Genre

How have you considered Genre when creating your media text?

I have taken into consideration the stereotypes of a horror Genre and applied them to our magazine front cover and poster. Stereotypes such as; dark colours, which we used in our posters, also the colour of blood read was used on our magazine front cover to relate to this idea of blood and death. some form of monster is also a convention of horror films, such as in old horror films; vampires, zombies and aliens. We took this into consideration by having a zombie like character, made that way through a virus.

What signifiers pin point the Genre?

The catchphrase we used is a signifier of the genre "If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise..' the word surprise especially relates to the horror genre as often horror films have scene to make you jump and give the audience an adrenaline rush. This is created through the element of surprise. The fact it's in black and white with a negative filter applied, really shows the dark nature of the film, along with the sci-fi feel due to the negative. Lastly the fact that we have used a dark mysterious figure, creates an enigma, this really relates to our sci-fi and horror genre giving an eery feel to it.


Have you subverted any conventions? If so why?


We haven't really subverted any conventions, we have stuck quite rigidly to the themes and conventions of a horror. The only way in which we have subverted the genre, is in combining horror with the sub genre of sci-fi. We have done this because the film we based our work on (The Blair Which Project) Is of the same genre. Also we wanted to make ours stand out from other horror films.

What kind of media producer would produce your kind of media text?

The kind of media produce that would produce our type of film, would be;
- Lions Gate entertainment and haxen films.

Does your media text show fluidity of genre or is it similar to older media texts of the same genre? If it is different , how?

Final poster and magazine frontcover

We have tried to imitate the empire magazine front cover as best a possible, we made sure we found the official font for the mast head of the magazine so to make it looked professional. We made sure the colours we used on the magazine corrisponded with the colours we used on the poster so there was an obvious link between the two. We used colours that were typical to the conventions of horror so ; red(blood and anger) black and white (dark and mysterious). The main image on the poster was converted to negative (just like the posters we reasearched) this gave the impresssin that the villian is of supernatural origin. We used photoshop in order to layer scratches over the face, this gave the person in the image an un-human look. The nails and stiching on the mouth almost looks similar to that of frankinstine, creating this idea of a monster.

Auxilery task- Planning

Planning of our trailer;
step one- Once we had decided on a genre, we go onto reasearching that genre with apropriate trailers, posters and magazine covers. We analised the conventions and what made them sucessful and thought about how we could apply these tecneques to our peice.

step two- we came up with a concept and storyline that we could base our trailer around. We then came up with the story line for our horror trailer which is;
a detective has found cases of a virus and people acting strangly (almost zombie like state) the dectective then trys to get to the bottem of these strage goings on.

step 3- we then story boarded our ideas to the storyline and based on what other trailers look like.

step 4- we then used a HD camera and shot the footage.

step 5- we lastly uploaded the footage and used final cut pro in order to edit the raw footage.

Auxilery task- Images

We took these images in black and white to create a dark and creepy look, also to give the impression that it's set in an old creepy house.

Auxilery task- Images

We then tried a few images in a home enviroment (similar the the setting for the Orphan poster) By having a home setting it creates a sence of famililarity for the audiance meaning they can easily associate themselfs with what's happening in the poster. ALso, by having it in a home enviroment, you get a clear sence of what time period the film is going to be set in (present) AGin the rule off thirds was applied when taking this image so that both the "phantom" and the woman catch the veiwers eye.

Auxilery task- Images

In the first and last image, we tryed a Point of Veiw shot, so from the point of veiw of the person being chaced by the hodded figure. By doing a POV shot it hopefully making the audiance feel as though they are actually there. Again I have experemented with changing the ISO to hopefully create an almost supernatural effect (fitting for the genre) On the top two images, we took them in black and white to create a dark creepy effect fitting for the genre. We tryed to apply the rule of thirds when taking our images to ensure that the target audiance are automatically drawn to the correct areas of the image. This helps when creating an effective poster.

