Final edition of my magazine front cover

Here is my final edition of my ancillary magazine front cover

Finalised poster

Here is my final edition of my poster ancillary task

Certification problems

My film is a 15 but is suppose to have a U genre. This is where anyone can see it. Some films have this option but I have opted out due to these following reasons. Whilst researching film trailers and certifications, I came across the widely popular Spiderman and it's certification problems. Spiderman had a U trailer which took the interest of many children, but when the was released, it became a 12. This caused an up roar among parents who had children very disappointed that they couldn't see this film. The 12A age rating then came out which was available for anyone to see as long as parents were with the kids. The film was then reviewed as being too violent for children that young and shouldn't of marketed the film at children in the 1st place. Due to this reason, I have decided to change my trailer into a 15 as well so I don't disappoint underage teenagers or children who want to see this film. This will impact the views of my film, but hopefully there will be no aggro with the certification. It is now advertised to only people who are able to watch my film. Due to my trailer being a 15, I can now leave the partial bit of nudity in the trailer and it being ok around the guidelines. I may still blur his bum out for humour, but at the moment, It can stay if I wish.

Continuity problems in my Film Trailer

One of the things a professional said about my trailer was due to the filming on different days, the sky is dark and cloudy one minute, and then bright blue the next minute. As this was in the same scene It needed to be corrected. I waited until a sunny spell came to film the shot again, but I was still unhappy due to the mise en scene being different from the other shots. I decided to edit on Photoshop to see what I could come up with to help me solve this problem. I then used the black and white effect on one of the clips. I felt this complemented the fact that the boys are trying to become cool and to stop being nerdy. I felt it had a good impact due to binary opposite from Claude Levi-Straus' theory becoming more obvious. This is because the shots are normal up until they decide to become cool and then when they do, it turns black and white and is heavily edited. I preferred this to the re-filmed shot due to the binary opposite and this will defiantly be in my final cut.

Film magazine front cover (unfinished) and questions for magazine professional

Here is my unfinished magazine front cover to help support my film trailer. This is unfinished as you can tell and needs a lot more work to make it up to professional standard. This is why I wish to ask the print professional about how I can improve this.

Here are some questions I feel would really benefit this supporting piece of work. I really appreciate you spending your time trying to help me, it is very helpful for me and will help improve this draft a lot!


Questions

1. I've made a key mistake in my opinion and that is taking the picture in a landscape format. Is there anyway I can save this piece of work and flip it into a portrait page so it can fit an A4 magazine?

2. I've really struggled about how to fill in the blank space by some of the articles. Is there anything you could suggest that might bulk my page up, and help it look more professional?

3. Do you feel the picture used is effective? I really Like the picture but it does force the text into the middle of the page to make it look very central. Is this a good way to go about text on a front cover?

4. Do you feel there are too many fonts and colours jumping off the page? If so, what colours/fonts do you suggest I change to help the page look more organised? (If you think the colours/fonts used are fine, then fantastic).

5. is there any other tips you could give me that you feel I could benefit from?

Thank you so much for helping me out, it's much appreciated!

My Poster (unfinished) and questions for magazine professional

Here is my poster I made to support my main production (My film trailer). As this isn't the finished edition, I'm going to take up a fantastic opportunity to ask some questions to a professional print editor to help me boost the quality of this piece of work.

If you could help me out with these questions, I would be so grateful and it would benefit my work so much. Thank you.

Questions

1. My main worry about this is the shape of the poster. The image was a print screen from my trailer which I have edited, so I'm not sure how to make it either landscape or portrait. Is there a way I can just stretch it a bit to help make an A3 sheet?

2. Do you feel this poster would be more effective landscape or portrait? I'm uncertain on what would be the most professional looking.

3. I've tried to keep this poster simple but effective top capture the audience's attention, but do you feel it is too basic? Should I pad it out with more words explaining the film?

4. Is there any other hints or tips you feel would benefit my poster is anyway?

Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.

Trailer (Unfinished) - Questions for professional

    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73q3eLSEp_4

The link above will take you to my unfinished media trailer. I'm almost finished, but as we have a professional coming in tomorrow, I would like some advice on how to improve this and make it the best it can be.

