For all of the products, I have gained audience feedback in one way or another. For the trailer, I used FaceBook and for the poster and the magazine cover, I created a survey using Microsoft Word. In terms of feedback for the trailer, it is difficult to infer anything more than we succeeded, and the trailer looks professional and crisp. All of the comments for the trailer were positive and I gained no constructive criticisms - from this, I can safely say that the trailer was a complete success, and there isn't much more I could improve if I was to do it again. I have learnt that my skills with Final Cut Pro were definitely put to the test, however they have improved greatly and I would say that I am at a good enough level to make a professional and convincing trailer.
In terms of what I have learnt from audience feedback on the poster, there is a fair amount to talk about. The fact that 100% of people said that the poster looks professional is a great success. On the other hand, only 60% said that they liked the font of the title. Although the title took me a lot of time to produce and get right, it appears that it isn't as good as it could possibly be. Although I had no written responses in this feedback, I can infer that the possible reason for why the title font is not as good as it could be is because it is too simple and does not tell the reader a great deal about the film. There are also no strong connotations that can be linked with the title, which again highlights the lack of depth. The other questions were answered in a positive manner, therefore the title is the only issue. As I have now completed the poster, I will not be changing it however if I were to do the promotional package again, this would be something that I would consider.
Finally, the feedback in regards to the magazine must be considered. The majority of the feedback that I received was positive apart from the question that asked if they liked the shape of the puff. As little as 50% said that they didn't, which was really surprising as other people I asked said that it worked really well with the genre of the magazine. As I was unsure for why this was the case, I asked a few of them why they didn't like the shape. All but one of the people said that it looked too much like a sticker and didn't work with the type of magazine that I was promoting. The other person said it was the colour (this was not what I asked so this will be discarded). The sticker look was actually what I wanted to achieve as it makes the page look slightly 3D and 'grabable'. Obviously 4 people disagree with my opinion, however this should be taken lightly as a wider range of people would have made this question more accurate. This is why I now know that it is important to ask a wide range of people (preferably 20) as well as asking them to write a written response for their choices. The reason for why I didn't ask for a written response this time round is because in the past, written responses put people "off" taking part in the questionnaire.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Evaluation - How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?
For my promotional package, I had to create a trailer, a magazine cover, and a poster. It was important that the magazine cover and the poster linked well with the trailer as synergy was vital. As you know, the title of the film is "SHUTDOWN", which is presented in a destroyed font that is white and cracked. Although it would have been unique to create three different versions of the title for the three different media pieces, I wanted the audience to instantly recognise that it was the same film and that they were just different pieces of promotion. This synergy was very important as audience feedback from others stated that they all knew what the film was after seeing the trailer. I know that other films in the same genre have failed with this aspect as the poster for example is completely different from the trailer - the audience sometimes get confused and don't know if it is the same film.
Another way for why the combination of my main product and the ancillary texts are effective, is because of the colour scheme used throughout. In this case, I used lots of blacks, reds, and whites. Not many film companies used these colours as they are sometimes too dark for central images etc. however I wanted a monochrome look that allowed things in white to "jump" off the page and really stand out. The trailer is very dark throughout and the lighting does not look artificial at all. The poster is also very dark and so is the magazine cover. The magazine cover however uses red to its advantage as the red text tag lines are the important articles that the reader should know about. I think I did a really good job of keeping the colour scheme consistent throughout my promotional package and I see the end result as a great success.
Another aspect that I think is very important to discuss in regards to this question is how I delivered this concept that there was two binary oppositions - a good side and a bad side. In the trailer, this was very easy to bring across as I was able to show the zombies (bad) fighting the soldiers (good). The zombies were very shocking whereas the soldiers did look like humans who were on a mission. The poster was a little more difficult as many posters do not include a lot of content and usually do not tell the reader much about the film. After careful thought, I came up with the idea of using an eye with a reflection of a wounded soldier. This actually turned out to work very well as it looks as if an evil zombie is watching the soldier die in pain - many people will instantly think that the zombie has caused this mess and is going to do more damage. Finally, there was the magazine to consider. As you know, the central image is of a soldier pointing his weapon off-screen. Now although we cannot see what or who he is trying to eliminate, we can infer that it is something bad due to his facial expression and tensed up body. In a lot of cases, the imagination of the reader can be far more powerful compared to showing them exactly what the problem is. This is why I think I made the right choice in terms of the magazine image and how it was composed.
