Soundtrack: Planning and Permission

A friend of mine from school is in a band (The Kwirks) and they play acoustic style music and make songs that I feel could potentially be appropriate for my romance trailer soundtrack. Therefore I Facebook messaged the band and gained permission to use one of their songs for my media coursework. I've promised to mention them and give them the credits, and they said that it was fine for me to use them. To the left is a screenshot of the private Facebook messenger conversation proving this.

Posters to compare to

The key image of the two characters on this poster is fairly similar to mine, it involves the main male and female protagonists, they are both positioned facing towards each other and are close enough to show that there is a significant romantic relationship between them. The image I used for my poster is more of a medium shot than this and it involves the characters looking directly at each other. I think this image for the 'Titanic' poster is effective, although the characters don't have direct eye contact, you can tell by the way they are holding each other and gripping hands that they are in love. However, I decided to use direct eye contact in my image as I think it symbolises a romantic relationship very well and gives connotations of love and potentially lust.

This particular film poster for the romance film 'Australia' is laid out so the names of the actors appear in the top corners of the page, they appear above the actors heads so that the star system technique is used and the audience can link the names to faces. The star system is often used on posters as it allows the film to be associated with well-known and successful actors and therefore attracts a wider target audience. I have positioned my actors names in the same way on my poster, the names aren't directly above the heads of my characters, however they are in the same halves as the actors so they match and can clearly be linked to them. The background of my poster is the location of one of the scenes in the film, the park location where the actors first meet. This is similar to this particular poster in the way that the desert type location that the film is located in, has been included in this poster.
The difference between them is that this specific poster uses the location as a separate image to the one of the stock characters at the top, where as my location is surrounding the actors as a background shot for the poster. However, the key thing is that the film location is included in both, therefore I have followed this convention in my film.

This film poster has included the film's title at the bottom and in the centre of the page, I have followed this common and stereotypical convention for my poster. I feel that it is effective as it allows the key image to be visible and not covered by anything, therefore no attention is drawn away from it. However, it is still in the centre so it is hard to miss, and it appears in a much larger font than the distribution information and release date, so it is still very eye catching for an audience who happen to come into contact with this poster, by walking past it etc.

This poster has included the phrase "Coming Soon" which is the equivalent to a release date for the film and is intended to excite the audience with the thought of the film coming out shortly so they will anticipate more and potentially be more likely to watch it.

Magazine Covers to compare to

In terms of my final magazine cover I have taken elements and conventions from a range of different magazine covers from pre-existing film magazines that have been used to promote a range of successful films. I have attempted to follow the main conventions of a film magazine cover and make them specific to the romance genre as far as possible, to link in with my film. 

This magazine cover uses a location from the main film being promoting as its background. I have followed this convention for my poster and have used a shot of the main female character in the hut location where the two protagonists were drinking together. This is so that the target audience will link the focal image and surrounding background with the shots from the film and these elements will link together and potentially make the audience more interested and will make them less likely to forget the film. This magazine cover is a prime example of the magazines can conventionally use a location from the film specific to that issue, as the background for the front cover. In this specific example, it is a spooky looking wooded area, to link to the narrative. In my cover it is a hut/field location on a sunny day, the hut has graffiti so it is stereotyped with teenagers who are the key target audience for my film. This magazine issue has used buzzwords as have I in my cover, buzzwords are conventional of magazines of pretty much all genres, because they are exciting and are intended to catch people's attention and draw them in to encourage them to want to read more. Similarly to this issue, I have used the buzzword "Plus!" as a way of appealing to my target audience, this word makes the cover seem interesting and implies that the magazine is full of interesting articles and exclusives that the audience would want to read, and potentially couldn't read elsewhere.

