STORYBOARD

The purpose of a storyboard is for characters to know where they re going to be positioned and for how long, also for the camera man to understand what shots are going to be produced and filmed. I drew up my storyboard and included all the shots that i want to include within my trailer. Take a look at my shot listing to see in detail every shot that has been allocated to the camera man, for him to film. 

ACTORS

The following are my actors and actresses within my trailer and the starring of my movie. 

This is Daniel Davidson, he plays the role of my detective.Through choosing him i am able to challenge typical detective types. Most traditional detectives are middle aged and 'mundane', i wanted to show Dan as educated and as reliable as all other detectives. he is more of a modern agent, although he hasn't got the years of experience like others that are older then him do, he is still as confident and eager to get the job done. The young character shows more enthusiasm towards his job then other profound detectives e.g Colombo,  he makes murder and deaths seem like typical, repetitive everyday happenings. My character is not only intelligent but just as wise, so i chose to challenge age through allocating Daniel the role.

Dawn Cope is my protagonist character, the one that escapes from prison. I chose her specifically yet again to challenge key themes and issues within the society we are living in. Women are seen as physically inferior and less able then men, here i have presented a female that has not only physically escaped from prison, but has managed to be on the run for two years. I wanted to challenge these ideas so that my audience ask how a female is able to escape under such circumstances. This encourages my female audience to grow confidence in themselves and encourage them to have high limits, generally in life and within the society they live in. All of this shows 'Girl Power'. The audience are disgusted in the crimes  that she has committed  but aspire to her ability to do the almost impossible, this contrast leaves the audience with mixed emotions towards her but cannot ignore her bravery throughout all.   

I play a second detective in the investigation of finding the prisoner. My role is simple, i state the obvious within the trailer and quote 'But its only one girl', this being the reflection and voice of the viewers, i am the voice of reason within the film but only a glimpse of me is shown in my trailer. I chose to include this section in my trailer so that the chief detective can clarify the importance of tracking the prisoner down, this educates my audience of how much of a risk it is. My main detective is a male and me being a female equals out gender roles. Women are as able as men to work in the police force and it is not a male dominated job, in day time television or crime shows men are always lead in investigations, i wanted to yet again challenge these stereo-types and form a movie that goes against the conventional's.

Anna Sabina is playing the part of my detectives wife, she is also briefly included within my trailer but plays a major part in the movie. I chose her as she looks good with Daniel and is of a similar age to him, also because they seem like each others type and work well together in a professional environment. Anna's time schedule met mine, so it made sense to choose her as an actress and allocate her with this role. She has taken up drama before so i saved time in terms of her ability to act and follow my instructions, this helped me gather the shots i needed at a rapid pace.

All of the above-including me- are young actors, i purposely chose to do this to capture my target my audience's attention, as they are also young. They are able to reflect and compare themselves with the actors making them form a personal relationship and opinion on each character; extending the excitement of my movie release. Also, they might understand the decisions that are made in my trailer as viewers might have a similar mindset and agree with certain plans or despise others, but yet form emotion towards every element, concluding in them watching my film.

FILM POSTER

This is a sketch of my film poster, i am missing a critic's slogan but i shall create one. The prisoner is on the side of the screen showing that she is not the main attention here, followed by Daniel the detective looking directly at the viewers he is the one solving the mystery. I hope you like it so far.

I planned to make my film poster different to my magazine article, apart from the fact that magazines and posters are a different form of media. i wanted to portray a range of skill, i used a variety of effects for the title 'Dark Days'. The grey, metallic font follows the prison theme of entrapment and darkness, this is further shown through the name of my film 'Dark'. 

The prison gates are a peek preview of the events that are going to take place within my film. I chose this background above a simple coloured background as it is visually more appealing and fits with the mis en scene included in my trailer. It also appeals to my target audience of young adults aged between as the image shows mystery and crime, something every young person, regardless of gender is fascinated in. 

I have included a critic from The Guardian newspaper as it is a profound article that reviews news well and underlines every detail of every case it looks at. For me, to quote an opinion of my film from this newspaper makes my film seem news worthy and entertainment worthy. This also helps with the advertising of my film as it generates a wider audience; some people might hear of my film through the poster, others through The Guardian- a daily newspaper they read. My primary audience are those that are of a working class, the paper helps to build a mass audience including middle class members of society. This occurs when they read there daily paper and discover 'DARK DAYS'- my film. They trust the information the Guardian provides, so therefore they will believe the quote ' Best movie of the year', making it a up most priority for my secondary audience to watch it. 