To conclude, I believe that the effectiveness of my main product and the ancillary texts is very positive and high. The ancillary texts are easily linked to the main product and conventions have been followed. Audience feedback also highlights that the promotional package has achieved its original objectives and that it works very well as a zombie apocalypse film.
Another way for why the combination of my main product and the ancillary texts are effective, is because of the colour scheme used throughout. In this case, I used lots of blacks, reds, and whites. Not many film companies used these colours as they are sometimes too dark for central images etc. however I wanted a monochrome look that allowed things in white to "jump" off the page and really stand out. The trailer is very dark throughout and the lighting does not look artificial at all. The poster is also very dark and so is the magazine cover. The magazine cover however uses red to its advantage as the red text tag lines are the important articles that the reader should know about. I think I did a really good job of keeping the colour scheme consistent throughout my promotional package and I see the end result as a great success.
Another aspect that I think is very important to discuss in regards to this question is how I delivered this concept that there was two binary oppositions - a good side and a bad side. In the trailer, this was very easy to bring across as I was able to show the zombies (bad) fighting the soldiers (good). The zombies were very shocking whereas the soldiers did look like humans who were on a mission. The poster was a little more difficult as many posters do not include a lot of content and usually do not tell the reader much about the film. After careful thought, I came up with the idea of using an eye with a reflection of a wounded soldier. This actually turned out to work very well as it looks as if an evil zombie is watching the soldier die in pain - many people will instantly think that the zombie has caused this mess and is going to do more damage. Finally, there was the magazine to consider. As you know, the central image is of a soldier pointing his weapon off-screen. Now although we cannot see what or who he is trying to eliminate, we can infer that it is something bad due to his facial expression and tensed up body. In a lot of cases, the imagination of the reader can be far more powerful compared to showing them exactly what the problem is. This is why I think I made the right choice in terms of the magazine image and how it was composed.
To conclude, I believe that the effectiveness of my main product and the ancillary texts is very positive and high. The ancillary texts are easily linked to the main product and conventions have been followed. Audience feedback also highlights that the promotional package has achieved its original objectives and that it works very well as a zombie apocalypse film.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Feedback from others on trailer
Although the trailer is now finished, I still wanted to know what other people thought of it as Campbell and I did spend a lot of time on both the editing side and the filming side. Below is a screenshot that shows some of the comments we received on FaceBook:
Both Campbell and I are very pleased with the feedback that we received and the amount of interested it generated in such a short space of time. I think we have done really well with the creation of the trailer, and hopefully we succeed with our posters and magazine covers.
Feedback from others on magazine
In order to conclude the creation of my magazine, I have generated some feedback to see if there is any room for improvement. Below is the feedback that I received:
I am pleased with the feedback I have received as it all suggests that I have done a good job with creating the magazine. I am a little disappointed that only half the people liked the shape of the puff, so this may be a feature that I will have to change in the near future. Likewise I understand Phil's comment about the central image being too dark so I may make it a little lighter. Overall, I accept and understand the feedback that I have received.
I am pleased with the feedback I have received as it all suggests that I have done a good job with creating the magazine. I am a little disappointed that only half the people liked the shape of the puff, so this may be a feature that I will have to change in the near future. Likewise I understand Phil's comment about the central image being too dark so I may make it a little lighter. Overall, I accept and understand the feedback that I have received.
Feedback from others for poster
In order to conclude the creation of my poster, I have generated some feedback to see if there is any room for improvement. I originally planned on using SurveyMonkey to conduct this feedback however the servers were down. Below is the feedback that I received:
Based on the feedback that I received, I do not think that there is much room for improvement and the comments were generally positive. I think that I have been very successful with the poster that I have created and there isn't anything that I would do differently in the future.
Based on the feedback that I received, I do not think that there is much room for improvement and the comments were generally positive. I think that I have been very successful with the poster that I have created and there isn't anything that I would do differently in the future.
Magazine creation step-by-step
After creating a mock-up of the magazine for my promotional package, I developed it and improved certain aspects of it, and I think that I now have a completed piece. However it is important that you understand how I created it and each step that I had to make in order to construct it. In this post, I will be presenting you with step-by-step visual evidence. Below is the creation:
1. First I found a tutorial on Google that explained how I could create a very dark and eerie background. Before I could do this however, I had to obtain an image of some clouds and a few birds. I did this by searching "royalty free" images so that I could use an image that was copyright free. I then changed the saturation and brightness to make it slightly less vibrant. After this, I added a black rectangle below the image so that I didn't have to stretch it out and make it distorted.
