My film magazine layout ideas

[Work done by me]

My film poster layout ideas

[Work done by me]

Our Shot List for the Trailer

[Work done as a group]

Scene 1

• Mid shot - shows Erica giving out all her invites to her party to people at school.
• Long shot - shows Samantha and her crew making their way through the crowd towards erica
• Mid shot - Erica hands her the invite
• Close up - Samantha’s expression, sarcastic smile then rips up invite
• Over the shoulder shot - shows half of the back of Erica’s head as Samantha rips up the invite
• Close up - shows Erica’s expression as ripped up invite is thrown into her face

Scene 2

• Wide shot - shows room in Erica’s house, just her in it with cake on table, she is sitting at the table
• Mid shot - shows the side of Erica’s face as she looks out of the window as her name is called from outside
• Long/wide shot - shows window and group of party guests outside
• Close up - shows Erica’s expression as she thinks they’re coming inside, smiling
• Mid shot - shows Samantha in particular waving
• Long/ wide shot - shows the group walking away

Scene 3

• Close up - shows Erica’s sad expression as she looks at cake
• Extreme close up - shows tear falling down her cheek
• Mid shot - shows Erica sighing then blowing out her candles
• Whole screen turns black

Scene 4

• Close up - shows Erica’s feet (now Samantha) as she walks towards a mirror
• Mid shot - shows mirror and back of Erica’s head as she looks up
• Close up - Erica screams and looks confused
• Close up - shows Samantha (now Erica) screaming and her disgusted facial expression

Scene 5

• Long shot - Erica (now Samantha) standing in door way as doors open
• Close up - shows the expression of everyone around her and saying hello to her
• Close up - shows Erica’s confused face and then suddenly looks in front of her
• Long shot - shows Samantha (now Erica) and the space around her
• Close up - shows Samantha’s facial expression, angry and upset

Scene 6

• Mid shot – shows Samantha (now Erica) walking alone in the corridor
• Close up – shows Samantha’s (Erica’s) reaction as friends crowd round her
• Mid shot – shows Samantha’s facial expression (as she is Erica, she forgets she’s Samantha), she is confused as to why other cheerleaders are following her. She walks away but they keep following her.
• Mid shot (from side of characters) – shows Samantha (Erica) come face to face with her boyfriend

Scene 7

• Mid shot – shows Erica (Samantha) sitting in the canteen between two other geeks at a table and looking miserable

Scene 8

• Long shot – shows Erica (Samantha) walking out of a door in the school from the side. She walks fast with her head down and looks angry
• Mid Shot – shows Erica (Samantha) looking up and showing a shocked facial expression
• Close up – shows the sides of the faces of Samantha (Erica) and Samantha’s boyfriend, Jake. They are smiling and looking at each other. Erica (Samantha) can be seen in the background between the couple, looking very small. This reflects Erica as a whole as being smaller than everyone else and now she starts to feel how popularity affects others.

Scene 9

· Close up – shows evil facial expression of Erica’s (Samantha) face to show she is coming up with a plan to come between Samantha (Erica) and Jake

· Mid shot – shows Samantha (Erica) from the side, opening her locker

· Close up – on the letter which falls to the ground, written by Erica, which explains they want to break up with each other

· Mid shot – (Both Jake and Samantha (Erica) appear in this shot side by side but are separated by a black line) Both characters show sad expressions, slam their lockers and walk away

Scene 10 + 11

• Long shot – show Samantha (Erica) walking quickly towards Erica (Samantha) once she finds out it was her that wrote the letter and not Jake
• Over the shoulder shot – shows Erica (Samantha) shouting at Samantha (Erica), telling her to keep away from her boyfriend
• Over the shoulder shot – shows Samantha (Erica) shouting at Erica (Samantha)
• (Screen is blacked out)
• Mid shot – shows both girls, from the side, still shouting at each other
• Close up – shows each girl individually, one after the other, as they stop arguing and realize they have changed back. The argument ended with both girl realizing they are more like one another than they thought

Scene 12

• Over the shoulder shot – shows Jake from the back and Erica trying to tell him it was her who had been ‘the new Samantha’ for the past weeks
• Close up - shows Jake ignoring her and walking straight past

Scene 13

• Two shot – shows Samantha and Jake in a Mid shot. Samantha has shopping bags and is more interested in looking in shop windows and spending Jake’s money than being interested in Jake. Samantha is just glad to be back to normal and isn’t threatened by Erica anymore because she’s changed back also
• Close up – shows Jake’s face as he looks elsewhere and thinks that Erica was right

Scene 14

• Long shot – shows Erica sitting alone at a bench with all other students walking in front of her
• Mid shot – shows Jake with his friends as he looks over at Erica
• Close up – shows Erica looking down and miserable. She then looks beside her to see Jake sitting beside her and smiles
• Mid shot – shows Jake with his arm around Erica, looking at her and smiling
• Long shot – shows other students standing and pointing at the couple

Scene 15

• Mid shot – shows other students turning their heads and looking shocked
• Long shot – shows Samantha and Eric appearing through the crowd holding hands. This also shows his height compared with hers as he is shorter than her and this creates some of the comedy for the trailer

Storyboard ideas for our trailer

[Drawn by me, ideas generated as a group]

We created a storyboard to show the content of our Romantic Comedy Trailer.

For our teaser trailer, we have decided to make a story board to give a basic outline of the whole film. After we have made the story board we will cut it down and use key scenes from it to use in the film trailer.


Now we have made the story board we will create a script and shot types so we can film our trailer with ease, using key conventions of romantic comedy so we can interest the audience and make them want to watch the film.
Now we need to plan our film with actors,location, costume, props, lighting and music.

Product questionnaire results

[Work done as a group]








Here are the results of our questionnaire shown in graph form. They show what our target audience will prefer to see in a romantic comedy teaser trailer and therefore will help us make our trailer more successful.