Summer is a time of vacation and relaxation for most, this means a time for a trip to the cinema! i have decided to release my film in this season mainly because my target audience may work or study at a high level and need a break 

EDITING SO FAR

My construction is going towards plan and i finally have all the filming finished to proceed with officiant and organised editing. From AS, i have taken on board valuable skills and basic understand of editing and i plan to take this to the next level up and position myself as a real editor working for a film company. So far, i have edited parts of my introduction but have not come up with any sound i think is appropriate with my clips. My aim is to look for inspiration online from trailers such as Law Abiding Citizen and other criminal based adverts. Premier Pro is a software that i am comfortable with, i have arranged for my editing to be done section at a time and have split my work into three specific sections: first, the opening-introduction of characters and setting- second, the main action and third, my finale and climax.. all done to show the main parts within my film. I plan to use my time wisely and do at least one hour of editing a day, at this rate i will meet my deadline date and deliver worthy work.   

POSTER CONVENTIONS

Posters and trailers have been used to promote films for many years, but the nature of film marketing and promotion has changed a great deal since the 1990’s. However, posters are still a vital part of the marketing process, so it is always worthwhile studying their key conventions. 

• An eye catching image or images- often related to characters (and the stars in the film) or the setting of the film.
• The title of the film: carefully constructed in terms of font style, colour, size and placement: a lot of thought goes into the title – it is meant to be memorable, and also suggest the genre of the film.
• A tagline for the film- which is like the catchy slogan of advertisements – offering another clue to the genre and main themes or content of the film.
• The names of well –known or key people connected to the film. These are usually the lead actors but may also be the director of producer.
• Critic review (for example. Empire magazine) giving their comments such as ‘an unmissable film’
• Details of any awards nominations or awards that the film has already won. These will be placed clearly on the poster.
• The production blurb – information, in tiny print, that lists the production and distribution companies as well as other information.

CALL SHEETS/ ORGANISATION

This is standard procedure, a list of who, when and what time the filming and actors/actresses can proceed. 

EXPERIMENTING WITH FONT ON PHOTOSHOP

I was experimenting with Photoshop's effects and what it had to offer. My final heading is significantly different to these, but from this experimentation i learnt how to rotate images and play with the fonts.
Before i had my final title and was going through the creation process, i asked myself several questions:

• Which of these fonts do you think matches my genre the best?
• Which of these fonts is easiest to read?

I also took a look at www.dafont.com, which is in my eyes a profound 'art font' website it has thousands of font styles to choose from. However, i decided to originate my font as my ideas were distinctive and dafont.com did not provide what i was looking for despite its range of choices.  

Please let me know your ideas and inform me of any questions you may have.

FILM MAGAZINE COVER

This is my sketch of my film cover, my layout was my first priority. My title, STUDIO is obviously at the top, followed by the structure of everything else. Through my inspirations i managed to come up with the text i wanted.

This is my my final magazine film cover, it took me approximately three days in total. I decided to use Photoshop as it helped me create my fades and effects on my background image, it was my first time using this editing software and i have learnt some key skills. I now know how to enter text, rotate it to the angle i like and create the colours that are specific to my theme. I have gone for many colours so it is presented clearly on the page. I initially started with orange and grey and moved onto my purple, green and white. The bold yellow text stands out to advertise the preview and feature film clearly. I believe i have showed a significant amount of skill and am proud it will sell to my target audience. The colours attract young adults, the language is informal but yet flexible, the images are bright and bold but yet fade at the same time. Finally, the limited edition makes them want a copy before it runs out.

I planned to use a blackberry bar code that links to a pin for my magazine article. This would be efficient as my consumers are up to date with latest news on films and they even get extra benefits such as event invitations as they are a member. Also, it would make my magazine contemporary, so its stands out from others on the shelf.