2. I then applied this dark layer and made the opacity around 20%. The reason for this was because the image was still too bright and it didn't look sinister enough. This was an easy task and only took around 5 minutes.
3. After creating the background, I had to take a few images of myself with my air rifle - this would be the central image. After numerous shoots, I finally obtained the best image I could possibly have. I imported it into Photoshop and changed the contrast so that it fitted the background. I chose to look off-screen as this would make the reader wonder what I am looking at. (Possibly something bad?)
4. I then applied another dark layer to make the figure darker and less identifiable. It was important however not to make him too dark as the reader must be able to see who the main star is. Again, the opacity of this layer was around 20%.
5. This step was relatively time consuming. As you can see, there is rain across the whole image. This was difficult as I had to use a built in effect and then edit it to my preferences. I do think that it came out well though as someone asked me if it was actually raining when I took the image. To do this particular technique, I had to use a mosaic option and then create a sort of blurry effect over the top. I then increased the noise which made the particles much more detailed and then I overlaid it on top of the image. The other thing I did within this step was import the magazine name. I was considering creating it myself, however after asking my media teacher, I found out that I could just use one that was from a popular magazine company. I decided to use Total Film because the title is bold, eye-catching, and works with almost any image. I did however change the colour to white as this suited my colour scheme better.
6. In this step, I added in all of the conventional features of a magazine. These include a barcode, a top banner, the edge part of the magazine, and finally the price/date/issue number. The price/date/issue number and the top banner, I created myself and took inspiration from existing Total Film magazines. The edge part of the magazine and the barcode however were found on Google as I could not create this myself.
7. The next step to do was to create the title for the feature article. This took a long time as I had to find a suitable font from Dafont.com. After a while, I found a font that was black in colour and looked destroyed/eroded. This was perfect however the colour had to be changed to white as black blended into the background of my magazine. As you may also notice, there are zombie arms just above the "S". This is an image that I really wanted to include as many film titles are not just text - they are iconography. This factor alone could make the film more identifiable and easy to relate to.
8. I then inserted all of the tag lines, and the puff on the left. The reason for why the tag lines are black and red is because they easily stand out. The red is used for the main title whereas the white is used as the description of the title. I think that this works very well because the reader's eyes are instantly drawn to the colour red. I then created the puff. This was hard to make as I didn't know exactly what shape would fit the style of the magazine. I finally came up with the idea of a sticker that was slightly ripped. I created it and my first attempt looked very promising - this is why I kept it.
9. Finally, I obtained some images of past magazine covers from Google and arranged them in a way that looked like a collection. I then added the text below: "win a month’s subscription". The reason I added this feature in was because I had no other competition features on the magazine and a lot of modern magazines do include this feature.
1. First I found a tutorial on Google that explained how I could create a very dark and eerie background. Before I could do this however, I had to obtain an image of some clouds and a few birds. I did this by searching "royalty free" images so that I could use an image that was copyright free. I then changed the saturation and brightness to make it slightly less vibrant. After this, I added a black rectangle below the image so that I didn't have to stretch it out and make it distorted.
2. I then applied this dark layer and made the opacity around 20%. The reason for this was because the image was still too bright and it didn't look sinister enough. This was an easy task and only took around 5 minutes.
3. After creating the background, I had to take a few images of myself with my air rifle - this would be the central image. After numerous shoots, I finally obtained the best image I could possibly have. I imported it into Photoshop and changed the contrast so that it fitted the background. I chose to look off-screen as this would make the reader wonder what I am looking at. (Possibly something bad?)
4. I then applied another dark layer to make the figure darker and less identifiable. It was important however not to make him too dark as the reader must be able to see who the main star is. Again, the opacity of this layer was around 20%.
5. This step was relatively time consuming. As you can see, there is rain across the whole image. This was difficult as I had to use a built in effect and then edit it to my preferences. I do think that it came out well though as someone asked me if it was actually raining when I took the image. To do this particular technique, I had to use a mosaic option and then create a sort of blurry effect over the top. I then increased the noise which made the particles much more detailed and then I overlaid it on top of the image. The other thing I did within this step was import the magazine name. I was considering creating it myself, however after asking my media teacher, I found out that I could just use one that was from a popular magazine company. I decided to use Total Film because the title is bold, eye-catching, and works with almost any image. I did however change the colour to white as this suited my colour scheme better. 