My 5 Questions I'd like to ask the professional is:

1. As my trailer is a U, I wish to blank out all nudity involved. Is there a software or a way I can blur out my the actors bum in the toilet scene?

2. When I zoom around the boy who has just started to become cool, the sky is grey. Then, the next shot involves the camera looking up at me and my friend checking if he's okay in a different situation. This is obviously not clear due to my public feedback and it makes the clips look connected. My problem is, it's sunny in the scene where it's looking up at the 2 boys. What would do you think is a suitable, easy way to change this so it looks like it's the same weather all along?

3. In the Nurse office scene, we're sat on a bed being filmed with ice on our heads. I've been told by a few people that the mise on scene is to busy due to posters. What would be the best solution to overcome this?

4. In the end credits, Harriet Baber is involved in them but doesn't appear in the trailer before that. She was going too, but my trailer ended up being to long so I cut bits of it out which unfortunately was her bit. Do you see this as a problem, or does it seem she'll appear in the actual film itself but just not a lot in the trailer?

5. For the credits showing who's in my film, I've used a different to my original school font. I am unsure if it looks part of the scene or if it takes away the school feel to it. I'm worried if I overuse the font, it could look boring and normal. What would you do if in this situation?

6. Is there anything else I have not mentioned but you feel looks unprofessional or needs work? This would be much appreciated.

If you answer these I would appreciate it so much! I hope your advice will improve the quality of my trailer. Thank you

My Film Company's Logo

This is my logo I have created on PhotoShop so I can put this before my trailer to show that my film company (Ross' Productions), have created the following trailer and the film it's advertising. This may also go onto my magazine and poster.

Narrative theory

For my comedy film trailer, I've decided to use a narrative theory I think would benefit my work the most. Some theories just wouldn't work in a comedy trailer, such as Propp's theory. Propp's theory is about loads different characters involved and what their part in the trailer is. This would work for a fantasy trailer, or maybe even an action but not in a comedy. I also tried to adapt Todorov's theory to my trailer. This didn't really work as it's hard his theory would be a lot easy to use in an actual film and not just in a montage of funny clips to attract an audience. This might work if I were to make the film but would probably start at the 2nd stage of his theory due to the first having an irrelevant impact on my idea and plot. The one narrative that stood out for me was Levi-Straus' theory of binary opposites. This can be used to create false suspense and surprise the audience which can lead to a comical side. At the start I am going to have 3 geeky boys who are serious and around 18 when 2 normal, aggressive and younger kids come and beat them up for money. This is a shock to the audience as one: it's very random to start a trailer like that and two: it should be the older serious kids attacker the younger boys due to stereo types. My plot is 3 boys trying to become cool, so having them geeky at one point then attempting to become cool at another part in the trailer is a binary opposite itself. I have added narrative theory into my trailer to help give it structure so it's easy to understand and will lead to a more comical side to the trailer.

Music for trailer

For my trailer, I needed 2 songs to fit the theme. One is a happy, fast and pop song to help give the trailer rhythm and almost a narrative to help it flow smoothly. I have found a song called "Happy Bee" made by a You Tuber called kmmusic. I downloaded this song from his website which is http://incompetech.com/ and has agreed that I can use his song as long as I give him full credit. For my 2nd song, I needed a fast beat, remixed, rap and base song to help change the representation that the audience has on the 3 nerds whilst they become cool. I went onto You Tube and found a song called "P-Shar productions-P-1. Diddy - Coming Home (Dubstep Remix)". I found this song on You Tube by PsharProductions and said it's free to download and use for a non-profitable use or for education matters. As he made the song, I will give him full credit here in my blog and at the end of my trailer.

Here is the link to the dupstep remix song I will be using: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opV21tqQcjw
 Here is the link to "Happy Bee": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYRNag5NJM4

To clarify, I do not own either of these songs and have not created them. I have downloaded them from the 2 artists above who have made the videos.