NAME OF FILM MAGAZINE

My aim is to create a Film magazine cover, but first and foremost i must think of a name to create on my piece. I came up with a few names after being inspired by other film magazines.
List of Potential names:

D.STUDIO- I imagined this would be a creative and unique name as it has the initials of my first name followed by 'STUDIO' which relates to film. It would immediately establish the genre of my magazine to my readers.
FILMED- I am a fan of this name because its simple and relevant. But it can come across as mundane and fade into the background if a potential buyer was looking at a pile of magazines on a shelf and compared names.
REEL FILM- I created this one when i was on Google looking for reel's and thought that this title/name might work.
CINE-FILM- As you can imagine i abbreviated the word cinema and placed it next to film, slightly ironic but still fur fills its purpose of being a film magazine.

I didn't want to make it specific for one genre to try and keep my fan base as big as possible.
I asked my target audience, young adults- that being my class mates- to see what name they preferred and would buy. The results were surprising. I drew up a tally chart:

D.STUDIO      
 
 



FILMED





REEL FILM




CINE-FILM
NONE


As you can see D.STUDIO won by far and everyone was in clear favour to it. But while playing with font on Photoshop i decided to call it STUDIO as it looks better in contrast to my effects.
STUDIO it is! Thanks for your help everyone

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

DATE	TIME	WHAT AND WHERE	WHAT WE WILL NEED
1/04/2013	4:00pm	Film Dawn in School	Costume, Camera, Tripod, handcuffs. Make sure lighting is correct
10/04/2013	5:00pm	Film Daniel in Class room	Costume, Camera, Tripod.
23/04/2013	4:00pm	Film Daniel in office and streets outside	Costume, Camera, Tripod, brief case and paper work. Correct lighting
24/04/2013	7:00pm	Film Dawn in escape mode. Outside and in house	Costume, Computer, Camera, Tripod. Correct lighting
25/04/2013	6:00pm	Film Dawn and Daniel outside	Camera, Tripod, Costume, Correct lighting

TIME MANAGEMENT

DATE/DEADLINES	TASK
18/01/2013	Create blog and choose brief
19/01/3013	Brief chosen. Now researching similar existing products
20/01/2013	Researching target audience
22/01/2013	Look into new media types and complete cross section media advertising section of research
08/02/2013	ALL RESEARCH TO BE FINISHED TODAY
09/02/2013	Start plan and finish ideas for trailer
10/02/2013 11/02/2013 12/02/2013 13/03/2013 14/03/2013 15/03/2013 19/03/2013 20/03/2013 1/04/2013 2/04/2013 10/04/2013 15/04/2013 23/04/2013 23/04/2013	Begin location planning Sketch initial magazine idea learn about Photoshop  Ideas for poster Plan shooting schedule and start on call sheets plan filming time and boost skills on Premier Pro Plan for filming- order costume of Amazon Film Dawn (PRISONER) Edit scenes Film Daniel (DETECTIVE) Edit scenes Start building sound Make ancillary product- Magazine Make ancillary product-poster   Evaluation and finish other tasks for the 1st

CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE

Good afternoon young bloggers!

Apart from my main task I have to produce two additional ancillary products, these include a poster for our film and a front-page of a magazine.  So first things first, I must find out conventions for all of these and inform you on the different types of posters and magazines out there.

For this, my focal concern is to find out more about film magazine front covers, I already know some background knowledge from AS, although Nuts magazine is a 'lads mag', making it a different genre from a film magazine, however it still meets up with certain expected conventions. I have been brain storming and looking for inspiration to include in my piece and have found quite a few good examples.

My initial strategy was to find out conventions of a magazine with this information i am able to see the visual layout of a magazine and how it breaks and meets with expectations from its readers. My starting point is here, magazines are there to sell, every magazine provides a different type of service. For example wedding magazines provide potential venues and dresses etc. Hair magazines will provide hair styles and hair colours so that readers are able to choose or become inspired with a particular hair cut. Also my all time favourite, gossip magazines! there purpose is to be subjective in fashion garment, spontaneous in there writing and deliver celebrity highlights. They usually gather the most famous celebrities and place them on the front covers, my personal addictions would have to be OK magazine or heat, but every person has a certain taste and the front cover reveals all. Point being, the magazine name and figure stays the same the front cover and feature varies in every edition. Each magazine varies in price to meet with social class and status of the reader, for example VOGUE magazine costs £4.99, this is aimed at those in the middle to upper class interested in fashion, it is one of the more expensive magazines available and the quality of manufacture and paper also highlights this. Finally the longer a magazine has been around, the more it has the potential to become a global success and a British classic. 