6. In this step, I added in all of the conventional features of a magazine. These include a barcode, a top banner, the edge part of the magazine, and finally the price/date/issue number. The price/date/issue number and the top banner, I created myself and took inspiration from existing Total Film magazines. The edge part of the magazine and the barcode however were found on Google as I could not create this myself. 
7. The next step to do was to create the title for the feature article. This took a long time as I had to find a suitable font from Dafont.com. After a while, I found a font that was black in colour and looked destroyed/eroded. This was perfect however the colour had to be changed to white as black blended into the background of my magazine. As you may also notice, there are zombie arms just above the "S". This is an image that I really wanted to include as many film titles are not just text - they are iconography. This factor alone could make the film more identifiable and easy to relate to. 
8. I then inserted all of the tag lines, and the puff on the left. The reason for why the tag lines are black and red is because they easily stand out. The red is used for the main title whereas the white is used as the description of the title. I think that this works very well because the reader's eyes are instantly drawn to the colour red. I then created the puff. This was hard to make as I didn't know exactly what shape would fit the style of the magazine. I finally came up with the idea of a sticker that was slightly ripped. I created it and my first attempt looked very promising - this is why I kept it. 
Monday, 14 January 2013
Mock-up of magazine for Horror Promotional Package
Before I create the final version of my magazine, I must first create a mock-up so that I know what to do and when to create different parts. After research into other magazines in the same genre as my own, I have created this mock-up:
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The first aspect that I want to comment on is the main image in the middle of the page. My idea is that I have myself or Campbell in the middle of the page with a weapon in a very posed position. Many magazines use this type of image to attract the reader. The background will be very dark with clouds and possible birds in the scenery.
I will include tag-lines both left and right with a puff in the top right corner. Now I am still unclear about what this puff will look like, however it would be effective if I could use a blood splat or something similar.
Finally, I will include the title near the bottom of the page. This does challenge the convention that the title should always be in the middle of the page, but the way my main image is composed tells me that this is the best place for the title. In terms of the font and colour, I believe that it will be the same as the poster as I want to sustain the use of synergy throughout my promotional package.
In future posts, I will present you with my completed magazine cover, analysis, and feedback from other people.
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I will include tag-lines both left and right with a puff in the top right corner. Now I am still unclear about what this puff will look like, however it would be effective if I could use a blood splat or something similar.
Finally, I will include the title near the bottom of the page. This does challenge the convention that the title should always be in the middle of the page, but the way my main image is composed tells me that this is the best place for the title. In terms of the font and colour, I believe that it will be the same as the poster as I want to sustain the use of synergy throughout my promotional package.
In future posts, I will present you with my completed magazine cover, analysis, and feedback from other people.
Research on magazine with a similar genre
Within this post, I will be identifying some of the features of an example magazine that matches the same genre as my own. It is presented in the form of a Prezzi as I believe that this is a good way for stating what I have found. Below is the analysis:
Poster creation step-by-step
After creating a mockup of the poster for my promotional package, I developed it and improved certain aspects of it, and I think that I now have a completed piece. However it is important that you understand how I created it and each step that I had to make in order to construct it. In this post, I will be presenting you with step-by-step visual evidence. Below is the creation:
1. First, I acquired an image of an eye from Google that was royalty free and okay to use for media coursework. Originally, I did plan on taking the image myself, however my camera wasn't good enough and I didn't have access to a macro lens, which would have created that very focused effect. The eye that I have used was originally bright blue - this wasn't the colour that I wanted. I therefore used the colour replacement tool to change the colour to a sinister red - the colour of Incubus's eyes. I also used the sharpen brush to make the eyelashes more detailed and defined as they were originally blurry and more "blocky". After making adjustments to the eye, I added a solid black background behind it so that the colour was more vibrant, and there was room for the credits at the bottom of the poster. This step took me around 20 minutes to complete.
2. I then inserted the credits at the bottom of the poster as my research showed that this is a key part of posters that is conventional and expected. I used the credits from an existing poster, however I chose these colours as I thought that they worked well with the colours of the poster. They stand out, and do not look like they are part of the film. This task only took me around 5 minutes.