Font for trailer

Here are 2 of the fonts that really stood out to me from the others. They both fit my school genre comedy and have a meaning and an impact of my trailer. Both of these are clearly designed for a school matter, and is visible for everyone to see this due to the sketching in the bottom font and the guide lines for the top. As both of these have a cool school look to them, I might use both of these in my trailer. If so, I would use the top font as a title to the trailer due to the underline of it which looks similar to the date and title of school work in a book. I would also use this as my title as it looks a lot more educational and has more of a school theme than the other. The bottom font has a sketched look about it which is usually what kids do in class when they're bored. This might be good for the subtitles at the end to show who's acting in the film itself. I may also keep this theme for my poster so they both have something in common and are easily relatable and connected. I also have decided to go with the colour blue because blue is one of the most popular colours out there which is what the kids are aiming to do with their social life. It also known as a soft friendly colour which will help the representation on the boys for the audience.

Representation

As my film trailer is about 3 nerds at school trying to become well known and popular, it is important that my audience call tell when they're un-cool and when they're trying to be popular. A way I can help send this message to the audience is the clothing they're wearing. I will make sure the clothes they're wearing as nerds represent a geek look by tucked in T-Shirts, a low posture when standing still, bags high on their backs and their trousers tucked into their socks. I know nobody who would classify themselves as a geek and where a clothing style like this, but this clothing has been used in many films which represents a good geek look. As my audience will recognise this stereo type, I will defiantly use this in my trailer. When the 3 boys start to become cool, they won't have a normal fashion sense, it will move from on extreme to the other. They will be wearing sunglasses on a normal winters day, hats, hoodies, low trousers and stand and talk differently. Again, I know nobody popular who dresses in this way but this is the way a lot of films portray young popular people so I will use this stereo type to represent the cool side of them.

Proforma: First sight of the main character/s

I am interested in when comedy film trailers reveal the main characters to the audience. This is an important moment for the film itself as this is the audience's first view of the characters in the film and how funny the film could be. I will look at 9 recent comedy trailers and see at what point in the trailer they reveal the characters to the audience which will give me an idea how much of a build up I should give the trailer before showing them to the viewers.

Inbetweeners: After 14 seconds all characters are shown together
StepBrothers: 20 seconds
21 Jump Street: 6 seconds
Ted: 30 seconds
SuperBad: 8 seconds
Role Models: 8 seconds
Kick Ass: 20 seconds
Hallpass: 25 seconds
Horrible bosses: 45 seconds

In most action trailers such as James Bond, the main character is introduced to the audience after showing clips of the country the film is based in and usually the supporting cast as well to help build tension and a scene for the for the main character. Where as in comedy film trailers, the main characters are introduced into the trailer almost immediately. This helps show the audience that the main point of the film is about the jokes the characters are cracking instead of the surrounding background they live in. It also helps the first impression of the film if the trailer immediately makes all of the audience laugh.

Some key and different points I have noticed in some of these trailers is the start kicks off with music that brings action into a film trailer, and then for it to all stop for a joke. This is a good effect as the film trailer almost shows the audience that it's going to be an action packed film and then changes the genre completely. This helps the impact of the joke using the element of surprise. This is a technique I could use at the beginning of my film. Almost every trailer also started off with the age certificate of the trailer before showing the trailer itself. This is done to prove a point to the audience that what they're about to see is suitable for them. I should consider adding this in to make my trailer seem more realistic. A few of the trailers also have a lot of sound effects added when the title of the film appears on the screen. This is to attract attention and to build the scene for the rest of the trailer. I will search around and try out a few music effects so when my title of the film bursts in, it sounds like an explosion or something to impact the film into being over the top and comical.

My year 12 magazine notes

Media Language / Mise en scene

• The title font blends in with the wall and urban feel
• Initials of music and base used as a slang name
• The big space of wall above our heads
• Fonts used as graffiti
• The writings all on a slant to show the style and give a an impression to the audience that it's about the latest trend and not how neat it is
• The hoodies/clothing help give the magazine leak what's in side
• Fashion of the boys shows the genre and the audience it's aimed for
• Lots of colour going on to make it stand out a lot more
• Sharp fonts to make the audience read and pay attention to them
• Basic use of language to appeal to a wider teenage audience

Institution

• Set in a cold street by a wall in England
• The magazine is made by their owners and not a big well known company
• Some of the titles show that sponsors are used inside the magazine and so they the magazine is an institution in its own right
• It's an institution for famous bands and singers to get publicity