Traditional layout and conventions of a film magazine front cover: 

They usually start with a mast head, this is the straight line above the title. This can advertise offers, or an interesting captions, this depends on the type of film magazine it is. 

Secondly, its the colour pallet each magazine has its own colour scheme that represents its originality. This includes the type of fonts a magazine might use, some may use one define font type, others might use a variety to show a creative effect that sponsors its originality. Colours that contrast like yellow and purple help to compliment each other and appeals to potential buyers. The last thing you want to portray is a colour scheme that clashes and disturbs a readers eyesight. Size of font is important to make certain text stand out. 

Film magazines keep there audience as wide as possible, they attract all classes and genders, simply because everybody is interested in movies, its a integrated hobby. 

Each cover has a main body image, this can be creative and over lap with the title or be placed in a creative position on the page with effects (black and white). The hero shot, always looks directly at the audience to ultimately make the readers a personal target. 

A bar code, price and date also some include a issue number is vital for selling purposes but also informs the readers of the price and date of issue. Typically these are placed in the corner of a magazine in smaller size font in comparison to everything else on the page. This is done so that the readers start by looking at the images and features and become hooked, so that when they find the price tag they are determined to by it at any expense. The readers think the magazine is worth when it is the last thing they place there eyes on. 

The type of language a magazine decides to use is very important on grasping attention of the readers, for example words like 'inside' 'exclusive' 'starring' instantly intrigues the audience into reading the content of the magazine. 

Some may include puffs and inside those may say 'voted magazine of the year' etc. This simply is a certificate of achievement, impressing the readers and also making them want to find out for themselves the reason behind the success rate of the magazine. This makes a magazine seem more attractive in comparison to others. 

This is Total Film magazine and they are featuring King Kong in there front cover. This clearly justify's there target audience, simply those that are interested in film on a deeper level, for example producers insights characters thoughts of the film. Also it is aimed at King Kong fans that want to read into the film and are interested in the images the magazine will provide inside. The magazine is visually enhanced in many ways. One particular way is through its colours, the bright yellow immediately becomes eye catching and stands out from other magazines on the shelf. The designer has clearly taken into consideration its competition against other magazines and its need to sell and ultimately make profit. Yellow is the brightest colour on there, therefore the caption 'ULTIMATE WINTER PREVIEW' is the main purpose and selling point of the magazine.   

I have chosen this magazine as it is a film magazine  but the culture it is aimed at is global. It attracts the Indian/ Asian culture as Aishwarya Rai features in Asian movies, but the fact that it is written in English and sold in England means that other cultures are interest and connected to these type of movies. The golden, copper colour scheme makes her look important and valuable, readers are meant to immediately notice this. Also she is a profound actress in Asian culture, so much so that she has been in English and American films such as, Pride And Prejudice. 

Sherlock Holmes is a well known established detective, the colour scheme of blue and his simple glancing facial expression seems to  show him as a 'cool' individual. They use an ironic feature as blue represents 'cool' and they highlighted this through the use of there statement sentence '10 COOLEST'. He is meant to be a character everyone admires and likes. I'm sure fans of Sherlock would stick that image on there wall. The use of white and blue compliments there theme. Also the designer has decided to use other smaller images across the top, this doesn't make the cover look cluttered, but actually tries to attract more readers by presenting other films and included in the magazine. A clever way to get more customers! 

I have many ideas now on the type of layout and magazine i want to produce, i would like to attract my target audience of teenagers and young adults. 

DISTRIBUTION

Production logos and distribution logos are always included in film trailers, whether they appear in the beginning, middle or end.  These are there to promote the companies and inform the audience of who has produced the film.  This can also indicate to the audience what type of genre the film is as companies usually stick to the same genre types. This can also suggest the budget of the film, due to the size for the company and therefore the audience can decide whether or not it will be a huge production (in terms of quality) or not.

