Sketched Magazine Layouts

Having been drawing different layouts for my magazine front cover. I have know sketched a number of different layouts for my magazine front cover.

Possible Magazine Layout

I have drawn several different layouts for my magazine front cover which I will use this to design my actual magazine front cover.

Potential Reviews For My Poster

I have been researching thriller posters and what I have found in some poster are reviews on the film so I have thought of some reviews which can be put on my poster.

• "A sizzling Thriller" 
• "Gripping" "Tense" "Superb"
• "Tense" "Urgency" "Anxiety"
• "Wallberger is incredible... The performance of the year"  
• "A rollercoaster ride of unrelenting action...Awesome!" 
• "Non-Stop thrills... Sizzling action from start to finish"
• "The thriller of the decade... Directed with class"
• " Compelling, intelligent and provocative"
• "Strap yourself in for the ride of your life"       

Potential Cover Lines For Magazine Front Cover

I have come up with a list of potential cover lines to use on the front cover on my magazine. They have to be appropriate for type of publication (mainstream). These are what I have come up with.

• Special previews 
• The Best 100 films of all time 
• Special prizes 
• What's next for the great Scorsese 
• Thriller films with Jake Wallberger 
• The worlds greatest film
• The worlds greatest films of all time 
• The top 10 thriller of the decade 
• 50 new movies to be watched 
• Paul Greengrass in Green Zone
• Sinatra - On the set of Scorsese's new biopic
• Mitch Kane stares in this year's hottest thriller
• Exclusive Interview: Robert Downey JR
• Hot Exclusives
• Our most action packed issue ever

Magazine Questionnaire

I have analysed the conventions of mainstream magazine front covers and the deign on my magazine front cover will be largely based on the convention I have found in my research particularly for mainstream magazine front covers and for the thriller genre however, I thought it might be useful to conduct some primary research and therefore I have created a questionnaire about magazine front covers. Hopefully the results I get will be useful when it comes to create my own poster.


1. What colours do you expect the font of the magazine title to be?

Red 
Black 
White 
Orange 
Blue 
Other 


2, What do you expect to find on a mainstream magazine front cover?

Image of star 
Cover lines 
Barcode 
Taglines 
Mast Head 
Date 
Price 
Issue number 
Banners 
Web address 
Slogans 


3. What content do you expect to find in a film magazine?

Features - discussions, pictures etc. 
Interviews
Reviews 
Previous 
Poster/Adverts 



4. In what way does the design of the magazine persuade you to buy the publication?

Big, Bold title of magazine (masthead) 
Big, often colourful banners 
Big, stars as the central image 
Eye Candy 
Exclusives referred to obviously on the front 
Good colour scheme 
Competitions 


5. In what was does the layout persuade you to buy the publication?

Clear structure 
Not cluttered 
Masthead the biggest text 
The taglines in line with each other 
No overlapping 

Magazine Name

After coming up with potential names for my magazine, I did a survey and asked 50 people their opinion on which name sounded best for a mainstream magazine, the pie chart above show the results, and shows that a large proportion of people like "Big Screen" was the best choice for a mainstream magazine name out of the other choices

Potential Magazine Names

Below is a list of potential magazine names for my own publication. By looking at existing film publications I able to grasp a better understanding of what kind of words were being used as names for the magazines.

• Extreme Film 
• Sphere
• Film Union  
• Big Screen 
• Epic 
• Amazing Film 
• Emperor 
• Film Journal 
• Film Diary 
• Film Gazette 

EXTREME FILM 

Extreme Film would be a suitable name as it creates the impressions it is for film lovers and the name suggest that they go further than other magazines. 

SPHERE 

Sphere is short for atmosphere which it is suitable name foe a magazine because it suggests that everyone should read the magazine.

FILM UNION 

Film Union is a suitable name for a film magazine because it suggests that the magazine is for film lovers.

BIG SCREEN 

Big Screen is the most suitable name for my film magazine because my film will be a big Hollywood blockbuster film and Big Screen suggests that that the top films with be shown in the magazine.

EPIC 

Epic suggests that the magazine will be a big Hollywood blockbuster magazines which of focus on elevated films.

AMAZING FILM

Amazing Film suggests whats in the name which again like Epic it focuses on Hollywood blockbuster films.

EMPEROR 

Emperor is a suitable name because it is similar to Empire but instead or being the empire you are being the leader and being the emperor.

FILM JOURNAL 

Film Journal suggests that the magazine will be serious because of the word journal and I don't think it would fit the criteria of my film.

