Progress Report - Website Production (part 1)

The website production was definitely the more difficult of my two individual tasks for this coursework. With magazines I had studied them quite a lot from a theory point of view and created one on Photoshop in class for practice. The problem I had with websites is that they are far more individual products. For example, with my magazine front cover I modeled it on Empire and could draw from their codes and conventions to inform my production. There were hundreds of examples to look at in the cover archive on their website as they produce an issue each month and have done for around 30 years. For the website however there was no brand I could model it on, the whole process had to be started from scratch.

Due to this I relied heavily on the research I had carried out during pre-production. On top of the initial research I had done a couple of months prior when it came to creating mine I needed to refresh my memory on the codes and conventions of thriller websites and so I analysed ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’.

This textual analysis really helped inform my production and the main thing I learnt from it is that less is often more on thriller websites which was quite a relief on my part. This of course didn’t mean there wasn’t a large amount of thought that had to go into the design but it meant that there was less for me to have to coordinate.

I used Photoshop to create my website front page on as this allowed for a great deal of creativity. I had some experience on Photoshop by this point as I had used to create my magazine cover and had taken part in tutorials with my lecturer on how to use it. This greatly advanced the standard of the product that I could produce and was a great help throughout the coursework. I started with the main image on the screen. From both my initial and secondary research it was clear that the websites usually use an iconic image from the film whether that be a place, person or object. Another of the most important features of a thriller website is that the colour scheme is very dark. So I had my initial direction for my main image and after some thought I decided that the front of the college building which appears in the first shot of the trailer is about as iconic a feature as there is that can be related to the film. It also links the website to the trailer in terms of the overall advertising campaign. Based on the thriller codes and conventions I also decided that it should feature the college building at night time.

Once these decisions had been made I made plans to go in to college at 7:30pm on a Monday evening. The college is open until 8pm and they run evening classes until this time so I knew that there would be lights on around the college. I needed enough light to make the building visible whilst still being able to see the dark element. This was not an easy task as I don’t have any formal photography training and just had to use my own experience.Due to this fact I took quite a few photos from a number of different angles on the two main college buildings that appear in the trailer. This was in order to give myself the best possible chance of getting a photograph that I could use for my website. The main problem I faced with the photos was the outside lights on the building flaring on the lens and distorting some of the image. Another problem was the low light levels, which the camera was finding it hard to work with. The last shot I took on the evening was from directly

in front of the main college building where all the lights were straight in front of me and most slightly hidden by pillars. This provided great lighting and ended up being the image I used on my website front page. (The decision process behind the we background image can be viewed here)

Once the main image had been chosen I then started looking at what else I should put on the page in terms of images. After viewing the ‘Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ website alongside ‘The Dark Knight’ website

from my research I decided it would be appropriate to have the main characters on the page and ended up using the same image that I had used on my magazine cover. This worked towards further linking all the parts of the campaign together and showed continuity as the actors were in the same clothes as on the day of filming the trailer. I placed this at the bottom left corner of the background image just to show the characters’ connection with the location. The final image I used was the college sign. I cut this out of another photograph I had taken of the college building using the magic wand tool. As well as the surrounding background I also cut out the letters which left me with a sign that had a Halloween look to it and a haunting feel. This worked well as it acts as part of the branding of the film and alongside the dark colour scheme goes toward the overall ‘dark’ or ‘evil’ nature behind the film.

Once the images had been completed I began on the text. The main three pieces of text I planned on including were the film title, date of release and tagline. Originally I placed the film title in the most powerful place on the screen according to the rule of thirds, top left and in the largest font of any piece of text.
I then placed the release date immediately under it in the second largest font and finally the tagline of the top right corner of the canvas. These got the most powerful points on the page because they are such big elements of the branding of the film and will make the page recognisable to those who may already have been in contact with another part of the campaign.

With the images done there were a few pieces of text which I noticed were used quite often on film websites from my research. The first of these are the credits and legal blurb at the bottom. I modeled this on the example from the ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ website. I tried to recreate the style of writing that the credits are traditionally written in by narrowing the letters and the spacing between them by using the text settings on Photoshop and then made the font grey. This gave them the traditional look and conformed to the conventional credit style. I also placed the legal blurb at the bottom such as ‘privacy policy’, ‘terms of use’ and 15 classification icon. These are items which must be included by law but they are always placed near the bottom in small print as they are generally just considered formalities. Another section of text I had was for links to other parts of the website. Even though I’m not creating a working website for the coursework the front page must appear as it would if it was working and as such links to other pages such as character information, the synopsis etc, cannot be left off.

Progress Report - Magazine Production

After all my magazine pre-production paperwork had been completed it was time to get started on the production stage. I had some fairly definite ides on how the cover was going to be laid out with a couple of draft covers already drawn up. The first stage of the production came when my group was filming for our trailer. It was at this time that I took the photographs of my actors and possible backgrounds for the cover. I needed to do it at this time because our actor was leaving a couple of days later and I needed them both in the shot with the same clothes on that they wore in the trailer in order to keep a sort of continuity throughout the campaign.

Due to my previous Photoshop experience I had planned to take the photographs of my actors up against a white wall so that I could easily and quickly cut them out using the magic wand tool and then place them in front of a background of my choosing later. Due to my ‘Empire’ (Bauer Consumer Media) magazine research I got the actors to stand close to each other and look directly into the camera lens. This is because it is one of Empire’s conventions to get the cover model to look straight at the camera in order to promote an extra-diegetic gaze with the magazine consumers to hopefully get them to buy the magazine. I took several shots, some with them standing facing each other and some with them standing back-to-back. This was because in my two draft drawings for the magazine cover I had these two poses and hadn’t completely decided which I wanted to use at this time. I also took some photos with the flash on and some with the flash off in order to test which gave the best light levels and contrast (My decision making process as to which picture I finally used can be viewed here). The final picture I chose was with my two actors stood facing each other and looking at the camera. I decided that this promoted an ‘I’ve got your back’ feeling which is their relationship in the film.