From the trailer of ‘Looper’ the production and distribution logos are in the centre and they appear and fade away almost instantly. This is because the makers want to include as much action clips from the movie as possible to get people interested In the film, not taking up time showing logos, they want the trailer to be around two to three minutes long. Another reason for displaying the logos in the middle of the trailer is because this is the centre of the screen and where the audience will initially look at, grasping there full attention.  

                                             Tristar logo as shown in Looper

                                             FilmDistrict logo as shown in Looper

                                             End game logo as shown in Looper

In the film ‘Total Recall’ they also appear in the centre of the trailer, the only difference to Looper is Total Recall states ‘From Columbia Pictures’ (shown below) whereas Looper actually shows there logo. This only occurs for around two seconds as they want to include as many clips as possible for entertainment purposes, disinteresting the audience is the last thing they want to do!   

                                            Columbia pictures text as shown in Total Recal

The movie ‘Dredd’ has the distribution company right at the beginning of the trailer, which is different to the two previous examples as they hold there’s in the centre. This may gain them an extra audience as ‘LionsGate’ is a massive company and therefore can attract a wider range of the population, by seeing the company logos at the start of the trailer you also know what to expect because if they are a highly successful companies they will have a huge budget, resulting in the potential of the movie to be highly successful.  

                                              Lionsgate as it appears in Dredd 

From this gathered information i can now find what company will distribute my product, something i shall update you on. For now, good evening.  

                                  

LOCATION

Location was very difficult for me to find, i had to think rationally as i knew i was not able to film in a real prison institution. My aim was to find somewhere that visually looked like a prison or had certain qualities to one. My first stop was a grave yard centre that i knew of. I was faced with some practical issues, it did fit with the setting i mentally imagined, but the scary tales and negative connotations i heard heard about the graveyard made it almost impossible for me to film there with comfort and ease. From here, i chose to take my hunt elsewhere and that when creativity hit me! I chose to film at my own secondary school, Whitefield School. 

This is the smaller room within the Drama department, here i filmed the more active side of my trailer, this being Anna's capture-the detectives wife. I dimmed the lights and positioned my actresses to create the horror scene. Using various shots within that classroom and including cuts, i managed to make this the place of thrill and excitement for the viewers. Clearly i had to clear away anything that was evident and showed it was a classroom such as, chairs, tables and boards that had to be covered up. 

 The kitchen was my key location to show the relationship between the detective and his wife. Within my trailer, this section is seen in black and white and represents a flash back of the detective and his wife being happy and 'homely'. This is allocated in the food technology department within the school, but is presented as a kitchen to my viewers, within the detective's home. My kitchen and other kitchens were not available during filming times, so yet again my improvisation was a key factor to successfully portray a home and film it in a school environment.

 My time management for this location was a major factor, this is one of the most popular rooms within the School, the library. This room has many computers and is a study area for Sixth Form pupils. I had to book this room in advance for when i decided to film as it is always busy. After excluding many pupils, i filmed at the back of this room. The white walls gave me the opportunity to simply stick my map on and the table and have my detective seated right in front of it with his written research. This location was hard to film as the windows reflected light in a way that did not compliment the camera, i had to position my camera at certain angles just to get the shots i needed and for them to be clear.

 This is the specific place where my female protagonist escapes from. I chose this area of the school as it provides the highest gates, i  filmed the length of the gates just to show the almost impossible escape my prisoner made from them. I briefly used a long shot in my trailer so the audience were aware of the altitude incomparable to the height of my female character- the dramatic difference was shown here. This forces my audience to wonder how a young female, with no more then average height and body strength, was able to overcome this obstacle. This is where i challenged gender stereotypes of females being less physically able then men. I presented a women with the capability to climb these fences and mental stability to do so.

This is how my setting (establishing shot) looks during the day, but within my trailer i used lighting effects to make it darker and give a sense of gloom. These effects really helped to transform this place into a prison lookalike. Attention to mise-en-scene had to be taken on board, i tried to cut out the children playing in the court yard (just metres away) during my filming. My strategy worked and my location was successful, the school has bared gates and a play field seemingly similar to real established prisons and one's that are seen on Television. Also the concrete grey stoned flooring looks 'rough' and not taken care of, this shows a place where no one pays attention to decoration, making it look like a real prison establishment and a place of punishment.