Ancillary Tasks

Ancillary Tasks

As the research and planning phase of my A2 unit comes to an end, I begin my ancillary tasks.

Ancillary Tasks research

Film Posters
To begin the ancillary task phase of my coursework, I decided to take inspiration from some units from last year's crop of students. I looked at Charlotte's first as she was successful in researching several elements of film posters and then implementing them into her own film poster.   

Tag-lines

This was one of the most important aspects that I saw Charlotte had taken into a lot of consideration. Analysing several different feature film tagline was a very good start to help form ideas on her own tagline for her film. I intend on doing the same on films that are more applicable to my film and it's narrative. I aim to find unique ways of creating a memorable and thought provoking tagline without revealing the plot of the film.

However, one flaw I found with Charlotte's research is that she hadn't looked into independent film tagline's, instead only focussing on feature films. This is something I'll avoid doing as our film is a short film so it would be more appropriate to look at independent film tagline's.

Font     

The font of the poster is something that can't be forgotten (I can't relate). This can commonly go unnoticed when a consumer looks at a film poster but it is still essential. Charlotte done well on highlighting it's importance but could have done better at looking at examples of font specifically. This is arguably her biggest flaw as although she shows a montage of film poster there is not not enough analysis.

Drafts

The final major reoccurrence in Charlotte's blog was the vast amount of drafts she had done  for film poster. I feel that I lack consistency in that aspect of my previous coursework. However, I plan on improving this flaw but showing every step of the journey towards creating my final film poster. I also like that Charlotte used some variation in her drafts and highlighting the differences.   

Film Posters

So to begin the ancillary tasks section, I have researched various film posters which may help in the creation of my own poster. I believe it is necessary to differentiate between short film posters and feature film posters. As well as analysing different genres of films.

Short Film Posters

This film, titled Curfew, is a critically acclaimed short film so I felt this would be suitable to look at the film poster to see what initially drew in viewers. After analysing the poster, the first thing I noticed was the title itself. The font contrasts in size and colour dramatically to the rest of the poster. This is important for a poster as the title should be central and prominent in order for consumers to remember the title in order to go and watch it once it is released.

The poster also shows the reviews, comments and awards that it has received from various media outlets. This is an effective way of creating the poster as the more positive comments from well respected sources the more inclined the consumer will be to watch the film themselves and they will be convinced it is a satisfactory viewing if several outlets have watched it and enjoyed it.

The genre is also cited as a drama which revolves around the relationship between an uncle and niece. The poster implicates the film as a drama through the colour scheme. The poster is predominantly dark which suggests it will revolve around dark themes. This may help with my own film as I can use similar aspects of colour and implement into my own poster such as using dark colours to create an inference that the film will have mature themes.  

The next short film poster that I found was The Rusted. It acclaimed a popular reception from various media outlets and starred Josh Hutcherson and Jena Malone had appeared in feature films in Hollywood, most notably in The Hunger Games franchise. 

This was the first thing I noticed, the names of the actors in the film, which was an astute decision to put in the centre of the poster as it helps market the film better to an audience. The way in which the film poster is marketed better by the use of the actors name and picture is because both actors had gained a following in a mainstream following in Hollywood. Therefore, the film would gain more of a mass audience as the fans of both actors and actress would want to watch the short film just because they enjoy the actors it is starring.    

The next noticeable feature of the poster is the colour scheme. The poster is predominantly dark blue which was done because the narrative of the film follows a more adult themed tone as it features profanity, violence and addiction. Therefore, using bright colours would not depict the films narrative well as it would indicate the film is light hearted and targeted at a younger demographic. 

The poster contrasts with Curfew as it doesn't feature any reviews, nominations or awards it has recieved from media outlets. This is because they wanted to go through a different avenue when creating their poster. They created a bigger focus on the cast in comparison to Curfew, who did not use the actors names in the poster. They have done this because they believe the prowess of their Hollywood actors will attract a large enough following and if they implemented comments from media outlets, it could prove detrimental to aesthetic appeal of the poster. 
  