Once the main picture for the front cover was sorted I then began to focus on the background. The background was a little less well planned than the main photograph. This is because there is no real generic background for Empire magazines. I had identified a few trends in the Empire covers and decided to test these. The beginning of this was the photos I had taken during the shooting of the trailer. I took some photographs of two of the main college buildings from different angles, both of which appear in the trailer at some point and so there was continuity in this idea. When I began to play with the idea on Photoshop I revisited the Empire magazine covers I had used in my research and realised that they generally don’t use a significant background from the film. In most the background seems to be part of a theme determined by the film being promoted on the cover in that issue. Such things as colour schemes and patterns would be linked in some way to the film. Once I had realised this I scrapped the idea of using a picture and began trying to design a background on Photoshop. (The results of this experimentation and how I got to my final background can be viewed here)

My final background was created by an effect on Photoshop called ‘difference clouds’. The idea of the cloud effect was that they promoted the idea of a storm and turmoil. I then made the clouds a mixture of black and red, and this decision was based purely on the codes and conventions of thrillers. Ideologically black is most associated with death, fear and the unknown whilst red is associated with blood and pain. Therefore at a subconscious level this background is promoting the idea of fear, pain and turmoil which is a big part of the film’s narrative and thus it should attract the target audience for the film.

Once the main imagery was complete I began to construct the rest of the magazine. I began with the title which in my case was ‘Empire’ as this is the magazine I had chosen to replicate (reasons for this choice can be viewed here). I recreated the title in the same font and colour as that on the real Empire magazines of this time. The title is probably the biggest part of Empire’s branding and so I had to make sure the title was the same in order to help make my cover as authentic as possible so that the consumer will be able to recognise the magazine as an issue of Empire.

 The next stage was making the title the right size I found was to be about an inch thinner than the width of the page. As this is the biggest part of Empire’s branding the title is also given prominence on the page with regards to the rule of thirds. So I placed it on the top centre of the page as is Empire’s practice. The next piece of text I constructed was the date of the issue and the price. One of Empire’s conventions is to place the date and price in the dip of the M. I also placed it here in a column with the month and year at the top, then the price in pounds and finally the price in dollars. This information and formatting was drawn from the covers I did my research on. By placing this information in the same place every time the regular consumers will easily be able to check which issue it is. This text is the smallest font on the page as it is effectively just a formality and is not overly important in relation to other text.

After these two conventions of Empire’s the rest of the text I used is original. The first thing I included was the title of my film. This is a fairly customary practice as it is a major part of the branding of the film. Apart from the magazine title I made the film title the second largest piece of text on the page due to its importance in the marketing of the film. When I initially wrote my text on the page I used the font ‘Arial Black’ as it used block letters like Empire and gave a generally professional feel. I was later made aware however that Empire don’t use italics in 99% of cases and this particular font only came in italics, due to this I changed to ‘Franklin Gothic Demi’. This also had block letters but came in regular as well as italics. I differentiated my title from the rest of the text partially by its size but also by its colour and pattern. The red and black theme of the film was again used here to keep with the branding of the film.

I placed it in the lower centre of the page as again this is a fairly commonly held convention of Empire’s. Once the film’s title was complete I placed my film’s tagline underneath in smaller plain white writing. This tagline appears in the trailer and on my website as well so it is an established part of the branding, though it is supposed to accompany rather than overpower the title hence the smaller more bland style of text.

The rest of the text on the page relates to other articles that would have been inside the magazine. I noticed that Empire usually include articles in films that will be released soon and other news relating to the movie industry. As such I did some research to find out what the major blockbusters of the summer were going to be and put a feature on them on the page. I also researched some of the hot topics in the movie industry at the moment and placed a title about what will come after 3-D and interviews with the oscar winners. Finally I wrote a heading for an interview with Mike Myers as the new Shrek film is being released this summer.

The formatting of these was drawn from my Empire research. There were a few things to keep in mind, first being not to cover the cover model’s head as Empire never does this out of respect for the actor as much as anything. Second was to left align the text on the left side of the page and right align the text on the right. Finally Empire often place an article heading top and bottom of the page. Most of these were in white and a fairly small font in relation to the magazine and film titles as these articles are generally not differentiated because they are not supposed to hold a great deal of power on the page. I also placed a barcode on a gap between two pieces of text as this is another of Empire’s conventions.

Progress Report - Website Pre-Production

Part of my A2 coursework this year is to create a website front page for the viral campaign of my film. This is one of the two individual tasks I have to do in the coursework and I have had to plan the time I spent on this around my group work on the trailer and radio advert as well as my other individual piece the magazine cover. This time management has been one of the hardest parts of the coursework this year as during the A/S last year all we had to do was create one product which in my case was the opening sequence of a film.

I realised this was going to be an issue quite early on and that the individual work would have to be done out of class. Due to this I have done my planning for the website front page in small stages throughout the coursework period. The first real preparation I did towards the website in fact began a few months ago. Our lecturer gave us one lesson a week in a computer room teaching us how to use both Photoshop and Dreamweaver. I had already done some work in class on Photoshop when we were looking at how to create a magazine cover for the coursework so this stage was more just a refresher than anything. However, at this stage our teacher intended for us to create fully functioning website front pages on which all the links for our coursework would be held so that it could be externally moderated. Due to this we had to learn how to use Dreamweaver. This was a completely new piece of software to me and it took a little bit of practice before I got the hang of it. Just learning some basic things like opening tabs at the top so that I could easily switch between the pages I was working with became some of the most valuable information for me. During this practice we created a page with four links. The process is fairly simple once you’ve got the hang of it and I felt comfortable that I’d be able to use the software competently in my coursework later on.

