A2 Media Blog Post Contents
Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Font Choices
In an attempt to identify some possible font choice candidates for the film title on the poster (arguably the most important feature on the poster, especially in a minimal poster such as a horror one) and trailer to cement branding across the two texts. I will test writing the film's logo out using various typefaces and analysing each one, determining what I both like and dislike about the specific fonts and whether or not I would consider it for use in the final version of my film poster.
Freehand575 BT
This font initially comes across as a stereotypically 'scary' font based on it's variation in height as well as the slender and 'joined' typeface. Despite this, however, it is quite simplistic, bit still manages to provoke this sense of fear and uncertainty. Despite this, however, I believe this font is far too narrow and would not work well on a movie poster/within a film trailer.
Clarendon BT
This font adopts a far more simplistic style than the first, as this font is not joined. Unlike the first font, it is far wider and spacious, allowing all of the letters to appear bigger than is perhaps intended. Even if the font size were to be reduced, I do not believe that the simplistic nature of this font would work in either text's favour. In future fonts, I should look carefully for a font which is both simplistic and provokes a sense of fear.
This font adopts a far more simplistic style than the first, as this font is not joined. Unlike the first font, it is far wider and spacious, allowing all of the letters to appear bigger than is perhaps intended. Even if the font size were to be reduced, I do not believe that the simplistic nature of this font would work in either text's favour. In future fonts, I should look carefully for a font which is both simplistic and provokes a sense of fear.
ConcursoItalian BTN Wide
In my opinion, this font does not work for the desired effect. While I do believe that the font could provoke an uncertain atmosphere, as well as being simplistic enough for the subtle 'psychological' theme of the trailer and film as a whole, the fact that the entire font is capitalised detracts from the effectiveness of it. Having a font that is entirely in lower case would help add to the inferiority theme that is present within the film and is being experienced by the main character.
Bradley Hand ITC
This font is far more suited to the style of font that I was aiming for, with a simplistic font, yet appearing very slender in appearance, giving this sense of inferiority. Even though that the font does appear very 'scary' as well as being rather simplistic, I don't think it will stand out within either a trailer or a poster advertising the film. Because of this, I will continue experimenting with different fonts to see if there are any fonts that conform to a simplistic, scary and effective theme.
Arial
In this experiment, I used the font 'Arial', a font well known for its simplicity. This font is quite bold, contrasting heavily with the previous font I experimented with, and while this would naturally look better within a film trailer or in a film poster, it does not have an uneasy vibe to it, and does not appear to fit in with fonts traditionally found in such products.
Times New Roman
Continuing with the theme of well-known, simplistic fonts, I decided to choose the font Times New Roman. This font is my favourite so far, the serifs giving the font a slightly uncertain/creepy tone, the boldness of the font making it stand out on the page, and the adequate letter spacing and consistent height of all of the letters making the font very simplistic. One thing I do not like about the font, however, is the fact that the serifs are quite sharp, perhaps indicating a far more 'sudden' threat rather than the theme of the film, which focuses primarily on building suspense and taking the narrative slowly.
New Baskerville
Rectifying the above problem, I found the font New Baskerville (while applying a semi-bold and italic style) fixes the major issue that I had with the previous font, and this font appears to be suited far better to the texts I am planning to implement it in. It still holds the factors of Times New Roman that I thought made the font great, but also makes the font appear smoother, less intimidating and therefore more subdued, much like the main theme of the texts it will be incorporated within.
Audience Feedback
One of the first things I picked up on was the mixed response to whether my poster should be simple or complex, with 3 people definitively stating it should be simple, whereas 4 people state that a mixture of simplicity and complexity should be incorporated within the design. Because of this, it is clear that a simplistic design should be the main focus, whereas adding more complex elements was met with a mixed response. I will experiment with a simplistic design for now, adding complex elements/information if required.
For the colour scheme of the horror movie poster, it is clear to see a very melancholy colour scheme should be included, with the majority stating that scary colours such as blacks and reds should be implemented over a more colourful design, with one person specifying I should implement 'empty' colours such as white and greys.
Once again, I received a mixed response as to which reaction would best suit the subject of the image used on the movie poster. 3 of the 7 participants said an intense expression such as screaming/crying would work better, whereas 3 of the 7 said an emptier expression would work better, with one person saying both would work well. Because of this, I have the option to experiment with both alternatives and see how effective each version is before developing on these concepts.