The final of the 3 short film posters I looked at was Dawn. This film received a mixed reception from audiences but it was received well from critics. The film, set in the 1950s, follows a high school aged girl who wants to venture past the limitations women faced and go on an escapade with a man she had just met, along with 2 of his friends. This ultimately leads to the death of the main protagonist, who is murdered in the woods.   

The poster implements elements from both the aforementioned short films that I analysed. It features the cast of the film, similar to The Rusted, at the top of the poster as well as emphasising the cast and starring actors.   

Feature Film Posters 

For my analysis on feature film posters, I had a look at one of my favourite films Shutter Island. It actually had two posters but I felt this one was the stronger and more interesting of the two. This varies greatly to the short film posters that I looked at. 

Firstly, the credits are considerably larger than the credits for all of the short films I looked at. This is expected due to scale of production for feature families in comparison to short films. I expect the credits of our film to not be as prominent as it was just the four of us involved in the making of the film (and Joe's brother and dad). 

The next factor I noted was the font used. Rather than focussing on the style of the font, it was the colour of the font that interested me. This is because the tagline and release date are both in red which contrasts greatly to the colour scheme of the rest of the poster. It is effective in ensuring you pay attention to those two aspects of the poster  

The poster of indie-horror 'Get Out' was very interesting to me. It goes for a unique and original approach to the design and effects of the poster. The font was large and bold, but unlike the other posters I have looked at, it appears at the bottom right of the poster rather than centrally. It shows that it is unique and stands out from other posters.

Another feature of this poster that I particularly liked was the broken glass effect. I find it very appealing and it shows some of the key protagonists and scenes in the film whilst maintaining the narrative plots in the film. This builds up the theme of mystery and horror as it shows the startled facial expression of the main protagonist causing intrigue into what he is seeing to evoke such emotion.  
Drafting

Potential Shots

The next phase of my ancillary tasks was to pick out and decide what still shots to use in my film poster. I have picked some of the most impactful and interesting shots in the film. 

I definitely want to show an image of Joe to show the main protagonist of our film so I felt that this may be able to be implemented into my poster as it is in focus and shows enough of his face. 

Joe's brother sleeping also could cause intrigue as to who he is and how he effects the story.

This image of Dylan is good as it shows the distressed and concerned look on his face and immediately makes the consumer question what he could be seeing.

This shot of Mark is at a pivotal point of our film and creates a feeling of suspicion amongst the audience as they want to know why he is the antagonist. 

Joe has a determined and engaged look on his face. It sparks intrigue into the conversation he is having and what is going on in the scene.

This shot was a cutaway in our film but it could be featured in the poster as it is aesthetic and can lead to connotations to our film.

The close up of Emily shows that she is either collapsed or dead so it could be used as a device to show that themes such as violence and murder will be addressed in our film.

This shot of Joe looking back may be used as it creates the question as to what he is looking at but is unlikely to be used as I would prefer to show the main protagonist's face.

This is my favourite shot and is the most likely to be used as the basis of my poster. I like the fact that it is a medium shot of Joe so we can visualize his appearance clearly and it also shows the setting of the opening of the film. 

Draft One

So to begin my first draft on Pixelr, I used this image of Joe and applied a black and white filter as a contrast in color will help allow it to stand out in comparison to other posters. However, as you can expect, this a simple first draft as to how I intend to set out in my drafting of my poster.

Draft Two

After feeling inspired from the broken glass effect from the poster of 'Get Out', I tried to implement my own version of it into my poster. I achieved this through using the pencil tool to help draw cracks into the image. Upon review, I feel as if this is too basic and I need to show more than just one image.


Draft Three

This draft of my poster has progressed greatly from my previous draft. It has gone from being plain and not intriguing enough to watch to having several images from our film and creating a sense of mystery. I feel as if the poster does lack color however and this will be addressed in future drafts. In addition to this, after researching into various fonts to use in film posters I believe I can find a more suitable font for my film poster.  