Also around this time I carried out some research into the websites of films in the thriller genre or a subgenre of it. This is because the film that my campaign is promoting is a thriller and so I wanted to understand how the professionals create the desired responses in their audience. I looked at five websites Saw VI, District 9, The Dark Knight, The Matrix and 2012. At this time two of the films had already been and gone in the cinemas and three were waiting to be released. The three that were waiting to be released provided the most relevant information as the front page of my website will also be for a film waiting to be released. All five however gave some good insight into things such as colour schemes, the rule of thirds and what written information needs to be included.

Once the coursework officially got started and I got to the point where I was going to start planning my website front page design I went back to this initial research. The first problem I had was that the films that at the time I did that research were waiting to be released had now been released. This meant their websites had been changed and were now focusing on the DVD promotion. Due to this I decided I needed to do a textual analysis of another film in order to refresh my memory on the codes and conventions of thriller websites so as to best inform my own. I looked at 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (Samuel Bayer, 2010) as this is a thriller yet to be released and also revisited ‘Saw VI’ (Kevin Greutert, 2009) which I had analysed in my initial research. After these extra textual analyses I felt comfortable to get started on the planning for my front page.

I started by carrying out an initial ideas blast in order to work out what I needed to include on the page. I also did a SWOT analysis on my personal strengths and weaknesses and the possible opportunities and threats of the project. Finally I did an audience analysis just to make sure that I would be focusing my design to entice my target audience. Once this had been done the production stages began.

Progress Report - Magazine Pre-Production

For my media A2 coursework I have two individual tasks to complete one of which is to create a magazine front page as part of the viral campaign of our film. Much of my time throughout the coursework has been spent on the trailer as this is the biggest part of the project however I have spent time now and then developing my magazine ideas.

My preparation for the magazine stage of the coursework in fact began a few months ago now when my lecturer spent a few sessions with our class going through Photoshop. During the theory stage of the course when learning for the exam we had covered magazines a quite a bit of detail and so I had some reasonable knowledge on how it should be laid out and why. The idea of these sessions was mainly to build our Photoshop skills as much of our class including myself had never used it. During these seesions I created an FHM magazine cover from scratch.


Having the ability to use Photoshop is going to be invaluable at the production stage as it will allow me to create far more professional looking products. In fact one way this knowledge has already informed my plans for the production is that I have decided to take the photo I want of my actors up against a white wall so that I can easily cut them out by just using the magic wand tool. This will save a good deal of time and allow me to choose any background I want. This is the sort of knowledge I wouldn't have had without these early sessions.

Once the coursework had been officially set the first thing I did as part of my pre-production was research into current media products. I looked at both Empire and Sight & Sound which are two of the best selling movie magazines in Britain. I carried out a detailed textual analysis on each and tried to relate them to my film. I was considering who the target audience of each of these magazines was so that I could ascertain which magazine would most likely advertise my film and whose audience would most likely be interested in it.

After my initial research into each magazine and a textual analysis of a cover of each I decided Empire was the most appropriate magazine on which to advertise my film. They tend to advertise the more generic mainstream films compared to Sight & Sound which often focus on the more social realist type films. My group’s film idea was definitely more mainstream and as such I decided to base my advert on the Empire magazine format. I then carried out a more detailed textual analysis of Empire magazine covers by analysing another two of their covers. This research gave me a solid base from which to begin designing my cover. (link to empire research)


I drew a couple of first drafts with the characters facing different directions on the page to see which would look best.
One of Empire’s conventions is that the main actor(s) of the film they’re promoting on the cover that week are stood prominently in the page and look directly at the camera lens. This acts like an extra-diegetic gaze in which the character seems to be directly addressing the person looking at the cover. According to Louis Althusser’s theory of ‘Interpellation’ this makes the viewer that the magazine is directly made for them at a subconscious level and they are more likely to buy it. I stuck with this convention closely as it is one of Empire’s most important.

Another thing I picked up from the textual analyses I did was that the extra articles Empire advertise alongside the main film promotion are always of relevant film topics and future releases. Due to this I spent some time researching current topics in the film industry such as what will replace 3-D cinema in the future and some adverts for summer releases this year. I felt it was necessary to put time into this research in order to make my magazine as authentic as possible by advertising articles Empire may actually use in their magazines.

After all this pre-production work was done I had a well planned draft page which I had drawn up. This meant that when I got to the production stage I could just get straight into it knowing that the product would be of good quality and matching Empire’s codes and conventions. It also meant I wouldn’t have to spend time messing around trying out lots of ideas because of poor planning which should lead to better efficiency.

Progress Report - Radio Advert Production

My group are now well into the editing stage of the trailer for the campaign now and we have also completed the pre-production stage of our radio advert. Due to this I booked the recording studio at college about a week ago for today so that we could record the dialogue needed for the radio advert. I had asked two of the boys from our media class if they would be in the radio advert as we needed two males to say the two sections of dialogue. Part of the reason we chose these two was because they were in our class and it was convenient but they are also both competent speakers with voices our group felt would be appropriate for the advert.

We had only used the audio suite once before and so our lecturer had to just quickly refresh our sound engineer on how to use the equipment as it is fairly complex. Once this was done we got the voice artists in and began recording. There are two main sections of dialogue to the advert, the first being a riddle and the second being some information for the audience on the medium of release and the age classification of the film. Due to this we decided to get both of the guys to say both pieces of dialogue. This way we were able to decide at the editing stage which sounded better on which section of dialogue thus hopefully giving us the best quality product possible. There were a few problems such as mobile phone signal’s interfering with the equipment and outside noise occasionally getting too loud. But we sorted these problems out and took several takes of each person saying each line which has given us a high chance of getting what we were looking for.