3. The next key part to add in was one of the main characters. As this was Incubus's eye, I came up with the idea to make it look like he was watching over and potentially harming someone - Cpt. Baker. I took a still from our trailer and inserted it into the pupil of the eye. I then cut around it and added some effects that made the image look like a reflection. The reason I chose this image was because the character looks innocent and like he is staring death in the eye. This could have a great impact on the person looking at the poster and will make them wonder who's eye this really is. This task took me around 15 minutes to complete.
4. It was then time to add in the main stars name and the movie title. I used the same font that was used on the I Am Legend poster as I think it looks professional yet classic at the same time. In terms of the title of the film, I used DaFont.com to obtain a unique font that wasn't accessible from software such as Photoshop and Microsoft Word. This particular font was under the "bullet" section, which was the style I was looking for - a very military type look that was rugged and destroyed. The original colour of this font was black, so I changed it to white and made it slightly bigger. This task took me around 30 minutes to complete as it took some time to find the correct font to use.
5. This step was relatively easy as all I had to do was add in the text "This is". Although this isn't part of the title, it acts as a presentation line that will hook the audience when they see the poster. Again the font for this was the same used in the I Am Legend Poster. This task took 5 minutes.
6. This was a very subtle feature to add, however I thought that it was vital to make the title unique and original. As you can see, I added some zombie hands just above the "S" of "SHUTDOWN". The reason I did this was because a lot of film titles are not just text and do usually include some form of iconography. Additionally, the hands look a little like fire - this is also a good look for the title. I managed to find the hands on Google however I took the background away from them so that I could use them on my poster. This task took me around 15 minutes.
7. The final step was more of a change than an addition. As you may have noticed, the poster said that the film was going to be released "this summer". I realised that in the trailer we said that it was going to be released "this October". I quickly made the change to the poster by using another font from DaFont and implementing it into this media piece. This task took around 10 minutes to complete.
Overall, I am very happy with the way that my poster came out and I believe that it follows the conventions of modern film posters. It looks professional, and clearly highlights the type of footage that the audience should expect in the film. I will be evaluating this part of the media promotional package in later posts along with feedback from others.
2. I then inserted the credits at the bottom of the poster as my research showed that this is a key part of posters that is conventional and expected. I used the credits from an existing poster, however I chose these colours as I thought that they worked well with the colours of the poster. They stand out, and do not look like they are part of the film. This task only took me around 5 minutes.3. The next key part to add in was one of the main characters. As this was Incubus's eye, I came up with the idea to make it look like he was watching over and potentially harming someone - Cpt. Baker. I took a still from our trailer and inserted it into the pupil of the eye. I then cut around it and added some effects that made the image look like a reflection. The reason I chose this image was because the character looks innocent and like he is staring death in the eye. This could have a great impact on the person looking at the poster and will make them wonder who's eye this really is. This task took me around 15 minutes to complete.
6. This was a very subtle feature to add, however I thought that it was vital to make the title unique and original. As you can see, I added some zombie hands just above the "S" of "SHUTDOWN". The reason I did this was because a lot of film titles are not just text and do usually include some form of iconography. Additionally, the hands look a little like fire - this is also a good look for the title. I managed to find the hands on Google however I took the background away from them so that I could use them on my poster. This task took me around 15 minutes.
7. The final step was more of a change than an addition. As you may have noticed, the poster said that the film was going to be released "this summer". I realised that in the trailer we said that it was going to be released "this October". I quickly made the change to the poster by using another font from DaFont and implementing it into this media piece. This task took around 10 minutes to complete.
Overall, I am very happy with the way that my poster came out and I believe that it follows the conventions of modern film posters. It looks professional, and clearly highlights the type of footage that the audience should expect in the film. I will be evaluating this part of the media promotional package in later posts along with feedback from others.
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Mock-up of poster for Horror Promotional Package
After looking at a few different examples of posters with a similar genre to mine, I have created a mock-up version of my poster that I hope to develop on in the next few days. I created this using Adobe Photoshop as I believe I work better digitally opposed to using pencil and paper. I have also taken into account the popular conventions of film posters so that mine will look as realistic and professional as possible. Below is the mock-up:
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- This is where the main star's name will appear. It will be in a bold font that is very eye-catching and unique
- This is where the slogan for the film will be. As the title of the film is "ShutDown", I will make sure that the slogan is a play on words linked to the title
- The main image for the poster will be the eye of Incubus. I will either take a photo with a macro lens, find a royalty free image, or create the eye digitally. It will be read in colour and I want it to be as detailed as possible for the best effect. The reason I have put a question mark within the eye, is because I want something to be reflected inside. I am not sure what yet, however I think that I will take a still from the trailer and edit it so that it looks like it is being reflected. One idea that I have is using one of the innocent soldiers being attacked. This will reinforce the idea that it is Incubus's eye and not a random persons.
