can use classical music that raises tension.

We also asked where they would rather see a film located. Again, there were a variety of answers like the streets, a house, a school. As most answers were the streets we decided to go along with that idea also because is suits what happens throughout our film.

As we had an idea that our film will be of a combined genre we asked our audience whether they prefer thriller/horror or thriller/comedy. Most answers were horror/thriller and so that was what we thought would be more interesting.

From the first initial ideas of our film trailer we wanted it to be a British film that would be realised as one of the British films produced and made in the UK. In addition to this, through the questionnaire that our group produced we found that our target audience also would enjoy watching British film as they are rare in the film industry. Another reason they like watching British films is because they are familiar with the actors, the whole cast in general, the accent and the locations shown throughout the film.

We think that our film will be successful as it contains many of the things that our audience enjoy watching.

Props

2009-10-11T06:05:00.002-07:00

Some of the props we will be using are :

=> Fake blood - for when Rawan gets stabbed
=> Knife (fake) - same as above...

=> a Car - this was used when Nancy gets kidnapped by the criminals

=> a cup of Coffee - this was used when Nancy was in the subway and found this cup and drank from it.

These additional props are used to convey realism in the film and to make the scenes look believable to the audience.

Costume

2009-10-11T05:31:00.000-07:00

Zinuk and Abul (the criminals) will be wearing a dark clothing. Their costume will be smart/ casual. They will be wearing a shirt, a black jacket and smart black trousers with the addition of smart shoes. This signifies that they are criminals of a 'high status'. Their costumes add mysteriousness to their character. It also emphasises that they are successful and dangerous.

Rawan (the victim) will be dressed very casually, in jeans, boots, a jacket and a handbag. We made this specific choice because that is what a 'typical' young person would wear in their everyday life.

Nancy (victim/hero) will be wearing very ragged, old, dirty looking clothes. This is because she is homeless and poor. She also has to be dressed in such clothing to portray her role in the film and possibly through her costume, she could make the audience have empathy for her.

All of the above costumes have been chosen to present each character as they are. We want the chracters of our film to look real and for their role to to be shown through the clothes they are wearing. I think we do this successfully in our film trailer.

Location

2009-10-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

==> Piccadily Circus ==> Waterloo Bridge ==> Trafalguar Square

==> Public Toilets ==>

Those locations have been chosen because our film has to represent London clearly, our film has to be iconic of London like is and example of this would be "28 Days Later", where Big Ben and other London icons were showin in the film. Scenes like that instantly lets the audeince know where the film was set.We have also chosen those locations because they are tourists attractions. tourists could in other words mean immigrants. This is relative to the storyline of our film. When the girl who is an immigrant is chased all around London by two thieves.

Our film will be produced, directed, and acted by a British cast. After we have evaluated the questionnaire we gave out to poeple, we think this is something d

ifferent and desired by the young British audience that our film will be aimed at.

One line sales pitch

2009-10-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Our film is called Alone. The genre of our film is a thriller.

'An urban thriller that depicts the isolation and desperation in the sprawling city of London.'

Our film is about an immigrant that gets lost in the big city of London. The immigrant witnesses a murder, so the two criminals notice that she has witnessed the murder therefore, the criminals follow her everywhere she goes. The immigrant feels paranoid so this is when horror is added to our film.

Our film target audience are young people aged between 15 - 21. they enjoy watching fights and use of weapons in thriller films. the also enjoy listening to music especially hip/hop. their main interest are going out and socializing. our film would interest them as it would mainly filmed in the streets. finally they enjoy watching British films due the fact that they are rare in the film industry.

King Kong Mag. Cover

2009-09-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

The main image on the front cover is a long shot, presented very realistically. There are hardly any signs of post-production that make the image look superficial. The cover could have been made like this to reflect on the dramatic story of the film and to make it look as realistic as possible.
The image used not meant to have an edge or any movement to it. It looks very straight forward and gives a sense of realism. There is a big title for the film which stands out on the cover with other subtitles of other films and articles. There is a direct address however, no use of alliteration or play-on-words.