The group's questionnaire on what to include in our products

[Work done as a group]

This is the questionnaire we created in order to gain feedback from our target audience. From this, we could then make our products suit the needs of our audience exactly.

Trailer

Are you male or female?
Male
Female

How old are you?
13-15
16-19

What genre of film do you prefer?
Romantic
Comedy
Horror
Action
Thriller
Sci-fi
Comedy

What sort of music do you think suits a teaser trailer for a Romantic Comedy?
Pop
Rock
Indie
Classical
Romantic
RnB

How long should a film trailer be?
Under a minute
One Minute
Two Minutes
3 Minutes Plus

Should a trailer have a voice-over?
Yes
No

What elements should the trailer contain? (You may circle more than one)
Comedy parts
Hints of the Story
Introduction of characters
Credits
Dates
Titles
Actors’ Names

Poster

What colours would you prefer to see on a film poster for a romantic comedy?
Primary Colours
Secondary Colours
Bold Colours
Pastel Colours
Plain Colours

How many images should the poster contain?
One large image
several smaller images

Should the poster show the main characters in the film?
Yes
No

Should the poster show the actors’ names?
Yes
No

Should the poster contain the credits/dates of the film?
Yes
No

Should the poster have a slogan?
Yes
No

Should the poster show reviews of the film?
Yes
No

Magazine

Should the magazine cover be similar to the film poster?
Yes
No

What colours should be used on the magazine cover?
Primary Colours
Secondary Colours
Bold Colours
Pastel Colours
Plain Colours

Should the film magazine show the main characters in the film?
Yes
No

Should the magazine show other headlines not related to the film advertised?
Yes
No

Should the magazine cover have a colour scheme?
Yes
No

Should the magazine cover have competitions to win film-related prizes?
Yes
No

Our chosen audience

[Work done as a group]

The audience we have chosen to aim our film trailer, magazine and poster at is:

• Males and females
• Aged 13 - 19
• White ethnicity group
• Middle class

We have chosen this particular audience as this is the audience the majority of exsisting products we have studied, have aimed theirs at. Due to the fact we have analyised exsisting products, means we can now easily create our own, referring to this particular audience easily.

My analysis of the 'She's the Man' film trailer

[Work done by me]

Here is the link to the trailer i have watched:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4OhwrMidSU

In terms of Mise-en-scene, the 'She's the Man' trailer shows teenage life at a high school in America. As it is set here, it shows how teenagers are percieved and how they are seen as behaving. Such characters as Monique and Olivia are shown at the beginning of the trailer as having blonde hair and blue eyes, which signifies that they are 'perfect' as they are sitting at a dinning table with other ladies dressed in fine clothes. This contrasts the character of Viola who is shown wearing a hoodie and a cap with props such as a football, which signifies she is a tom boy, unlike the other girls. Parts of the trailer show stereotypical American school life emelments such as cheerleaders wearing skimpy outfits and this represents this is important to school life for the teenagers and all the girls would like to be one. The characters are shown wearing trendy clothing which signifies their need to look their best all the time to keep up their social status and shows that they are vain.

At the beginning of the trailer, classical background music is used to refer to the 'perfect', well behaved girls as mentioned before. Again, the sound techniques used, contrast the different types of characters trying to be portrayed as the broken record sound effect is used to show Viola entering the room and she is the complete opposite the the other girls. The sound is used to show she this and doesn't really belong at the dinner with them. Ambient sounds such as the slapping sounds used to show the girls fighting, shows the literal fight between the different types of social status and between the two types of girls. This also signifies the girls as being violent and this therefore would refer to teenagers in general and this will be how they are percieved by others. The dialogue also refers to social status amoung teenagers as being important as Monique says 'girls with arses like mine, don't talk to boys with faces like yours' and this implies she is more important than them and wouldn't nomally give them the time of day. The fast paced background music, is used to show the confusing story line of the film as the plot is revealed. This refers to the comedy genre and it's funny that there is so much going on at one time and the fact that it is all going to happen at one time at some point. Non-diegetic sound is used e.g. voiceover, to give hints and clues as to what the film is about and help the audience see what is going on which is vital to this film as there is so much going on. It is also used to signify the importance of the confusing storyline as being funny and therefore the audience will want to go and see it.

Editing techniques such as Shot reverse shot are used to show the contrast of the 'perfect' blondes to Viola, the tom boy brunette. The shot starts by looking at the 'perfect' girls at the dinner table and then goes back to Viola who is eating rudely and is slouching in her chair. This implies the comedy genre of the film as this is very unlady-like. This editing technique is also used when Duke and Viola (who is Sabastian as this point) have a conversation about getting a girl. Viola momentarily forgets she is a boy and Duke is seen to be confused. The shot then returns to Viola who has to then quickly cover up the fact she is a girl without him noticing. This again refers to the comedy genre. Short takes are used to go from one take to another. In this trailer, this is used to show the confusion of the story line as each take lasts no more than a couple of seconds. It is hard for the audience to keep up with and therefore would encourage them to watch the film and find out what happens.

The shot types which are used throughout the trailer, are Close-ups and Mid-shots. For example, a close-up is used when Viola is seen eating at the dinner table with the other girls and when she enters the room. This enphasizes the fact that she unlike them as she finds it hard to open the door and keep her bag on her shoulder when she walks in and eats rudely whereas the other girls don't. This refers to the comedy genre as she is unlike the others ans therefore doesn't really belong there. There is a close-up used to show monique putting on her make-up in a compact mirror. This signifies that teenagers are vain and are constantly worried about their appearance. Yet another close-up is used after the dinner to show Viola in her normal clothes as she appears as a tom boy. This contrasts her to what she was wearing before but this style is seen to suit her personality better. Finally, a close-up is used is used to show Duke and Viola (Sebastian at this point) screaming when they see a spider. This obviously shows the comedy aspect of the film as this is stereotypically associated with woman and the men are meant to be masculine. A Mid-shot is used to show Duke and Viola (Sebastian) hugging. Viola gets a little carried away, forgetting she is a boy and this again shows the comedy aspect of the film as she has to hide her secret quickly. The camera is used to move up Viola body as she has undertaken the transformation from girl to boy. This shows the comedy aspect of the film once again as she over dressed and really isn't sure how to be a boy.