FILM DIARY 

Film Dairy is completely opposite to Film Journal because as journal sounds serious diary sound less serious which would be more appropriate for my film, however it isn't right for my type of film.

FILM GAZETTE 

Film Gazette is similar to Film Journal in the serious side because Gazette is quite a sophisticated word and in draws older people rather than the younger generations.

Mainstream Magazine Analysis

After having been researching different magazines front covers I have decided that my film will be a Hollywood mainstream Picture, as a box office film, my magazine will have to reflect this. By looking at existing film publications, I hope to better understand what content is expected on these types of magazines, and what I have to include in my own magazine.

• Recognisable Actor - Christopher Nolan
• Barcode 
• Big, Bold Font 
• Bright Font 
• Reference to other content 
• Website 
• Price 
• Tagline - The Dark Knight Returns
• Cover line - Batman, Thor, Toy Story

• Recognisable Character - Iron Man
• Bright/Bold font 
• Barcode 
• Price 
• Edition 
• Pictures of other content - Avatar, Kick Ass
• Taglines - Oscars special The Lovely Bones The Clooney and more
• Banners
• Movie font 
• Reference to other content

• Recognisable character - X-Men
• Bright Font 
• Bold Font 
• Barcode 
• Price 
• Edition
• Reference to other content 
• Taglines - Wolverine has returned for...

• Recognisable characters 
• Bold/Bright Font
• Barcode
• Issue number 
• Price 
• Special Issue 
• Banners 
• Taglines - Transformers 3 strikes back!
• Reference to other content 
• Pictures of other content 

Rough Running order For My Teaser Trailer - Draft 1

1. Production company - Universal Studios 
2. Production company - Focus Features  
3. Production company - Working Title 
4. Establishing shot of the road from the bridge cars going past 
5. Establishing shot out side the college  
6. Medium shot of Alex teaching
7. Two shot of the kids at there desks - one hands the other one a note

Analysing Characters Actions on Posters

I will be analysing poster to find out the actions of the characters in thriller films. I am researching poster in order for me to create my own poster to completely understand what my characters need to be doing.

What I have found constantly in these posters is:

• Running 
• sanding seriously 
• Weapons
• Costumes
• Canted framing

Analysing Poster Reviews

I will be research different thriller poster reviews to see what they include and to see if the reviews indicate genre or anything else.

Uses active verbs 

Short words to indicate genre like suspense 

List of three all words help to indicate the genre 

Rating (e.g. 5 star)

Shot List

After looking researching all the shots I understand what shot I should use in my teaser trailer. Having been analysing shots in different teaser trailers i understand the way they all start and the similarity they all have.

Shots

• Establishing shot - of road from the bridge cars going past  
• Establishing shot out side college  
• Medium shot of alex teaching 
• Two shot of the kids at there desks - one hands the other one a note 
• Close up from point of view of one of the kids unfolding note 
• Close up from point of view of one of the kids with note opened 
• Close up of kids face reading and then smiling then turning to other kid and nodding 
• Two shot covering the same as the last three shots
• Close up of other kids smiling 
• Close up or medium close up of teacher shouting at them both to pay attention (say names)
• Two shot of kids jumping in surprise 
• Close up of one of the kids jumping in surprise
• Medium shot of the kids walking and talking as they towards location from front
• Medium shot of the kids walking and talking as they towards location from back
• Establishing shot of the woods 
• Two shot very low angle shot looking up at them leaning into the frame looking surprised 
• Close up of object - hand 
• Close up of one of them Oh my got (looking surprised)
• Close up of other one saying "we should tell someone"
• Two shot of the boys quickly turning there heads at the same time in shock after hearing unseen sound
• Close up of one boy "what was that"
• Close up of the other boy "we betta check that out" 
• Two shot of previous two shots 
• Two shot of boys - from behind one of the boys looks back and looks scared and taps the other boy lightly and says "dud You better look at this" other boy looks slowly and they both start to scream 
• Tracking shot from in front walking backwards down stairs (wearing suits) people behind them 
• In that shot journalist comes up with a microphone asking "are you relieved that the golders green killer is now behind bars thanks to your witness statement boy 2 responds "yes definitely"
• MCU of boy 2 as above, responding to question.   
• Medium close up of boy 1 looking out of a window 
• long shot of killer 
• Medium close up of boy 1 shocked appearing at killer 
• Bus going past - killer not being there 
• Reaction shot of boy 1 
• Close up/Medium close up of boy 2 looking at something
• Medium shot of killer walking past camera - notices camera half way and stairs at camera until he has walked past
• MCU of reaction of boy 2 
• Film indoors boy 1 saying to boy 2 "I saw the killer"
• Medium close up of boy 2 reacting " so did I but it's not possible he was given life in prison"
• Killer walking down the street 
• Medium close up and medium shot of detective "you can't have seen him, the guy is in prison, you must have imagined it"
• Two shot of boys reacting 

