Narrative

Narrative 

To begin, we sat down and drew a mind map of our ideas for our narrative. After deciding on the teen apocalyptic genre, we began to plan a plot and find some character ideas. Using Lord of the Flies as a base influence we liked the idea of having no adults or authority so the first question was: how can we get rid of the older generation within our film?

We thought about having the adults disappear all at once but then there was the question of why. One idea was to have a worldwide disease but we found this over used within other films so we wanted to find a USP (unique selling point). Next, we thought that it could be due to a government plot that caused a time shift, bringing the narrative into the sci-fi sub-genre.
       The next question was if the government intended on the disappearance of adults. We came up with ideas revolving around it being a plan to create the best race of the next generation (like a Hunger Games Scenario) but soon moved onto the thought that it was all an accident. 

After a long discussion we tried to work out how we would be able to incorporate the governments accident within our trailer. A suggestion was that the one of the main character's parents would be part of the government and the mother/father knows that the plot is going to happen. Due to this we decided to have a folder that has all the information in it as it may be a useful way to portray the plot by using a specific item.

With the main theme out of the way, we began to find a basic narrative to revolve our trailer around. Just like Lord of the Flies, we wanted to split the children and create two main groups to focus on. We decided to have two leaders of the groups (males) followed by two female role.

As for the groups, we wanted to create the cliché 'good' and 'bad' characters; as a Hollywood film company, we felt it was necessary to use generic conventions of narratives. We wanted to portray the breakdown of civilisation, theretofore we decided that the two groups would be aiming to gain control and power causing them to fight. We figured that the folder would have some significance so it may be useful to use this as a cause for the conflict as it holds the secrets to the government plot. Through our narrative, we decided that we wanted someone to be killed, creating a violent scenario to criticise the social structure of our film.

We also added a whole twist to the story and thought that adding some sort of time limit may be good. One of us suggested that when the children hit the age of seventeen, they too vanish like the adults. This was a good idea as it would help us to create a pace to our trailer ( a sense of urgency.)

From this basic idea, we began to create main and side characters to fit our simple outline and cast people appropriate for the roles.

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas:

We decided to brainstorm our ideas before starting with any major planning. To begin, we sat down as a group and decided to make a decision on what genre we were going to focus on. We were told that our task involved making a trailer to a new film and to compliment this we were going to make a poster and magazine cover. Due to our limited age group for actors, we felt it would be better to find a genre that would allow us to use suitable actors and locations. As a group we narrowed our ideas down to two choices.

Coming of Age:

This genre seemed like a good idea as we found narrative ideas very quickly because we are teenagers who face everyday problems. Therefore, we thought we could use everyday situations to portray a realistic narrative. Me and Iain began researching books such as 'The Summer I turned Pretty' and Daniel thought 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' would be a good narrative influence. We thought of generic locations such as the beach but the unpredictable weather for Britain seemed to take away the 'summer vibe' of the idea.

We were inspired by teenage problems such as relationships, drugs, mental- health and disability, as these are problems that many of us face when growing up. However, when we looked further into the genre, we realised that it was very hard to find a USP (unique selling point) for our fill due to the overuse of ideas in other releases. Due to this, we decided to come up with another idea without disregarding this one.

Coming of Age Apocalypse:

We knew that our film had to be centred around teenagers as our cast was limited so we decided to develop the coming of age ideas further. After reading Lord of the Flies, we were inspired by a world without adults and we thought, how could we modernise this idea and take a twist on this approach? What would happen with no authority? And how would society break down? Through these questions, we decided that we preferred this genre. We knew it would be a challenge to use social criticisms and find a good plot, but we were ready to take on the task.

With both ideas in mind, we sat down at a table and sketched some very rough poster ideas to help mind map our thoughts.

From this, we discussed ideas that would be central to an apocalyptic film that revolved around no adults.Themes such as rivalry, survival and trust came to mind and we thought about the effects on the social structure in a world with no authority. We thought of locations that may be useful to use so we could see what options we had. We suspected that skyline shots would be good to represent the theme of the narrative through the sky (e.g rain for sadness.) We also thought that deserted shots of places that are usually crowded would be good to represent the lack of adults such as motorways or schools. We also thought that a forest location may be useful to  symbolise the breakdown of society from a town to a natural location.

Finally, we decided that the apocalyptic genre would be better and we kept this in mind while we moved onto other tasks.

Magazine Influences

Magazine Influences

We decided to find some magazine influences for our own task. By using some from our trailer/poster influences and more, we found new ideas to use for our own magazine cover. 