The contents of the trailer includes:
girl being forced into dinner she really doesn't want to go to
seeing the real side to the girl - love for football
girl turns into boy (supposed to be her brother) to play football
falls for boy
boy falls for another girl
girl has to stop them getting together
reveals her secret
girl and boy get together
other matches are made for other characters


Saussure, a representation theorist, came up with the idea that signs within media are forms of communication which stand for something to an audience. This applies to this trailer as the signifier is the fact that Viola is so clumsy and eats rudely compared to the other ladies which would then signify that she doesn't belong there and her personality is very different which is the sign. In this trailer, Dyers theory about stereotypes could apply as the males in the film come across as dominant over the females. This seen by the fact that Viola becomes a man in order to be able to play football and this would apply to real life and how males and females, see themselves. Tessa Perkins' theory on how stereotypes are not always false apply to this trailer as the fact that Monique speaks rudely to a boy 'beneath her' shows aspects of how different social classes are positioned in society and how they are looked upon by others. In this trailer, a male audience can be assumed as Viola can be seen in costumes such as a low cut red dress. This would create a 'Male Gaze' as Viola would looked at by a male audience as desirable and therefore this would create pleasurable viewing for that particular audience.

Levi-Strauss, a narrative theorist, came up with the idea of binary oppositions. This presents two very different things within the same media. In this trailer, for example, the social groups shown could be seen as a binary oppostion. Viola and the girls at the dinner table are compared and therefore show two very different kinds of female, the tom boy and the 'perfect' blonde. Propp believed that character funtions play a very important part in film. For example, in this trailer, Viola could be seen as the herione of the story, Duke as the princess, Monique the villian, etc. He believed that each of the eight types of function he came up with, would be present within a film. Todorov came up with the idea that narratives have a three part stucture of EDE (Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and Equilibrium). This applies to this trailer as everthing is in balance until Viola becomes a boy and has to keep everyone from finding out her secret. The story then goes back to an Equilibrium as when Viola tells the others about her secret, everything unfolds to be in everyones favour and the issue is resolved.

Steve Neale said that all things within a film, create a genre of which the audience can recognise. This trailer belongs to more than one genre as it is a Romentic Comedy. I got this from the fact that Viola has to become a boy in order to play football and becuase of all the situations she has to keep herself out of so she doesn't get found out. It is a romance becuase she eventually end up with Duke, who she has liked all along but could never tell him. As the trailer represents a Rom-Com, it means that the makers of the film would have had limited freedom when making it as this genre has to follow a conventional mould from other Rom-Coms. For example, a typical Rom-Com means that a couple want to be together but it isn't as simple as it looks so one or both of them have to over come certain obsticles in order to be together in the end, which creates the comedy aspect. This is known as a Generic Pattern and is seen in 'She's the Man'. Tom Ryall believed that Genre is a set of rules and guidelines which must be followed in order for the audience to fully understand the film. The 'She's the Man' trailer is an example of this as it follows the genre guidelines as said above. This particular genre relflects the complication of teenage love and shows social attitudes throughout, as Will Wright had predicted generally. The audience can then use this tell themselves about them and their society as they see the genre as having some truth to their actual lives.

Adorno came up with the idea that media reaches a mass audience and injects it's message into the audience. This would apply to this trailer as it would appeal to a wide teenage audience and inject the message of complicated teenage love which only they can really understand and relate to. There is a group shown in the trailer which influences it's audience. This is becuase each character has a different personality which a wide range of teenagers can relate to and therefore will influence a much bigger audience by having this group of people. Katz called this the 2-step flow. Culture is important in this trailer as it implies that it is for both male and females by the types of character shown and the majority of the characters follow a teenage age range. However, it's aimed more a white ethnicity group which will shape the audience's use of the media and determine which people will make sense of it. Finally, the different classes shown and the different tastes they have can be linked together to form a certain type of person which audience members can relate to as being one of the characters, sharing their tastes and class. This them forms a relationship for them to a character and creates pleasurable viewing for them.

My analysis of the 'Filmstar' magazine cover

[Work done by me]

In terms of fonts, the magazine uses the same clear font throughout so it makes it easier for the readers to understand. However, throughout the cover, different sizes and colours are used to represent importance. An example of this would be the fact that the Masthead (title of the magazine ‘Film Star’) is the biggest element of font on the cover and therefore insinuates it is the most important. This is correct as it will appear on the cover every week. The Main Headline, ‘Cinema Paradise’ is of equal importance as it too shares the same size font as the Masthead but it is presented in capital letters so it would stand out more to the reader. The Main Headline is followed by a caption which gives an indication what the Main Headline is about and therefore is presented in smaller font as it is the Headline’s job to get the readers’ attention. The caption is still in a larger font than the other headlines which shows it goes with the Main headline. The other headlines are in the same sized font to signify they are of similar importance apart from the ‘New!’ part of the cover, situated at the top of the page. This is meant to get the reader’s attention so it needs to be different from the rest of the page in order to do this. It uses a different font and size to indicate it’s importance to the reader.

