Contrasting magazine cover

 

These are magazine covers from contrasting genres. They appear to follow similar principles. The main character of the film in question is the subject of the cover; the background shows a simple, faded scene from the film; the writing advertising the segment on said film is big, bold and contrasts with the background; all other writing is smaller indicating that it is less important; all of these elements together reflect the atmosphere of the film. There are also the necessities such as the barcode, price, bold title and adverts for other segments.

Storyboard

Old film

From editing our old clips together into a outtake-style small film we can use some of the work we produced when filming, whilst also using it as a practice-run for editing the real film trailer on imovie, as we have never used it before. For the soundtrack we used the pigeon detectives, who i emailed requesting to use their track.

Research

After making our final decisions, we researched key aspects of the plot to make sure we get an accurate portral of the issues we have raised in the film.


Grief- a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement refers to the state of loss, and grief is the reaction to loss. 

The Kübler-Ross model- commonly known as the five stage theory descibes the stages in which someone deals with loss. Usually applied to teminally ill people but can also be applied to people coping with catastrophic loss.

Denial- usually only a temporary defense for the individual. This feeling is generally replaced with heightened awareness of possessions and individuals that will be left behind after death. 

Anger- the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue. Because of anger, the person is very difficult to care for due to misplaced feelings of rage and envy.

Bargaining-  the hope that the individual can somehow change what has happened and bring their loved one back.

Depression- state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. The realisation that their loved one cannot be brought back from death and their life will be spent without them.

Acceptance- In this last stage, individuals begin to come to terms with their loss, and realise life will be okay.

In the whole film, we would include the Kübler-Ross model, showing the stages of grief Alice is going through. However, as our time is limited within the trailer, we have picked out the main stages of the theory, depression and acceptance.

Romance Magazine Covers

This is a very striking magazine cover which reflects the atmosphere that is created throughout the film. There is a strong image of one of the main characters, it is important to note that the actor is in character. The dark background reflects the dark themes of the film and also contrasts with the character's pale skin.

There is a bold heading, which reads 'Empire', the magazine name. The lettering is clear and is coloured red which again contrasts with the background. There is also a subheading at the bottom which says 'Twilight: New Moon'; this is also bold, and coloured bright yellow which contrasts with the background also. There are a number of other sub-headings advertising different segments. All of the headings revolve around the picture of the character, that is the focal point. A number of necessities are also advertised, such as: the price, free things, barcode, but they are much smaller and the focus remains on the 'Twilight' segments.

Again, this magazine cover, follows the theme of the film which is gothic romance. The background is dark, showing a dark scene from the film. The focal point is the two main characters, everything else, like adverts, revolve around this. The two main characters cover the main heading slightly, showing that they are the most important feature. They are also looking at each other, showing there is a relationship between them. The title is large and bold, it is also white which contrasts with the dark background. There is a colour scheme of blacks, greys, white and yellow; this creates consistency and looks more official. 

This cover of 'Total Film' shows the main character of 'Avatar'. The character is making eye contact with the viewer, making it more intense and appealing to the audience. Again the character fills the cover, with part of him covering the title, showing the character is most important. The background of the cover follows the blue colour scheme and appears to be a scene from the world that the character is from. 

All of the other adverts and features of the magazine cover are situated around the character, stressing the importance of the character.

All of these magazine covers advertise one main film and everything else is smaller and appears to be less important. The main character is the main feature, with everything else such as price, barcode and adverts for other segments are situated around the character.

Camera Angles

Moving in scene:

     Alice and George are carrying boxes into our new house. For this we will use a long shot to capture the whole house and our movement. This will allow the audience to know the setting of the film and an understanding of the plot.

Kitchen scene:

     Couple cooking a meal in their new house, just general chit-chat and romantic gestures whilst cooking. We will film this using a mid-shot as it will only be focused on a certain part of the kitchen and will allow the audience to fully focus on the movement and relationship between the characters.

Sofa/film scene:

     Couple watching a film cuddled on the sofa. We decided to use several shots and angles for this scene to enhance the romantic connection between the couple. Firstly we will use an establishing shot from behind the characters to acknowledge their activity and their surroundings. We will also use mid shots and close-ups to clearly show the audience the expressions and emotions of the characters with each other.