Draft Four

This draft is definitely my best yet as the font really compliments the film. I also implemented my tagline 'The truth might kill you' and the crimson color really stands out. I also decided to implement the age certificate as that is an essential for any film poster. 

Draft Five

I believe that I have now completed the vast majority of my poster as I have applied the credits and inserted the starring actors. Furthermore, I have introduced reviews from respected media that assess independent films and used them to describe my film to help entice the consumer to watch. A major issue that I need to address is the colouring of the font for the actor credits at the top and the reviews from the independent media. I need to implement my production logo and slightly reduce the size of the age certificate.   

Draft 6

I decided to go back and alter the colors of the fonts in my poster and I thought the vibrancy needed to be increased. I think the positioning looks out of place so I will go back and change it as well as applying my film production logo in the bottom left of the poster.   

Draft 7

I have the colors of the fonts to make them more visible as well as applying more vibrancy and 'brilliance' to the picture as it helps the clarity of the picture. I believe that is my final draft as I have applied everything necessary to create an effective film poster. 

Film Reviews


Magazine Film Reviews and Analysis

Spiderman 2

This is a magazine review of the film spider man 2. There are many things I both like and dislike about this review, the first thing I like is the picture on the right hand page, from this it shows you so much about the film, it shows the main character, What Spider man actually is and what genre the film will be, which is clearly an action. So for someone who has never seen spider man before they would be able to take a lot away from the picture alone. One thing I do dislike is where is says spider man 2, in my opinion this isn't big or bold enough and should stand out way more than it is doing, that way readers would remember it much more in my opinion. The second thing which I like about this is the verdict part at the bottom, here the editor writes his conclusion on the film, along with a star rating, which in this case was the full five stars. I think I will add something like that in my film so readers can see quickly whether it is worth a watch or not. There is also a short synopsis of what happens in this film so people can find out what the story is before they go and see it for themselves, this means if they find the synopsis interesting then they will be more likely to go and see them film to find out what its like.

Avatar

The second magazine review I looked at was on the film 'Avatar', this was the first big 3D film ever released, smashing the box office with $1.6bn. Once again, I both liked and disliked things about this film, my favourite thing about this review was the big bold name of the film. It has a red background behind it, which is much brighter than anything else on the page, attracting your eye right to it, this means the reader before they do anything else sees the name of the film, so therefore knows what they are reading about. In my film review I would hopefully recreate an effect similar to this one. Another thing I like about this review is the pictures, lots of pictures means readers have there own chance to judge what the film is about and whether they would want to watch it or not. Most of these pictures are action shots to making the film look exciting, like there's something happening all of the time, which after all is what viewers want when they are going to the cinema. The one thing I do dislike is the lack of writing, there isn't much of a review here, not even some sort of rating system meaning readers have to read the whole thing in order to find out whether the film is worth watching or not, if it were down to me I definitely would have added one.

Twilight 

The third and final magazine I reviewed was based on the film Twilight, this is a film which I personally have never seen so reading this was very exciting for me, as I could see what its like for someone reading a review who has no idea what the film is about. As you can see from the picture the review is written on top of a picture from the film, this picture is of two people, a male and female looking deeply into each others eyes, for me this made me think that this would be a love film, about how these two characters relationship forms. As soon as you go to read the review you read 'A chick flick with serious bite', I like this a lot, it means the first sentence you read tells you about the film, and makes you want to read the rest to find out more about the film. Just like the Spider man 2 review there is a little verdict section at the bottom of the page, where the writer sums up the film and gives it a star rating, which I would love to have in my own review.

After looking at these three magazine film reviews I have seen many things which I want to add to my own review, such as pictures which explain the film themselves, a title which stands out and readers remember, a verdict section and much more. Along with things I decided I don't like and don't want in my review such as too little writing. From looking at this I will now attempt to create my own review.