The title of the magazine is very bold and large in size which can link to King Kong as he is also of those same characteristics.
All the other subtitles are of the same font and colour but not size.
The composition of the magazine as a whole is very steady and settled as there are no flashes or any other picutres/objects on the cover apart from the main image and the subtitles.
This is in keeping with the genre of the film. Because conventionally the covers of magazines alwayz make a link to the film and make this obvious. This magazine cover does this very well.

The clour scheme of the magazine cover is yellow, white, gray and a bit of red. The placing of the subtitles are organised and easy to read and look at. The style of the magazine is clean cut! It is straight forward without any chaotic titles or flashes.

It is hard to see the brand identity of the film with other of its products as the poster of the film and other covers of magazines have King Kong on them while this one doesn't.

I think this magazine follows conventions of a magazine cover really well as it it has all the aspects of it laid on the page.

Public Enemies Mag. Cover

2009-09-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

The main image on the front cover is the main character in the film, which is Jhonny Depp. The image is not a photoshoot. It looks as if it was taken while shooting the actual film. The main character is standing with a weapon in his hand. Post-production work is notices through the smoke that surrounds the image at the bottom. The smoke looks as if it has outlined his image at the bottom where the other secondary images are. This could have been used to draw all eyes on the main image and not make it link to any of the other images. The title of the film is placed at the centre of the page in a big bold font. Alliteration is used in a sentence above the title of the film; "Jhonny Depp steals summer".

The font of the title is the normal Empire magazine title it has not beel altered to suit the the style of the film eventhough the colour matches the style of the film very well. The colours; black , red and white are used on the front cover. They are dark, bold colours that draw the reader's attention. The font is the same for all sub-titles of other films and articles but only changes for the title of the main article. This could be because that specific cover is made to promote one film only and that is Public Enemies. If the font used for that title was the same for the others it would not have been as attractive. Also the colour of the other titles of films are red but the Public Enemies is gray this could have been used for the same reason of promotion. The position of the title of the film as well as the image are very centered on the cover of the magazine. All the other sub-titles as well as the magazine title are placed behind the main image. This is could surely be used to drag the reader's attention to the centre of the page whre the main article of the magazine is placed. The colours and fonts used are all keeping with the genre of the magazine.

The main colour scheme of the magazine is red, black and white. The cover does use many graphics for example: there is a splash on the cover as wellmany boxes around sub-titles and headings. Everything on the page is bordered excpet for the main image and title. This could be to take them away from the main image so that they do not collide.

There is a sense of identity with the film in terms of colour, style and genre of the film and magazine. The poster and film contain same colour and style as the cover of the magazine.

The Dark Knight Mag. Cover

2009-09-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

The main image on the cover of the magazine is of Batman. We see a close-up of his face. The post production work is the false lighting on the sides of his face. It could have been used to draw the reader's attention to the character's face only. Another post production work used is around the title. It has blurred or outlined the edges of it. This could well be an effect to grab the audience's attention. The main features of his face draw your attention instantly especially the fact that there is no writing on his face, only the rest of his head.

The image is very steady with a big title of the magazine at the top of the image and then the title of the film and under it is play-on-words sentence; "BATMAN VS. THE JOKER - SUMMER JUST GOT SERIOUS". This has been altered from a famous quote used often in the film which is "why so serious?"

The colour of the title is altered to suit the brand identity of the film. The colours used black, navy blue and a bit of white. As all of these are dark colours they follow a coherent style which is used in the film and all the posters of the film. Non of the titles used are anchored and no splashes are used. I think that was made to match the main image as it is very even and balanced. There are very few sub-titles used and again they are solid, not anchored and are not placed everywhere on the page. The same font and colours are used for all titles and sub-titles. The only part that changes is the size. But this is obviously used to differentiate between the big titles and the sub-titles. The effect this has on the overall composition of the front cover is that it makes it appealing and easy to read. This specific magazine cover is branded to a special copy of the magazine promoting the new film. It can be said that it is a "one off"! Because usually Empire's covers contain more on them. However, the way everything is layed out does keep with the genre of the magazine.

