Ancillary Task: The Magazine Cover
Our second ancillary task was to create a magazine cover using our film as the main image/release on the front.
We began by deciding on the characters and image we wanted on the front. Since our posters and trailer focused heavily on the characters Michael, Eve, Haden and Selene, we decided to use these four main actors/actresses for our magazine; this was to compliment our other two tasks.
Planning:
Before we started anything, we decided to plan out a draft of how we wanted our magazine to look. Using our influences, we drew out a rough sketch of our cover.
We thought our formation would look best with Michael at the front, Haden behind and the two females at either side. This portrayed Michael protecting Eve whereas it suggested that Selene has a background influence on Haden.
The name Elite, was just a quick idea as me and Iain really liked the name and connotations behind it (being the best.) However, Daniel disliked this idea as he thought it sounded arrogant and would best suit a fashion magazine.
As a quick draft, we sketched out possible inset images, such as interviews for our AS film: Parallel.
We also added puffs than weren't the generic circle shape. This was to make our front cover appear different and use symbols such as nuclear power and a cross to compliment our genre.
To fill up the space, we quickly added a skyline, price, date and bar code to plan out where we may place them.
After drawing a draft, we decided to brainstorm names for our magazine. The images above show some ideas we had such as 'RED', 'PictureHouse' and 'The Flix'. However, after further research we found that many of these titles were already being used by magazine companies. Therefore, we began to narrow our choices down. We really loved 'SilverScreen' and 'PictureHouse', however, we noticed that other groups wanted to use these names as well. To ensure we did not use the same title, we began to brainstorm again.
Once we had a list of names, we decided to draw out further sketches to see how our name could be incorporated within our cover.
The basic sketches were a good way for us to plan out our next step: taking the right image for our magazine.
Finally, we decided on the name 'BoxOffice' as it uses field specific lexis of the 'film' institution. We also had a few ideas of how we could work with this title on our magazine cover.
Taking the image:
We knew this was a magazine cover and not a poster so we felt it would be generic and appropriate to use a different location to the ones in our trailer/posters. Therefore, it was suggested that we use a park to take our image. Our idea was to have empty swings in the background to represent the loss of innocence from the characters. We all liked this idea so we asked Fiona to take the image for us. As usual, we wanted to wear similar costumes to the ones in our trailer, so we all wore dark clothing and coats. We also knew tat direct address is generic of the main image on magazine cover, so we wanted to use this within our cover (to portray the idea that the characters are looking at the reader.)
We took many images at the park, using low angled shots to group shots. Instead of having Michael at the front, we decided to place the characters closer together and change the sides of the antagonists and protagonists. Furthermore, due to the intense wind, we took images of the park without us in the frame. This was so we could take an image of us indoors to Photoshop us on to the park image.
When using Photoshop, to place the images together, we had to cut out the image of the characters from their original background. This took a while as Iain and Daniel's hair had very fine strands to work around. An issue was lighting as both images were taken in different lights (one was external whereas the other was internal.) We experimented with colouring, lighting, contrast and brightness to match the images. Once the finished piece was done, we found it comical rather than serious. This was not the approach we wanted to take so we decided to try and use images that we had originally taken outside to construct our magazine.
Here is the Photoshopped image:
Using the images at the park:
Since we were experienced with Serif DrawPlus rather than Photoshop, we felt it would be best to design our magazine using Serif. We filtered through the images we had taken and found one that worked best.
A problem was that the park image was taken on a slant, so we had to tilt the image using Photoshop. However, it meant that certain aspects did not line up (for instance the swing suddenly ended with no support beams.) Therefore, we had to use a blend tool to reconstruct the image to look as natural as possible.
After this, we changed to Serif to create our magazine.
We began by changing the colouration and lighting of the image as we felt it was too bright. However, we tried to keep the light leaks within the image as me and Iain liked how they worked on the cover. We then added the mast head, experimenting with a box around the word 'box'. It took a while to decided on the colour for 'Office; but we kept to a blue as it is a calm colour and readers will appeal to this.