Magazine Research (Layout)

Sight & Sound magazine

The review is published in the magazine ‘Sight and Sound’, the September 2002 issue. The title of the film being reviewed is ‘Reign of fire’ which is in bold print on the top left corner of the page along with the three countries, United Kingdom, Ireland and USA that the production companies are from , making it a collaboration. Below and to the side of the title of the film is three columns listing all the credits to the film, including director, producers, screenplay ect. These three columns of credits take up almost the majority of the page as they cover just over half of the page, the review is also divided by bold black horizontal lines. The first section of the review is the synopsis of the storyline, the second section divided with bold black lines is the actual review. On the bottom right corner of the page is an image from the film with a caption below which describes what is shown in the image. Above this image from the film is two columns of the written review which carries on over onto the next page of one more column of review, the review ends with the writers name in bold print.

Empire magazine

This is an analysis of the layout of a film review from an Empire magazine issue that was published for January 2008. The review page discussed here covers The Kite Runner, and is situated on page 56 of the magazine.

The text put on the top left of the page reads ‘In Cinemas’ categorising the film as a current cinema release as opposed to a DVD/Blu Ray release. Almost 50% of the page is covered by a photo captured from the movie, which dominates the entire top half of the page. On the left of the picture is a trivial section about the film titled ‘Look Closer’. On the top right corner of the picture is a brief caption that describes the shot, the actors, and their characters within the story.

The title of the film, situated below the picture, is in big, bold, black letters. There is a subtitle below it that states the critic’s admiration of the actors’ performances in the film. The main credits including the director, screenwriter and cast, the release date, synopsis, and running time are put on a column of the left side of the page under the title of the film and above the review, as an introduction to the reader. The review is divided into four columns and is written in a font sized 12. On the bottom left of the page, cutting through the review, is a quote from the review in large, bold, brown letters. The critic uses it to put emphasis on the director’s talent in ‘finding the pulse of humanity’ in the script.

Finally, a ‘Verdict’ section is printed on the bottom right of the page.  This is where the critic gives his overall opinion of the film and rates it with four stars.           

Total Film magazine

The review is published in the well known “Total Film” magazine priced at £3.70, issued in summer 2006 – issue number 117.

The review takes up two full pages, with text scattered around the left page while a caption from the movie itself is placed on the right hand side. Firstly, the left hand page has a verdict; in this case the movie has been rated by Total Film as 3 stars which put it in the category of “Good”.

A paragraph headed What’s the Story breaks the movie down for those unfamiliar readers with a promise that the entire article is spoiler free; keeping its target audience as wide as possible as a reader who has no knowledge of the movie can still appreciate the review.

The review itself starts with the title Cars which is clear with a simple static color of black with a simple clean font, right beside it an age certificate (PG) with the slogan (Pixar keeps its motor running), slightly brutal as this is a slur for Pixar’s failure to produce a great movie on this occasion, but instead just about keeps it’s metaphorical heart beating.

Just beneath these are general details about the movie which includes the director, stars, screen play and even running time. The review itself is set out in columns to give it a user friendly appearance with a chart to bring visual comparison to the reader.

They also brought emphasis on what they thought were hit quotes such as (It hovers just above a Bug’s Life, fun but flawed, slick but sappy).

The verdict is on the very bottom of the page in a dark box highlighted from every other thing on the page, with a short conclusive sentence to sum up the review, finally giving it 3 stars.

Finally, the full colored caption on page 37 (right beside page 36 which is the review itself) two cars racing, a very slick caption, graphically great with attention to detail. The more interesting part about this page is the quote on the bottom right hand of the image reading 'Last one to the finish line has to star in Madagascar 2!'

This implies that Madagascar 2 is expected to be a Dream Works disaster, a great technique to give the reader and insight into the upcoming review and a taster urging the reader to look out for the next issue.

Final Drafts

After using Microsoft publisher to create a two page template I have created the first draft of my film review. I wanted to segregate my review into different sections so I used 'The Narrative' to briefly explain the plot of the film. I also wanted to separate the positives and negatives of the film before coming to an overall conclusion. Therefore, I used 'The Good, The Bad and The Verdict' layout which was a reference to one of the most iconic films in Hollywood 'The Good, The Bad and The Verdict'. This draft is subject to change as I may want to rewrite some descriptions to add more personality or be more specific.