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.