Belle front cover analysis

You are able to tell just by looking at this magazine that it is a home furnishings magazine, with all the latest styles of furniture in it.
At the bottom of the front cover there is a piece of text saying 'Blue mood', this points out that blue is the new desired colour of home furnishings, and therefore is emphasized by the blue colour scheme around the front cover. For example, the title in this issue is in a deep sea blue colour, and is continually used throughout the subheadings on the magazine cover. The magazine offers advice on home furnishings and a style guide, and therefore this suggests that it is for an older generation of about 21 and onwards, who are working citizens who have their own home. It also seems to appeal to a middle or upper social class, as it offers style advice from designers. As most designer items are more expensive, working class people may not necessarily be inclined to purchase it.
The banner in the top right corner draws the audiences attention to the fact that it is a special edition magazine and therefore would only be out for a limited period of time, therefore enticing people to buy it more urgently which could help them sell more copies in a short period of time.

Scrubs - Breaking the Fourth Wall

Waynes world breaks the fourth wall in order to be able to communicate directly with the audience. I talso adds comic effect as the actor seems to be engaging with the audience in a more personal way. This means that the audience may be able to relate to the actors, actresses and storyline more as they are always being engaged with.

The fourth wall

The fourth wall is an imaginary "wall" which is usually at the front of the stage or set in a traditional three-walled box set. For example, the tv comedy series 'Friends' used this in most of their sets. In monicas flat, the fourth wall was never seen, and the actors never went up to the wall. The idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by philosopher and critic Denis Diderotand spread in 19th century theatre, it extended the idea to the imaginary boundary between any fictional work and its audience. Speaking directly to or otherwise acknowledging the audience through the camera in a film or television program, or through this imaginary wall in a play, is referred to as "breaking the fourth wall" and is considered a technique of metafiction, as it deconstructs the boundaries normally set up by works of fiction. Although people try to avoid breaking the fourth wall, some television programs have broken it to add comical effect.

Shot types - http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/

Shot Types

There is a convention in the video, film and television industries which assigns names and guidelines to common types of shots, framing and picture composition. The list below briefly describes the most common shot types (click the images for more details).

Notes:

• The exact terminology varies between production environments but the basic principles are the same.
• Shots are usually described in relation to a particular subject. In most of the examples below, the subject is the boy.
• See below for more information and related tutorials.

EWS (Extreme Wide Shot)
The view is so far from the subject that he isn't even visible. Often used as an establishing shot.

VWS (Very Wide Shot)
The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment.

WS (Wide Shot)
The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.
AKA: long shot, full shot.

MS (Mid Shot)
Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.

MCU (Medium Close Up)
Half way between a MS and a CU.

CU (Close Up)
A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.

ECU (Extreme Close Up)
The ECU gets right in and shows extreme detail.
Variation: Choker

Cut-In
Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.

CA (Cutaway)
A shot of something other than the subject.

Two-Shot
A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

(OSS) Over-the-Shoulder Shot
Looking from behind a person at the subject.

Noddy Shot
Usually refers to a shot of the interviewer listening and reacting to the subject.

Point-of-View Shot (POV)
Shows a view from the subject's perspective.

Weather Shot
The subject is the weather. Can be used for other purposes, e.g. background for graphics.

Codes and Conventions of a magazine front cover

Codes and conventions are almost like unwritten rules than any media project appears to follow.

Conventions of a Magazine front cover.
- Masthead
- Barcode
- Subheading
- Large feature heading
- A large main image
- Bottom section featuring other interest points
- Top strip of extras 
- Price
- Date
- Website

Codes of a Magazine front cover.
- A contrasting use of colours
- A plethora of different fonts
- A huge use of images, and background images

Typical Structure of a film trailer

Long shot -> Medium shot -> Medium Close Up -> Close Up -> Extreme Close Up -> Medium Shot -> Long Shot -> Title -> Medium Shot.

Task 3: Evaluation

'You must update your blog with an evaluation of each aspect of this assignment. You must ensure you discuss the following points:

1. How useful your research was in both finding out how film marketing works and in the creation of your own EPK
2. The strengths of your EPK and any areas you feel need developing. You should draw comparison with professional works and your own.
3. Summaries the skills you have learnt in the completion of this assignment.

You must include and respond to audience feedback as part of your evaluation.'