Auxilery task- Images

After our intitial reasearch, we decided we liked the imagry in the Blair Witch project posters with the forest and negative filter. So we took our initial imagry in a forest scence. In terms of compositon when taking the images we made sure that the main vilan of our film was on the poster but positioned far enough aways so to create an enigma. The other reason we decided to have the "hodded figure" on our poster was that one of the commen convetions of horror posters when doing our initial reasearch was that they have the villian or monster on the poster. In order to try and get the negative effect that we liked from the blairwitch project poster, I increased the iso on the camera. This ultimatly resulted in a bright unatural look to the image, this helped portray the idea of it being supernstural and mysterious.

Reasearch- Wolfman

The colours are dark and cold with blues and blacks and a dark filter been place in the image. This use of colours creats the sence of a cold and dark atmospher a typical convention of horror films. This idea of being chaced by a supernatural being.

Reasearch- Orphan poster and The Blair Witch project

The Blair Witch Project

colours

The colours have been inverted on the image, this gives a supernatural feel to the poster. This realy gives a sence that it's a si-fi horror film. The fact that it's all in black and white gives it a dark feeling to the poster agaim amplifying the horror/ sci-fi genre. The subtulty of the only bit of colour being the red logo, really makes it stand out and brings to mind all the conotations of red ; anger, danger blood ect.

Image and layout

The image they have used is that of deep forest, this creates an enigma as trees aren't considered frightning and goes against the norm for horror posters. This leaves you wondering..what's the signifycanc of the forest?? Another way in which this poster creates a sence of mystery is by not having the film title in the usual place, going against normal poster conventions. By just having the title and a section of narative from the film it makes the target audiance curious about it and wanting to find out more.

Orphan

The dominate colour in this poster is a blood, this brings to mind images of muder, danger and anger, which are themes that run throughout horror films. The fact that the image is of a child, you'd expect a child to be happy and care free yet the child on this is the oppostite with a serious expression. This makes the target audiance feel uneasy as it goes against the norm. The font looks like scratched wich sugests a non human precence in the movie, again a common theme in horror films.

Reasearch- Empire magazine front cover

Image
A mid shot of the actor has been used, so from top of the head down to the knees.The main focal points what have been created through the rule of thirds, is the actors face and the weapons he's holding, this shows his facial expression, showing the menacing feel to the film. Also the fact that the weapons are a focal point shows the genre of action in this film.

Editing
A gradient has been applied, meaning it gets darker as it goes down, resulting in the upper part of the actor being highlighted along with the title, again showing that they are the main focal points.

Colours
The colours used are very grimy and dirty colours, so; browns greys and blacks ect his reflects the sinister atmosphere to the film, it also reflects the rough nature of the film. This colours have also been used in the background to make hit girl in purple, big daddy in orange, the main character in blue and the blood in red, all stand out in comparison. The blood shows the violent nature of the film.

Reasearch- Empire magazine front cover

Layout/composition

The image covers part of the magazine title. This shows that the film is the dominant feature. This also relates to the mise en scene as the actor in the picture has a menacing look on his face as though he's very dominant.

Colours

Colours used reflect the title of the film "Green zone" so the dominant colour used being green. green text and a green filter used on the image.

Image and editing on image

Image complies to the rule of thirds, making his face and the gun the main focal points. This shows that it's a famous star on the front, enticing people to buy the magazine. Also the fact that the gun is also a main focal point shows the genre of the film (that being action)

Nicole Kidman-The Invasion Exclusive Trailer

How this trailer fits the codes and conventions of a horror film.

Sound
Sound of police and ambulance sirens has been amplified/ enhanced. The really gets across this idea of the situation being an emergency.
The sound is synchronous and non diagetic. This really heightens the atmosphere and makes it even more intense.

Editing
Slow motion as they are entering the tent helps build tension as you anticipate what's going to happen next.

A dark filter has been used over all to really add to the dark feel.

