This is the poster for our film. We have taken in all of our research to complete it and make it look as professional as possible, and as eye catching but simple as we could. With the white background it brings out the one simple picture and the writing we have on it. The writing is minimalistic so it doesn't bore the viewer.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Our Poster
Poster research- Writing
The writing on posters is very important, as this is the thing that grabs the onlooker along with any pictures that are on the poster.
The Film Title
The title of the film is usually in the biggest font and the important words in bold. When researching we have found that most film posters change their font, boldness and colour for different words. For example in ‘The Proposal’ the word ‘The’ is in a black, thin normal font, as it is not seen as being as important as the word ‘Proposal’ which is in a bright red, bold and bigger font as this tells the viewer the main story line of the film even though it is just one word. The positioning of this title is in the middle on the right side of the frame and this gives it even more importance, as it is eye-catching and so draws your attention into the poster. In ’50 First Dates’ the same style of writing is used with the difference in boldness and colour in order of importance to the film. ‘50’ is in black and is bold so the viewer sees this first and because it has been written in number form it’s easier to read and so more people will look at it. ‘First’ is in red which could symbolize danger or love as red is associated with these things. Having ‘Dates’ last in white shows purity and also that this word isn't as shocking as the first two. Having only three words for a title brings people in as it is easy on the eyes and people don’t have to think about it much. This title has been positioned differently to the other poster as it is at the bottom middle of the frame; but because it is still bright and bold people can still see it and understand that this is the title to the film they want to watch.
Credits.
On the poster for ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ there is only one main name above the film title as Reese Witherspoon is the main character and, at the time the film came out, the most successful and known actor in the film. The names and jobs of the rest of the crew are at the bottom of the poster in what is known as a Billing Block, in a different colour to show that these people are different from the actors. It is also hard to read the names mainly because viewers don’t know the names listed. These names don’t influence whether they watch the film or not whereas the names of famous actors and actresses do. In ‘The Break-up’ the writing is much more simple, as the two main characters’ names are in white at the top of the poster in not a big font so they don’t stand out at you as much as some other film actors’ names do on their posters. The other peoples’ names are the same as the other poster and all the different posters we have looked at; they are at the bottom in a small font in a different colour to the rest of the writing, in an Industry-standard Billing Block.
Other Text.
Most film posters have other additional text, such as what other successful, well known films the director has made. However we can’t do this on our film poster as this is our first film. Also they have a sentence or just a couple of words for the viewer to read and think about either when they watch the film or in their own life. This is known as a ‘Tag Line.’ For example in ‘No Strings Attached’ there is a tag line between the two characters in white, and in a font that is smaller than the rest, which reads “Friendship has it’s benefits” so it give more clues to the film but doesn't give too much away. Another thing we have found that most film posters have quotes and comments that viewers of important industries have given. On the ‘Love Actually’ poster these are very big in just two colours, black and red to keep in with the Christmas theme and memorable colours to link with this film. Some of the more important words like “Unmissable” are in bold and some of the really important writing has been made bigger and is in red like “10/10”. We will have to put a couple of quotes on our poster to draw more peoples’ attention but we have to keep it neat and in theme. Finally, at the bottom of every film poster it says when the film is coming out to the cinemas so we can watch it or that it is coming out soon in a different colour or just simply in a bold font; we shall have this on our poster as well..
Poster research
On most romantic film posters there is normally a male and female character so even from looking at the cover we can assume that there will be a romantic theme or at least know that they are the main characters. For example in ‘What Happens in Vegas’ there is only a picture of the two main characters on a plain white background. This has your focus only on the couple. It also helps that the picture fills the whole of the poster to show the story will be following their actions. The white background looks nice and simple and because of this we are going to have a plain background to show the simple characteristics and pureness of the male, as he’s still so young. Also in ‘Titanic’ there’s a photo of the protagonists with a slight fade as they’re at the top of the poster with a picture of the boat filling up the rest. This tells the viewer what is important in the film and from the expression on the actors’ faces, plus the fact that they are facing away from each other, the events aren’t all happy. We shall take the emotion on the faces to our poster as well as it will show that our film won’t always be happy.
Some of the romantic posters just have one actor, as they’re alone and the storylines are about how alone they are and how they deal with it. ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ has a photo of the main male character, filling most of the page, looking sad. He is holding a cartoon love heart that is broken and has cracks in it. This symbolizes how big his love was for the girl and how broken his heart is now. By having just him on the cover, we know he’s going to be a sad character, perhaps comically so. ’27 Dresses’ the female fills the screen again with a cartoon dress. By having the cartoons it also brings a lighter feel to the film and shows it could be comedic yet still dealing with heavy topics of feelings and emotions. Both of these posters have the picture placed on a white background so they stand out and show the simplistic theme of love. We are going to have our male character on a white background on his own to show these things.
comments from the public
"The music has great effect on this film clip."
"I like how the guy and the girl fade in and out..."
"A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! .... Helps to leave it on a cliff hanger"
"... I want to see the whole film now!"
Heres some print screens from facebook of some of the comments as well; We had to clear any names from them for identity protection:
Friday, 6 May 2011
Feedback From The Public
Sarah Legg: I find this film very interesting, and intriguing, the fact that you don’t know if the girl is alive makes me want to watch it further, the blurred flashbacks are very effective in making the audience understand it’s a memory, I like the over the shoulder shot at the end as he is walking because it makes me feel like I’m following him into the film not knowing what’s going to happen.
