Research into print products

As part of our A2 coursework, we need to create a magazine cover, billboard poster, normal poster and DVD front cover. To ensure that our print products are suitable, professional and representative of the genre I decided to conduct some research into existing print products of the same genre and look closely at the conventions of each product.

I found that a good magazine front cover should:

• Be eye catching, to interest the buyer. 
• Have a simple and clear masthead
• A well thought out house style which help to create a brand identity 
• Barcode, date, price (not main focus but big enough to read)
• Coverlines to showcase the main features of the magazine
• The main protagonist - to attract attention

I found that a good normal poster should:

• Have a 'coming soon' or the release date 
• A main focal image related to the film
• Large title 
• Age certification
• Tagline
• Any awards 
• Quotes from critics 
• Directors name/ productions company name 

I found that a billboard poster should:

• A main image
• A title
• Directors, producers, actors/actress'
• Quotes, recommendations and ratings
• Awards
• Date, rating, extra info 
• A tagline 

A normal poster and a billboard poster and likely to feature the same conventions, but a billboard will be much bigger and people won't be able to read littler text - this is something I need to keep in mind when creating my print products. I need to use different images to get a variety within the film and keep the audience enticed. 

I found that a DVD cover should:

• Film Title
• Actors
• Classification
• Rating
• Running Time
• Region
• Synopsis
• Tagline
• Other films that they may have made 
• Stills
• Central Cover Image
• Release Date
• Certification Information Box
• Disney/Universal Hologram
• Technical Specs
• Special Feature
• Directors Cut
• Collectors/Special/Anniversary Edition
• Producer
• Distributor
• Barcode
• Disc Information

I have chosen to analyse the print products of the film 'Public Enemy' as this was a successful crime thriller film with very professional looking products. The products demonstrate what the film is about, without giving too much away and all fit together well. As a whole, crime thriller print products seem to be dark, quite neutral and props such as gun's and actors costume being the made focus of it. The location and setting is robust and gives a city, edgy feel - but they don't give too much away. 

Key scene two

Planning key scene two

Final version of key scene one

Feedback

Review of first attempt of key scene

After filming our first key scene and putting the clips in order on imovie as well as beginning to edit and add effects, it is clear that we need to redo some shots because the continuity editing isn't completely smooth and continuous which is important to ensure the scene is linked and professional. Also we have decided to add a few more camera shots/angles (which are listed below) so that we do not have too many long takes because this becomes boring to the audience. At some points more diegetic sound is needed, such as the wife screaming, so it seems more realistic. We think that we should use a tripod to film some parts so there is less shakiness of the camera, also a skateboard may be useful for the tracking shot of the feet. We may add in another prop, a knife, so the burglar seems more intimidating and will cause the audience to feel anxious. The weaknesses that we have identified has enabled us to improve our scene by writing an additional shot list so we can organise more filming to fill in gaps and redo shots. 

We had a group meeting in Monday's media lesson (10th November at 10am) to organise this filming time, we have decided that we will do more filming for key scene one on Thursday 13th November 2014 at 6.30pm. 

We will keep all of our costume the same but have decided to include a key prop of a knife for more impact in our scene. 

We have also conducted more research into the weather and forecast for Thursday 13th November to ensure all of our scenes fit together together well and match will previous recordings. We found that Thursday would be the best day to do our filming as it was the matched best to our weather in the first recording.

First attempt at first key scene

Planning for first key scene

As we have now successfully completed our first animatic, we now need to plan the filming of our first key scene. We have decided that the filming of our key scene will take place at Claire's House, as we think this location fits perfectly with the mood and atmosphere we are intending to create. Claire's house itself provides clear entries to the kitchen from the doorway and provides us with good use of lighting and space. The time we are planning to meet is at 6:30 on Tuesday 4th November. After researching we found this is when the lighting would be best. The weather and lighting are important factors in our key scene as this too will add to the mood and atmosphere as well as meaning we are able to work in suitable conditions.

 We used the website "http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/uk/sutton-coldfield/" to find out when the sun sets and what the weather is going to be like. The website has provided us with an indication of when it will rain, which is due to be between 12-6pm. As a group we decided that we wanted it to look dank and dark but didn't want rain as this could impact on how well we can record and potentially restrict what we are able to do. The time of 6:30 would mean it will be dark but not wet and slightly windy, which is perfect for our scene.

 

We have chose to use Facebook as a way of arranging the material parts of our scenes and the specifics of our meeting, after primarily organising it in class yesterday (Monday 3rd November). We decided in class that we would be meeting at 6:30 on Wednesday but used Facebook Messenger as a way of organising the props, costume and makeup we need in time for Wednesday and so far have managed to source the key components we need through the use of Facebook. 

The props we are going to use are:

Pots and pans

Radio

The costume we are going to need:

Black balacava

Black hoodie

We decided that the intruder is going to be covered up and wearing black as a symbol of hatrid as well as mystery. Hoodies are typically associated with gang members, which is why we have chose to include it in our costume idea. 

Heels

Black dress

Jewellery 

The wife is going to be wearing posh clothes and nice jewellery as a symbol of her wealth and how well she is treated (materialistically) by her husband. The heels add to sophistication and almost high class attitude she holds as a person. The red lipstick she wears also shoes some authority, showing she takes pride in herself. This contrasts against the intruder/robber who seems to wear clothes that reflects  a lower class and status role in society. 

Logo research, planning, ideas and feedback

We have made three different logo's for our company using fireworks. We decided on the name insignia as it is short and catchy. After researching existing film production logo's I found that they were all very concise and simple, we tried to reflect this in our logos to ensure it looks professional. 

A logo should reflect what our company is about and tie in well with the products we make, creating a identifiable brand but should still remain simple. We used simple images such as film reel, stars and film camera's which adds enough effect without making it look unprofessional.

We need to ask our target market which logo they prefer as ultimately these are the people we need to please. We are going to conduct research via paper survey, as this is a quick question that doesn't need much debate over. Our target market research will be conducted with 20 people that are interested in our film and the genre and film as a whole, with a understanding of what makes a good logo.

This is our paper survey:

Our results are as followed:

1 - 9
2 - 7
3 - 4

Our First Animatic