Progress Report - Radio Advert Pre-Production

Now that most of the work for the trailer has been done our group has had time to start looking at the radio advertisement we need to make for our campaign. None of us had any previous experience in creating pieces for the radio. As my role on the trailer was screen writer I assumed the role of ‘sound’ writer in the radio task. Due to this I had to carry out a detailed textual analysis on a current professionally produced media product so that I knew how to compose our advert. I listened to the ‘Tell No One’ (Guillaume Canet, 2007) radio advert and used a textual analysis of this to inform how I designed the radio ad. ‘Tell No One’ is a thriller film and so it works with the same codes and conventions as our film which made this an appropriate case study to look at.

Though I don’t have any real knowledge of the radio industry apart from as a consumer I went back to basic semiotics to deconstruct the technical codes of the ‘Tell No One’ trailer. Such things as the tone of the narrator’s voice, the dialogue for the voice over and the diegetic sound from the film which was used as an undertone were all important areas in which sign systems were prominent and noticeable.

Once this textual analysis had been carried out the initial ideas blast was carried out. There were some key areas placed on the ideas blast which were how it would use thriller codes and conventions, how it would be linked to our campaign and how it would meet the general requirements of a film’s radio advert. Once this was done we also carried out research into the legal requirements for radio advertising by looking at the BCAP radio advertising codes in order to make sure we complied with the rules and regulations governing our production.

Once this had been done I looked to create the script and I began this process by first noting down the key information that should be put in a radio ad. This includes the age classification of the film for legal reasons, the medium of release (in our case cinema) so the listeners know where they can go to see the film, the date also to inform the audience and the name. All these aspects are fairly common for radio adverts to include. My first script was done with the intention that a narrator would say the main dialogue like in ‘Tell No One’ but my lecturer advised that trying to re-create the typical deep movie announcer’s voice would possibly sound a bit put on.

Due to this I went away and completely re-drafted the script, this time trying to make it a little more original. I devised a short riddle for the main male protagonist in the film to say which hinted to parts of the film’s plot and its release date. As we set our film to be released on June 21^st (i.e. summer solstice/midsummer’s day) I put in the trailer ‘when the night is shortest’. This indirectly hints to the release date without giving it directly. Riddles are probably the best ways to create enigmas which at the end of the day are essential for capturing the audience’s interest and getting them to go and watch the film to see how it was resolved. I indirectly put the title, date of release and some plot information into the riddle and so the audience has the essential information in there even if it’s not given to them on a plate. Viral campaigns are all about the ‘buzz’ as Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) showed spectacularly in theirs. They showed that the best way to create a buzz was by not giving the audience a great deal of information. This means they have to try and work things out and start talking to other people about it. This is possibly a risky strategy and if not done correctly could just lead the audience to lose interest but done right it almost assures a big fan base.

After the riddle was created I then added a section of dialogue for a narrator to say which revealed where it was going to be released (in the cinemas) and when (this midsummer’s day). This was followed by the age classification of the film ‘rated 15’ to satisfy legal regulations. This second attempt at the script was far more original and will hopefully capture the audience’s attention more than the first script which was quite generic.

Progress Report - Voice Over Production

On our trailer the main section of dialogue is going to be a voice over from a speech one of our characters makes. As one of my roles is the screen director I wrote the script for this section of dialogue a week ago or so before this recording session and it had been put on to the storyboards and the dual column script. I booked the recording studio for one of our lessons and we also confirmed this time and date with our actress. The equipment in this studio is very advanced and so our lecturer came in at the beginning to show us how to use it.

Once this was done we gave our actress a quick briefing in order to explain how the dialogue had been designed to be read. The dialogue was planned to be spread across the trailer in sections. In order to help with this I had created a special script in which each line was broken down into the specific segments. We then asked our actress to pause a little between each line of dialogue in order to make it easier to break them up at the editing stage. We took 3 recordings where she ran straight through the script and then after briefing her again got her to repeat a few specific lines which needed a serious tone of voice.

Overall the recording session went very successfully. We met all the pre-agreed times and got all the recordings completed that we required. The only problems we met came from some interference through both outside noise and on one occasion the signal of a mobile phone. We overcame the phone problem by removing them from the area and the outside noise ceased fairly quickly so these problems were resolved.

Coursework Evaluation - Progress Reports

Development of Creativity Through Digital Technology
Continuation of My Creative Development

Trailer
Pre-Production - Part 1
Pre-Production - Part 2
Pre-Production - Part 3
Production (filming)
Production (Voice Over)
Editing - Part 1
Editing - Part 2

Radio
Pre-Production
Production
Editing

Magazine
Pre-Production
Production

Website
Pre-Production
Production

Trailer Research 3

Rowan Smith; 0121
Thomas Allison; 0051
Samantha Grant; 0081

Objective:

To identify the codes and conventions commonly used in teaser trailers which promote films within the genres of thriller and action.

Case Study:

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarentino, 2009)



Inglourious Basterds used a different narrative structure again when comparing to the other two trailers. Whereas Cloverfield used a short continuous sequence and Inception used various scenes from throughout the film, this trailer used a mix of these ideas. It was essentially a collage of significant scenes from the film held together by one main scene in which the main character played by Brad Pitt is talking to his men.

This tactic allowed them to establish the setting and to some degree the relationship between the men. It also revealed the nature of their quest and some of the ways in which they were going to complete it. This approach is distinctly different to the other two trailers as the audience has been given far more information and as such the enigma is not as strongly established. However, as with all trailers the resolution of the storyline remains a mystery and in some cases such as this that is enough to capture the minds of the audience.