- Finally, I will be including the title of the film at the very bottom along with the credits and possible film distributors. I am thinking of using a font similar to the I Am Legend poster as it matches the genre and looks classy.
I will now try and develop my mock-up and start creating the actual poster. The steps will be included in future posts with how I went about the creation.
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- This is where the slogan for the film will be. As the title of the film is "ShutDown", I will make sure that the slogan is a play on words linked to the title
- The main image for the poster will be the eye of Incubus. I will either take a photo with a macro lens, find a royalty free image, or create the eye digitally. It will be read in colour and I want it to be as detailed as possible for the best effect. The reason I have put a question mark within the eye, is because I want something to be reflected inside. I am not sure what yet, however I think that I will take a still from the trailer and edit it so that it looks like it is being reflected. One idea that I have is using one of the innocent soldiers being attacked. This will reinforce the idea that it is Incubus's eye and not a random persons.
- Finally, I will be including the title of the film at the very bottom along with the credits and possible film distributors. I am thinking of using a font similar to the I Am Legend poster as it matches the genre and looks classy.
I will now try and develop my mock-up and start creating the actual poster. The steps will be included in future posts with how I went about the creation.
Research on posters with a similar genre 2
In this post, I will be analysing a second poster for extra research before I start to create the poster for my horror promotional film package. I think that it is important to look at as many examples as possible as this will give me the best chance of creating a product that suits the audiences needs in every way. Below is my analysis on the poster promoting Resident Evil Apocalypse:
Just like the previous poster that I analysed, the name of the main star is shown at the very top of the page. This font however is interesting as the tracking space between each letter is fairly large. There could be a number of reasons for why this has been done, although I think the most likely could be that it is easier to read like that and it resembles the separation between the zombies and the humans. The colour is also very weapon like - something that it superior, dangerous, with good quality.
Milla Jovovich is in the very centre of the poster yet she is not giving any direct mode of address. Instead, she is looking just off set where the audience cannot see - this will make the audience question what she could be looking at and is it something that will harm her - probably due to her deadly weapons and fighting stance. The colour overlay is an effective addition to the poster as it makes it look cold but futuristic. Two concepts that any horror/action film fanatics like.
The title is presented in a sharp, crisp font that look like the weapons that Milla Jovovich is holding. I really like how the font relates to the film as it almost acts like a trademark that is unique and not easily mistaken with another film. The text is also the biggest text on the page, which is definitely something that I should consider when creating my poster.
Finally, there are the conventional features such as the credits, the date, the website, and the film distributors.
To summarise, this is a cleverly organised poster, however I think my final version will be more like the I Am Legend poster opposed to this one. The reason for this could be because this poster doesn't suit my genre as well, or it could just be because of visual appearance.
Milla Jovovich is in the very centre of the poster yet she is not giving any direct mode of address. Instead, she is looking just off set where the audience cannot see - this will make the audience question what she could be looking at and is it something that will harm her - probably due to her deadly weapons and fighting stance. The colour overlay is an effective addition to the poster as it makes it look cold but futuristic. Two concepts that any horror/action film fanatics like.
The title is presented in a sharp, crisp font that look like the weapons that Milla Jovovich is holding. I really like how the font relates to the film as it almost acts like a trademark that is unique and not easily mistaken with another film. The text is also the biggest text on the page, which is definitely something that I should consider when creating my poster.
Finally, there are the conventional features such as the credits, the date, the website, and the film distributors.
To summarise, this is a cleverly organised poster, however I think my final version will be more like the I Am Legend poster opposed to this one. The reason for this could be because this poster doesn't suit my genre as well, or it could just be because of visual appearance.
