RESEARCH: Target Audience Review

After creating my film trailer, I decided to show my media trailer to a member of my target audience. My target audience is aimed at mostly at young adults, between the ages of 15 and 25. So, I spoke to 18 year old Liam Hughes after making him watch my trailer to find out what he liked and disliked about the trailer and what improvements he would make if he were to remake the same trailer.

Me: What did you think about the trailer in general? 

Liam: I really liked the whole concept of 'The Rapture'. It doesn't seem like your average "horror film based on religion" where the Devil 'haunts' a family and tries to kill everyone. I'm assuming that the Devil is the person with the box on his head. This is really different as the Devil is usually seen as a monster which doesn't look like a human entity whereas this Devil does. It was a good length for a trailer and it had the crucial information that you need in a trailer such as the title of it, the date it's released etc. It didn't have any actors names which I normally like as I like to know if my favourite actors or actresses are in a film and I usually base my film choice on who's in the film but as you are trying to conceal the true identity of who the Devil is, this is a good marketing tactic.

Me: Did the music fit the trailer? 

Liam: Yes definitely. It slowly built up in terms of texture, pitch and how loud it was which matched the trailer itself. It suited it very well and was also a very professional piece of music, it wasn't tacky or completely unsuited to the trailer.

Me: What genre would you classify this film? 

Liam: I would probably class this film as either a horror or a thriller? To be honest it could be both! It has lots of signs to suggest which genre it is such as the use of music, making it very dramatic, the use of the gun which obviously tells us this isn't a comedy and the voice-over! The voice-over is the main giveaway because it roughly tells us the plot of the film and it sounds very dark and graphic.

Me: What was the most effective part of the trailer? 

Liam: The most effective part of the trailer was when it was a close up of the girl in the hoods face and the music was just about to "drop" if thats what you could call it and she did that evil, small smirk of a smile? I thought that was really effective as it was subtle yet powerful. It made me feel really tense!

Me: What would you improve on the trailer? 

Liam: I wouldn't improve much at all! Maybe include the actors names but I think thats just a preference of mine. Some people like not knowing who is in a film because when they do see an actor they like they're like "Oh hey I know them from so and so". I guess if I made this trailer I would do that. Other than that, I really liked everything about it. It was really, really effective and I would definitely watch this film if it were to be made into a real film!

PLANNING: Planning the Film Poster

I have been thinking a lot about how I can make my film poster as effective and dramatic as possible without having it look overcrowded or complicated. In my personal opinion, I think that the film trailers that have the best effect are the simplistic, dramatic ones. 

So, as a rough idea for what I want my film poster to look like, I've decided I am going to have "box-man" stand with his back to the audience, looking over at a city or looking towards a house in a field (just like the hooded girl does in my film trailer). It'll be a long shot and it'll be in black and white to make it seem more ominous and make the audience realise that it is a horror/thriller genre film. I'll also make sure that "box-man" is holding a gun to enforce the violent themes in the film. The title will be written in the same font as it is in the trailer and it will be written in red to symbolise blood and gore etc. 

The film poster will have directors billing in very small print at the bottom of the film poster which will have actors names, directors name, the production company name etc. This will help audiences get an understanding of who is in the film. I don't want to put actors names obviously on the film poster as I want it to look as realistic as possible so putting the actors names at the bottom still fills in the audience but not obviously. 

FINAL FILM TRAILER

This is my final film trailer for my A2 Media Coursework! FINISHED ON THE 17TH DECEMBER 2014.

RESEARCH: Conventions of a Film Magazine Cover

Similar to a film poster, film magazine covers follow certain conventions which will help the magazine boost sales and make it look more appealing and interesting compared to their fellow competitors: 

1) The title is almost always at the top of the page in bold writing, and this writing is almost always generic to that film magazine cover. For example, Empire always follow the same layout for their magazine title with it being red, in capitals, bold and using the same font. However, whenever there is a special edition magazine out such as the Skyfall edition of the magazine, they changed the colour of the title to gold which attracted a wider audience as it was different. 

2) The main image in the middle of the film magazine cover is usually a mid shot of one of the lead characters/actors in the film it's promoting. 

3) Magazines use things called 'buzz words' that will attract audiences to buy the magazine such as "free", "exclusive", "shocking" etc. People are always looking for gossip or free stuff so this is part of a marketing scheme to make people buy the magazine and boost publicity for the film it's promoting. 

4) Barcode, issue date and the date. All magazines have them. All magazines need then. 