The colours used on the cover are dark and that is meant to reflect on the title of the film "The Dark Knight" but it is also coherent to the colours and lighting used in the film and the posters of it. The style of the magazine has been altered to suit the genre and style of the film. however, it hasn't been altered to an extreme level that it makes it harder to familiarise with the actual magazine. The front cover does not use lots of graphics. There are no other images of other films on the cover, only sub-titles are used. This makes the cover look serious and important. Again, 'serious' can link back to that famous quote.

There is deffinitely a sense of brand identity with the film. The colours, the character and the costume all makes the cover link to the actual film as it follows the same cohearent style.

The Dark Knight Poster

2009-09-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

When we first looking at the poster we can the see the conventions it contains. The slogan of the film is "Welcome to a world without rules." This is placed at the top of the poster. On top of the building which is burning down. This is linked together. a world without rules means anything can happen in it. The only character shown in the poster is the main character. He is standing alone. The image is a low-angle shot looking up to the character. This suggests power and strength.

The setting where the poster is set is on the street at night. This could also link back to title of the film which dark and mysterious. The main character was chosen to be on the poster to represent the film. The poster gives us an idea of what the film could contain and also informs us the genre of the film. The slogan is the only thing at the top of the poster. The title of the film is placed under the actor's names. They are both placed under where the character is standing. The only lighting used is placed on the characters face and body. This is so that he draws the audience's attention.

The colours of the titles and the subtitles used are also dark; black, navy blue and red. It is an animated image. This makes the poster look attractive because the animation gives the poster a sense of movement or action rather than it being just still. The way the main character is placed in the middle of the poster with a low-angle shot wearing his costume makes him look important and heroic. So his position in the poster symbolises power and importance.

The colours of the font and image, the lighting and the setting are all dark. This suggests curiosity It raises a level of intrigue and suspicion as to what is happening in the poster. The main thing that promotes the poster is the famous costume of Batman. He promotes the film successfully as he is a well known character by all generations.

Sin City Poster

2009-09-28T13:19:00.001-07:00

The poster very strongly uses a strong distinction between dim and bright lighting. This could give many different connotations to the poster. The constant use of the black/dark in the poster gives the poster a mysterious and frightening feel and could help get the audience intrigued. Also,as we can see the poster is dark,which makes the title stand out as it is red and bold. This could have been done for many reasons; red can symbolize danger,death and blood.

The characters are standing in the rain which echo’s into what we see also its dark which indicates something mysterious happening. In addition, the light reflects off the rain and helps show more of a contrast between light and dark.

From the poster you can tell that the film has a male protagonist; a male is standing at the front of a group of people, which indicates he is the 'leader' and the main character. The shot they have chosen makes the male character at the front look tall and powerful, this makes him look different from the other characters in the picture. Also, the male character has his eyes shut which makes him look unemotional and cold.

Weapons are also present in the poster which immediately indicates violence and action. The male characters have guns in the poster which suggests they are the protagonists and are the more controlling and leading characters in the film. This also helps attract their target audience. The awareness of guns in the poster may indicate action to the audience, which some people might like, therefore will see the film.

The characters are all wearing black; this is worn by mysterious fighting people, which represents death, power and secrecy. This attracts audiences who are interested in action films. The poster looks very effective and interesting because they have used a lot of red and black. I think there is a sense of brand identity with the film.
Finally, the film is aimed at young adults, as the ages of the characters are similar to the target audience and it’s aimed at both genders.