Since 'The Hunger Games' was a main influence of ours, we decided to offer a 'FREE Mockinjay teaser poster' to our demographic. This was to attract a similar audience of our film and 'The Hunger Games' whilst promoting a very popular franchise at this current time.
For our puffs, we created our own star circle and then changing to cross stitches. This was to try and change the usual circle to something that would stand out and be different.
We added a draft of the anchorage text 'The Best Year for Film yet', however we were unsure whether it worked well with our magazine as a whole.To contrast with the blue, we used orange font (as orange is the opposing colour to blue on the colour wheel.) This was to help make certain aspects and information stand out more than others; it also helped to ensure that the colour of the font did not match the colours within the main image.
This is what our magazine cover looked like half way through editing. Iain and Daniel felt the image was not working as a magazine cover. I thought it worked well with the lighting but they insisted on re-taking another picture. Reluctantly, I agreed.
We decided to change location to an internal and darker place: the corridor we had used within our trailer.
We changed the image on our magazine but yet we still felt it did not compliment our genre or create an exciting magazine cover.
Therefore, we used Snapseed to edit the images' colour, brightness and filters; we wanted it to look darker to the image at the park.
Here is the edited image:
After this, we added our first inset image from our AS work 'Parallel'. We added a caption that stated the title, even using the original font from the film. Next, we added and changed the sell lines on the cover using similar genre of films such as 'Divergent' to contrasting actors such as 'Meryl Streep'.
The final magazine cover:
Puff- We felt that our puff did no stand out or attract any attention like it should. Therefore, we decided to use the same colour as the word 'Free' to contrast with the cold colours of the image. Also, the create the 'stuck on' look, we added a second ring around it. We used the alliteration 'Top ten' as it is phonologically pleasing, causing the audience to read the rest of the sentence as it has a flow to it.
Sell Lines- The three films we picked for our sell lines were, 'Divergent' and 'The Other Woman' both different genres but very current films. This was so we did not exclusive our audience to a specific genre, rather we branched out to reach a wider demographic. Interviews are often found within film magazines so we added this between using 'Jennifer Lawrence' and 'Meryle Streep'. These are both very different actors so it added variation to our magazine.
taking influence from the 'Hunger Games' magazine, we wanted to use three exclamatives. The lexical choices we used were 'Betrayal', 'Survival' and 'Destruction' as similar words were used within our trailer and we felt it represented the themes of our film. We changed the first letter of each to red, not only to compliment the cover but to make the words stand out on the page. Red also symbolises danger and anger, complimenting the meanings behind the words we used.
Anchorage- For the title 'Time', we tried many fonts but we felt that this worked best. Instead of having the font straight, we thought adding a tilt would connote that something is not right/ something is out of place. This subtly hint that something is wrong within our film (the adults are vanish.)
We decided to change 'The Best year for film Yet' to a quote we thought may appear later in the magazine. By using hyperbole, 'the most relevant film of the decade' exaggerates how good the film is causing the audience to want to read about the film. Underneath we added, 'this year's summer blockbuster', implying the release date of our film, whilst over- exaggerating it again.
Inset Images- Other than 'Parallel', we wanted to add a range of inset images. Therefore, we added a 'Chris Evan Interview' as the new Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) is a new release. We also added the anticipated 'The Fault in Our Stars' as it had a similar demographic to ours, although it is a different genre. Finally, we added '2014' and used the most tweeted image of all time. This was because most people use social networking, so we felt they would have knowledge about this image and the Oscars, causing them to want to read about it. Moreover, we added a small image of an award by the inset image to add a fun element to the magazine cover.
Date/Price/Issue Number/Barcode- We chose May as the date of our magazine, as we wanted to to be released before our film release date. We looked at other film magazines and chose an issue number that suggested 'BoxOffice' has been a company for many years. Moreover, we chose the price £3.99 as other magazines use this amount. Since we would be competing with major film magazines, we wanted our price to match theirs so that they would not deter from our magazine due to the difference in price.