The majority of magazine covers, of all genres, follow the rule of thirds, where the magazine is split into 3 different sections and different information on articles etc appear in the different thirds. Mainly, the title goes across all of the thirds, because it is very important and is intended to be memorable. Also, sometimes magazine covers have banners at the top or the bottom of the page that cut across the thirds completely as well, this is usually because these contain important messages about articles or exclusive stories that the magazine thinks the audience will be interested by. The focal image of the character/actor from the film usually appears in the middle third on the page and sometimes extends into the other thirds depending on how large the image is. This is stereotypical of all magazines as the main image is one of the main elements of the cover and therefore it appears in the centre so when people see the cover, they automatically look directly at the image. I have followed this convention for my cover and have intended it that the image of the female actress is central and cannot be avoided. The barcode for this specific issue of Empire is positioned in the same place that I have placed mine for the covers layout. I think this is a good place to position it, as the barcode needs to be included on the front cover, but it isn't a key aspect of the cover and therefore putting it in the bottom corner ensures that it is visible, but it doesn't draw attention away from the main elements that are intended to excite the audience.                                  

I've followed the layout shown by this one in the way that my magazine cover also involves the title appearing in front of the focal image and not behind it, many magazines use the reverse of this layout. However, I felt this was more appropriate as the focal image was still clearly displayed and eye catching, and it meant that the audience could read the whole of the title and recognise the magazine.  The focal image involves a direct mode of address with the camera from the actress, this is often used on magazine covers and posters promoting films as it is intended to make the audience think the character is looking at them and directly targeting them. This is because from pretty much every angle that you look at it, the actresses eyes follow you so you are drawn in and it feels personal.  I have used an image involving direct mode of address on my magazine cover, this is due to the reasons mentioned above and because I think that it is a successful way of drawing an audience in and making them look more closely at the magazine. The price and date of the issue are included at the top of the cover, I have followed this convention with my magazine cover, however the price and date appear separately at and in different thirds, this may subvert the conventions slightly, however it was easier to read and appeared more boldly when I separated them. 

Ancillary: Magazine Production

 I searched the internet for an appropriate barcode and then used photoshop to flip the image and place it at the bottom of my magazine. If I'd have had more time or greater knowledge of photoshop, then I would have created a completely original barcode. However, this wasn't the case. I still cropped the image and rotated it therefore I made it individual to my magazine.

The screenshot to the left shows the title of my film highlighted on screen. The typography and colour of this is the exact same as I have used for my film poster. This is so that the audience can easily link the two together and so that the promotion for the film all ties in together nicely and hopefully attracts a bigger, potentially more tent-pole, audience.

This image is similar to the image above however it just shows the tool box on that I used on photoshop to adapt my fonts if I needed to in further detail, and to play around with colour and shadows etc to see which, if any, of these fonts were effective. This was useful as it allowed me to experiment with a large range of effects and change the percentage of exposure or saturation etc and see how these worked and tied in with the focal image and the magazine cover background.

Ancillary: Magazine Production: Typography

My magazine is called 'Cinematic' I used a fairly plain font and a simple white colour. The white colour is reflected throughout the magazine cover as white typography is often conventional for magazine covers if the background is brightly coloured or involves an actual image, which mine does. The bold white font

                                                                                                        stands out on the coloured background and I feel it is effective as the background already uses a range of colours, so if I'd have used a brighter font colour for my magazine title, then it could have looked too busy and potentially put people off. The title is written completely in capitals, this is another convention of magazine front covers as capitals are icons of excitement and trying to catch people's attention and this is exactly what magazines intend to do.

I put a slight outline on the font at the bottom of the magazine cover. The buzzword 'PLUS' is outlined also so that it is emphasised even more so than before to ensure that it catches the audiences eye. The slight white outline helped to make the font look more 3D and therefore seem raised up from the background image. I think this outline would be more effective than having no outline at all as the could then potentially begin to blend in slightly with, especially the black, shades in of the background image. The last thing anyone aims for on a magazine is the text blending in to the background and not standing out, therefore I think the outline is effective.