 Total Film: The Hunger Games

Since 'The Hunger Games' was one of our main influences, we decided  to have a look at the magazine cover that features it. One of the interesting things about this magazine is the interactive inset images. They really differentiate this magazine from others, creating a unique 'Total Film' idea. Since most of this generation use mobile phones, the interactive images are contemporary and involve many age groups, especially teenagers (the demographic for 'The Hunger Games'). This is a clever idea and would be useful to find a modern way to involve our audience when we make our own magazine cover.

          The alliteration is also appealing when reading this cover. 'DEATH! DESTRUCTION! DYSTOPIA!' stands out on the page.  Using this language technique, the audience tend to be drawn to alliterative phrases and find it easier to remember, therefore, by using it the audience may read other text on the page rather than just the mast head or anchorage text.

           The background colour really compliments the main image. The use of red, orange and yellow to create the fire effect is rather iconic; Jennifer Lawrence (the main image) is known as 'the girl on fire' within 'The Hunger Games'.  The use of white for the font, helps it to stand out and doesn't over use the colour on the page.

           The main puff on the page is extremely striking. Due to its size and the large red number '10', it is hard not to notice it. I'd like to have noticeable puffs on our own magazine, when we make it, to make other information stand out.          

             The main image, is used well. Since Jennifer Lawrence, is the main character within 'The Hunger Games', it is suitable to have her as the main focus. If other characters such as Liam Hemsworth or Josh Hutcherson were placed on the cover,, I'd feel that it would be too crowded due to the dominating colour background. Therefore I like how it is set out. 

            The sell lines are quite easy to notice. However, I think that yellow is a little over-done as the background is very vivid and dramatic already. I like the use of adjectives in the red boxes, such as, 'exclusive' and 'amazing' as it helps to emphasise the information that follows. 

Things that influenced us:

1. Unique selling point- interactive inset images

2. Alliteration

3. Background colour and iconography

4. Striking puffs

Empire: Harry Potter

Once again, since we used Harry Potter as our poster influence, we decided to look at the magazine cover. 

One of the main things we liked about this magazine cover is the group shot. Rather than just showing one character, it shows three. Most people will know Harry Potter, since this is promoting the last film, therefore, the characters are iconic in themselves. 

         One of the USP's of this magazine cover is the use of 'free' within the skyline/strapline and next to the inset images. By doing this, the audience feels they are getting more for their money, causing them tow ant to buy the magazine. 

        Due to Harry Potter's success, most people know the characters and story line. Therefore, the use of 'the perfect farewell', involves fans of the series, without discluding the rest of the audience. It would be useful if we could do something similar to this when we make our own magazine cover. 

        The background of this cover is a huge contrast in comparison to the 'Hunger Games' cover. Personally, I dislike the white background, however I can see why it may be used; the main characters stand out without a distracting background as they are the main focus. 

      The puff on this cover states, 'the world wanted'. This uses hyperbole to emphasise how popular it is. It also suggests that everyone else has this magazine and knows about it, causing the audience to feel as if they should have it too. 

Things that influenced us:

1. More than one character as the main image

2. Using 'free' as a unique selling point

3. Hyperbole

Total Film: The Twilight Saga- New Moon

Since we decided that we liked magazine covers with more than one character on the front, we decided to look at the Twilight Saga New Moon magazine cover. One thing I really liked was the glow effect on 'FILM' and 'new moon'; it reflects the supernatural within the film and connotes to the glow of the moon. I liked the image of the three main characters as it hints towards the narrative (Bella is hiding behind Jacob and the narrative involves him trying to be with Bella, when Edward leaves.) I think the background colour works well as the blue is a calming colour and the black contrasts with the white font. The puffs don't work as well on this poster due to the colour being very similar to the background, causing it to blend in. The skyline/strapline is very catching as it is written in caps locks and says 'FREE' and 'GIANT', emphasising what the audience will get with this edition.