They also edited in a pieces of text in order to further establish the setting and basic storyline. Like with Cloverfield the production companies and other credits were not mentioned on the trailer and it was in fact only the name of the director Quentin Tarentino that was mentioned within the trailer. I believe there is a certain tactical element to mentioning Taentino’s name within the trailer as he is a very well known and distinctive director with a wide fan base. His films are famous for their distinctive style of real and sometimes shocking depictions of world events, therefore putting his name in the trailer acts as an extra point of promotion from the trailer.

This film used a combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound which was once again different to the other two trailers which either used completely diegetic (Cloverfield) or completely non-diegetic (Inception) sound. The diegetic sound in this trailer was primarily Brad’s dialogue which acted as a form of narration to outline the premise of the film. There was also a scene used towards the end in which ‘Hitler’ was shouting ‘nein’ repeatedly which was then followed by Brad Pitt closing the speech to his men. The juxtaposition of these two clips gave the impression that there is a small comical element within the film at least as far as you can make killing and war comical. The non-diegetic sound however was music which used instruments such as bass guitars and other instruments associated with some forms of heavier rock music. It provided a feeling of action and excitement which resembles the shots used to create the trailer.

Trailer Research 2

Rowan Smith; 0121
Thomas Allison; 0051
Samantha Grant; 0081

Objective:

To identify the codes and conventions commonly used in teaser trailers which promote films within the genres of thriller and action.

Case Study:

Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)

The teaser trailer for Inception is incredibly different from that of Cloverfield. To begin with it is 46 seconds shorter at just over 1 minute long. It also uses a mix of CGI and traditional film. It follows the more conventional teaser trailer style by skipping through time to particular scenes of action. This method allows the audience to see some of the more enthralling moments within the film and seeing as the job of the teaser trailer is to invoke a desire to consume the text this method is very popular.

Another major difference with the Cloverfield trailer is the fact that no diegetic sound is used throughout. The non-diegetic sound used is a mixture of percussion used in a slow and deliberate manner and a sharp note which increases in pitch throughout the trailer. The pace of the beat alongside the increasing tone of the music was used to build tension within the audience.

The main character which the audience is expected to identify with is clearly established in this trailer in Leonardo DiCaprio. There are a number of close up shots which seem to indicate he is of significant importance within the film. As Leonardo is a well known actor and seemingly the main character, including him in the trailer is likely to attract many of his fans from previous films thus enhancing the success of the marketing campaign.

The additional information provided within the trailer included the production company, Leonardo DiCaprio’s name, a line of text which sets up an enigma, the date of release, name of the film and other noteworthy people and companies involved in the production. This being said little about the film’s storyline was actually revealed again in order to create an enigma. The parts that were shown in the trailer included scenes where gravity itself was being defied, and such an enigma as this will undoubtedly spark the curiosity desired to get the audience of the trailer to watch the film itself.

Trailer Research 1

Rowan Smith; 0121
Thomas Allison; 0051
Samantha Grant; 0081

Objective:

To identify the codes and conventions commonly used in teaser trailers which promote films within the genres of thriller and action.

Case Study:

Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)

Cloverfield’s whole viral marketing campaign was one of the most creative developments in the use of the internet and the power of social networking in film history. It seemed to use the philosophy ‘less is more’ and by this approach the blogs and fan pages were sent into overdrive.

They essentially managed to create an enigma that captured the minds of the public. This created a buzz which reverberated across the worldwide web in an unparalleled fashion. As such, the film gained huge amounts of below-the-line promotion through word of mouth and speculation on the identity of this destructive force.

The trailer used a short sequence from the film with a few points of ellipsis used to create the timeframe required for the trailer. This differed from many teaser trailers which often skip between different significant points within the film in a manner disassociated with the actual timeline of the film. Within the sequence used there was an establishment of setting particularly when the Statue of Liberty’s head rolled down the street and an establishment of characters to a certain degree though this was very vague. Using such a limited section of the film seemed to be part of the ‘less is more’ marketing strategy as the audience was only given one point of reference within the film from which to try and answer the plethora of questions it left behind. Not event the title of the film was put in the teaser trailer, in fact only the name of the producer J.J. Abrams and the release date were given.

The camera was hand held when filming Cloverfield which acts like a constant point-of-view shot thus allowing the audiences perspective to be more subjective and thus ‘realistic’. They also only used diegetic sound within the trailer which is again fairly atypical of teaser trailers but again it does add to the verisimilitude of the trailer.

The shots often became broken and out of focus in order to denote a state of panic and confusion. The trailer relied on this confusion transferring into the audience for the enigma to be enhanced. Further techniques were employed in order to create this state of panic and confusion for example, the camera was often uneven and in the scene where they were running down the stairs it appeared to go upside down at one point during a near rolling action. In addition to this frequent cuts were used throughout the trailer which gave it a fast paced feel.

Audience Analysis for Website Front Page

My website front page is part of the viral marketing campaign for the movie Lost Redemption. As such its primary purpose is to promote the film in the most effective way possible. To begin with, this means assessing who the target audience for the film is and then looking at ways to address them properly.

Target Audience

Analysis – who is the audience?

The audience for the film is likely to be in their late teens and currently in full time education. They will associate with the practices of the modern teenage culture such as the proficient use of technology (e.g. phones, game stations, computers etc.), strong association modern music, an interest in films and celebrity culture and a strong identification with fashion. The internet is now an integral part of every teenagers life from which they will almost certainly look for information on new films which indicates this may be an effective form of promotion for the target audience.

Understanding – What is the audiences’ knowledge of the subject?

When first engaging with the film on the website front page, the audience may have some prior knowledge of it due to the radio advert or trailer. Whether they have knowledge of it or not they will be familiar with the codes and conventions of thrillers and those of the used on websites. By working with basic sign systems and ideologies through for example colour schemes (e.g. light =good, dark=evil), mise-en-scene and actors on the front page the audience should be able to understand the basic premise of the film such as its genre and maybe even some small aspects of its plot. By using these common ideologies and signs the audience should be able to easily interpret the messages being portrayed and will hopefully engage with the film.