In general, I think the poster is successful and has been promoted extremely well since it gives us an idea of what the film will be about, it shows that the film is a thriller and that it contains action, violence and maybe crime. Moreover, it attracts the audience to watch the film and to see if the film is as effective as the poster.

There is a strong coherent style to the poster with the film and trailer. This is because they were all filmed at night as well as in black in white. This gives a clear link between the poster and the film and helps the audience recognise that they are both of the same product. By reviewing all the posters of the film, I also recognised the similarity of the use of the red title, the rain, the night time and the low angle shots of the characters. The poster has also used conventions successfully through the use of symbolism and composition of the poster.

Inglorious Basterds Poster

2009-09-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

The film poster of Inglorious Basterds is composed by one main image at the centre of the poster of a baseball bat which could be seen as phallic symbolism, with an army helmet hanging of the edge of the bat which has the a Nazi sign on it. This is suggesting that the bat belongs to the Americans, it is interpreted as belonging to the them because the baseball game is mainly of American. Therefore, the blood on the bat and the helmet hanging down of it could be referring to the fact that Americans have defeated the Nazis. There is a slogan placed at the top of the main image which says 'Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France...' The ellipses at the end of the sentence follows on to the main image which shows the way they are making a joke of the Nazis. This could be referring to the power that the Americans have compared to the Nazis. Other writing included on the poster of the film is the title of the film the year which it will be released and the director of the film.

The eyes of a person instantly drawn to the main image placed in the centre of the poster. This is because the poster only contains one big image which is deliberately placed so it can catch people's attention. The Nazi sign on the helmet implies that the film might be of a war genre and the baseball bat with blood on it suggests that the film will contain a lot of violence. The poster is mostly colourless, there is a use of very dull colours with the addition of red. This could have been used to imply that the film will contains a lot of killing and fighting. The main image is a photo image, which has been graphically enhanced and placed on a grey cloudy background.This may suggest that the director wants everyone to focus their attention on the main image. The title is also misspelt which shows the comical side to this poster, this is reinforced by the tag line of the film ‘Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France’. The beginning of the tag line starts with ‘Once upon a time’, this is similar to how a fairytale starts. This suggest that the film might have some styles of a fairytale. The main image could suggest that this film is mainly aimed at male audiences.

The modern representation of the baseball bat is that its a weapon mainly used by gangs. The image suggests that it is of phallic symbolism because the baseball bat can connote an erect penis with the helmet hanging off it. The whole image is like it is of rape. This image definitely does impose a level of intrigue to the audience due to the interesting and various symbols and interpretations it gives out.

Looking at the other poster campaigns of the film and magazine covers with the addition of the trailer of the film itself, there is a huge significance of brand identity. The style of the poster is exactly the same in all the posters. The dullness, the redness, the violence, etc. This adds to the uniqueness of the film and help the audience recognise the products and the link between them. I generally think that the film is promoted to a high standard. The use of connotations or symbolism is successful and adds humour to the posters. The poster has also been successful in using the right conventions and subverting some conventions such as the deliberate spelling mistake, 'basterd'.

Cloverfield trailer

2009-09-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

The trailer starts of with a man walking into his surprise party, their is a person in the film who is recording video clips of the people in the party, characters in the movie start talking about a man called Rob, this make the audience want to watch more and focus to try and figure out why this man Rob is so important. All of a sudden their is a disturbing noise and the screen starts shaking and it almost starts to look like its a documentary, then the screen fades to black but a font appears with non-diagetic sound saying "something has found us". This particular scene which turns from people having fun to people running around and screaming to save their lives makes the audience very anxious to find out what is happening.

Almost the whole trailer is filmed with a point of view shot, so this make the film very unclear but very realistic. We see shots of buildings blowing up and a women saying "what is that?" this makes the audience very eager to find out what is happening and further more, it makes the audience confused because they hear sounds that are unpredictable and that nobody knows where or who they are coming from.