Genre

• The clear genre is an urban/street styled magazine
• Can tell the style through font, mise en scene, background, and the clothes the band is wearing
• Also has an indie look to it as well
• More of a formal genre due to the slanted writing, the urban fonts used and the stance of the band

Representation

• The fonts of the subtitles are represented as graffiti on the urban styled background
• The band are in trendy and stylish clothing to represent an up to date boy band
• The stance of the band represents the formal look to the magazine
• The title of the magazine's font looks worn out and scratched to represent an old but cherished magazine
• The street styled picture is used to represent the life and style of teenagers
• The different colours used represents the use of diversity in their magazine, and the different types of bands interviewed later on in their magazine
• The location represents the hangouts of teenagers all over the UK

Audience

• The location on the street shows quite a teenage style
• The use of clothes the boy band is wearing shows quite a fashionable style which will be done for the teenage population
• Teenagers are well known for being crazy over boy bands and music so this also shows who the magazine is aimed at
• The boy band themselves are teenagers which gives the magazine and the audience something in common
• The graffiti styled wall looks quite diverse but stylish. This is exactly what the majority of teenagers prefer in a magazine
• The fonts have an indie look to them. Indie style is highly populated by teenagers at the moment

Certification for my film trailer

The certification of my film is going to be a 15. This is because of the bbfc guidlines  (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202009_5.pdf), say that the language used will have to be a 15 as its too rude and/or constant for a 12A. I will also have a bit of violence in my film, although it will be funny for the audience, it still doesn't meet the limitations of a 12A. During my research, I've found that most 15 comedy films have a U or a 12A trailer so they can advertise their film in all screenings to attract as many people over 15 as possible. I am considering also using this tatic with my film trailer, but doing this, I will need to make sure I don't use a lot of bad language or dwell on a lot of violence.

Stepbrothers: Trailer Notes

Media Language / Mise en scene

• Starts off with an introduction to the characters of the film
• Scratching pen writing the names down at the start
• Starts with soft music, then beat kicks in later on
• Fast cuts between clips to show the comedy involved in the film
• Music in the background was quite cheery and funny its self
• The font used as narration was bubble writing which came across as quite silly to match the film's jokes
• Lots of close ups on the characters at the start to show a comical expression
• Music stops on some jokes which adds to the comedy
• Had no swearing in it even though the film certificate is a 15
•  The Trailer was aimed at more of a teenage audience with lots of comedy used. The trailer was a U as it showed little violence, no swearing or drug references. This was to catch as many adults to their film as possible. As the film is a 15, it did limit some of their potential audience
•  Change of music for the change of the stepbrother's relationship
• As trailer moves on, less close ups are used and more medium/long shots replace them too show the audience the environment

Institution

• Set in L.A
• Columbia made the film
• Showed the Columbia badge after introducing the characters of the film. The did this to attract your attention and then showed you who made it in the hope the audience would notice Columbia more

Genre

• A clear comedy throughout
• Told the audience this through the music, fast editing, camera close ups and font used for titles
• Didn't mix with any other genre

Representation

• Males dominated the screen throughout the trailer
• In the interview the 2 main characters showed disrespect to the boss
• Interviewer was a lady
• Bad side of kids beating up the Stepbrothers
• Wealthy background but silly children
• Not a good view on adults behaviour either
• Unemployed members of he public were shown in a bad light too
• It was all bad representation for every group of people that was shown

Audience

•  Good appeal to everyone by having 2 huge actors involved
• Trailer was for everyone so they could advertise it in U films so parents will see it whilst they are watching a film with their children
• Used lots of comical violence which tends to attract teenagers more than the other age groups
• Was all clean comedy used in the trailer
• Was all evolving around Will Ferrell and John.C Reily to try and push the big names out to everyone even more

Narrative

• The trailer runs on the plot of Todorov's theory. It roughly has an equilibrium that gets disturbed and shows what happens
• As this is a trailer it briefs over the plot, but it shows enough detail to realise that even a pure comedy film has situations added and that it follows Todorov's theory
• It doesn't follow any other narrative as the film's goal is to make you laugh and not to sit back and watch a situation enfold before your eyes
• If it followed Propp's theory, the film would lose it's comedy theme and become more of a fairy tell instead