Pictures for Photograph Prop

Below is a range of pictures taken of my main male actor and the second female actress (the antagonist character). The pictures are taken to look as if the characters aren't aware that they are being photographed and it makes them look like they're doing something wrong. In this case, it is made to look like Theo is talking to another girl and potentially cheating on the main female character, Kate. These photos need to be printed off on paper so they can be used as props and filmed as the female character opens a posted letter containing these photos, hinting largely at the narrative.

Voiceover Script: Updated

Due to a change to my initial storyboard and me planning to film a range of new shots so that the film's narrative is clearly shown in the trailer and the disequilibrium is emphasised more so that the audience are anticipating the films release, I have had to make changes to my initial voiceover script.

Below is the updated script:

Kate:
I met Theo in a park on a rainy day in January. I fell for him instantly. His laugh, his voice, the way he looked at me. I thought we would be together forever. 
I guess everyone remembers their first love...but not always for the right reasons.

Voiceover Recording

 Earlier my main female actress, Kate, and I worked on recording the voiceover for my trailer. I thought that having the main female character for the trailer's voiceover would be effective as it would allow the audience to link a voice to the main character and then allow them to potentially relate to the character more and to gain more insight into her personality. Many of the target audience are female teenagers of a similar age to my actress and therefore the voiceover could allow them to understand and connect to the character, therefore making them more likely to watch the film or at least to show an interest in the trailer. Also, the voiceover done by one of the characters, not only allows a point of view to be given, but also means that the narrative is explained in more detail and the voiceover links to the shots on screen so the audience can follow both and instantly understand about the genre and character types that the film involves and that are stereotypical of romance films.

To record the voiceover we used a Macbook Air and the voice recording app that was pre-installed on there. Despite this not being of immensely high quality, the recording worked out well enough and is clear to hear and understand. If necessary I will use garageband or a similar programme to edit a few of the tones in the voiceover and to ensure that there is no echoing. However, due to lack of high quality and professional equipment, and in terms of convenience in that the Macbook is a home laptop and we therefore have access to it anytime, we made do with what programmes and equipment we had. The voiceover isn't that long and will be accompanied by a non-diegetic soundtrack alongside it, therefore it isn't a huge part of my trailer. However, it is still important as it does provide the audience with insight into what the characters are feeling or why they are acting in a certain way.

Typography Research

I selected a group of 18 people from my target audience, about 75% of these were females aged 16-20 so therefore they represent a sample of my niche target audience, the rest were males around this age so although I have only tested a small range of ages, they represent the demographic that many romance films target and therefore I found it useful to find out their opinion on which title they felt was most effective and appropriate for the genre. There was an even split between two of the titles and consequently I went with the title I preferred most personally and the one I felt best suited my poster. This was the font that was second to the bottom, I thought that this looked fairly professional and had similar qualities to the other favourite, but was bolder and therefore would stand out more effectively.

Ancillary: Focal Image Options 5

Ancillary: Focal Image Options 4

Ancillary: Focal Image Options 3

Ancillary: Focal Image Options 2

Ancillary: Focal Image Options

Below is the first still shot that I took and thought was effective as the characters are both central in the image and their stance, in the way they are holding each other and kissing/almost kissing, is very iconic of the romance genre. I have added different filters over this image taken from a photo editing app called Retrica, this app isn't the most professional and doesn't have the features of programmes like photoshop or InDesign, however I just used it as a starting point to allow me to experiment and see which, if any filters were effective. I think the first, original is my favourite so far as I like the way the characters are positioned and I think the shot is well lit with the sun shining through the leaves and therefore making the image look bright and cheerful. However, I will keep trying out different filters, potentially similar to the ones below however maybe slightly more natural so the pictures don't look too staged and unnatural, and see if there are any appropriate filters for the image my poster or magazine cover. However, once I decide on the shot that I want to use most, then I will focus on using programmes like photoshop to edit and improve my photos using a greater and more professional range of tools. 