Then we see a lot of whip pan shots which is also very unclear and make the viewer very nervous and fearful of what they are about to see. We also see very small scenes, one of them which a soilder says "what ever it is, its winning" so we can see that the trailer is very unrevealing throughout.

Throughout the trailer the speed of the trailer speeds up, the diagetic and non-diagetic sounds become louder and the trailer also speeds up. There is a variety of many different scenes, which are mainly people running and being scared, this gives the impression that their is some sort of creature out their which is unstoppable. This makes the audience are very drawn into the trailer and would want to watch the film just too see what the creature looks like.

The location used is mostly on the street, the camera concentrates on the explosion and then we see a quick pan to the people on the street trying to save their lives by running away from what they do not know is happening. These shots are used to show us the reaction of the people on the street. They are viewed differently to give that realistic feel by using a point of view shot as well as a hand-held camera to give a very real view of what is happening. These techniques were used even at the birthday party before the explosions have taken place.

As the director was filming to make everything look so real, the lighting used was very natural however, it was all at night, so it was dark and that did make the action even more horrifying.

Overall, this trailer is conventional but in many different ways. I think that the use of the different shots and camera movements and techniques adds more realism to the film and makes it more interesting. It also makes it conventional as a thriller film as it also uses the right music to go with each situation and camera shot movements. The dark lighting and the night shots are also successful in adding mysteriousness and horror to the film which again makes it conventional.

The Game Trailer

2009-09-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

The main character is introduced in his office with the addition of him driving a posh car, which immediately tells the audience that he is of a high status.

The way we are introduced to the main character signifies that something creepy is happening or is bound to happen. This is because there are more than one fade to black shots and the continuous silence.

The lighting used almost thorughout the whole film is very dark. This adds suspense to the film as well as a bit of horror. The darkness signifies that something unclear is happening. This draws to the audience's attention and makes them wanting to keep watching.

The echoes used many times throughout the film reflect on what the actual characters say in the trailer make it seem like a puzzle plot. The echo adds to the importance of what they are saying as if they are clues to solve the puzzle, the echoes also makes the audience think.

There is no clear voice-over but things being said by the characters are used like voice-overs and are also echoed, again giving a sense of mysteriousness.

We are introduced to the characters through what they say and that is how we are then introduced to the narrative. What we hear and what we see is combined together. This makes the film seem like a puzzle and we are given hints for us to solve the puzzle, this links back to the title of the film itself.
The trailer leaves a lot of questionss unanswered. This makes the audience want to watch more to solve the puzzle of the film.

Towards the end of the trailer, the pace increases rapidly. This leaves more questions unanswered and so this is how the trailer promotes the film. It leaves the audience curious.

The final shot of the trailer is a cliff hanger. The main character is drowning in his car and we don't know if he will survive or die! As the chracter is drowning he says, "it's only a game." Before this shot we heard a voice over of a man saying, "they make your life fun" this quote was said at the beginning of the trailer and was repeated at the end with an echo. The quote is also connected to what the character is saying while drowning. However, the audience can only find out how if the they watch the whole film.

The convention which makes this film very appealing is the way the whole story turns out to be a 'game' in the end. Which leads to the second convention being this not revealing in the trailer otherwise, the film would not succeed. Like every other thriller film trailer, this one follows the fast and slow paced music with the addition of fast paced edited shots. Overall, this trailer does follow thriller conventions.

Eagle Eye Trailer

2009-09-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

The opening scene of the trailer Eagle Eye starts off by one of the main characters making a serious statement 'You got to make a choice fellas, who you gonna be, boys or men'. This instantly draws in the attention of the audience as it used at the beginning deliberately because it is strongly linked to the choices that have to be made by the main characters in film. The lighting is dark which suggests that something mysterious might be happening.There is a lot of tension within the opening scene, the non-diagetic sound makes the scene even more serious. The fade to black editing also adds to the tension because it shows the audience the facial expression of the characters. The music then drops and it shows us that they are playing cards. This adds humour to the opening scene and shows you that a lot of the scenes from the film could be unexpected.