5) Magazines also have information around the sides of the magazines with snippets of what else is in the magazine without the reader having to pick it up and read through to find out. For example, it could be something small like "Angelina Jolie sits down with Empire for an exclusive interview", or it could be a gossipy title such as "Can Katie Price ever control her weight gain" or something to that degree. 

RESEARCH: Conventions of a Film Poster

Film posters are seen everywhere; in cinemas, in magazines, bus stops, on buses.. So, for a person to take notice of your particular film poster over others that may be around,  film posters have to have to: 

1) Be eye-catching! If you're going to have a boring film poster with no creativity or flare about it then people aren't going to pay attention to it whatsoever. 

2) There's got to be a main picture in the centre. This picture is usually called the 'focal picture' and it is the main thing people see first when they look at your film posters. Mostly, the focal picture will be of a main character in the film or a few characters in posed positions. 

3) The font on the film poster must be bold, eye-catching and large! If a person has seen a film poster on the side of a bus, they'll want to be able to see the title from wherever they are standing because otherwise they'll miss it! 

4) Sometimes, film posters have reviews on them. Nothing huge, just words like "Fantastic!" along with the reviewer's name and how many stars they have given the film. This lets people know that other people have seen this film and have liked it and it reassures the audience that they won't be wasting their money by watching this film. 

5) Film posters will either have the date that the film will be released or it will have a caption saying "Coming Soon". Again, this is for the audiences to gain as much information on the film as possible in a short space of time. 

6) The genre should be obvious to the audience whilst looking at the film poster. Most horror film posters are quite dark and ominous and some even have a gory scene being depicted on the front or they'll have a character looking as if they are screaming or running away from something.

RESEARCH: Film Magazine Covers

This is a film magazine cover featuring Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. I really liked this cover because of the contrast between the light blue to the dark blue sky against the red of the magazine title. Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that Hugh Jackman is wearing a white vest in this picture and all of the writing about the film is in white as well. Hugh Jackman has been placed over the text, making him the most important thing on the cover. With him standing in front of all of the text, it also supports the idea that his character has a lot of power and strength. They have used the same font throughout the cover (except in the title) which makes the cover seem more professional and clean whereas some magazine covers I have seen look busy and messy due to using loads of different fonts which just looks unprofessional. You can tell that the genre of the film is probably an action film because there are no really bright colours and Hugh Jackman’s character is looking very serious and maybe concerned about something. Another thing that makes this magazine cover look professional is the fact that all of the text has been placed around him. This again makes him seem like the most important thing on the page. 

This magazine cover features Chris Pine playing Kirk from the film the Star Trek. His portrait is in black and white and all of the text around the cover is in white or red. I really like this colour scheme because it makes everything stand out. The editing that has been done on the portrait of Chris Pine has emphasised certain features about him e.g. his cheekbone and jawline. Not only has this been done to make him seem more attractive, but to also make the photo darker which will contrast against the white and red writing around the picture. He is looking very serious again, as if he were planning something. I am noticing a trend in film magazine covers that all of the actors are: 1) modelling as their character and 2) they are rarely ever looking happy. This may be because of the genre but in most genres (excluding romantic comedies or comedies) all actors are looking stern, concentrated and powerful. I liked this film poster because it’s very simple, not overcrowded and it’s not giving too much information away about the film or what is included in the magazine itself. I find that the more information a magazine gives about the content of the magazine, the more likely I won’t pick it up because I can tell just by looking at the cover whether I’m interested or not. If I saw this film magazine in a shop, I would most likely pick it up and flick through and be more likely to buy it. They haven’t changed their fonts which makes the magazine seem a lot more professional because it doesn’t look messy and it doesn’t look like they’ve only put five minutes effort into it. 

This film magazine cover is a lot different to some of the others I have seen. The colour scheme is mainly based around yellows, reds and white but Jenifer Lawrence (who is playing the role of Katniss Everdeen) is wearing black and the contrast between the fire and her black outfit is very dramatic. This magazine cover is a lot brighter than some of the others I’ve seen but at the same time because of the fire and the white and yellow writing. This cover is also very crowded. It seems to be a lot more about gossiping and less about the films themselves. For example, in the bottom left hand corner, there is some text which says “Christina Ricci on sex with R-Pattz”. This obviously didn’t happen but Christina Ricci and Robert Patterson must be in a film together sometime soon which involved a sex scene. By writing this, it attracts all of the people who find Robert Patterson attractive because they want to find out more and in the process, find out about the film. 