Ancillary: Rough Sketch of Initial Poster Ideas

To the left is a very rough an basic sketch of my initial layout idea for the poster I'm going to create to link to my romance film trailer. I lack the artistic skills to produce a very in-depth sketch on what I imagine my poster to look like, however I have drawn this up to allow a basic initial design to be shown. I have tried to ensure that despite this drawing being basic, it still includes many of the conventions that are commonly stereotyped with romance film posters, or just film posters in general. For example, the focal image is always included along with the film title, and then actors names and quotes/ratings are iconic of film posters as well, therefore I intend to include these features in my poster when I actually come to create it digitally. The actual poster design will be much neater and more precise because it will be done using computer programmes and therefore won't involve me having to sketch out any of the design.

(Note: The word slogan should say strapline, however this is just a very basic sketch so I didn't see much point in changing it)

Chosen Title of Film

My film will be called:

At First Glance

I think this title is very effective and appropriate for a film of the romance genre as the target audience will see this phrase and associate it with two people falling in love. This is because phrases like "love at first sight" and the idea that sometimes people can fall in love at "First Glance" is often iconic of the romance genre as it appears in many films where there is a defining moment and the audience know the characters feel something for each other. It also conforms to the idea that two characters are meant to be together and they both just know it as soon as they meet. This is a popular narrative theme of many romance films and therefore it has proven to be successful in the past and to have attracted a fairly big, potentially tent-pole audience, which is good as the bigger the audience, the more profit a film will make. 

Film Ident: Making the Ident

I used photoshop to create my film ident. I have used photoshop before and therefore it wasn't that difficult for me to use and I was able to create my ident fairly quickly. Photoshop allowed me to take a pre-existing image and edit the brightness of the image and then add font underneath it. This programme was very useful as it allowed me to edit the image I wanted for my main ident and customise it so that it was appropriate for my film company specifically. The tools this programme includes allows easy access to editing images and also lets you change a lot about an image if you want it to be unique e.g. cropping, contrast, brightness etc. One of the best features this programme involves is that it uses different layers for images so this means that the user can edit completely separate images together or focus on one element of the image individually and make changes to that. For my ident I personally only used it to edit the sunset image and to combine the font with this image so it appeared clearly underneath.

 

The top image shows a picture of the original sunset image. As you can clearly see it was a lot larger and brighter than before I did anything to edit it in photoshop. The second picture shows the initial stages of editing in photoshop where I have used the tools to change the brightness so the image is darker overall as I feel this makes the image look more like a conventional ident and it works to brighten the main sunshine in the centre   effectively as the outline of the    
                                                                                                       image is darker.

The bottom screenshot shows my final ident, I have kept the design simple yet I still think it is effective and memorable. Sunsets are appealing and are an icon of beauty and peace, they are therefore often used to provoke happiness in people. Therefore, I think this ident is very appealing as the sunset image itself is uplifting and uses a huge range of bright colours that stand out, also I like the way the sunshine is reflected clearly in the water. I have used this reflection to attempt to link slightly to the production companies ident as it is in line with the 'P' in the word pictures. The actual title for my ident is simple as well, however I felt that this simplicity would make it memorable. Also the title of my production company is closely associated with it's logo for obvious reasons, however this then means that the target audience will associate the two together and therefore be more likely to recognise and remember the ident. The 'pictures' part of the title is used as my company is a film company and films are often and historically referred to as "pictures" and actual cinemas used to be referred to as pictures widely as well, therefore the name is intended to link to the film industry. 

Storyboard (New Shots for Re-filming)

Dialogue/Script Changes

Initially I wasn't going to include any dialogue in my trailer as I thought it might be easier and I thought the voiceover and the non-diegetic music might be enough. However, now I have seen how the shots look and gathered audience feedback, I think that short clips of dialogue in a range of shots will help to demonstrate the narrative effectively and will interest the audience more.

Basic Script (First Draft):

(Kate has just read text and is now arguing with Theo about it)
Kate: "How could you?"
Theo: "I promise I haven't done anything!"