Another key shot in the trailer is when the main character opens the door to his house. The camera shot is a CCTV shot of him coming into the house. This shows him at a weak position due to the high angle shot. The diagetic sound of the character breathing heavily shows the audience that he is scared and nervous. The narrative of a women speaking to the main character is introduced to the film this shows us the directness of her speech 'You must flee the premises', the voice almost sounds robotic. This gets the audience thinking who is this women and how does she know whats coming. Also the narrative of the FBI is also introduced this also shows us the directness of their speech 'get down'. The pace of the trailer increases and decreases then increases again this keeps the audience drawn in. The trailer uses a lot of fade to black editing this shows the audience the multiple narratives and makes the audience more easy to think that there is a shift in time, this is mainly used to put in a lot of information and emotion in a very short space of time.

The trailer also introduces to us another main character. We see that the female character receives the a phone from the same person who called the other main character. This scene shows us the female characters son on the T.V. We hear the character breathing heavily. This shows us that she is scared and nervous and does not know what to expect. The overall feel of the film from the trailer makes the audience seem confused because they don't know what is happening and who is doing all this. The main dialogue in the trailer is the robotic voice of the women giving the main characters instructions on what to do next. The sound of explosions and the sirens of the police all add tension and suspence to the trailer. This leaves the audience wanting more. The important key events of the film are shown, this helps draw the audience in. The main moments of tension in the trailer is when the male character enters his house and sees all these things in his house. Another moment of tension in the trailer is when the female character sees her son on T.V and she is scared. This all leaves the audience wanting answers for their questions, they want to see whose controlling the main characters and what happens to them.

The key aspects of the trailer that promotes the film is the fact that a well established actor is used in the film and the special effects; explosion and fighting. Towards the end of the trailer the music gets louder and faster this is also same for the pace of the film. A lot of information is given to the audience at the end of the film in very fast paced shots. This mainly adds suspence. There is a cliffhanger at the end of the trailer, this shows the audience a lorry coming towards the male character. This tells us that we don't know if he survives and keeps the audience wanting more. The trailer leaves you at the edge of your seat and makes you want to watch the film. The final shot of the trailer shows the title of the film 'Eagle Eye'. The font of the title looks robotic and this links back to the robotic voice of the women.

The conventions Eagle Eye uses add success to the film as it makes it fit into a thriller genre really well. For example the dark lighting and the shots filmed at night time is a convention that Eagle Eye follows very well. It adds to the thriller scenes and adds a bit of horror which makes it seem more real. Another example is the combination of fast and slow paced music used appropriately to suit the mood of each character in a specific situation, whether it's when they are on their own thinking or trying to escape something or some. Finally a convention that this film trailer follows is the lead role being a male. This also meets the audience's expectations.

The Prestige Trailer

2009-09-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

We are introduced to 'The Prestige' by a close-up of a gun held by a woman. After this shot we see the first magic trick as pointed out by one of the characters... " Magic..!" This instantly gives an insight to the audience that the film revolves around magic.

The colours of the props used in the film are very attractive as they are dark and bold colours like the royal red curtain. Those colours go with the style and plot of the film very well as magicians alwayz tend to use dark, bold colours!
The lighting used throughout the film tends to be dark. Darkness indicates something 'dim' is happening throughout the film that the audience will most probably find out about towards the end of the film which throughout makes the audience wanting to watch it all. This makes the audience more curious on finding out what it happening.

The non-diegetic sound of thunder is used to present finality and importance. The non-diegetic music is used in the background almost throughout the whole trailer. Eventhough it is not loud in every shot it is however used effectively to signify danger and suspense.

The voicer-over is also used productively along with the music to raise tension. The sounds of the reactions made by the audience watching the magic in the film is used well as it could reflect on how the actual audience of the film are reacting.
Towards the end of the film the music gets louder as well as the pace of the moving shots.