At the bottom of the magazine, we added a barcode as it is generic of any magazine. We placed it at the bottom so it would not intrude on any other text or images.
Image- We changed the image slightly as the characters were placed behind the title 'BoxOffice'. Generically, the image is in front of the mast head as the magazine should already be well known. Therefore, we duplicated the image and cut out the characters front he background ( we used the Cutout Studio in Serif DrawPlus.) This was a challenge as Iain and Daniel's hair was wispy to work around. Once it was done, we placed the image over the other image giving the appearance that the characters are in front of the text. This gave it a professional look.
Other details- To finalize, we added a plus sign at the bottom as our influences often did this rather than suing the word 'plus'. We made final changes to colour and positioning but in the end, we were pleased with what we had produced.
Here is our final magazine cover:
When using Photoshop, to place the images together, we had to cut out the image of the characters from their original background. This took a while as Iain and Daniel's hair had very fine strands to work around. An issue was lighting as both images were taken in different lights (one was external whereas the other was internal.) We experimented with colouring, lighting, contrast and brightness to match the images. Once the finished piece was done, we found it comical rather than serious. This was not the approach we wanted to take so we decided to try and use images that we had originally taken outside to construct our magazine.
Here is the Photoshopped image:
Using the images at the park:
Since we were experienced with Serif DrawPlus rather than Photoshop, we felt it would be best to design our magazine using Serif. We filtered through the images we had taken and found one that worked best.
A problem was that the park image was taken on a slant, so we had to tilt the image using Photoshop. However, it meant that certain aspects did not line up (for instance the swing suddenly ended with no support beams.) Therefore, we had to use a blend tool to reconstruct the image to look as natural as possible.
After this, we changed to Serif to create our magazine.
We began by changing the colouration and lighting of the image as we felt it was too bright. However, we tried to keep the light leaks within the image as me and Iain liked how they worked on the cover. We then added the mast head, experimenting with a box around the word 'box'. It took a while to decided on the colour for 'Office; but we kept to a blue as it is a calm colour and readers will appeal to this.
Since 'The Hunger Games' was a main influence of ours, we decided to offer a 'FREE Mockinjay teaser poster' to our demographic. This was to attract a similar audience of our film and 'The Hunger Games' whilst promoting a very popular franchise at this current time.
For our puffs, we created our own star circle and then changing to cross stitches. This was to try and change the usual circle to something that would stand out and be different.
We added a draft of the anchorage text 'The Best Year for Film yet', however we were unsure whether it worked well with our magazine as a whole.To contrast with the blue, we used orange font (as orange is the opposing colour to blue on the colour wheel.) This was to help make certain aspects and information stand out more than others; it also helped to ensure that the colour of the font did not match the colours within the main image.
This is what our magazine cover looked like half way through editing. Iain and Daniel felt the image was not working as a magazine cover. I thought it worked well with the lighting but they insisted on re-taking another picture. Reluctantly, I agreed.
We decided to change location to an internal and darker place: the corridor we had used within our trailer.
We changed the image on our magazine but yet we still felt it did not compliment our genre or create an exciting magazine cover.
Therefore, we used Snapseed to edit the images' colour, brightness and filters; we wanted it to look darker to the image at the park.
Here is the edited image:
We all agreed that this darker image complimented our apocalyptic genre much more than the sunny image outside; we began to work with this. Generically, characters are cropped so that the legs are are barely in shot. Therefore, we decided to crop our image to have close-ups of us all.
Next, we added the image to our magazine cover so far.
We stuck to the orange and blue theme, changing the colour of the title and font to compliment the new image. Although we really liked 'Office' in orange, we felt the blue made the cover look cold and washed out, so we began experimenting with the colour wheel on Serif DrawPlus.
We tried using a grey/green colour and changing the puff to blue (to help draw attention to it.) But once again, we knew that it looked boring and un-attractive. As art students, we knew that colour was a major factor for any media/artistic piece so we began to change it again.