Hand-held, George cam:

     This will use a point-of-view angle and shots from George's perspective. We will film several scenes using this but perhaps won't use all of them. These scenes include filming over my shoulder (over the shoulder shot) of me doing some sketching. This allows the audience to establish the character's hobby and will add understanding of the whole plot. Other scenes we will film will Alice getting ready and her waking up in bed. These are typical day to day activities within a relationship which is why we will use them. The point-of-view shots will give the audience a connection with the main character and will make them feel like they were part of the relationship.

Phone call scene:

     This is when Alice's character receives the phone call that her husband is in hospital; we will use a mid-shot for this scene to clearly show the reaction, emotions and movements of my character.

Hospital scene:

     For this we will use a long shot and a mid shot. A long shot will enable the audience to acknowledge that the scene is set in a hospital and a mid shot of Alice's character's reaction when her husband has died as this will encourage the audience to guess correctly what is happening in the trailer.

Sofa scene:

     This will be set at a friend of the character's house. It will be a combination of several short shots which will represent the passing of a lot of time. For this we will use both mid shots and close-ups to highlight the extreme emotions of my character. In this scene we will also being using a close-up on my character's mobile phone to show the missed calls to the audience.

Sketching scene:

     This scene is basically to show my character sketching and moving on from the death of her husband. For this will will use a high angle and a long shot or mid shot to give the audience a clear view of Alice and to understand what Alice is doing.

Ending scene:

     This will be a very brief scene as to not give too much away. We will use a long shot of Alice's character walking in business clothes to let the audience acknowledge the hopeful ending of our film.

Film Classification

stands for universal. This film is suitable for all ages and there is nothing unsuitable for children. Examples of U rated films are The jungle book, chicken run and Stuart little. All of these films main demographic is children, with a majority being cartoons. We decided this rating would be unsuitable for our film and trailer, as it has a mature theme, and a plot that young viewers are likely to find upsetting.

PG stands for parental guidance. The film should be suitable for most people, however some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG should not disturb a child aged around 8 or over. However parents are advised to consider whether the film's content may upset their child. Examples of PG rated films are Watership down, back to the future and the goonies. We decided our film would not fit into this rating, as it has too mature themes and scenes. However, we have taken the PG rating into consideration when discussing the film trailer, as the trailer does not show the more unsuitable scenes within the film.

Both these ratings have exactly the same criteria. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. The 12a category only exists in cinemas. No one under the age of 12 may see a 12a film unless accompanied by an adult. It is up to the adult to make the judgement whether the film is suitable for their child to watch. Examples of 12/12a films are (500) days of summer, Avatar and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We decided a 12 rating would be good for our film, as the scenes within the film are most likely to be distressing to any child under the age of 12, unless their parents thinks otherwise.

No one younger than 15 may see a 15 rated film in a cinema, or buy or rent a 15 rated film in shops. Examples of 15 rated films Limitless,  black swan and 127 hours. We felt that a 15 rating for our film would be too high, as although it does have some mature scenes, we feel that a child under 15 would be able to watch this film comfortably.

No one under 18 may see an 18 rated film. Examples of 18 rated films are Silence of the lambs, The texas chainsaw massacre and a clockwork orange. Most 18 rated films are horror and have graphic scenes that many people would find distressing. 18 is an unsuitable certificate for our film because we do not have a gruesome or disturbing theme that many 18 rated films often include.

After much deliberation we concluded that out trailer will be rated PG, however the main production would be rated 12 because of the upsetting scenes, but as will not be including these scenes in the trailer, we decided a 12 rating would be unnecessary. 

New Plot

When filming a couple of scenes based on the initial plot, we came across a few problems

• We found the lighting was too dark.
• The shots were too static and simple.
• The acting didn't fit the genre- when watching the clips back we felt we were watching a romantic-comedy rather than a romantic tragedy.
• After discovering these issues the next possible time we could re-film was after christmas- making it inconvenient for the plot to involve christmas- after thinking the plot over, we also felt that the film would work better not being based around christmas.

We solved these problems in a number of ways

• To solve the problem with lighting, we filmed in a different house with more light available.
• We changed the shots to more elaborate angles and movement.
• We found a new actor to play to role of the husband that Alice would feel more comfortable around
• We changed the plot to be based around the couple moving into a new house, rather than at christmas