• MCU and CU victim looking shocked, killer moves into frame 
• MCU and CU victim looks up shocked, killer enters frame with knife
• Low angle shot knife raised and then plunges towards the camera
• Medium close up of boy 2 saying "Its him the killers out and he is assassinating people"
• MS and MCU boy holding phone, listening looking shocked 
• Journalist talking into phone by a window (with blinds, half of the face light and half dark, lights off) "He's been seen, he's out of prison, you'll be next" 
• journalist at window shot from outside the building, journalist looks up in shock as killer moves in frame as shoulders of killer/ back of head of killer moves into frame. 
• CU and MCU not moving shot talking into phone saying "hello, hello"
• High angle shot MS and CU and zoom (1 fast 1 slow) of journalists phone on floor   

Ideas for montage

• MCU of key turning from lock
• holding a map 
• Boys running  
• Detective looking evil (find evil location and lighting) 
• Tracking shot from behind down in a city street following one of the boys running  
• close up/ extreme close up of knife being turned 
• CU/ECU of gloved hands turning knife reflecting light (film in drama room)
• As above this time with photo of boys 
• MS of a character running through a door and slamming it looking scared (out of breath)
• MS of boy hiding behind something (maybe a wall etc.) camera is close on boy but killer can be seen in background looking for boy 
• over shoulder shot at night on somebody like they have been court with torch in the persons face
• MCU of detective throws the killer against the wall from side into frame (see prisoners trailer)  
• Car reversing at speed from fixed position in front of camera (stand on pavement, car going fast down, keep camera still, at an diagonal angle of the road) 
• MCU of one boy tied to a chair 
• Close up of hands tied 
• CU legs tied up 
• Close up of mouth covered (tape)
• CU of feet and bottom part of leg of boy running (if doesn't work try different angles of boy running 

Details

• Happened 15 years ago 
• They witnessed brutal murders 
• The killer has been released 
• The kids are very angry and try to stop the release 
• The killer will be out for revenge  

Question 

• How do you feel about the release of the brutal murders that you witnessed 15 years ago 

Answer 

• He was supposed to get life 
• He'll want to come find us. 

Location:

• East Finchley towards the bottom for montage scenes 

Camera Shots

In order to write up a shot list for my teaser trailers there are different shots that I need to understand so I can choose carefully to make my film tense and keep the audience on their edges of there seats.
Shots 

ESTABLISHING SHOT

Usually an extreme long shot – found at the beginning of film sequence. They are used to orientate the audience and help them understand where the subsequent action is taking place. Establishing shots are usually of landscapes or buildings. Some scenes may leave out establishing shots perhaps in order to disorientate the audience

EXTREME LONG SHOT (ELS)

Characters are often barely visible in the frame – the setting/landscape certainly dominates. Often used to indicate man’s insignificance or isolation/vulnerability. These shots often found at the beginning of the film sequence (Establishing shots) to help orientate the audience. Not showed to use emotion.

LONG SHOTS (LS)

A characters head will appear near the top of the frame and there feet will appear towards the bottom of the frame. Characters and settings are equally important – the director may want the audience to relate the character to the setting. We begin to see facial expressions and figure behaviour become much more important.

MEDIUM LONG SHOT (MLS)

Characters are shot from the knees up (also known as a three quarter shot or an American shot). Characters begin to dominate – facial expressions are much clearer, figure behaviour is foregrounded

These closer shots are frequently used for important characters, central protagonist

MEDIUM SHOT (MS)

Characters are shot from waste up – figure behaviour and facial expressions now dominate. This shot and the next two shots are used to position the audience with characters  

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP (MCU)

Characters are shot from the chest up – setting is almost insignificant facial expressions are foregrounded

CLOSE-UP (CU)

Characters are shot from the neck up – a character face fills the frame. Used to position the audience with the character to emphasis emotion

EXTREME CLOSE-UP (ECU)

The shot will focus on a part of the face/body e.g. eye, ear, tongue or an object or prop. Extreme close-ups or close-ups of objects are used to suggest there importance to the audience – they may have narrative significance later on in the story

TWO SHOT

2 characters are in the frame. Think about the position of the character in relation to each other they may have a close relationship. Space between characters may imply there is a problem with them or dislike. Think about which character is in the foreground and which is in the background and what it implies