I also received input regarding the name of the movie itself that would appear on the poster, the magazine cover as well as the film trailer. A lot of suggestions seemed to like the name 'Voices' or 'Whispers'. Because both 'Voices' and 'Whispers' were both noted as being the optimal choice by 4 participants each, I have decided to choose the name 'Voices' as I believe this is the name that works the best in context of the movie.
Regarding the most important aspects of a magazine which prominently features movies from the horror genre, the majority of participants responded that all elements featured (such as colour, fonts/layout, background image etc.) were of equal importance. This reinstates the fact that there is no 'sole' component which makes a piece good or bad, and all features combine together to create an overall effective piece.
6 of the 7 participants agreed that the magazine cover should have a dark colour scheme, featuring lots of reds, blacks and greys. This is a convention that is typically associated with magazines which focus primarily on the horror genre, as they (much like their film counterparts) are also designed in such a way to make it apparently clear to any readers that they are advertising a film within the horror genre. Because of this, I will utilise a dark colour scheme across the magazine cover to fully reflect the theme of the trailer and also to help create a sense of cohesion across the three tasks.
For the body language, 5 of the 7 participants suggested I use a full-body shot to emphasise the subject's stance and body language in response to a particular situation. 2 of the 7 suggested I use variations of a close-up shot to emphasise the subject's facial expressions over their body language. Despite this, however, looking at existing media products that are centred around magazine horror posters (via this previous blog post), I believe a full body shot does not conform to the standard conventions of a horror magazine, and would therefore be far more beneficial to have the subject featured in a close up/extreme close up shot rather than a full-body shot.
Regarding the fonts which will be used on my main cover, 4 of the 7 participants suggested I use a scary font, whereas 3 suggested this would make the magazine appear unprofessional. Once again, through previous research, I can see that use of stereotypically 'scary' fonts is scarce, and magazines tend to adopt a much more 'simplistic' and 'traditional' font. Especially considering the theme of my movie does not follow this stereotypically 'scary' aspect, and is far more psychological. Because of this, I believe I will most likely stick to simplistic fonts, especially for the magazine cover.
Finally, I once again received mixed responses when I asked whether or not the magazine cover should be simplistic or complex, with 4 stating that it should be simplistic and minimal, whereas 3 stating that it should be complex and feature lots of information. Once again, by taking a look at existing products of a similar nature, I can see that magazines featuring complex information are not very common, and many tend to adopt a far simpler and minimalistic approach towards their designs. Because of this, I believe I will try and aim to create a magazine cover that is quite simplistic, all the while following conventions, however I will also include more information wherever necessary, as this feedback suggests people are of mixed opinion about the amount of information that should be included on a horror magazine front cover.
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Deconstruction of Film Trailers
You're Next
To get a better understanding of how to construct a horror film trailer based on key conventions, I will be taking a look at 3 existing horror film trailers. The first one I decided to analyse is You're Next. One of the key things which I noticed was the large transition between two halves of the horror trailer. The beginning section (or first half) appears to be in a normal, calm tone, with the story progressing in the way a film trailer for any other type of film would. But a point arises within the trailer where this changes, and the music, lighting and pace all vary drastically to emphasise this shift in the storyline and highlight all of the tense, scary or unnerving moments. Another key element I noticed was the lack of a narrator, focusing instead on the characters on-screen to tell the story, as well as text appearing on-screen. This text that appears on-screen is another key convention present within the trailer, accompanied by silences/eerie music to make the audience think for themselves and let them formulate their own ideas or thoughts. The final major convention I picked up on was the large flashing montage of footage that appeared near the end, showing various short clips of the character(s) perhaps in danger, summarising the overall film into short, shocking jump cuts that the viewer struggles to absorb. This is the desired intention, as it leaves the audience confused and slightly unnerved.
The Conjuring
The next trailer which I decided to take a look at is for the 2013 horror film 'The Conjuring'. This film has a lot of similarities to the trailer for 'You're Next', the previous trailer. Once again, it adopts this 'narrative' style to the trailer, where there appears to be two 'halves' to the trailer, although in this trailer, they are far less even, with the 'calm' part to the trailer lasting for a far shorter time period than during 'You're Next'. This lets me know that perhaps as long as the emphasis is still there on the fact that there are two 'halves' to the trailer, then perhaps the length of each is not as important - personally, however, I do not like the fact that the 'calm' element of this trailer is short in comparison to the last trailer. The sound effects and music, once again, were a contributing factor to the horror within the trailer, indicating that I must take great care and not simply overlook the sound elements in favour of the visual ones, as both are equally important.