Demographics – What is their age, gender, education background etc.?

Age: 15-20
Sex: Male
Location: Britain
Educational status: Currently in or recently left education

Identifying the demographic aspects of the target audience means I am able to identify some of their interests by analysing the collective identities based on age, sex, location etc. I can then use these to represent the audience in a way which they understand and associate with. For example, the main protagonists will be included on the cover both of whom are 19 which will be approximately the age of the target audience for the film. From this I know they will be familiar with a school/college setting and so can play on this aspect of the film’s narrative on the website front page. The youth of today use the website more than any other generation so the audiences’ age also indicated this is an appropriate form of promotion. The target audience is also going to be predominantly male which means I need to keep a masculine focus when designing the front page in terms of lexicons used and colour schemes etc.

Interest – Why they would view this website?

The internet is quickly becoming the widest used advertising medium. The great thing about the World Wide Web is that it is like a ‘web’ in that everything is connected. Therefore the audience member may have watched the trailer on YouTube for example and then followed a link to the website, or the link may have been on Facebook, a magazine website or any other of a host of websites which my target audience will probably use quite frequently. They would view the website as a source of information about the film, its narrative, plot, characters etc. They will probably also use it for information on its release date and so this is an essential part of the marketing campaign especially for a target audience of this age group.

Environment - Where will this be viewed?

With the film promotion taking place via the medium of the internet the front page will need to address the expectations and desires of the audience for this particular media. The vast majority of internet users are those in their late teens and so this form of promotion should be fairly effective. I am going to design my front page based on my research of contemporary film websites. More recently films have been creating fan pages for their products on social networking sites with links to and from the website. Social network sites have huge potential for below-the-line promotion through word of mouth and as such the potential audience for the website and subsequently the film is greatly increased by promoting it on the internet.

Initial Ideas Blast for Website Front Page

Webite Front Page Coursework Links

Link to Initial Ideas Blast
Link to Choice of Background
Link to Initial Research on Film Websites
Link to Secondary Research on Thriller Film Websites
Link to Research on Web 2.0 Sites
Link to Dreamweaver Practice
Link to Audience Analysis for Website Front Page
Link to SWOT Analysis for Website Front Page
Link to Final Draft

Audience Analysis for Magazine Cover

My magazine cover is part of the viral marketing campaign for the movie Lost Redemption. As such its primary purpose is to promote the film in the most effective way possible. To begin with, this means assessing who the target audience for the film is and then looking at ways to address them properly.

Target Audience

Analysis – Who is the audience?

The audience for the film is likely to be in their late teens and currently in full time education. They will associate with the practices of the modern teenage culture such as the proficient use of technology (e.g. phones, game stations, computers etc.), strong association modern music, an interest in films and celebrity culture and a strong identification with fashion. Magazines are some of the best sources of information for each of these topics which indicates this may be an effective form of promotion for the target audience.

Understanding – What is the audiences’ knowledge of the subject?

When first engaging with the film on the front cover of the magazine, the audience may have some prior knowledge of it due to the radio advert or trailer. Whether they have knowledge of it or not they will be familiar with the codes and conventions of thrillers and those of the magazine which in my case will be Empire. By working with basic sign systems and ideologies through for example colour schemes (e.g. light =good, dark=evil), clothing, mise-en-scene and actors on the front cover the audience should be able to understand the basic premise of the film such as its genre and maybe even some small aspects of its plot. By using these common ideologies and signs the audience should be able to easily interpret the messages being portrayed and will hopefully engage with the film.

Demographics – What is their age, gender, education background etc.?

Age: 15-20
Sex: Male
Location: Britain
Educational status: Currently in or recently left education

The demographic aspects of the target audience’s identity allow the magazine cover to focus on certain key elements which should attract the audience. For example, the main protagonists will be included on the cover both of whom are 19 which will be approximately the age of the target audience for the film and which is also one of the biggest age groups for magazine subscriptions. Some of the characteristics associated with the collective identity of today’s youth will therefore be easily recognised by the reader such as identification with fashion, hobbies/interests etc. The target audience is also going to be predominantly male which again constitute much of the subscribers of this particular media form. It is a British magazine and therefore the subscribers will be mostly British which will mean the target audience can also tap into this collective identity as our film is directed at a British audience.

Interest – why they would view this magazine cover

Each week Empire magazine promotes a film of particular interest on the front cover in order to attract the audience. The readership will generally buy the magazine for escape and pleasure which obviously means the magazine must provide this. The combination of the front cover of our film with the other articles inside should provide the onlooker with enough interest in the magazine and its content that they will buy it. This will ultimately lead to the successful promotion of the film.

Environment - Where will this be viewed?

With the film promotion taking place via the medium of magazines the front cover will need to address the expectations and desires of the audience for this particular media. A good portion of magazine subscriptions belong to those in their late teens and so this form of promotion should be fairly effective. I have chosen Empire magazine on which to promote the film and this magazine is very much contemporary and up to date with modern trends in the film world. It also looks at new cinematic technologies and with technology being another interest of many of today’s youth this should mean many of those that fit within the target audience for the film probably buy this type of magazine.

Advertising Codes of Practice for Magazine

UK legal frameworks governing magazines

Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP)

As part of the media campaign for my advanced production film I will be creating a magazine front cover and website front page on which to advertise the film. As a result of advertising the material to the public there are certain rules that I must adhere to in order to be allowed on the shelves as is stated in the codes:

• ‘2.5 - Marketing communications must conform with the Code. Primary responsibility for observing the Code falls on marketers...’.