ARIEL SHOT/HELICOPTER SHOT

Characters or settings are shots from above – the camera is likely to be moving Ariel shot tend to be found in big budget Hollywood movies. They are used to add excitement in chase sequences, placing the audience in an unfamiliar position

POINT OF VIEW SHOT (POV)

The audience witness invents from the prospective or through the eyes of a character. Most films are objective (we watch characters interact with each other) with occasional moments of subjectivity. Point of view shots are used to help position the audience with a character (usually the central protagonist) point of view shots often framed by shots of the character from whose prospective seeing events

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT

Used frequently during conversations between characters – usually a shot-reverse-shot pattern is used                     

HIGH ANGLE SHOT

Characters, vehicles or props are shot from above – often used to suggest vulnerability or isolation etc.

BIRD’S EYE VIEW (EXTREME HIGH ANGLE)

Characters, vehicles or props are shot directly from above – alongside suggesting vulnerability the shot implies that a character’s fate is somehow being controlled by outside forces/. Frequently used in horror films.

LOW ANGLE SHOT

Characters, vehicles or props are shot from below. Making them look important, dominant, sinister, dangerous etc. often used for villains

CANTED FRAMING/DUTCH ANGLE

The frame appears to be lop sided or wonky as if the camera has been tipped to one side. Often used to reflect a characters state of mind (drunk, high, confused, disorientated) or imply danger or something unusual of something violent is about to accrue. Canted framing is unsettling for the audience

PAN

Camera movement left to right of vice versa. The camera is fixed and therefore a 360 degree pan will go full circle, circular pans imply either disorientation of a character being swept off their feet. Pan can be used to follow/slash track movement of characters or objects to show off a setting or to reflect a characters view. Slow pans create tension, anticipation and unsettle the audience like horror films. Fast pans create intensity that can disorientate the audience

WHIP/SWISH PAN

An extremely quick pan creating a blurred effect on screen. Often used to reflect a characters perspective (shock, panic, fear) or to disorientate the audience

TILT/VERTICLE PAN

The camera moves down to up or vice versa. Oft5en used to reveal the beauty or size of a character, building, landscape, sometimes the shot will affect a characters point of view   

TRACKING SHOT

Camera movement that follows a character or object horizontally or vertically diagonally, through the air. Often used to position the audience with a character or to create intensity during chase sequences. Tracking shots are achieved either by literally by laying tracks which the camera moves or by using a steadicam.

DOLLY SHOT (IN & OUT)

Cameras movements towards or away from a character of object BY MOVING THE CAMERA! – A similar effect is achieved by zooming – slow dollies create tension and anticipation. Quick dollies create shock, surprise, urgency and intensity. A dolly in focuses the audience’s attention. A dolly out is often to reveal something important in the background to the audience

CRANE SHOT

The camera is attaches to a crane – like mechanism allowing the director to film the actor from above and allowing for a degree or movement to track a character or object. Crain shots are not as flexible as helicopter shot

STEADICAM

A devise foe stablishi8ng moving handheld camera shots, creating smooth flowing shots providing directions with flexibility or mobility. Often used to reflect a characters confidence or to imply a character being swept of their feet.

Useful, also, for capturing intimate scenes, as a steadicam is able to allow closeness to the action that is often impossible traditional teaching shots

HAND-HELD

Often used to track characters or objects or to represent point of view shots, unlike steadicam shots, shots filmed with hand held cameras will appear shaky on screen – this may be used to unsettle or disorientate the audience or to reflect a characters panic or fear. Handheld shots create a sense of urgency and intensity and often used to add VERISIMILITUDE. We are used to three types of shots in documenting and view reports

ZOOM (IN & OUT)

Movement towards or away from a character or an object NOT by moving the camera buy by altering the lens. The effect is similar to a dolly. However there may be some noticeable differences with a zoom you may notice the sides of the frame appearing to come in towards the subject or go out away from the subject. The MAJOR difference is a noticeable change in the depth of field. ( the space between background/foreground will appear to depth or become more shallow) there may be a boring of the background or vice versa

CONTRA ZOOM

Simultaneously dolling in whilst zooming in out, or vice versa. The character or subject often remaining in roughly the same position, whilst the background perspective changes, contra zooms often disorientate the viewers and/or reflects a characters state of mind.

TIGHT FRAMING

There is a very little (if any) space around characters in the frame. (Also applies to objects). One reason tight framing is used is to create a sense of tension and anxiety. Claustrophobia alternately tight framing can create a sense of unity togetherness or intimacy.