Things that influenced us:

1. More than one character as the main image
2. The contrasting colours and glow effect on the writing
3. Free poster as a way to attract the audience

Total Film: Sucker Punch
Since we really liked the group shots on the front of magazines, we decided to stay with these as influences. What I liked a lot about this magazine cover was the positioning of the characters. They have the main female in the middle with the other girls beginning to get further into the background in a diagonal formation from the centre. This highlights the main characters as they are in the foreground and I thought this may be a useful idea for our film if we have a large cast. Just like the Total Film: Hunger Games magazine, I liked the inset images as a reel at the bottom as it structures the page nicely to present the information. Although I liked the skyline/strapline 'free poster' on the other magazines, I also liked the idea of describing the magazine itself like this magazine does ('the modern guide to films').  The white font really stands out and contrasts with the green background. I liked the way the 'Film' looked eroded and cracked to compliment the genre of the film. I think the background is a good colour, using greens (a colour often associated with war/army) and orange to stand out, as it represents the narrative that involves fighting. The puffs really stand out on this magazine, due to the bright orange colour. I felt this would be a good idea to draw attention to other information. I also liked the position of the sell lines as it gives extra information when they reach the bottom of the page, influencing the audience to turn the page to find out more. I think the costume choice is interesting as the girls are not fully clothed, attracting the male gaze. Also, the costumes portray women in a powerful way also attracting females as well as males.

Things that influenced us:
1. The position of characters in the group shot
2. The colours to compliment the narrative and genre
3. The bright puffs
4. Describing the magazine in the strapline/skyline
5.The font
6. The position of the sell lines

Total Film: X-Men First Class:
We found that this magazine cover was similar to Total Film: Sucker Punch due to its positioning of the characters within the group shot. We liked this better as it had less characters but still kept the diagonal shape from the centre. The direct address also makes the tone of the magazine quite sinister and dark which we thought was an interesting use of the characters eye line. I really like how the colour of 'Film' matches the costumes with a shade of blue running as a theme. The skyline/strapline is clever as it states 'X-tra', using the title 'X-Men' to play on the words.Also other adjectives such as 'x-plosive,', 'x-trodianry' and 'x-clusive' all compliment the title of the film. We decided this may be useful to use in our own magazine cover. The sell lines are nicely set out at the bottom and are easy to read. This simple technique works well and presents the information clearly.

Things that influenced us:
1. Less characters and their position
2. The clever strapline/sjyline and adjectives
3. The simple sell lines
4. The colour of the mast head

What is a magazine cover?

What is a magazine cover?

Film magazines often use the cover to promote new film releases using the important actors/actresses as the main image. They have many codes and conventions to target different demographics and portray many genres of film.

Codes and Conventions:

Mast Head:

The Mast Head is the title of the magazine. Magazines often use names associated with film and theatre such as  as 'Premiere' and 'Total Film'. On the other hand, magazines such as 'Empire' use  powerful names rather than a direct link with film. Usually, the mast head is the largest copy on the magazine cover; it attracts usual consumers and new buyers. The font and size tends to stay the same but the colour and placement (foreground/background) can differ depending on the film they are promoting. For instance, the 'Salt' and 'Star Trek' cover changed the mast head's position and colour even though they are both for the magazine 'Total Film'.

I find both Mast Head's effective in their own way. The left cover is bright and uses a smashed effect to represent the genre of the film. However, the cover on the right is bold and stands out in contrast to the black and white image.




Direct address:

Often film magazines use direct address. This means that the main image of the actors/actresses are looking at the audience. Usually, this is to involve the audience as it appears that the actors are looking at the buyers; this can help to persuade the audience to buy the magazine. Here is an example:

Chris Evans uses Direct address within this magazine poster. The magazine is trying to promote the film 'Captain America' and by using direct address the audience is involved. 

Puff:
Puffs are small shapes (usually circles) that hold information on the page; magazine covers use puffs to promote other information or to make things stand out. For instance, they make have text such as 'FREE POSTER INSIDE' or 'See pg 9 for exclusive interviews'.  This helps to draw the audience's attention to the puffs on the page and to USP's of the magazine.

Skyline/Strapline:

The skyline/strapline is text located at the top of the magazine. The text can differ from things such as 'FREE POSTER INSIDE' to information about the magazine. People often read in a 'Z' formation so the title and skyline/strapline will be the first thing the audience reads. therefore, the strapline/skyline has to be catching and help to promote the magazine.

Here are two examples:

This magazine cover uses a USP and states, 'FREE GIANT IRON MAN POSTER!'. The colour stands out as purple and yellow contrast on the colour wheel and the word 'FREE' is well used to attract customers. The use of the adjective 'giant' also helps the magazine to sell itself as it exaggerates the size.

This cover uses the skyline/strapline, 'THE MARVEL MOVIE ISSUE'. By using alliteration, the sentence already appears catchy and memorable. Also, because it is a 'MARVEL MOVIE ISSUE', the magazine seems exclusive and unique. This will include collectors as they will want to buy the 'one off' issue, fans of the comics and films and new customers too. This skyline/strapline is effective as it involves different demographics and stands out.






