Colours and connotations in my magazine

Layout for magazine

Magazine title ideas

I have decided after collecting feedback from my media class that the 4th masthead will be more effective to my target audience. The darker, antique looking colour gives the idea of films a platinum feel. The film reel in the background doesn't just fit in with the idea of films and cinemas but adds a unique, interesting, rememberable and eye catching image for the readers to see. Also with close tracking and leading it keeps the audiences attention alongside the catchy name of CINEMATIC. 

Mastheads are one of the most important things on the magazine alongside the content. This convention is expected to be seen by any audiences interested in magazine as it gives them an idea of the company which unlocks information about what style of magazine it is alongside what genres or content will be shown. 

Most mastheads are normally on the left third of the magazine to draw attention when on the shelf and being one of the first thing the audiences eyes see, showing its importance. They also can be placed directly in the centre spread across the page however to show importance also which is most likely seen on film magazines which i am going to bare in mind for my own magazine design as i will want to follow what is expected of a film magazine staying within the normal conventions and styles. A few examples of mastheads i have researched and viewed are below: 

Magazine Profile

Research into distribution of magazine- who might distribute yours?

Questionnaire results

Legal Responsibilities

Target Audience for magazine

Due to my film magazine containing different genres my target audience is widely spread from early teenage years to the late middle ages, due to it involving information on animations alongside horrors, romances, comedies. I want the magazine to be family, friendly attracting a wider range of ages.

Horror production title ideas

These are my first ideas for my horror production titles. The name 'AWOKEN' comes from the plot of my production (the dark legend/spirit that is unleashed after a little girl dabbles in the unknown). I believe a one word title creates a sharp intensity and leaves the audience questioning what the production is going to be about, it leaves them to think. Using colours such as red, white, grey and blacks, that are fitted with the genre of horror fits in with the conventions and will enable the public to have an idea of what the production will be like.

The first title idea is the one i prefer out of the three, the sharp and bold writing draws the eye in and with the red contrasted against the erie grey smoke background the words clearly stand out. With the shadowing effect behind the words of a white blur reminds the reader of supernatural elements which is a teaser of what the film is going to contain. The smoke effect background gives it more of an interesting but scary feel making it look much more eerie.

The second title idea is very dark and with the shadowing effect of the word it not only repeats the title for the audiences eye but makes it look scary due to the dark shadowing effect. Using the colours of red and black to fit in with the genre was my idea to draw in my target audiences interested in the specific genre. With the dark shadow behind the words makes it spooky while giving the title a much more interesting feel,

The third title, i like also because of the darkness of the background but the white ghostly smoke which creates not only an insight to the plot but a scary feel in that the audience will relate to the supernatural. The red i have used for the words i have chosen to be much darker to contrast against the background but to also make the whole title seem dark and mysterious.


I used the ideas for my title from the title of the production of mama, which i gave an analysis in my earlier research.

Magazine Questionnaire

Annotations of three front covers

Initial thoughts

Magazine Brief

To design and create an original film review magazine front cover to promote the release of my own production. I will be using my own images, original content and layout.

When would your film be exhibited in cinemas? Why?

Annotations of different horror titles

Below are some different titles for horrors, in which i have annotated as research to help me to come up with my own title style for my production. This has helped me to come up with many other ideas which I will use in the making of my trailer, magazine and poster ensuring that the title I will make maintains the stereotype of horror titles for my film title: AWOKEN.

Methods of Distribution

Methods of distribution from charlibellxxxxxxx

Researching similar products: 3 front covers analysis/annotations

Dyers Star theory and proposed celebrities

Dyers star theory

 The star theory comes from a man named Richard Dyer, it bring across the idea that celebrities and icons are created and manufactured by companies for profit only. Stars can be seen to show the normal stereotypical roles of women and men in society gaining a further interest from their fans as they show to share the same emotions. Celebrities can be shown for the ways in which they convince their representation of social roles and identity.
 In film celebrities are used to heighten our entertainment alongside making money for themselves and the company. Audiences that like a certain celebrity will watch the film becoming a bigger fan of the person. Companies that are creating a film make sure that they use well liked actors and actresses to make them a bigger profit. For example: A women may fancy and like Brad Pitt, by him being a well know actor in a lot of popular successful movies, seeing him in a new released film she will thrive to go and see it just for the simple fact he is in it.
  