The Babadook
For my final trailer, I decided to watch the trailer for the 2014 horror film 'The Babadook'. Once again, the main thing which I picked up on was the similarities to the previous two trailers - especially due to the use of the 'two part' structure once again, setting up the storyline at the very beginning of the trailer before a 'shift' occurs and the characters become aware of the horror aspect of their surroundings. The trailer makes use of a very dark environment, featuring lighting that would appeal greatly to an audience familiar with the genre, noting that a dark environment is a key convention of a horror film. In my film trailer, I will try and recreate this dark and very ambiguous environment through the use of lighting effects, music and audio effects as well as through the use of dialogue and character movement.
The Babadook
For my final trailer, I decided to watch the trailer for the 2014 horror film 'The Babadook'. Once again, the main thing which I picked up on was the similarities to the previous two trailers - especially due to the use of the 'two part' structure once again, setting up the storyline at the very beginning of the trailer before a 'shift' occurs and the characters become aware of the horror aspect of their surroundings. The trailer makes use of a very dark environment, featuring lighting that would appeal greatly to an audience familiar with the genre, noting that a dark environment is a key convention of a horror film. In my film trailer, I will try and recreate this dark and very ambiguous environment through the use of lighting effects, music and audio effects as well as through the use of dialogue and character movement.
Tuesday, 6 May 2014
Company Logo Research
This logo is very simplistic, featuring the name of the film company but also modifying it slightly to make it unique to them. For example, the two letter Os in the word 'Room' have been modified so that one has a thinner circumference than the rest of the text, and one has been modified so that it is entirely filled in. These two circles have then been overlapped. This is a very simplistic design, yet it highlights the name of the company: Dark Room, with one circle being noticeably dark, and one being very light, contrasting the dark shape against the light one. I would like to use this concept within my logo, featuring one image which could be incorporated into the text, while still giving an insight into the nature of my production company.
This logo adopts a far more simplistic design, not featuring any unique feature, and is far more traditional in the way it looks. One thing which can be drawn from this logo is the fact that they have chosen to use the company name 'Miramax' in an entirely capitalised form, also being rather bold and large compared to the clearly subordinate 'Films' present underneath. I like this concept, and will perhaps utilise this concept of making one part larger and then perhaps making the 'films' or 'productions' part of my logo far smaller in comparison.
Finally, this logo is from the British company Working Title, and is very simplistic, but still utilises a special feature to make it unique and stand out. The circle which gradually becomes lighter/more transparent as it goes on is the special feature in this instance, but still does not detract from the effective simplistic look of the overall logo design. I would very much like to use a simple font, as all three of these logos have utilised a very bold, sans-serif font, aiding them in their simplicity, as well as a unique feature to the logo to help make it independent.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Script Feedback and Subsequent Improvements
For the script which I produced for my film trailer, I received some basic feedback regarding it. Overall, it was generally well received, with comments citing how it followed basic conventions of a horror film trailer, specifically mentioning the divide within the script between the more relaxed opening and the more frantic ending as a key feature which will work well within my horror film trailer.
Regarding improvements to my script, it was suggested that the opening could be modified slightly, perhaps producing more of a build up rather than having the character immediately appear to the audience. In addition, it was suggested that the card that was written out for Alex was to be shown being sealed inside an envelope. This would make sense, given that cards are traditionally given sealed inside an envelope, but also eliminates the problem of the audience not knowing what the card said.
To rectify the improvements I have decided to still keep the very opening the same, regarding the exterior shot of the street, as well as the transition. Instead of the character walking around the corner to the garden gate, I have decided to include a small sequence prior to this showing the character reversing into the street in a car, followed by an interior shot of the car showing the character writing out the card which he plans to deliver to Alex before sealing it inside an envelope. He then steps out of the car and walks towards the gate and the rest of the scene continues as normal, the only difference being that he now has a sealed card instead of a one which was not, a minor detail but far more realistic.