The colours used on the cover follow a colour scheme of black, orange and white. There are colours used in exception to this such as the ‘New!’ part of cover as this is presented with a blue background in order to get the attention of readers and stand out from the other elements on the cover. The Masthead is presented in black and stand out from the yellow background it has been put on. The Main headline also uses black to link it with the importance of the Mast head but it also uses orange to insinuate it’s own importance. This makes the Main headline stand out by mixing the colours as they contrasting. The colour white is used to make certain things on the cover stand out. For example, the ‘50’ in the sub-heading for the Main headline is presented in white to show it’s importance from the rest of the sub-heading. The audience are supposed to be amazed by this and will therefore turn to the relevant page to read more. Different coloured boxes are also used, not just colourful fonts. This makes the wording inside them stand out even more from the background because it looks as if these elements are jumping out at the reader, telling them to pay more attention. There is also use of a white circle which is the only one on the cover. This insinuates it’s importance to the rest of the elements on the page and stands out from the orange background it has been placed on.


There is only one image situated on the cover of the magazine which is a picture of Brad Pitt during a film role. The facial expression portrayed by him, signifies the kind of role he has taken. He is serious and dressed in clothes from a previous era. This would then imply the kind of film magazine ‘Filmstar’ is and the kind of audience it is trying to approach. The magazine is made for an audience who enjoy perhaps Action films, not comedies, etc so the magazine would be geared more towards Males rather than females who usually like Romantic movie genres. The image is also used to accompany the Main Headline and therefore will represent what ever is said in it. In this case, the Main Headline is about the ’50 most exciting films’ which would then imply to the audience that which ever film Brad Pitt is in, is an exciting film. By using the correct actor, the magazine can gain a bigger audience as the image will attract them to the cover and want to read the rest of the magazine to find out what film it is.

The shot type that is used is a Close-up. This shows the facial expression portrayed by Brad Pitt and parts of the clothes he is wearing and therefore will signify the mood of the magazine. Due to this, Brad Pitt is signifying which type of movie he is starring in e.g. action becuase of his clothing and facial expression which will then draw in the attention of the intended audience. It is also used to bring the attention to his face and make the rest of him seem unimportant. It could be done like this to make the audience wonder what film is being talked about inside and therefore they will want to read further.

The layout of this magazine cover follows the 'Principle of Thirds' closely. The 'route of the eye' is shown to take on a 'z' shape across the page and this shows how the audience are likely to view the page. The Masthead has been placed at the top of the page as this is one of the first things the audience will see and pay attention to. Due to this, they are more likely to remember the name of the magazine due to where it is placed. Next, the main headline has been placed in the centre but to the left of the page. This is where the audience's eyes will follow next and this why it has been placed. This shows the main headline's importance on the page as it doesn't have as much importance as the Masthead but has more importance than all the other elements on the page and therefore has been placed here. The main headline is situated in the 'Primary Optical Area' which means it has been placed in the middle of the page, accompanied by the image of Brad Pitt. The fact that the image is covering the main headline slightly signifies that the image is more imantant than the headline or that it belongs with the particular headline. The important parts of the magazine are shown in the 'hot spots'. These elements are the Masthead, which is shown in the the top two 'hot spot' areas, and the headlines and the images, which are shown in the bottom two 'hot spot' areas. Other headlines are placed to the left of the page, commencing down the page. This also follows the 'route of the eye' as this is where the audience will look after th other two elements mentioned. In the 'terminal area' there is the barcode for the magazine which is typically associated with this particular area to show it is of least importance. Other elements of the cover, such as the 'new' box, have been placed at the top of the page to be looked at with the Masthead but, due to their size, they are not as important.


The mode of address of this magazine implies that it is for all types of genre of film, so it would apply to a large audience. I got this from the language used: '50 most exciting films of the summer and beyond' which implies that there will a wide range of different film genre mentioned within these pages. The audience it is trying to reach could be of both men and women due to the image chosen to be used on the cover. As it is of Brad Pitt, women would want to read the magazine if they have a love for Brad Pitt whereas men would want to read the magazine due to the type of film is appearing in or becuase he is a good actor. The colours used on the cover could be associated with both sexes as woman are stereotypically associated with pink, whereas mean are with blue but none of these colours are used, apart from blue slightly. Overall, this magazine would have a very broad audience but would prpobably be for more adult age groups e.g. 18 and above.

The contents of the magazine cover includes:
a list of the 50 most exciting films
the return of Quentin Tarantino - a Horror film maker
actors names mentioned throughout the magazine
barcode, price and date
title of magazine
one image
interviews with actors/makers

This magazine reaches a mass audience as it aimed at both men and women and talks about varied film genres. I got this from the headlines and the choice of image. For example, the headline talks about the '50 most exciting films' which means it would include different genres of films. The fact that the image os of Brad Pitt would apply to both men and women. Men, due the type of film he is and women, due to the actor. The colours used also indicate it is a unisex magazine. The fact it talks about 'Quentin Tarantino' means this article would be more for an audience interested in the Horror genre, as that is what he speacialises in. this message would be injected into the magazine's audience through these aspects. Cultural context is important to this, especially gender, as the image of Brad Pitt signifies male dominance and therefore would relate the to the audience. Morley believes this would shape the audience's understanding of the magazine depending on the aspects shown on the cover and due to these aspects, the audience would know who the preferred audience is. The purpose of the magazine is to create audience pleasure and this is done through the language used. If the headlines appeal to a certain audience, they will want to read the magazine as they will find it a pleasurable read. This refers to the audience's class and taste. If their taste suits what is written on the cover, they will form a relationship with the magazine and want to read it as they will know it is for them.

Steve Neale said that all things related to a certain media make up a genre. However, this magazine relates to more than one, as said above, as it includes all types of genre to suit a mass audience's needs. However, it may sway slightly to a Horror genre due to one of the headlines being all about a filmmaker who specialises in that particualr genre and therefore, it would apply to people who have an interest in Horror.

Richard Dyer's stereotype theory can be applied to the cover of the magazine. This is becuase Brad Pitt has taken on a certain role and therefore must wear certain clothes. The clothes he is wearing can be associated to a type of genre of film e.g. action and can be applied to the time the film was set. Filmmakers would stereotype the costumes due to the time it was set so that the audience would know clearly. An audience which takes an interest in this particular genre would want to look at the magazine. The fact the only image on the cover is of a man, this would signify that females are subordinate to males.