Date/Issue number/ Price:
Usually, the date and issue number are  shown in the same place on the magazine whereas the price is often located next to the bar code. The date is always shown on a magazine cover to show when the magazine is released. The issue number tends to be next to the date to allow collectors or new buyers to know the issue.The price has to be on the front of the magazine, so the consumers know how much to pay. These three small but important features are generic of any magazine cover, not just film.

Example:

Above the letter 'M', is the date and issue number is shown. Since it is minor information, the font tends to be rather small and hidden away.

Bar code:
The bar code is usually on the front of a magazine cover to show the price and make the magazine available to buy. It tends to be well placed so it doesn't distract the audience from the main image and puffs on the cover.

Sell Lines

The sell lines on a magazine are other text on the page that aren't the skyline/strapline, title or mast head. These give extra information about what the magazine contains. This is useful as it attracts people who are interested in other films, genres and actors/actresses.

Here is an example:

This magazine cover uses a few sell lines. It uses one word exclamative sentences to draw attention to them ('SNEAKY!' and 'EXTRA!). Below the words is information about what is inside the magazine; this is a nice idea as the large words make the audience want to read what is underneath.












Main image and inset images:
The main image is the large central photo on the magazine cover. The image is associated with the main film that is being promoted by the magazine,and tends to use direct address. The 'Hobbit' uses the main character Bilbo as the main image, focusing on the central actor of the film. This makes it recognisable and helps to promote the film.

Inset images are other images on the page aside from the main picture. These could be used to promote other films that are shown in more depth within the magazine, or they could be other images from the main film focus. For example, the magazine cover below uses 'The Hobbit' as its main image, but uses different films as its inset images. This includes the audience of other film genres and makes the magazine appear to be more exciting with more films to showcase.

Iconography:

Just like trailers and posters, magazine covers can also use iconography. This is to include fans of the film and intrigue new customers. For example, the 'Empire' magazine below uses bullet holes to represent the iconography within the 'James Bond' films. Most people associate guns with the well- known films so by using the shattered glass effect, the audience will understand why this is done. It makes the magazine cover look different to others and helps to promote the film.

Anchorage text:

Anchorage text is written copy placed towards the bottom of the page. It tends to be the title of the main film to attract people interested within the film or who want to know more about it. For example, the magazine cover below states, 'Inception'. It is bold, clear and overlaps the main image, this helps it to stand out, making it clear for the customer to know what the magazine is promoting.

Two types of magazine covers:

Unsubscribed- The unsubscribed version has to use most conventions such as puffs and sell lines as it is trying to attract an audience. The unsubscribed version will be sold in shops to target many demographics.

Subscribed- The subscribed version does not use conventions such s puffs as the audience have already subscribed to buy the magazine. Therefore, the magazine does not have to sell itself. 

                                    Unsubscribed on the left          Subscribed on the right

Poster Influences

Poster Influences

For our ancillary tasks, we were told that we were going to make a film poster. Therefore, we decided to take influence from posters both from our trailer influences and more. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Since me, Iain and Daniel are all huge fans of the Harry Potter series, we had seen the film poster before and really liked it. Therefore, we decided to take an analytical approach to find ideas for our own poster. The poster instantly struck us as the idea of rivalry is clearly addressed; both Harry and Voldemort have their faces close-up to one another. The battle between these two characters had been awaited for many years so by using them as the main image, the idea of rivalry is shown clearly. We like the idea of having two main characters facing one another to suggest an epic battle.
     The colours are also well-used. The colours are rather dark, using tones such as blue and red. The blue could be for iconography as the older Harry Potter films are generically blue. Also, the blue/green could be used with the red as the battle consist of Harry's red spell and Voldemort's green spell. The darker shades have ominous connotations as dark colours can represent death, sadness and grief. This could be to hint at themes within the film. Moreover, the red can imply blood and danger. Also, the wand has a white spiral around it. This could be to suggest hope, innocence and the ghost form that Harry takes once killed. We realised that colours are very important to suggest genre, themes and narrative so we wanted to create our poster using the right colours.
      The tag-line states, 'It All Ends 7.15'. All of the fans of the films/books will know that this is the final film so a simple tag line is very effective. All the books/films have built up to the epic battle between Harry and Voldemort so by saying 'end', the audience will know that this is the finale. The poster also gives a clear date, which we thought was important for a poster as the audience needs to know when they can see the film.
      Both Harry and Voldemort seem to have injuries and dirt across their face, reinforcing the battle idea. This is effective as it is suggestive of themes and differentiates this film from the older ones (appears to have more violence).
      Within the middle of both characters is a wand. This not only represents the genre (fantasy) but uses iconography. It also suggests that the wand (the Elder wand) is the one thing that stands in the way of Harry and Voldemort as it is placed between them both.
      At the bottom of the poster the website written. 'Www.harrypotter.com' also markets the film virtually as well as through a poster. This is to gain a wider audience and allow people to find more information about the film. Finally, the poster mentions 'IMAX' and '3D'

Things we liked about this poster and what we may use in our own:
1. Two main characters facing each other
2. Well thought out colours
3. A good tag line
4. Having a website link

Individual posters:

The Harry Potter posters all have other teaser posters. For instance there are ones that have individual images of the characters on them.             