Proposed celebrities for my production

 

 

Chloe Moretz

Aged 16

This actress is very popular in high demand for successful movies from a very young age. She has been in not only the new 2013 film Carrie but also Kick-Ass 2, Let me in, Hugo, Jack and the Beanstalk and many more. She has a massive fan base not only from her home town America but many other countries including England where my production will be created. Winning 12 awards and being put up for 22 nominations it is unquestionable that this actress will attract a lot of attention from the target audience. Although she is 16 I believe     she will be suitable for the role of Lily-Rose aged at around 11/12. Being a young star she will not only have the fan base of the younger generation (doing a voice over for animation Bolt 2008- Young Penny) but also have the older generation fan base from being not Dad (Honey). In relation to the star theory I think Chloe is an excellent example of how a person will go and see the new released film as they know she is a brilliant, popular actress who has been in a lot of successful popular movies. Being an actress in horror genre movies will also benefit my production as the audience will already know that she has acted in a horror movie that came out successful.

Jennifer Lawrence

Aged 23

Similar to Chloe Moretz this actress is on high demand for starring in films due to her success in many popular films such as the popular films of The Hunger Games, X-Men: First class, House at the end of the street, Silver Lining Playbook and many more. Being put up for approximately 50 nominations, winning 49 awards and achieving 1 Oscar it is clear to say that this actress will fit perfectly in to the Dyers star theory. With all of her attention from her massive fan base and also the fact she not only has important achievements but has many of them, which will make people like her further. Alongside this she has a big fan base from not only women but men as she was ‘One of people magazine’s Most Beautiful People in the world 2011’ and ‘Voted #46 on Ask men’s top 99 most desirable women of 2012’, this will be good for my film as it may involve the male audience to watch due to the sexual attraction to her. Although she is 23 she has played roles were she has acted as an older teenager which I think will fit in with the role of my teenage older sister in my production, acting in a horror before I believe Jennifer will take on my role perfectly. Lastly including the fact the two girls who are sisters in the film who I will have Jennifer and Chloe playing look quite closely alike which is a bonus for my production making it more believable and realistic to the audience.

 

 Bryan Cranston

Aged 57

I think this actor will play a brilliant role of the dad for my production due to his memorable, popular and well known role as the father in the TV series Malcolm in the Middle. As well as starring in this series however Bryan has taken part in movie acting starring in the popular films of Drive, Breaking Bad and Argo and many more. Including doing work with voice overs in Family Guy (Dr. Jewish), American Dad (Mr.Winthrop/ Bill Publisherman), Madagascar 3 (Vitaly) and many more.  Winning 17 awards, and being nominated for not only 4 golden globes but 33 awards. Bryan has a massive fan base from not only adults but teenagers which will benefit my film due to the fact my audience includes the older teens and adults. Being a loving character in comedy Malcolm in the middle I think he will suit my role as a Dad in my production and being very popular will support my film.

Target audience

Both men and women, aged 15- early 50's due to not only the classification but the content within the film/trailer. 

How are films funded?

How are films funded?

Different films can be funded in a variety of ways depending on their financial state, cost of the production itself and a few other aspects.     

•   National Funding are from banks that provide finance for the production based on its success and also cast. The banks do this as they will gain their money back from the film being sold to the public in the cinemas, from merchandise and DVD’s.    

• Through other companies     

• Studios such as ‘Universal’ finance their films by themselves with their own money or loans. Also investments from other companies or entrepreneurs can help the studio to fund the film however they are involved also with the profits.   

• Low budget films finance themselves. 

How will I fund my magazine?

After research into funding, for my production I will use the BFI (British Film Industry) to fund my film. They are a company who support filmmakers and help not only in the funding but also in the Prints and advertising alongside giving assistant at any step in the making of the production. The company will help with the funding in things like distribution to cinemas, festivals, short films, scripts, audience support schemes and film production. By using this company, with another professional opinion going into my production, the help i will achieve and the money I believe my film will be a success. 