One colour that we thought worked rather well was a pea green. Using this as our new base, we changed font colours to green and orange. In the corner, we added the 'Hunger Games' poster to show the demographic what item they will receive with the magazine. Moreover, we ensured that the writing 'Box Office' did not cover the 'Hunger Games' magazine as we thought the producers would complain if this were a real magazine (it would hide the work that is being promoted.)
After this, we added our first inset image from our AS work 'Parallel'. We added a caption that stated the title, even using the original font from the film. Next, we added and changed the sell lines on the cover using similar genre of films such as 'Divergent' to contrasting actors such as 'Meryl Streep'.
The final magazine cover:
Puff- We felt that our puff did no stand out or attract any attention like it should. Therefore, we decided to use the same colour as the word 'Free' to contrast with the cold colours of the image. Also, the create the 'stuck on' look, we added a second ring around it. We used the alliteration 'Top ten' as it is phonologically pleasing, causing the audience to read the rest of the sentence as it has a flow to it.
Sell Lines- The three films we picked for our sell lines were, 'Divergent' and 'The Other Woman' both different genres but very current films. This was so we did not exclusive our audience to a specific genre, rather we branched out to reach a wider demographic. Interviews are often found within film magazines so we added this between using 'Jennifer Lawrence' and 'Meryle Streep'. These are both very different actors so it added variation to our magazine.
taking influence from the 'Hunger Games' magazine, we wanted to use three exclamatives. The lexical choices we used were 'Betrayal', 'Survival' and 'Destruction' as similar words were used within our trailer and we felt it represented the themes of our film. We changed the first letter of each to red, not only to compliment the cover but to make the words stand out on the page. Red also symbolises danger and anger, complimenting the meanings behind the words we used.
Anchorage- For the title 'Time', we tried many fonts but we felt that this worked best. Instead of having the font straight, we thought adding a tilt would connote that something is not right/ something is out of place. This subtly hint that something is wrong within our film (the adults are vanish.)
We decided to change 'The Best year for film Yet' to a quote we thought may appear later in the magazine. By using hyperbole, 'the most relevant film of the decade' exaggerates how good the film is causing the audience to want to read about the film. Underneath we added, 'this year's summer blockbuster', implying the release date of our film, whilst over- exaggerating it again.
Inset Images- Other than 'Parallel', we wanted to add a range of inset images. Therefore, we added a 'Chris Evan Interview' as the new Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Dir. Anthony Russo and Joe Russo) is a new release. We also added the anticipated 'The Fault in Our Stars' as it had a similar demographic to ours, although it is a different genre. Finally, we added '2014' and used the most tweeted image of all time. This was because most people use social networking, so we felt they would have knowledge about this image and the Oscars, causing them to want to read about it. Moreover, we added a small image of an award by the inset image to add a fun element to the magazine cover.
Date/Price/Issue Number/Barcode- We chose May as the date of our magazine, as we wanted to to be released before our film release date. We looked at other film magazines and chose an issue number that suggested 'BoxOffice' has been a company for many years. Moreover, we chose the price £3.99 as other magazines use this amount. Since we would be competing with major film magazines, we wanted our price to match theirs so that they would not deter from our magazine due to the difference in price.
At the bottom of the magazine, we added a barcode as it is generic of any magazine. We placed it at the bottom so it would not intrude on any other text or images.
Image- We changed the image slightly as the characters were placed behind the title 'BoxOffice'. Generically, the image is in front of the mast head as the magazine should already be well known. Therefore, we duplicated the image and cut out the characters front he background ( we used the Cutout Studio in Serif DrawPlus.) This was a challenge as Iain and Daniel's hair was wispy to work around. Once it was done, we placed the image over the other image giving the appearance that the characters are in front of the text. This gave it a professional look.
Other details- To finalize, we added a plus sign at the bottom as our influences often did this rather than suing the word 'plus'. We made final changes to colour and positioning but in the end, we were pleased with what we had produced.
Here is our final magazine cover:
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