LOOSE FRAMING

There is a lot of background space around a character or object – this makes a character look alone, vulnerable, small.

DEEP FOCUS

Everything from the foreground to the background is clearly in focus – the director wants the audience to take in everything in the frame. Elements in the background may have relevance to elements in the foreground. The audience is being asked to make a connection.

SHALLOW FOCUS

Only a portion of the scene is in focus. Either the foreground is in focus and the background is blurred vice versa. The audience attention is directed towards the area in focus – suggesting its significance/importance

RACK FOCUS/FOCUS PULLS

Moving from one type of shallow focus to another. This frequently happens in horror films thrillers and conversation sequences. The audience attention is directed towards which every part is in focus. Rack focus is often used to dramatically reveal something to the audience.             

Poster Questionnaire

I have analysed the conventions of posters and the design of my poster will be largely based on the conventions I have found in my research particularly with the thriller genre however, I thought it might be useful to conduct some primary research and therefore I have created a questionnaire about posters and the thriller genre. Hopefully the results I get will be useful when it comes to create my own poster.


1) In all film posters, what things do you expect to always see?

Images (Stars/Characters, Scene from the film)
Quotations from magazines/newspapers reviews (showing target audience)
Taglines 
Release Date (Something Vague e.g. 'Coming Next Winter' 
The Title usually the biggest font of the poster
Logos of companies involved in making the film 
Websites 
Eye Candy (Male or Female/Explosions/Action)
Star Rating 
Certificate 
Credits/Billing 
Mise-en-scene (referencing genre)

2) In terms of the thriller genre. What things do you always expect to see on a poster?

Tagline - directly addressing the audience 
Setting 
Mise-en-scene associated with the genre, e.g. using of guns 
The tagline is sometimes a red colour 
Characters often have an indirect mode of address 
Side lighting on characters 
Canted Framing 
Actors that are associated with the genre are used 
Muted colour scheme 
Clothes 
Bold font is used for the title and tagline
Characters chasing/running 
High angles

3) Would The Poster Sell to you?

Yes 
No 
Don't know


4) Do you think posters are an effective way of marketing a film?

Yes    
No     
Don't know why (please give reasons)



5) Do you expect a poster to dominated by?

Images 
Text 


6) Do you expect images on posters to indicate the genre of the film?

Yes 
No 
Don't know



7) Do you expect to see a dominant image of the star(s) on the poster?

Yes 
No 
Don't know 



8) Would the inclusion of actors names on the poster be more likely to encourage you to see the film?

Yes 
No 
Don't know



9) Would you expect to see the name of the director on the poster?

Yes 
No 
Don't know


10) would the colour on the poster influence you to see the film?

Yes 
No 
Don't care


11) Does seeing awards on a poster make it more likely for you to see the film?

Yes 
No 
Don't

12) does reviews on a poster influence your decision to see the film?

Yes 
No 
Don't know 


13) Has the inclusion of websites and social media links on a poster every encouraged you to visit the website?

Yes 
No

Outline For Trailer Structure

Serial killer is arrested by the police while attempting to kill a couple of kids he is released 15 years later under mysterious circumstances and hunts down the people responsible for the arrest

• Introduction to kids - there characters and lives etc.
• Set up of arrangement to go to abandoned house/hiking etc.
• House/hiking etc. where serial killer appears and/or they discover bodies of previous victims 
• killer strikes 

• 15 years later they spot serial killer 
• discussion of how and why killer came back, wasn't he jailed for life 
• killer appears again 

• montage of scary shots 

My Film Certificate

I have decided that a 12A would be most suitable for my film because the film with attract a wider audience. Because my film is a thriller, my film would be able to pass for a 12A because it doesn't brake any of the rules that make the film a 15. My Film will not have any sexual scenes and hardly any bad verbal language, there will be some action of the killer, killing people and the killer trying to kill the two protagonists but the killing of the bodies at the beginning would not be shown this will be hinted and suggested rather than shown explicitly. However there are negatives to this rating, by making my film a 12A I will not be aloud to show a lot of bloody scenes but I will get a wider audience so that is why I have chosen to go with the 12A certificate. Many of the thriller i have looked at in my research have received a 12A certificate.

Film Certificate Research

Through out my blog I have been researching and analysing conventions of posters, magazines and teaser trailer. which I have done heavy research which I have made a decision to choose the thriller genre and I have looked at existing thriller posters and teaser trailers and I will be looks at there certificates to help me choose which certificate I should give mine.