Kim's analysis' of existing products

Trailer

A Cinderella Story Trailer

Narrative: Like the Mean Girls trailer, hints of the storyline are given to give the audience an idea of what the film is like and how it will appeal to them. This trailer makes use of a popular fairytale which everyone will recognise to help gives clues as to what to expect from the film. The voice-over also makes use of this way of telling a tale; using popular phrases like 'Once Upon A Time'. However, the trailer also contains comic elements when the traditional story is changed to meet with modern times, (Like at the very start when there is an establishing shot of a picturesque castle which pans aside quickly to the large, busy area of LA), which adds to the film's appeal.

Editing: Although the editing is also fast-paced, in some areas it seems to show the film's storyline in a slower way than the Mean Girls trailer, without losing too much of an energic feel. The story-like concept is cemented also by the editing technique of the turning of a page to change the scene. This relates to what the film is about in a fun and original way.

Mise-en-Scene: Sam, the main character, is shown to be like a modern-day cinderella and this transformation is shown through her costume; she starts of quite tomboyish and messy, but changes into more of a 'princess' with a big dress at the end of the trailer. This appeals to a teen audience, particularly a female audience as it gives off a uplifting sense of change. Like, Mean Girls the school set provides something which the audience can all relate to.

Camerawork: The use of midshots is again the most frequent camerawork; showing emotions and clothing which helps to introduce the characters to the audience and in turn makes the film seem more enjoyable.

Sound: The voice-over plays on the storylike fairytale feel of the film and makes it seem more appealing as it is something the audience will know and relate to. The trailer also makes use of modern music, including a song sung by the main actress Hilary Duff, which appeals to a younger audience who will enjoy this type of music they can recognise.


Poster

Layout
The first thing you look at you gaze at the poster is the actors names and the tag line. This makes you interested in the well known actors so it create more interest for the audience wanting to see familier faces. As both actors are well known the message of the film as Adorno would say is just injected into audience as these actors specialise in rom coms, so in theory the audience would just accept that the film will be a romantic comdey.
The tag line "Once upon a time... can happen anytime" also creates interest for the audeince and can tell you a little about the story and that possibly a dream is about to come true.
The actors faces are in the middle top third as its one of the first things you look at making them fimilar with the audience and showing two good looking people making the film more attractive. Both of their faces are in the gaze of the camera and are both there to be looked at.
The root of eye then moves through the actors clothes and shows the girl in a puffy princessy ball gown which conotes a girly fairy tale sort of scene. The male is just wearing normal clothes showing he is just an ordinary boy. Although, as the root of eye moves down it shows the girl wearing pink converse shoes with her dress. The binary opposition here showing the femining dress and the boyish shoes, convay that the narrative has more to this girl and she isnt the usual girly girl the audience would expect to see but probably a tom boy who will under go a change in the film.
The fact she is wearing the converse in the picture suggests that her and the male are of two social groups. As perkins said stereotypes are there to show potions in society. It is clear from the picture and the trailer they have different postions in society.
The root of eye then moves into the credits, title and release date. These are all importants dates and interest the reader and give them information they need to be able to watch the film.

Colours
The colours used in the posters were black, blue, white and pink.
The black is used in the film poster to make the writing stand out and making it clear for people to read.
The white is used for the background and the dress. The white is used in the background just for clearity but for the dress it conotes innocents and purity.
The blue is used connote a masculine colour and to show her tom boy side again.
The pink is used to maybe connote romance,love and such.


Target audience
The target audience for this film would be teenage girls as it shows romance and love in the film poster. The pastle colours would also suggest a teenages audience


Magazine cover

1)Total film-issue 139
The rote of eye leads you into the first thing the audience would see which is "21 limited edition covers" and "every 007 choose your favourite"
This automatically grabs the audiences attention and wants them to read and buy it as the phrase "limited edition" appeals to so many people as its rare and special to many people espically collectors to get something which is limited addition or relates to it. The fact that it also says "every 007 choose your favourite" is also very appealing as james bond is very well established and has a huge market. The use of this will bring attention and readers as james bond films are so well established and liked people will want to buy the magazine to read about it.

The next thing seen is the magazines masthead, this is used to show the magazine title and also creates familarity with the audience as its a well known magazine audiences will want to buy it for comfort and because they have read it before and like it.

In line with the masthead is the date,issue number, price and website links.These simply supply the audience with relevent information of the magazine so they can know what issue they are buying, whether it is the up to date magazine or not and the pirce so they can pay for it.

It then moves into the main imagine of the magazine which is james bond at the front of the frame with a gun and an evil man in the back left of the frame. The fact james bond is at the front of the magazine shows he is most important and that the audience should identify with him. The fact he has a gun just helps the audience relate to the genre of the film, action. The gun uses tom ryalls theory of the triangle which is the film maker uses conventions of the genre to make the film, then looking at these conventions eg the gun the audience can relate and understand the film.
The rote of eye thenm oves into more writing, "why 2008 is the year of the bond" This just creates more interest for the audience as this isnt a question. This is telling the reader why its the year of bond! It then goes into girls, guns and gadgets: the ultimate guide". This is primailry made for the male gaze as laura mulveys theory would explain. Here the used that girls are used will show that they are gonna be objectified in this magazine also everything else in the caption "guns and gadgets are used for males interest. Here this just shows that males look and girls will be looked at.
At the bottom of the magazine is other captions of other pages in the magazine. This is also just to create interest for other parts of the magazine so the reader has more reason to buy it.
Fonts:
The fonts used are all bold. The reason the fonts are bold are primary so they can be seen from a distance and are easy to read.
Colours:
The colours used are red, black and silver. The black is used as it bold and also it can connote power and mystery with is a key feature of james bond. The red has been used to stand out but red can also connote blood danger and passion which also feature in the films.