There are some basic principles of marketing which are reinforced numerous times throughout the codes of advertising as they are essentially in place to protect the consumer from being tricked into buying a product under false pretences. These codes include:

• ‘2.1 - All marketing communications should be legal, decent, honest and truthful.’
• ‘2.2 - All marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.’
• 7.1 - No marketing communication should mislead, or be likely to mislead, by inaccuracy, ambiguity, exaggeration, omission or otherwise.
• 6.1 - Marketers should not exploit the credulity, lack of knowledge or inexperience of consumers.

In order to comply with these rules I will simply make sure that all the information I use within my advertisement is correct and will give the consumer an honest reflection of the film.

As my film is categorised within the thriller genre and as such there is scope for images or messages that may be deemed violent or generally pro-violence. As such the following code applies:

• 11.1 - Marketing communications should contain nothing that condones or is likely to provoke violence or anti-social behaviour.

In order to comply with this code I will make sure my images and messages do not in anyway condone violence and will not be likely to provoke through offensive material. The areas I will be dealing with are the pictures I use and the slogan for the film plus general advertisements for other films on the magazine.
Also related to the thriller genre issue is the next code:

• 9.1 - No marketing communication should cause fear or distress without good reason. Marketers should not use shocking claims or images merely to attract attention.

I will be looking to imply the idea of fear on the cover and website as this is the main premise behind thrillers and so I must be stringent in my methods with regards to this rule. However, regulating this should again be a fairly straightforward task as I must just make sure the images used on the front cover are not shocking or disturbing in anyway, and that the slogan is not of this ilk either.

The codes also talk of the use of material that could be deemed as offensive on a number of grounds as stated here:

• 5.1 - Marketing communications should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care should be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability. Compliance with the Code will be judged on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards of decency.

• 5.2 - Marketing communications may be distasteful without necessarily conflicting with 5.1 above. Marketers are urged to consider public sensitivities before using potentially offensive material.

With my film being in the thriller genre there is probably more chance of breaking these rules than with other genres. In order to make sure this doesn’t happer I will keep particular note not to use any images or text which I deem could conflict with this code.

Rules that apply to the magazine but not the website

There are also some regulations which apply more generally to the front covers of magazines which although in normal terms I would not have to deal with as it’s not my magazine for the purposes of this exercise I will be designing the whole of the front cover which makes them relevant. Such codes are:

• ‘36.1 - Publishers announcing reader promotions on the front page or cover should ensure that consumers know whether they will be expected to buy subsequent editions of the publication. Major conditions that might reasonably influence consumers significantly in their decision to buy the publication should appear on the front page or cover.’

• ‘15.5 - A recommended retail price (RRP), or similar, used as a basis of comparison should be genuine; it should not differ significantly from the price at which the product is generally sold.’

I will be creating advertisements and possible sales promotions for my cover because of which code 36.1 is relevant and I will meet these rules by careful stating any conditions if any promotions are used. As for the price I will be able to easily comply by simply using the magazine’s standard RRP.

These are a few of the main rules which my magazine cover and website front page will have to comply with.

SWOT for Website Front Page

This is a SWOT for my website front page production. This is one of two individual tasks I am doing for the coursework and so it includes my personal strengths and weaknesses in this area.

Strengths

• Experience gained from the workshops held by my lecturer has given me knowledge on how to use the appropriate software Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
• Good at time management which should allow me to put in enough time for each part of the production.
• I can focus well which should help me to get my work done within the time frame and to a good standard.
• Good writing skills which allow me to convey my thoughts accurately.

Weaknesses

• Limited experience on Photoshop could lead to a poor quality product.
• Habit of over thinking can cause time to be lost.
• Can lack detail in pre-production paperwork such as research.

Opportunities

• Good software at college such as the newest version of Adobe Photoshop will significantly help me to create professional looking products.
• Workshops with my lecturer on how to use this software.
• My lecturer is at hand to help me with any problems.
• Plenty of real world examples to inform my front page and gain inspiration from.

Threats

• Poor time management could lead to the production being rushed and subsequently affecting the quality.
• Lack of research informing my productions could cause poor quality.
• Inadequate equipment such as camera could lead to poor quality photos for the magazine cover and website.
• Poor planning might lead to undesired results which affect quality.
• Work from other subjects taking up too much time.
• Outside hobbies and activities taking up too much time

SWOT for Magazine Production

This is a SWOT for my magazine cover production. This is one of two individual tasks I am doing for the coursework and so it includes my personal strengths and weaknesses in this area

Strengths

• Experience gained from the workshops held by my lecturer has given me knowledge on how to use the appropriate software Adobe Photoshop.
• Good at time management which should allow me to put in enough time for each part of the production.
• I can focus well which should help me to get my work done within the time frame and to a good standard.
• Good writing skills which allow me to convey my thoughts accurately.

Weaknesses

• Limited experience on Photoshop could lead to a poor quality product.

• Habit of over thinking can cause time to be lost.
• Can lack detail in pre-production paperwork such as research.

Opportunities

• Good software at college such as the newest version of Adobe Photoshop will significantly help me to create professional looking products.
• Workshops with my lecturer on how to use this software.
• My lecturer is at hand to help me with any problems.
• Plenty of real world examples to inform my cover and gain inspiration from.

Threats

• Poor time management could lead to the production being rushed and subsequently affecting the quality.
• Lack of research informing my productions could cause poor quality.
• Inadequate equipment such as camera could lead to poor quality photos for the magazine cover.
• Poor planning might lead to undesired results which affect quality.
• Work from other subjects taking up too much time.
• Outside hobbies and activities taking up too much time.

Textual Analysis of a Sight & Sound Cover

Sight & Sound is a publication from the British Film Institute (BFI) which reviews the latest films to hit the screens and other news related to the British film industry.