RESEARCH: Consistency of Film Posters

Film posters have to be consistent in order for them to be effective. By consistent, I mean consistent in terms of font, layout, colour palette etc. If it's all jumbled up and different, it won't look as effective, clean and professional which may lead to a lack of positive promotion for the film.

This is the film poster for the romantic-comedy film called "Don Jon". It was written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and he also plays the lead character; Jon. It follows the story of Jon who is obsessed with porn and having sex with women until he finds someone who he thinks is "the one". The only thing she asks is that he gives up watching porn. I wont go into the spoilers but it is a very good film, it's edgy and definitely doesn't have a predictable ending which I like. In terms of this film poster, this is a perfect example of how making sure a poster is clean and organised can make everything seem more professional. All of the writing is in the same font. It may be in different sizes but the same font helps make it seem more professional and not jumbled up. The colour scheme of the red and white have connotations which can relate to the film. The red could relate to the passion that he has for his body, his house, his family, his church, his women and his porn but it could also relate to love and sex etc. The white could represent the woman who he falls for who is very innocent and won't have sex with him until she meets his family etc. She doesn't want to rush things or disrespect her own self so the white writing may represent her. The layout is very organised which makes the poster seem more professional and makes it easy to read as well. This poster also doesn't feature (other than his t-shirt) any dark colours or dark backgrounds which definitely suggests that this isn't a horror film or a thriller/action film as dark colours are mostly associated with this.

However, this is one of the many film posters for The Human Centipede. When this film was released, it blew up. It had a generally negative reception due to the extremely repulsive plot but, as we all know, humans have a morbid curiosity so as more and more people were talking about how disgusting this film was, the more people watched it. In fact, there are rumours that at the auditions for the film, many people turned up but as the plot was explained and the script was read out, people passed out, threw up and had to leave because of the sheer gore of it, leaving only a few people left. This film poster really helps set the genre, target audience and plot of the film. The use of the deep, blood red in the background helps suggest that this is a horror film along with the blood splashed over the three "people" the centre character seems to be holding. You cannot see the mans eyes which is a key technique people use to take away their identity and more or less their humanity. In Phillip Zimbardo's "Stanford Prison Experiment", he made all of the guards wear sunglasses just like the character on this film poster. By doing this, it made them seem less human to the prisoners and made them seem more tough. Most emotion can be shown through the eyes so this study helps back up the possible reason this character is wearing sunglasses; to take away his identity and make him seem less human. It also takes away any possible emotion he may be feeling so only he can feel it. Another thing that makes this seem like a horror film poster is the fact he is holding what seems to be three people who are attached together (which is the whole plot of The Human Centipede" as well so this is how the plot is shown). There are no bright, happy colours in this film poster which suggests it can't be a comedy or a drama etc. The word "human" is written in the same colour, roughly speaking, as the man's skin on the poster. This could help imply the idea that this one human is putting other humans through awful torture but the audience may not consider him as human? They may see him more of a monster. The audience is clearly for adults and definitely not children. The title is the main indicator of this... how could you make The Human Centipede into a children friendly title? Probably couldn't. Also, with all the blood on the poster, it's definitely not going to be suitable for children.

In June 2011, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) refused to classify the sequel to The Human Centipede, The Human Centipede 2, for a direct-to-video release, meaning that it was banned completely on any format in the UK. The BBFC said the film was "undoubtably tasteless and disgusting" and was "sexually violent and potentially obscene". In October of 2011, after making 32 compulsory cuts to the film totalling 2 minutes and 37 seconds, the BBFC granted the film an 18 certificate. It was also banned in Australia until compulsory cuts were made. However, it is still banned in New Zealand today. In America, the film had it's premiere at the Fantastic Fest in Austen, Texas. The film's distributor, IFC Films, handed out complimentary sick bags to everyone at the screening and also put an ambulance outside the cinema for added effect, however one viewer was so violently ill whilst watching the unedited film that paramedics had to assist her. The fact that this sequel was banned in countries, still is banned and has such a reputation about it also helps with the promotion and marketing of the film. If the film has this much negative reviews, people are going to want to watch to see if they get scared as easily.

Film posters have to make sure they are being very clear when trying to put across their target audience, genre and plot in their film posters. If they aren't clear, it may lead to audience members going to view a film, thinking it's going to be a comedy for example and it may be a horror film. This rarely happens as production companies are very good at making posters very clear but sometimes you may get a film poster which isn't very clear.