Hetty's analysis' of existing products

Film Trailer

Mean Girls Trailer

Narrative: The trailer provides snippets of the film's storyline, without giving too much away - creating interest in the audience, without taking away some mystery. The story is of a new girl starting at a school and trying to fit in. It contains elements of comedy, romance and friendship: components which I think our teaser trailer should set out to the audience.

Mise-en-Scene: The use of costume is effective in creating divisions within the school life, the different styles each student has creates the sense of different 'cliques'. The main character of Cady is seen to be quite a tomboy when we first meet her, before she goes under some changes and is seen to be dressed more provocatively like 'the plastics' as she joins their group. The setting of a school is something we plan to follow to create a sense of verisimilitude, which in particular a teen audience can relate to; and in turn make the trailer more appealing to this target group.

Editing: The editing throughout is generally fast-paced, creating a sense of energy; keeping those watching engaged in what they are watching. There is also frequent use of flashes of whites to have a dramatic impact on the audience, holding their attention. The use of shot-reverse-shots often helps the audience recognise conversations and relate to the storyline which also helps maintain interest.

Camerawork: The majority of shots used are midshots, allowing the audience to se facial expressions but also their clothing - which helps them associate what the characters are like and making them more appealing. Panning, (edited in a fast way), goes across the cafteteria to identify the different groups of people, giving the audience, in particular teens, something to relate to.

Sound: The use of Cady as a voice-over helps the audience to identify with her point of view, and therefore makes the film's story seem interesting; other characters' dialogue is also used in a similar way to tell the story and give those watching an idea of what the film is about. The non-diegetic music is also modern music which teen audiences will recognise; which increases the film's appeal.

Applying Theories to the Trailer:

In some ways this trailer does relate to Laura Mulvey's theory of films assuming a male audience; the 'male gaze' as the costumes worn by the female characters provide visual pleasure for the males watching. In addition the use of slow-motion editing as the girls walk through the school emphasises what they are wearing and making use of objectification. However, the female characters do not seem passive to the males, in fact they seem to be more more active and this suggests perhaps this film may appeal more to female audience - may not assume a male audience.


Will Wright's genre theory also applies to this trailer in the way that in knowing its genre, the audience are more able to interpret and understand what they are watching. For example the conventions of Romantic Comedies are seen throughout the trailer; the use of an extra person in the way of the couple, an attractive couple and also the delayed unity of them. This helps the audience know how they should react to the events on screen; they want the two to be together. Also the use of school cliques could be seen as a reflection of society as there are often divisions within different social groups.

Foucault's social theory of idealised norms are also demonstrated in the trailer through the normalised values which are associated with gender. For example when we are introduced to the 'plastics' they are at the top of the social hierarchy as they epitomise what is expected of their gender; they are feminine and not particularly intelligent. By being at the top of the social hierarchy they are rewarded and respected by the others, unlike the character of Janice who is unfeminine and the character of Damien who is homosexual who are both more or less outcasts.


Poster

Mean Girls Movie Poster

Layout: The route of the eye demonstrates that the first thing the audience will see is Lindsey Lohan’s name; this grabs their attention immediately as she is well known and people will have heard of her – making the film seem more appealing. The audience then scan across the three girl’s faces and then their bodies. Their legs are positioned in the centre third and next to the hot spots which makes use of objectification. The position of the main character played by Lindsey Lohan separates her from the other girls, giving an idea of the storyline, which in turn makes the audience curious as to what the film is about in detail; following Barthes’ theory of narrative codes; the enigma code. The poster makes the audience ask questions and gives them interest in what it is about. In the terminal area; the last part seen by the audience, is the slogan ‘watch your back’. This relates to the image, but also addresses the audience directly, making the film something which they can relate to. The position of the title ‘Mean Girls’, divides up the poster images and as it is near the hotspots, it is something the audience is drawn to and helps them to identify quickly with what they are looking at.


Images: The image of Lindsey Lohan is separated from the other female characters to show that she is not part of their ‘clique’. This separation is cemented by the facial expressions and clothing of each character as Lindsey Lohan’s is wearing jeans and seems to be weary of those behind her; she is looking behind her and this idea is also shown by the poster’s slogan of ‘watch your back’. The three other female characters are pouting and wearing short skirts; connoting sexual availability and appealing to a male audience; as demonstrated by Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male Gaze’ and that all films assume a male audience – their appearance provides visual pleasure to men. The character of Cady played by Lindsey, however is unlike the others and this contradicts this message; she is more appealing to a female audience as her appearance makes her seem like someone whom can be related to.

Colours: The colours used are all related to femininity. Pink and purple both connote femininity relating to a female audience and the female characters also on the cover. Purple is also associated with royalty, which could relate to the 'plastics' and their obvious control over Lindsey Lohan's character; Cady. The use of white suggests some neutrality as white connotes purity and cleanliness. The use of the white also makes the text clear to read; and therefore displays the information to the audience legibly.

Fonts: The fonts used are quite simple; making them clear to read. However the boldness of some of the words differs to other parts; creating emphasis on some of the words e.g the word mean stands out as it is thicker than the other text; this creates interest as it shows what the film is going to be about.

Target Audience: The target audience of this film is likely to be a teenage female audience as it shows different female characters who they can relate to. As it is in a school environment it will appeal to a teenage audience more than an older one.


Magazine cover

Total Film’s Cover: Superhero and Villain Special

Layout: The subconscious route of the eye shows that the first thing the readers see is the magazine’s title: Total Film, in large lettering. It starts in the top left-hand corner and pans across; its positioning helps the readers instantly identify with the magazine and know what they are reading. The general layout of the page makes good use of the rule of thirds; the images and text divide up the page clearly; making the information on it easy to read and digest. In the primary optical area the names of various famous characters as to which the readers will know of and be able to relate to. As they are well-known it makes the magazine more appealing as the target audience will want to read about them and by putting them in the area we focus on most it emphasises this interest. In the terminal area, the last thing that the readers will look at, there is an image of a woman with the curious quotation ‘I want my ass kicked’. By positioning this in the terminal area the audience are intrigued to hear more about it and therefore makes them more interested in purchasing the magazine.