Task 2: Electronic Press Kit

'Create an EPK for an original film that you have devised containing the following:

1. Poster ( Submitted in a digital format such as PDF or JPEG)
2. Press release and Synopsis
3. Trailer (Submitted in as a quicktime file)
4. Marketing images for use in magazines (must include a mock magazine cover)

You must also update your blog with any planning and preparation you complete as part of this task. This should include:

1. Scripts, Storyboards, requirements and schedules.
2. Test footage/rough footage/outtakes (with explanation and commentary)
3. Potential music and sound effect choices
4. Examples of influential works (other trailers, posters etc) and how they have helped  you form your own ideas
5. Sketches and design for your poster and magazine covers'

Task 1: Research Blog Brief

'Alongside each stage of this assignment you are required to maintain a blog. This blog will provide an analytical, rather than descriptive, account of how you planned for and completed each of the requirements set out in the brief.

The blog should detail the marketing of at least 3 films. You should devote entries to:

1. The analysis of trailers (how they work, shots used, how narrative is compressed, what is shown/not shown, how it is edited to appeal to a market audience)
2. Analysis of any print-based marketing material ( how do you capture the tone and content of a film with a single image? what style is used? how are elements such as color and text used to support and communicate with the tone of the film?)
3. Synergy with other companies/ products (Is there any merchandise connected with the film? does the film work with other companies in promotion?)
4. Analysis of the skills you are developing through your research.

You must ensure your blog utilizes a range of media, such as video clips, photos and audio files in addition to providing links to other sites or articles that might prove useful.'

Why will I be researching?

I shall be researching and analyzing past products which may or may not relate to my product in order to enable me to find a foundation in which i will be able to build my project upon. I plan to look into how and why people create posters for their films, what effect magazines can have on the popularity and viewings of the films, music and how different backing tracks can give you different views on the film, without having to watch it.

I also want to find out what makes a successful film trailer, and how I can make sure that my trailer this year has the same effect. I want to look into how organizing the trailer into different orders will make it either more or less effective and approachable to the audience.

By looking into these different concepts in depth I hope to find a deeper meaning to how films trailers are produced, including subliminal messages attracting a certain audience to the film. I plan to look into many different genres of films in order to gain a wide understanding of the film industry and how different genres use different effects in their trailers and advertisements to draw their target audience in.

Mirrors Film Poster Analysis

The background of the image is black which already tells you that the film is going to be dark and spooky. Dark colours are used to express the unknown as you do not know what is exactly lurking in the dark. This would automatically make you feel fear towards the film.

The font of the main title ‘mirrors’ is in a blood red colour which is also a colour which is well known to relate to horror films as it represents the colour of blood. As the name of the film is ‘mirrors, the middle two R’s have been reflected against each other to have more effect on the audience, making it more memorable and enabling you to relate the title to the film more.

As the director of this film has already produced a successful horror film, ‘The hills have eyes’,  at the top of the poster it states this. It had been positioned here so that it is not the initial part of the poster in which you automatically are drawn too, however the contrast in colour between the black background, and the white writing draws you to it. This helps the audience to define whether this film would appeal to them based on a previously made film by the same director. This film was chosen as it is a well known film, whereas if the director made a not so successful film, it would be less likely to be featured in this poster.

The main image is an image of a young girl, you are able to tell this as the skin that is lit up by a light shining from above shows no blemishes or wrinkles. The fact that it’s a young girl makes it more eery as the fact young girls are meant to be innocent and harmless, therefore this deviates from the social norm.

Smaller white writing is featured at the bottom of the poster  crammed together, this is because less people would be interested in it, however it is still important enough to be featured.

Mirrors analysis

The background of the image is black which already tells you that the film is going to be dark and spooky. Dark colours are used to express the unknown as you do not know what is exactly lurking in the dark. This would automatically make you feel fear towards the film.

The font of the main title ‘mirrors’ is in a blood red colour which is also a colour which is well known to relate to horror films as it represents the colour of blood. As the name of the film is ‘mirrors, the middle two R’s have been reflected against each other to have more effect on the audience, making it more memorable and enabling you to relate the title to the film more.

As the director of this film has already produced a successful horror film, ‘The hills have eyes’,  at the top of the poster it states this. It had been positioned here so that it is not the initial part of the poster in which you automatically are drawn too, however the contrast in colour between the black background, and the white writing draws you to it. This helps the audience to define whether this film would appeal to them based on a previously made film by the same director. This film was chosen as it is a well known film, whereas if the director made a not so successful film, it would be less likely to be featured in this poster.

The main image is an image of a young girl, you are able to tell this as the skin that is lit up by a light shining from above shows no blemishes or wrinkles. The fact that it’s a young girl makes it more eery as the fact young girls are meant to be innocent and harmless, therefore this deviates from the social norm.

Smaller white writing is featured at the bottom of the poster  crammed together, this is because less people would be interested in it, however it is still important enough to be featured.