Here is how the modified script now looks:
Regarding improvements to my script, it was suggested that the opening could be modified slightly, perhaps producing more of a build up rather than having the character immediately appear to the audience. In addition, it was suggested that the card that was written out for Alex was to be shown being sealed inside an envelope. This would make sense, given that cards are traditionally given sealed inside an envelope, but also eliminates the problem of the audience not knowing what the card said.
To rectify the improvements I have decided to still keep the very opening the same, regarding the exterior shot of the street, as well as the transition. Instead of the character walking around the corner to the garden gate, I have decided to include a small sequence prior to this showing the character reversing into the street in a car, followed by an interior shot of the car showing the character writing out the card which he plans to deliver to Alex before sealing it inside an envelope. He then steps out of the car and walks towards the gate and the rest of the scene continues as normal, the only difference being that he now has a sealed card instead of a one which was not, a minor detail but far more realistic.
Here is how the modified script now looks:
FADE IN - TRANSITION
EXT. STREET - EARLY NIGHT/LATE EVENING
A vehicle enters the frame and is seen reversing into an empty street, coming to a stop outside a house.
INT. CAR
DAVE, a 50 something, fairly tough looking man, is writing a card out to congratulate Alex, his son, on moving into his new home. He seals the envelope before stepping out of the car. He walks through a garden gate and knocks on the front door of a regular looking house. In one hand, he is seen holding the envelope. He awaits a response, placing his unoccupied hand in one pocket. After waiting for a few seconds, he knocks again.
DAVE (gesturing to an upstairs window)
Alex?
He knocks again. He tries the handle. To his surprise, it's unlocked.
DAVE
Oh...
He enters cautiously, closing the door behind him.
INT. HOUSE - LIGHTS ARE OFF
DAVE (now slightly annoyed)
Why are the lights off?
He turns the lights on, steps into the house and looks around.
INT. LIVING ROOM
INT. LIVING ROOM
DAVE
Alex? Where are you, son? You said you were in.
Distant, eerie voices can be heard, which Dave notices.
Mid-shot of Dave pulling a mobile phone out of his pocket. Extreme-close up of text 'No Service' on mobile phone.
DAVE
You know if you'd told me you had people over I wouldn't have came, I would have just came back later, it was only to drop off...
As Dave is talking, he walks towards the front door and tries to leave, only to realise the door is now locked. He stops talking once he realises this. He stares at the door handle for a while.
The lights switch off, despite the light switch clearly being in shot with no interaction. Dave stares at the light switch momentarily, confused.
Dave drops the card on the floor.
Dave drops the card on the floor.
DAVE (puzzled and slightly worried)
What the...?
Mid-shot of Dave pulling a mobile phone out of his pocket. Extreme-close up of text 'No Service' on mobile phone.
The shot switches to handheld, similar to the found footage style of film. Dave is filming himself.
DAVE
There's someone or something else in this house with me, I know there is, I can hear them
The shot changes to more handheld footage while Dave is talking.
DAVE
I don't know what on Earth I've got myself into, but whoever you are... you'd better show yourself now.
Dave hears a loud thump from upstairs, pauses for a few seconds, and starts walking upstairs to investigate.
Voices can be heard whispering. Dave freezes as he hears these whispers.
Voices can be heard whispering. Dave freezes as he hears these whispers.
DAVE
Right... I'll give you to the count of three... One... Two... Three...
DAVE (melanchollically)
I just wanna get out, I just wanna leave, I don't like this anymore
INT. SHOT OF ROOM
Close up of Dave's face with worried eyes.
I just wanna get out, I just wanna leave, I don't like this anymore
In the background of the shot, a dark, cloaked figure can be seen appearing at the window. They knock on the window. Dave's eyes immediately open wide.
EXT HOUSE. EVENING/NIGHT
ECU of door handle. Zoom out to Wide Shot.
FADE OUT - TRANSITION
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Editing Choices
When editing my film, I will be using Sony Vegas Pro, a piece of software I am very comfortable with using, as well as one that I am confident will be able to handle all of the effects, transitions and layers that I wish to include within my film trailer.
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| An example of a product being edited within Sony Vegas 10.0 |
Regarding the ancillary tasks, I have opted to use Adobe Photoshop to create, edit and modify the poster and magazine cover. Both of these pieces of software are very easy to use as well as offering the user the ability to create high-quality, professional products.
Combined, I believe that both of these pieces will allow me to create all of my products to a professional level, as well as allow me great flexibility while using them.
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