Fonts: The fonts used throughout the cover are bold and very clear – making the text stand out and reach out to the readers. The masthead is the largest font on the cover – drawing the readers’ attention to it; helping them to instantly recognise and relate to what they are reading. It also resembles a logo; with the ‘Total’ positioned inside the ‘Film’; making it even more distinguishable to the audience and in turn adding to the magazine’s appeal. The subtitle of the ‘Heroes and Villains Issue’: ‘The ultimate countdown of cinemas saints and sinners’, is a thinner font as to not steal attention from the main purpose of the issue, yet still provide additional information to the readers.

Colours: The main colours used are black, white, red and green. Black connotes death, maturity and darkness; which against white’s connotations of purity and innocence creates quite a contrast. These two conflicting colours relate to the main topic of the magazine; heroes and villains of cinema – helping the reader to understand the message the magazine cover is trying to convey. The red also contains contrasting connotations; from blood and danger to romance; this solidifies the contrast of the other colours. The green connotes wealth as well as goodness; this again relates to the theme of the cover as the heroes and villains are represented by the red and green.

Images: There are many small images, on the cover of Total Film, showing famous characters which the readers will know about and be interested in. The fact that the masthead interrupts the images at the top shows that it is of greater importance to the cover; as it will help the readers identify with it. There is one image that does not relate to the main article in the magazine and it is situated in the terminal area. It shows an attractive woman; which interests particularly a male audience. The main bulk of images are appealing to both genders and most age groups as the show characters most people can relate to. However the images also help the audiences to understand the sci-fi/action genre of the heroes and villians as it is clear which characters within the images are 'bad' and which are 'good' through the use of their costume and the colours associated with them. This relates to Steve Neale's genre theory. The fact the bulk of the images are of males and only one female shows how they are reppresented and suggests that males are perhaps more powerful; and so require more focus. This could affect the way women are treated in life and the way they see themselves as stereotypes are used to help reinforce social values as is said by Richard Dyer in his representation of social groups theory. This could suggest that women are considered inferior to men.

Target Audience: The colours and images are not gender-specific so the cover appeals to both sexes. However, to be most interested in this magazine, knowledge of film/book characters may be needed which may result in a slightly older target audience - therefore this relates to Pierre Bourdieu's Cultural Competence theory as the audience needs to understand the cultural codes to interpret the magazine cover.

My analysis of the 'She's the Man' film poster

[Work done by me]

Throughout the poster, a red and black colour scheme is used within the fonts to make them stand out from one another. This signifies that one part of the text, in a certain area of the poster, is different to the rest or that the audience will read, for example, the black writing and then read the follow-on in the red. This applies to the slogan of the film ‘everybody has a secret’ which is presented in black and it’s follow-on which is presented in red and takes the slogan into more detail. This effectively gives the audience a clue as to what the film is about and persuades them to go and see it the film to see what happens. The title of the film ‘She’s the man’, also does this. ‘She’s’ is presented in black and is followed by ‘the man’ in red. This is used to make the ‘she’s’ stand out because it refers to the saying ‘you’re the man’ but has been changed to ‘she’ as the film is about a girl dressing up as a boy. This signifies the genre of the film as a Comedy. The names of the actors and actresses are presented in the red font to stand out from the black credits, situated at the bottom of the page.

The same font is used throughout on the poster. For the title of the film, it is presented slightly differently to the rest of the font on the page. ‘She’s’ is presented in lower case font but is smaller than ‘man’ which is presented in capitals. ‘The’ is also presented in capitals to accompany the ‘man’ part of the title. The reason why these two words accompany each other, is to signify the change from the saying ‘you’re the man’ to ‘she’s the man’ and the audience will be able to see this clearly. However, when talking about the caption at the top of the poster, it is all shown in the same sized font. This signifies it is of the same importance. Some of the words within this, such as ‘likes’, ‘hates’ and ‘wants’ are presented in bold font which signifies the confusion within the film. The audience is more likely to take notice of these words and be intrigued by what happens in the film due to the confusion of the poster. The ellipses ‘…’ suggest there is far more to the film than that and will also make the audience want to go and see it. As for the names of the actors/actresses, the main character of the film, ‘Amanda Bynes’, has her name in the largest font, implying to the audience that she is the main character. The rest of the names are presented in the same sized font as each other, which implies that they are all of the same importance. The font used in the credits is the same as the rest but is presented in much smaller font to show it is off least importance on the poster. All of the above is situated on a plain background in order for it to stand out clearly to the audience.

The image used on the poster is of all the main characters. The image represents all of their personalities by the way they are dressed and posing. For example, the main character, Amanda Bynes, is situated in the middle of the image, in front of every one else. This insinuates she of most importance to the rest of the characters in the film. She is also dressed in black and red which refers to the colours used for the fonts throughout the poster, as mentioned before. This also signifies that she is the main character as she stands out from the rest of the characters by what she is wearing and matches the colour scheme used on the poster. The following two characters on either side of Amanda, are shown posing in the same way, showing that they are the more subtle, similar characters in the film. Whereas the last two characters on either side of these have their own unique pose. The male character is shown holding a football, which signifies he is the jock in the film who loves sports. The female character is shown putting on make-up, which signifies she is vain, unlike the other two females who don’t seem to care. The way in which the above characters are positioned, implies their importance and role within the actual film.

The shot type used in this image is a Long Shot. This is to show the whole of the characters’ bodies so that the audience can see the whole of their pose and what that represents about their personalities.