                                                                                                                                                                       The teaser posters use the same tag line as the main theatrical poster ('it all ends July 15'). We liked how the main characters were the central image and how they were not using direct address (looking at the audience.) The colours are themes were very similar to the main poster. We thought that these teaser posters worked well so we considered using this idea for our own posters.                                                                                      
I Am Legend

We decided to look at the ' I Am Legend' film poster as it is an apocalyptic genre resembling them theme we wanted to do. The golden colours within this film poster are very prominent. This could be to represent the apocalyptic sky to suggest the genre of the film or it could be to suggest hope as white and yellow can symbolise this. The background holds an abandoned/destroyed city, once again suggesting the end of the world theme.The biggest copy on screen states, 'WILL SMITH' and this targets one of the USP's of the film. Will Smith is a well known actor so by having his name at the top, the film sells itself through him. Also, it could be used as the film only has one main character so by using just Will Smith's name, shows how his character is alone. The tag line states, 'The last man on earth is not alone'. This is cleverly used as it suggests the genre of sci-fi/apocalyptic as there are other beings on the earth that aren't humans. It is also open ended and questions the audience as the poster does not show images of other life forms. The central image is Will Smith; in comparison to the empty sky, Will seems quite small on the poster. This could be to show his vulnerability and his loneliness. Also, since he is the main character, having him central helps to show this.
The title 'I Am Legend' seems  to become bigger as it follows the path; it almost looks like Will Smith is going to walk through it. This emphasises the word Legend, suggesting that he is going to do something that he will be remembered for. The date is quite small at the bottom and we didn't like this as it doesn't stand out. We decided that we would want our date to be more noticeable.

Things we liked about this poster and what we may use in our own:
1. Colours to represent the genre
2. A good tag line to interest the audience
3. The destroyed landscape

Tomorrow When The War Began

The first thing we really liked about this poster was the group shot. This shows many characters and has the main female protagonist at the front. The group could go in order of importance (main character at front and less important towards the back.) We liked the colours used as they are quite dark and use shades of red and yellow. This blends with the background as there are explosions. This is suggested of violence to refer to the word 'war' within the title. The characters are also wearing dark clothes, implying that they may have to do bad things to survive; it could also suggest death of others and themselves. We liked that the poster states, 'based on the bestselling novel' as we think that it adds it helps to sell the film as it involves people who have read the book. This is my least favourite poster as it is quite dark and I dislike the chunky copy.

Things we liked about this poster and what we may use in our own:
1. Group shot
2. Suggestive violence

The Road 

The Road poster is very dark with colours of black and grey. This represents the themes of the film: sadness, loss, death. It could also be to suggest the narrative as something happened including ash to end the world. Grey is the colour of ash and is also often used throughout the book. The background is very faint which could suggest that the characters don't exactly see where they are going. The main focus in on the father and his boy which reflects on the narrative as they are central to the story. They are also wearing old clothes to suggest the time frame of the film (it has been a long time since the apocalypse). We once again like the idea of 'based on the novel' as it involves a larger audience. The copy is white suggesting that the road within the film may be hope for the characters. 'Viggo Mortensen' is copy at the top of the poster; he is known from 'The Lord of the Rings' so this could be used to market and distribute the film.

Things we liked about this poster and what we may use in our own:
1. The use of colour
2. Costumes to represent the time frame
3. Copy to say it was based on a novel

The Hunger Games:

We did not find the main poster for 'The Hunger Games' very influential, however we thought that the teaser posters were well made. We liked the close-ups of the characters as we imagined our narrative to be quite dramatic therefore the close-ups show the intensity. 
We also like that Katniss is facing the opposite way to the other characters, this suggests that she is different and will break the cycle (she starts a rebellion.) The dark background emphasises the colours of each character; each stand out differently. This is effective as it suggests that each character is different with individual traits to add to The Hunger Games. We considered using character close-up for our own posters.