It is one of the top selling film magazines alongside Empire and Total Film. The main difference however between say Sight & Sound and Empire comes from their publishers. Where as Empire is a completely free privately owned publication under Bauer Consumer Media (BCM) Sight & Sound being run by the
BFI has certain obligations to the British film industry. As such it is obliged to review all films whether they be massive blockbusters or small independently produced films from the UK.

Sight & Sound’s target audience would seem to be more cultured than say that of Empire. The way they market the magazine with often quite artistic covers says a lot about who they want to attract. The films they focus on would often be considered social realist in their approach as they generally tackle real and sometimes controversial issues which don’t always have a happy ending. They are a magazine for the people in which they must represent the people. This is one reason that I think Empire would be more suitable for my production. My production is of a more mainstream style and could almost be considered fantasy. It doesn’t seek to directly challenge any cultural issues and does have a somewhat happy resolution. I believe my film would be for more suited to Empire’s readership as Empire is more likely to promote films that don’t have any cultural agendas. They are definitely a magazine more for the mainstream as this is where the money is and being a privately funded publication profit is their main focus.

With regards to the front cover as we can see in this June 2008 issue of Sight & Sound the cover is not promoting any particular film. It also has an unusual and quite artistic style with an eyeball in a hand. With my limited skills in creating magazine covers trying to design and create such an idealogically loaded image would be very hard and would take more time than I have. It is marketing the film industry in general and this is something a publicly funded magazine is more likely to do than Empire for example who always promote a film as this is where the money is. For my marketing campaign I need to be able to get good promotion on the front cover of a magazine. The magazine also has to be aimed at my target audience. My target audience is approximately 18 year old males which is one of Empire’s biggest markets. Sight & Sound however have a slightly older readership. For all of these reasons I believe Empire to be a more appropriate medium by which to promote my film than Sight & Sound.

Magazine Cover Draft 2

This is the second draft I drew for my magazine cover.

Draft 2


This draft was drawn later to replace the other draft which went with 'draft 1'. I needed to create one with the new title of the film and the change to the slogan in order to see if everything would still fit as planned. In this draft the characters are placed back-to-back with both looking directly at the camera. This ended up being my desired position for the characters as I felt it showed the right kind of relationship between the characters which was supposed to be one of 'I've got your back'. Whereas when the characters were facing each other it almost looked like a romantic relationship which would have sent out the wrong message with this film being a thriller. Other than this the magazine is the same with all the same article adverts on the cover but in slightly different places at times in order to accomodate the new title etc.

Creating these drafts turned out to be very helpful when it came to actually creating my magazine on Photoshop as I knew exactly what I was doing and didn't have to mess around. It meant that the production stage went fairly quickly and resulted in a product I felt was of good quality and that I was happy with.

Initial Ideas Blast for Magazine Cover

Magazine Coursework Links

Link to Initial Ideas Blast for Magazine Cover
Link to Magazine Cover Draft 1
Link to Magazine Cover Draft 2
Link to Choice of Backgrounds
Link to Choice of Main Picture
Link to Research on Empire Covers
Link to Research on Sight & Sound Covers
Link to PhotoShop Practice on Magazines
Link to SWOT for my Magazine Cover Production
Link to Research on Advertising Codes of Practice for Magazines
Link to Audience Analysis for Magazine Cover

Tell No One - Textual Analysis

Rowan Smith; 0121
Thomas Allison; 0051
Samantha Grant; 0081

This is an analysis of the radio advert for ‘Tell No One’ (Guillaume Canet, 2006). There are a number of codes and conventions directly related to the radio advertisements for films which I will analyse in this case study. This film is a thriller that was originally based on a novel and the advert runs for 30 seconds which matches the brief for our advert. Being a radio advertisement it is pre-recorded and therefore editing has clearly occurred. Acoustic treatment is evident as the recordings are of high quality which is one of the main codes for pre-recorded radio such as an advertisement unlike live-links on the radio which often lowers the quality of the acoustics in order to raise the verisimilitude of the piece.

There is a mixture of diegetic sound (DS) and non-diegetic (NDS) sound within the trailer with the NDS running as the main sound and the DS as a sort of undertone. Some of the main features within a film’s radio advert which are clearly referenced here are the film’s title, the date of release (in this case it is already in cinemas), the age classification of the film, the mode of release (e.g. cinema, DVD etc.) and occasionally the director’s name is used though not in this case.

These details are then usually mixed in with the DS which consists of audio clips usually from the film’s trailer. Using clips from the trailer shows consistency across the campaign which means the audience will be able to link the different forms of the campaign they may have been exposed to and are thus more likely to remember the film.

The codes and conventions of a thriller also must be analysed with regards to the advert. Though there are no visual cues for the audience to draw meaning from such as dark colour schemes and the non-verbal communication (NVC) of the actors, plenty of meaning can be drawn from sound. The tone of the announcer’s voice for example is noticeably deeper in a thriller radio advert than most other genres. This seriousness is essential for allowing the idea of fear to be developed throughout the advert. The DS used is really just a mix of a few screams and shouts from the film. This serves two main purposes, the first being to instill a state of fear within the audience as is part of the thriller codes. Second it is used to enhance the announcer’s dialogue. In the first half of the advert the announcer is saying the film’s tagline “8 years ago, Alex’s wife was murdered…today she e-mailed him”. A woman’s scream was played just after the announcer said ‘Alex’s wife was murdered’ this helps create extra visualization for the audience and is used because there are no visual cues.

Another of the most important aspects of an advert for a film in any media form is that it creates an enigma. It give away enough of the film’s narrative to capture the audience’s interest, but not so much that it gives away the plot. In the ‘Tell No One’ advert the audience only has the tagline and screams/shouts to work from. The tagline is clearly where the enigma is created as it seems to say that Alex’s wife has come back from the dead. If the advert was successful this should have got the audience wondering how this is possible and gotten them to go and watch the film to find out