The film industry company structure- how would your company be structured?

The structure for a film comes from the industry, which is producing the film. A film needs a structure in order to guide their production in the right direction while also making sure everything runs smoothly. To structure your film is a very important decision to make as it acts as a starter point for the making of the film and also considers the success. So for my production I will first find out different company structures that can be used before I decide my final way of structuring my production.

Conglomerate (umbrella company)-

This is the combination of two different companies coming together to make one company. An example is when Universal brought Working Title and they produced together the film Paul that achieved huge successes.

Synergy partnerships-

This is normally where an independent company cant do well on their own (maybe due to funding or small funding) so to move things along and ensure their production is going to be a success they join up with another company so they can both put in and help with the production.

My company:

As I am a small independent company competing against bigger, more funded, more professional companies I would realistically not be able to exhibited my film without the funding and other facilities. Therefore I would go with the synergy structure as with a second opinion on the making of the production alongside more funding and facilities I will be able to ensure my film is more of a success. 

Uses and Gratifications

Researching similar products- Magazines, posters and trailers

How a film is distributed and 3 case studies of distributed films

Results from primary research

Upon questioning and discussing my genre to the general public of my school through word of mouth, I came up with the choice of doing the horror genre. This was upon high demand from the people I asked so the results and questions are/were based specifically on this genre. 

Intended audience

Promotional material

Film inspiration

Conventions

Above is a picture of some ideas of conventions for the horror genre things such as night vision effect, dark make up, fake blood, graveyards and sound bridge. In any media type the key conventions are very important to make the product or media type be successful to their target audience. With my own horror trailer a lot of research on different types of horror films have helped me pick out a handful of conventions i want to use in my own production. There needs to be a realism present to the audience to engage them, things such as lighting, editing and sound comes into this using dark effects to create tension and shadowing, loud bangs to make the audience scared and also clever editing so supernatural elements can seem real, this will be effective due to it relating to the horror genre. Having different shots and sounds are effective in that it creates many different aspects of thought for the audience so they can take the film in a personal way. Settings are important in that the location for a production is a way of putting the plot across. Also the location needs to fit in with something that is going to create suspense and scare the audience. Mise en scene- make up and costume is also a key convention, especially for a horror production as the characters need to be portrayed and put across in the right way to the audience to enable the plot to make sense and be understood. Also the audience will take into consideration personal identity when watching certain characters and judge them on the way they are dressed as well as how they act. Props alongside setting are important in that without the props the plot would not be as realistic or interesting thing such as a plate smashing on its on (due to editing and props) are things that the audience expect to see making them jump and be scared.


All of this has to be taken into account as research into conventions is so important due to the fact the productions main thing they need to achieve is meeting the audiences needs so their production is a success.

Production companies

Primary Research

I decided to make a survey for a range of students and staff of different ages and genders in my school. By doing this it enabled me to get an idea of the different opinions and reviews from completely different groups of people. I did this on Survey Monkey making it look professional so everyone took it seriously, also Survey monkey enabled my work to look much more creative and less boring to those taking the questionnaire. Making sure i did just the right amount of questions so that i could keep the interest with those who were taking it but also still be able to get the results i needed from the survey. 

Below is my questionnaire, screen shotted from survey monkey. It is an unanswered copy as i am still awaiting results from survey monkey after sending the survey out to around 20-25 people.

Synopsis

A young girl aged around 11 finds a mystical dark book encrusted in the ground. Without thought the girl takes it back to her home to curiously find out what the book is about. Meanwhile her parents go away for their anniversary for a week and leave her under the super vision of her 19 year old sister with close family near by if anything goes wrong. With warning from her sister not to dabble with the book due to it seemly looking like witch craft the young girl carelessly caries on unlocking a dark legend. As she further reads the dark legend seems to be getting closer and closer to their family home. Reading into the book more and more the legend (figure) begins to attach itself with the family home causing chaos. Will they stop the legend before it goes to far.

British of film classification

Images related to genre

Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto.

Pitch

History of horror

Initial thoughts

Main Task Outline

Promotional package for a new film to include a trailer, a film magazine front cover that features the film and a poster for the film.