The layout of the poster follows the ‘Principle of Thirds’. At the top of the poster, there is a caption which has been placed there to follow the ‘route of the eye’ from left to right and top to bottom. This is because it wants to be seen by the audience first and this is most likely where they will look first. The ‘route of the eye’ will start at the tope of the page and to the left, continue to right, down to the left and across to the right at the bottom of page to reach the ‘terminal area’. Placed here is the credits, which signifies they are the least important thing on the poster and so have been placed here. In the ‘Primary Optical Area’, there is the image of all the main characters from the film. This shows they are the most important elements on the page as they have been placed in the middle with all the other elements surrounding it. They also take up quite a lot of space on the poster and so this would signify it’s importance, compared with the credits which are quite small. In the ‘hot spots’ of the page, there are the caption, the main image and the title which signifies they are as important as each other, compared with the credits at the bottom of the page which have been placed in the terminal area for a reason.

The mode of address on this particular poster shows that the film is a romantic comedy. I got this from the language that is used in the caption and the actual title of the film. The words that are used such as ‘wants’, ‘likes’, ‘hates’, ‘dating’, ‘crushing’ and ‘jealous’ all signify a complicated story line and this refers to the picture shown on the poster of all the characters, as you see that they will all be included in this vicious circle and therefore that makes the film funny. The title of the film ‘she’s the man’ indicates the film is funny because it contradicts itself and couldn’t be possible and so the audience will more likely want to see the film based on this. The characters shown in the image, of the vain girl compared with the main character at the front in particular, represent the conventional characters key in romantic comedies as these two characters will cross paths at some point in the film and this will make it funny. They are most likely to be fighting over one of the males shown on the poster.

The contents of the poster includes:
a slogan
a teaser paragraph on what the film is about
one image
actors/actresses names
credits
title of film

Audience theorist, Adorno, came up with the Hypodermic Model where media, such as his poster, reaches a mass audience and injects it's message into the audience. This poster would 'inject' the idea that this film would be for a wide audience as it contains both female and males sexes but would apply to teenagers more than adults due the ages shown of the characters in the film. Another audience theorist, Katz, says that groups are important in the process of influencing a certain audience. This applies to this particular poster as the image shows a group of teenagers from different social classes withing high school e.g. jock with football, popular girl with make-up and the more down-to-earth characters. Due to all the different classes, teenagers will be able to relate to at least one of these character and therefore, the creators wanted to mak the film for the wide audience but influence their audience through the different classes shown. Morley said that culture is important when shaping the audience's use of a certain media. In this case, the film would be aimed more at a white ethnicity group as no other races' are shown in the poster. However, it has been shown to apply to both male and female sexes within that race, so the film would be aimed at them. If audience members belong to this culture, they will be more likely to make sense of what is going on. Finally, in terms of audience, the cultural context shown in this poster and the types of class shown, can be linked together to create pleasures for audience members belonging to the same group as the characters shown. Bourdieu believes that, by doing this, the audience will form a relationship with certain characters by showing them truth and they will them form a relationship with the media.

Genre theorist, Steve Neale, came up with the theory that all things within a film refer to a certain genre but a film may belong to more than one. For this film inpaticular, this is true as it follows the Romantic Comedy genre, which means it belongs to two. By making films beling to a genre, the audience will be able to understand a certain film fully. Rick Altman said that once films belong to a certain genre, they fit into a mould of that particualr genre and this therefore limits the makers freedom into what they can produce within a film. For example, with reference to this poster, as it is a Romantic Comedy it has to have two poeple falling in love at the end but the film has to be made of the complications the couple go through to being together. This is shown in this poster as it shows a group of very different people being part of the relationship and also how they may get in the way of it. Will Wright said that genre should create a symbolic meaning for the audience and should reflect the social institutions and attitudes which reflect the audiences' lives and the society they live in. This applies to this poster as the language used at the top of the poster suggests to the audience the complication in teenage romance which would then refer to the comedy genre. To the audience, this would reflect their lives and the troubles they go through to get the boy/girl they want when others are in the way or other social groups stand in the way.

Signs are used in this poster, which Saussure believes to be signifcan to representation theory. He said that signs are forms of communication and stand for something to the audience who can relate to it. In this poster, the image of the boy holding the football suggests he is a jock and stereotypically they are very priud of themselves and believe they are better than everyone else. This can be seen by the fact he isn't wearing a shirt like the others which indicates his love for himself. Richard Dyer said that groups are represented through stereotypes. This can be seen in this poster as the girl in the image holding a compact mirror signifies that she is very vain and the popular girl of the school. Stereotypically every school has these people and through her appearance on the poster, the audience can understand what kind of character she is. Due to the fact they can identify her type of character, means this reflects their own school life in some way as these people do exsist. If an audience member belongs to this particular group, this will reflect how they see themselves in real life. Tessa Perkins believes that not all stereotypes are false but can be overexaggerated. In this poster, the pose of the vain girl can be seen as over exaggerated or maybe the fact the jock in shown with no shirt on. However, the fact they have certain props in the image makes the stereotype true. The clothes worn by the female characters in the poster create the illusion that the film is aimed a male audience as men would create the 'Male Gaze' when seeing the female characters. This is because they are wearing short skirts which means they would be objectified by a male audience and have been put in these outfits to signify this. Laura Mulvey explains this as men looking and women being looked at.

The trailers we have decided to analyise

[Work done as a group]

As a group we decided that we wanted to base our Trailer in a school environment so we found some exsisting trailers which used the same setting, for ideas. We have decided to analyise the following:
1. Mean Girls
3. Cinderella Story
5. She's the man
All of these films also have teen-aged characters in them so we will be using actors of the same age.

Deciding what to do

[Work done as a group]

We started by getting into a group and deciding which of the 13 briefs we wanted to do. We chose number 2 which was the 'Promotion package for a new film' and this would require us to make a teaser trailer, a film magazine cover and psoter. We then had to decide on a genre and start researching exsisting film trailers already out there so that we could start analysing them. We decided on Romantic Comedy as we thought it would be a suitable genre to do.