Jump cuts have been used to create a sense of not knowing what's going on, not only making you want to find out by going to see the film, but it also creates a very uneasy feel, as we don't know what's happening so we don't know what's going to happen next adding to the element of surprise.

Camera
Pan used to create disorientation.

Mise en scene
woman and child used as the main characters which is typical of this genre, as women and children are viewed as most vulnerable.

Blair Witch Project Trailer

"The blair witch project" is a film,created by completly hand held camera work. A lot of close ups, in order to show emotion. Also In some parts, all that can be heard is sound,whilst the screen remains black. This leaves the audiance in suspence and wondering what's happening. They have tryed to make it as close to real life as possible, therefor it is all diagetic sound. The editing is very fast pace, again to aid in building tention.Low lighting has been used, most of the scenes being at night, this adds to the atmospher.

Let The Right One In - Official Trailer [HD]

Editing
Fades to black have been used, when transitioning from one scence to the next. Start of slow, you can hear the sound before you see the action, this creats suspence and a wanting to know what's happening. Transsitions from onne snap shot to the other get faster as the action quickens. This again creates the atmospher of being chased and of running out of time.
Camera
Esablishing shot is used at the begunig, this gives a sence of setting, period, time and the time of the year. By it opening with an establishing shot, you can clearly see that it's; winter, night time and mordern day. This sets the audiance up with a clear idea of what sort of things to expect.

Two shots and mid shots have been used, in order to express the relationship between the vampire and the little boy. Close ups have also been used to show emotion and to enhance the idea of the two childeren being in love e.g when it shows aclose up of them holding hands.
sound
The sound is syconous to the action. Starting of with slow ery/ creepy music. The pace and volume of the music inceases along with the action on screen. All in all heightning the tention.
mise en scene
Low lighting has been used, futhermore adding to the dark and sinister atmosphere. This is all amplifyed even more

Horror/ Thriller

For my Advance portfolio work, I will be creating a promotion pack for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with; a film magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film. The genre we have gone for is along the horror/thriller genre. Three media texts that have influence our ideas are; The Blair witch project, let the right one in and invasion.

Magazine front cover

Double page spread

Contence page

Evaluation, presentation

Evaluation

I have successfully created a music magazine, that follows/fits the conventions of actual music magazines on the market. These conventions include ; layout, imagery, content, colours and text. I have done this by taking research and analysis I've done on magazines of a similar genre, and applying those ideas to my own work.
Like the magazines that I analysed, I have stuck to only using 2 colours. As most of the magazines used a minimum of 2-4 colours only. Again like the magazine research, analysis and based on questionnaire feedback. I used only a few font types and only used sans serif fonts, as this is what other magazines have used and what my target audience consider appropriate. The majority of music magazines that i analysed, used only a few images . One main large image and a couple of smaller ones. As a result, I have done the same as this is obviously what my target audience find appealing. Again form looking at my research and analysis on successful magazines of the same genre. I realised that the content of the magazine front cover. Is often relative to the images, shot and snappy and doesn’t give too much away, but just enough for the target audience to want to buy and read the articles. The layout for this type of magazine is pretty much the same for all magazines. This is; title at the top, main large image in the centre filling whole page and text and images down either side. I have again applied the same principle to my magazine front cover.
My magazine represent young people (so teenagers) who are into /listen to music of an indie/rock style of music. I've tried to represent this social group, through; Imagery, colours, content and fonts used. The images used relate to this social group, as they are of either bands that are associated with that genre or like my main image, of people of the same age as the target audience.;
The colours I have used are based on the sorts of colours I found were appropriate, according to my research and questionnaire feedback. The text is bold, modern and simple rather than being italic flick/curly fonts. This is as this style of font is easy to read and enlarge, an a fancy style is usually associated with being posh and style magazines so wouldn't be appropriate for this genre.
The content is also relevant to the style/genre/social group, as it refers to bands of an indie/rock genre.