Research on posters with a similar genre
As I have finished the creation of the trailer for my media promotional package, I now must think about the poster and magazine cover that will go with it. Unlike the last two years, I now have a better knowledge on what posters in such a genre should look like, as I have made quite a few posters in the past. I have however still conducted some research into similar posters and the types of things to expect. One poster that I looked very closely at was the I Am Legend promotional poster:
The first key feature that I noticed was the main actors name at the very top of the poster. This is something that is very conventional with movie posters, especially examples in this kind of genre. I think that I may implement something similar, as the audience is always interested with who is in the film - if it is someone well known, it is likely that they will want to go and see it.
We are then presented with the slogan "The Last Man On Earth Is Not Alone". As well as striking, I really like the play on words as it sort of contradicts itself. This is definitely a feature that I want on my poster as it will be rememberable and people can link it with the film.
The background is very effective in this case. The destruction behind Will Smith just shows how much of a problem the situation is, which should attract the audience and interest them. As I have seen the film, I know that Will Smith voluntarily stays behind to find a cure. This is represented with the lighting in the background - he is walking away from the light (safe) and into the darkness (bad). Usually, it is the other way around as the main good guy is trying to escape the horror. This is a factor that increases the main characters heroism and bravery.
Finally, the conventional title, credits, and date are used at the very bottom of the page. As much as I would like to challenge such conventions, I do think that they are a safe bet when creating a poster as they tell the audience all the key information that they need to know to go and see the film. This is why I think I will use this poster as a template for my own.
To summarise, I really like how this poster has been arranged, and the connotations that it provides the audience are very strong and reveal a lot about what the film may show.
We are then presented with the slogan "The Last Man On Earth Is Not Alone". As well as striking, I really like the play on words as it sort of contradicts itself. This is definitely a feature that I want on my poster as it will be rememberable and people can link it with the film.
The background is very effective in this case. The destruction behind Will Smith just shows how much of a problem the situation is, which should attract the audience and interest them. As I have seen the film, I know that Will Smith voluntarily stays behind to find a cure. This is represented with the lighting in the background - he is walking away from the light (safe) and into the darkness (bad). Usually, it is the other way around as the main good guy is trying to escape the horror. This is a factor that increases the main characters heroism and bravery.
Finally, the conventional title, credits, and date are used at the very bottom of the page. As much as I would like to challenge such conventions, I do think that they are a safe bet when creating a poster as they tell the audience all the key information that they need to know to go and see the film. This is why I think I will use this poster as a template for my own.
To summarise, I really like how this poster has been arranged, and the connotations that it provides the audience are very strong and reveal a lot about what the film may show.
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Questionnaire about the finished version of our trailer
A couple of days ago, I sent a questionnaire to 10 people who are different ages and gender via email regarding the finished version of the horror trailer. Below are the results that I obtained and what I can infer from them:
Does the trailer look professional?
YES - 90%
NO - 10%
Were you scared or disturbed while watching the trailer?
YES - 30%
NO - 70%
Would you watch the film based on the trailer?
YES - 80%
NO - 20%
Did the shooting scenes look realistic?
YES - 100%
NO - 0%
What genre do you think the trailer is?
ACTION - 10%
HORROR - 90%
Out of 10, what do you rate our trailer?
10 - 20%
9 - 60%
7 - 20%
Based on this feedback, I do think that the trailer has been a success and it has definitely succeeded in what it was supposed to do. I am a little disappointed that so many people weren’t scared or disturbed whilst watching the trailer, however I did expect this as I know how difficult it is to mentally scare someone. I am however very pleased with how many people thought the shooting scenes look realistic. This is something that Campbell and I worked very hard on. In a future post, I will be uploading a screenshot of the written feedback that we received on FaceBook a few days ago.
Does the trailer look professional?
YES - 90%
NO - 10%
Were you scared or disturbed while watching the trailer?
YES - 30%
NO - 70%
Would you watch the film based on the trailer?
YES - 80%
NO - 20%
Did the shooting scenes look realistic?
YES - 100%
NO - 0%
What genre do you think the trailer is?
ACTION - 10%
HORROR - 90%
Out of 10, what do you rate our trailer?
10 - 20%
9 - 60%
7 - 20%
Based on this feedback, I do think that the trailer has been a success and it has definitely succeeded in what it was supposed to do. I am a little disappointed that so many people weren’t scared or disturbed whilst watching the trailer, however I did expect this as I know how difficult it is to mentally scare someone. I am however very pleased with how many people thought the shooting scenes look realistic. This is something that Campbell and I worked very hard on. In a future post, I will be uploading a screenshot of the written feedback that we received on FaceBook a few days ago.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
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