(Kate opens letter with photos of Theo and other girl, looks confused, pauses)
Kate: What????
(Kate slides letters away from her angrily)

(Theo finds letter containing photos)
Theo: "I don't understand who is doing this to me!"
(Theo throws photos into air angrily or rips them up)

(Both characters are talking, Theo is stood by his car)
Theo: "I can't do this anymore! You don't trust me!"
(Theo gets into car, slams door and drives away)

(Other female best friend character is talking to Kate about Theo)
Female Friend: "He's either a liar and a cheat or the unluckiest man alive"

Production Update: Re-Filming

I have now put together my original trailer drafts and gained audience feedback on them, the main feedback I received was that the shots I had filmed were very good, however they were slightly long at the beginning and needed to be cut down so that the audience remained interested. Also, there weren't enough shots showing the disequilibrium and climax in the narrative and so as a result of this the narrative structure was basic and almost unclear. In order to resolve this I have decided that I need to gather the equipment and re-film a few shots and mainly new shots that show a jump cut in time and a development of the narrative.

Here is a basic list of the shots that I plan to film within the next week:

• Close up of text message showing male character together and flirting with another girl (ensure the shot looks like it has been taken by someone who is watching them without them knowing and trying to remain unseen.)
•  Long shot of male character, Theo, and one of his friends, he sees the female character and looks at her for a short time. 
• Close up of male character noticing and looking at female, then turning away and walking off.
• Medium shot of the female character looking upset and confusing, she then begins to cry. 
• Medium shot of the female opening a letter in the post. The letter contains lots of pictures in black and white of the male and the other girl. She glances at all the pictures and then slides them away. 
• Close up/Pan shot of all the black and white pictures showing the protagonist, Theo and the intended antagonist (because she comes between the two main characters and breaks them up) the other female. 
• Medium shot of the male character grabbing the pictures and either throwing them away or ripping them up. 
• Exteme long shot of the male stood outside his car shouting at the female, he gets in and slams the door. 
• Extreme long shot/Over the shoulder shot of the camera positioned behind the female looking over her shoulder, showing her perspective, of the male driving away in the car. 
• Medium shot of the stock female best-friend character talking about the male protagonist. 

In all of these shots, unless they follow directly on from one another, I will have the characters wearing completely different costumes. Therefore, showing a jump cut and a development in time which is conventional of all trailers. 

Initial Inter-title Ideas

My initial idea is to have the trailer include 3 main inter-title screens, this does not include the main title or any of the basic conventional trailer screens e.g. containing the release date or the credits. These will appear in between a range of non-linear shots and will hint at the film's genre and slightly explain the narrative, but not give any of the actual plot away too greatly. I'm considering having the screens say:

1. It's about friendship
2. It's about honesty
3. It's about love 

I think these 3 titles are effective in linking to my storyline of the characters meeting and becoming close like friends, then of trusting each other and then finally, the key word 'love'. If I do include these titles I plan for the love one to appear in the trailer last as it is the most iconic of the romance genre and therefore appears last as a kind of climax that sticks in the audiences mind and they immediately see it and associate it with the relationship between the two protagonists. 

These are screenshots of my initial and unedited inter-titles. I like the font colour of the key words on each screen as the lilac colour is fairly pastel-like and pastel colours give connotations of the romance genre and are often used in trailers and posters for films that follow similar boy-meets-girl narratives to mine. The different screenshots show the transition effect that the titles use to appear and fade from screen. Firstly the key word appears above the first half of the title but then it swipes down slowly whilst the first half swipes upwards and so they slowly pass each other. I think this effect is fairly eye catching and works pretty well as it singles out the key word on each screen from the rest of the sentence, however it doesn't completely disassociate the two sentence halves. This effect along with the different colour of font used for the last word in each sentence, both work to emphasise to the audience the significance of these words and to show them that they are likely to play a role in the film's storyline. 

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