Music company or music radio stations that are linked to the same genre may be the ones to distribute this magazine. So a company such as Kerrang radio of another similar music station. Also a music store such as HMV may also distribute this sort of magazine, as my magazine links to the products they sell, so would be appropriate to sell in that type of shop and for that sort of company.
The audience for my music magazine. Would be, teenagers who are likely to listen to rock/ indie style of music. Both males and females would be the target audience for my magazine.

I have tried to make my magazine, so that it addresses the audience in an informal, friendly way. I have done this by using words/ language that teenagers who are into indie/rock, may use. For example “cool” ECT I have also used images that relate to the target audience, for example; I have deliberately used a teenager who is into that genre of music, as the main image on the front cover. This makes the target audience feel like they can relate to my magazine on a personal level.
I have learnt, how to create and use a blog during this process. This is a type of technology that was new to me. So I have learnt the skills required in creating a blog. Furthermore, at one point I lost some of my work. So this has taught me, that when using something like blogger. You need to be regularly saving your work. Lastly I have further developed my skills in using Photoshop to create my products.

I have learnt throughout this whole proccess, that it's important to regualy save your work in more than one place as i lost some of my work during this proccess, by not doing this. I have also learnt a number of new tecniques on photoshop and have therefor become mor confident in useing photoshop. I have also learnt a lot in terms of what makes a good magazine front cover, all of which i've learnt through my reasearch.
I have learnt to use a wider range of skills on Photoshop, such as layering techniques I learnt in the preliminary task. I applied those techniques to my final work. And during my preliminary task, I didn't fully understand how to set up and use my blog. So I have developed my skills in using blogger and have become more confident in using it. The main thing I’ve learnt is to back up/ save work twice as I didn’t do this in my preliminary task, and managed to delete it all off my blog

Evaluation of research for contence page and how i'm going to use that.

Images
On the contence pages i have analised, there are loads of small images, rather than one large image. The majority of the contence pages have used 3- 5 images on there contence page. The images relate to the text that they are next to and the genre of the magazine.The images also connect to the front cover as the contence page highlights what's on the front cover. As a result, i will make sure that my images; relate to the front cover, are small and few, releate to the text and overall genre of the magazine


Layout
Based on the research i have done. A typical layout for this genre of magazine, goes as follows; images next to corrosponding text, images down on side, text down the other side and having a small introductory paragraph at the top of the page to give an overveiw of what the magazine's about. I will also apy these layout ideas to my contence page.

colours
Again the colour shemes used in the magazines that i have analised, match the colours used throughout the magazine. and are apropriate for the genre e.g if it were a young girls magazine. bright pinks would be appropriate. Based on this info, iwould use the three colours that i have been using on the front cover, so that it links together.

Evaluation of research for double page spreads and how i'm going to use that.

Images
Based on the research i've done into double page speads.The majority of ones that i looked at for a magazing of the music genre. Used one large image that summed up the subject matter of that double page spread, and a few small images within the text that highlight key moments/ point within the text on the double page spread. Ther fro as this seems popular in current music magazins. I will do the same on my double page spread, so have one large image that summs up what it's about and a few smalle images that'll highlight key points.


Layout
In the double page spreads that i have researched. The layouts are all very similar. They all have used the left page of the double page spead, to act as almost an advert for the bulk of the text on the right, so at a glance you get an over all sence of what the double page spread's about. So the large image is usally on the left page with little writing, other than quotes in large that give an insight to the artical.I will try to apply these ideas to my double page spread, by having the main image on the left with a few quotes, and majotiy of the text on the right with a few smaller images that highlight the text.

colours
All the colours used in the double page spreads i have reasearched Are kept to a minimum so only one or two colours used, colours are complimentry and link in with he colour schem of the rest of the magazine. As a result i will only use black, white and green. as they are the three main colours i have used on my front cover and ccontence page so the double page spead will link to the restr of my magazine.

Final contence page