Caitlin O’Shea: Genius, I like the fades they’re a nice touch. Yes very emotion provoking. I would love to see the rest. Yes lovely film opening. Well done.
Lewis Peak: very good film opening and it has a lot of potential to be an actual film. A wide range of shots that helps brings closeness to the character. Very awesome plot. And music fits perfectly with it. Hope there is a part 2.
7. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to the full task?
As a team we all decided that filming in Manchester city centre was the best location to film. In the first attempt of the final task we had a number of different location all of which, save one, was unsuccessful in producing a good, professional sequence. We found that the best key location to use was the canal located near Piccadilly train station. This location was perfect as not many people travel there and the scene looks isolated, a prime location for our romantic genre.
The fact we had footage from a previous attempt of a main task meant that we could use that footage in certain sections of a final attempt. For example the first flash back of both of the protagonists in a park was actually an outtake from the first attempt. This piece of footage was used as a very positive memory and became a core section of our opening.
Both the preliminary task and main task share the same type of genre, as the preliminary task had a romantic feel as is it based on a typical ‘brake up’ story line, our main task is more complex as it is after the mishap (which the audience is unaware of how it has occurred yet) and our male protagonist is drifting in and out of the real world and the ‘memory world’ thinking back to a better time.
As the progression from the preliminary task to the main task, we have learnt a great deal more about editing and adding excited and interesting effects; including playing a separate piece of footage over another to look like a memory. That was the most interesting effect that was placed into the sequence as it looks like a film studio effect rather then As level standards.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Another device that we used is the sound track we used for our film. We used a media sound track of the song called Aftermash by the band Thirteen Floors, which is perfect for the dream like atmosphere of our opening sequence.
For the camera we learned how to use a rig steady cam in order to take the tracking shot of the male protagonist walking through the isolated section of Manchester.
The more we used file cut pro the more we realized about the number of effects could be added to our shots, for example we learned that we could deepen the contrast of color in the ‘present time’ shots of Matthew in the city by himself. It was here that we realized the sunny weather was very important in our shots, as the deepened contrast mixed when the brightness of the sun made everything have a dark and gloomy atmosphere that, we felt, reflected the emotions of our male character. This made it difficult for us as we had to film on two different days so making sure that it was the right weather was crucial. The contrast effects also made it look more like a professional film rather then a low budget video that we feel has a higher chance of grabbing the audience’s attention.
In conclusion, the experience that we have learned about how editing technology can be used to create unique effects that we choose such as the echo effect of the memory and the second footage played over the tracking shot. Using the camera technology helped us greatly in creating a unique line of shot for the construction of our final project. It has also taught us about the errors that can be caused through editing or camera work, which helped realize what we need to do in case we use the software or equipment again.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
Tall buildings, cars charging through the streets, different types of people walking, talking, shopping. A lonely boy sat on a cold bench with vast emptiness surrounding him. The news of the day is the only thing to keep him from reminding him of his past, of his loss, of his love…
This is how we grab the viewer’s attention in the opening of our first scenes in our film. The audience for our film is females ages 12-30 with the certificate of 12A; even though it’s a large range 12 year olds will love this new modern chick flick and so it will become a classic and older women will still love and watch it. It also appeals to the younger generations of girls because we have an attractive male main character that they can feel sorry for, as he’s lost his first love and thinks it’s the end of the world. Many teenage girls go through bad break ups and get upset and down about them so even though our character is male they can relate to him and see how he gets over his loss or just stays captured in his depression.
The music we have playing in our opening sequence has a vintage feel to it and yet it still sounds contemporary. This will make the viewers’ ears tune into it and yet still make them involved in the action that is taken place on the screen. The parallel music helps enforce the sadness and loneliness the boy is feeling.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be categorized ‘12A’ for generally the female audience. As the genre would be a romantic it would appeal to the female audience rather than the men, therefore the film could be released at the same time as a male targeted film this way more money could be made as there is no other female targeted films available. The film contains a mature theme, with the use of strong language and sexual reference could be implied later in the film, this would be unsuitable for children under the age of 12 years old, however it is a 12A therefore the parents can decide whether they want their child to watch the film.
for more information on what consists in a 12A film click on the hyperlink below:
http://www.cbbfc.co.uk/guidelines12-12a.asp
3. What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?
‘500 hundred days of summer’ and ‘P.S. I love you’ are some films that our similar to ours. ‘500 hundred days of summer’ has the production company Fox which is large popular company and was nominated for 2 golden globes which are best motion picture (musical or comedy) and best performance while ‘P.S. I love you’ is produced by Alcon entertainment which is a smaller company despite this small company the film won the audience award for best actress in the Irish film and television awards and was nominated for golden trailer for best romance and best romance poster in the golden trailer awards. These production and distribution companies wouldn’t produce or distribute our film as it is of a low budget, but some low budget British companies that may are working title films which produced films in the romantic genre such as ‘Sliding Doors’ and ‘Notting hill’ which also did very good in the cinema for example ‘Notting hill’ was nominated for 3 golden globes. So it is possible that they might produces our media project and the popularity of previous films of the same genre and production company would make the audience want to see the it more. Our project could be marketed by having posters on buses so the maximum amount of people will see it or even be advertised in schools so the targeted audience will be attracted.