The characters of the film are introuduced throughout the trailer in different shots, each presenting their own magic trick or something similar on stage. This informs the audience of what each characters role is in the film.
The voice-over used in the film gives the audience more information of what they're seeing in the trailer. The way the film starts very slowly and without any music and then the pace of the film increases and the music gets louder also makes people want more of the film and is also conventional.
The titles of the trailer keep transforming like a magic trick. This gives a good connection to the story of the film as well as its brand identity.

There is no final shot to the film but a rapid montage is used at the end. This is conventional as most thriller trailers must contain fast editing shots along with fast paced music. This adds more effect to certain 'thriller' situations. This is one of the conventions that almost all thriller film trailers must follow in order to succeed. Another element of' 'The Prestige' that is successful is the dark colours they use. This is used with props, costumes and lighting. Dark lighting is also a crucial convention of thriller trailer. It adds a mystery to what is happening and makes the audience think something is hidden or is going to unveil unexpectedly. Overall, this film trailer does follow most conventions successfully.

The Panic Room Trailer

2009-09-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

The trailer starts off with the introduction of the main characters. This is so the audience are let in to their lives and the main reason behind them getting to the house which has 'The Panic Room'.

The first couple of shots of the trailer are used to establish the location of the film, so the audience are instantly informed where it has been set.

The elements used throughout the trailer make it a very conventional thriller. The way the characters are introduced very quietly and slowly. The fade to black shots at the beginning also add to the mysteriousness of the thriller. The pace of the trailer then starts speeding after the main issue of the film 'The Panic Room' is discovered. The thriller music then starts in the background and everything in the trailer starts becoming faster. This is how it puts people on the edge of their seats.

The voices used in the film are almost in a whispering tone, this gives the trailer more of a horrifying feel. That along with the continuous use of dim lighting adds more of a creepiness to the film and leaves the audience almost waiting for something bad to happen.

The editing techniques used throughout the trailer also adheres to the conventions of a thriller film. The fast pace shots used towards the ending of the trailer finish with a slow motion shot which again leaves the audience on the edge of their seat as they want the innocent characters to escape from what they are running from. Additionally, the cliffhanger used at the end leaves the audience wanting to see more.

The way the film is mainly set in a house and then that specific room is very conventional. As thriller/horror films always want to give the audience the feeling that they are trapped in one place and it will not be easy to get out of it safely. So overall, I think this trailer successfully adheres to most of thriller film conventions.

Brand Identity

2009-09-15T01:16:00.001-07:00

Brand identity is what the owner wants to communicate to his potential consumers. Over time the brand identity may evolve gaining new attributes from consumer perspective. Effective brand names build a connection between the brand personality as it is perceived by the target audience and the actual product.

The reason why brand identity is important to us is because we want our potential consumers to recognise the uniqueness of our products. This is only possible when a coherent style and themes are kept throughout the process of making a film.

The way in which we are going to display our brand identity is by keeping a coherent style, by following certain rules such as, keeping the font the same style and using the same colour scheme throughout all of the media texts such as moving image, print based and our logo.

Our brand identity's main theme is to show the most iconic places of London in every product made for our film like the magazine, the poster campaign and the trailer. We show the unglamorous side of London glossed over by tourism and consumerism. Some of our scenes were shot in gritty places such as subways, alleyways in White Chapel, ect. This choice of brand identity was chosen deliberately to show the side of London that most tourists do not get to see. We kept that side of 'mysterious London' in our posters where we placed eyes at the tops of the poster and added effects to dim the lighting of the locations.

We have done this by using the same font on the titles of the film trailer as well as the writing on the posters and the magazine cover. The colours used in the ancillary tasks such as the red, black and the overall dullness of all the posters and the magazine is coherent to the dim lighting used throughout the trailer itself. This is all so that our products can become recognisable from far, to all audiences.