Film Poster Photoshoot Update

Shot showing Jordan pre-shoot

In order to complete our film poster for my design, we needed some original images to edit onto the poster. This included a shot of Jordan with his back facing the camera, with him looking menacingly over his shoulder. Firstly, we were careful to ensure continuity between the film and the poster so we asked Jordan to wear the costume he wears throughout the piece for the shoot (see the above shot). We also decided that lighting should be used effectively in the shot, with low key lighting casting a sinister shadow on the back of Jordan short and masking his facial expression.

This is the final shot of Jordan. As you can see, we made sure that the idea of violence is present through the use of blood on the shirt. However, I would prefer the blood to be more prominent in the image so I will ask Stephen if there are any possible effects on Photoshop to achieve this.


However, we had difficulty capturing the image of the broken glass. We did manage to produce a passable image - however, we'd like to try a photoshoot again to ensure the image is to a high standard.

'Killer Hangover' Review - First Draft

'The morning after the night before'. This is the tagline of the newly released short film titled Killer Hangover. Although the title and tagline instantly suggest a lack of innovation from the young team of film-makers, the narrative adopted in the ambitious piece transforms this well-worn genre into fresh canvas for the exploration of ideas on the silver screen. This is achieved through the team's enthusiasm to experiment with diverse influences, including Ratthe's short film sensation Lovefield and classic Hopkins' horror features.

In addition to the debutant director, Killer Hangover introduces the film world with fresh-faced actor, Jordan Oberdries, who plays the nameless young antagonist who wakes up to a smashed house, a splitting headache and stained carpets.... Oh, and the small issue of a dead girl on the kitchen floor. Immediately cast into stark panic, our subject anxiously seeks to not only piece together the fragmented events of last night but also protect himself from the ensuing condemnation that threatens to ensnare him at all points. However, the sting of the scorpion exists not in the safety of horror but in the creative narrative twist...

The piece hints at the team's potential, specifically in the technical aspects of film-making. One of the prominent appeals of the entire piece - even if only from a film-geek perspective - is Rory Harris' editing, with special care being taken to maximize the effect of each shot. The soundtrack is also skilfully crafted to supplement the visual aspect of the film, adding another stroke to the before-mentioned canvas.

However, though demonstrating a significant level of promise, Killer Hangover isn't without flaw. Oberdries' performance often lacks the ability to convince an audience, let alone instil the fear, anxiety and horror that the editing and soundtrack seek so desperately to establish. Although the rest of the piece seems to exude confidence and experience, the casting of Oberdries shows the team's Achilles heel - the ability to detect the right actor for the right role. In order to achieve the calibre of award-winning material this team is capable of, they must strive to overcome this weakness.

Despite this shortfall, Killer Hangover is a note-worthy experiment in the genre of horror by Neal and company, prompting the ability to produce a higher level of film in the future. As is expected for a first piece, it presents it's weakness in equal proportion to it's successes but, unlike the crowds of 'tried but failed' and 'maybe next time' films, Killer Hangover is a colourful Monet with the promise of a Picasso on the horizon. After all, a fresh canvas always seems to highlight the missed strokes more than those skillfully applied right?


Written by Marcus Pelham with proofing from Stephen Neal

Title Sequence Audience Feedback

Below are two versions of the title sequence; we are keen to discover which of the two appeals to our target audience more. In order to achieve this, each member of the group will release the footage on social network site Facebook and get people to vote on which one they prefer. We will then use the details of the response and decide which one is more effective from the feedback.


Version One:

Version Two:

UPDATE ON 24th JAN

Market research proved helpful in this editing decision; feedback from Facebook proved that our target audience preferred Version One, in addition to the narrative being clearer when the movie was introduced without the 'psyhcotic' jumpy text at the beginning. As a group, we have decided to follow the information from our audience and include Version One in our final piece.

Tagline Idea

Today, the issue of our film's tagline was discussed today. We had several suggestions, including 'Don't get smashed' and 'Who doesn't love a killer party?!'. However, the one that we have decided to pursue was 'The morning after the night before' as it links to the title of 'Killer Hangover' and would be a statement our target audience would be familiar with. It also establishes the original genre of horror whilst capturing the twist of a party.

My Film Poster Idea

Film Poster Analysis

For part of our coursework we have to create a poster for our short film. To do this we have to analyse some film posters to see what aspects make a good poster.

Hostel:

Narration-
-The title is in a larger font than the rest of the text to make it stand out, it is also written in a different font.
-The body in the floor is running along horizontally to the title and text, this is odd because most posters usually contain the protagonits in them. This is just a body cuffed to a chair.
- There is also a head in the bottom right of the screen. This is to give the impression that this man had been decapitated. This show's that the film is a horror and very sick.
-The red background and blood splatter suggests a dark bloody film that doesn't have a lot of brightness or happiness in. It is all about darkness and death.

Target Audience-
-Just from looking at the poster it is possible to see that this film is not for everyone. It looks like the sort of film a Saw fan would enjoy.
- Possibly young men from 20-35 would enjoy this film.
-The whole poster would attract a fan of horror movies.
- No reviews on the poster, this would cause some trouble with showing people what the film is like. But it is possible to work it out just from the poster.

Representation-
-First thought would be that it would appeal more to males, but as there is not much representation of either sex in this poster, it must be for both genres who have a taste for horror films.
-However the body and head are a mans, so it may appeal slightly more to men.

Genre-
-The dark red background and title written in blood suggests a very dark and bloody film.
- The blood splatter and decapitated body suggest a horror film.



Ali G Indahouse:

Narration-
-The title is not the largest font on the poster, the tagline of "blair beware" is, this could be to catch a viewers attention.
-The picture of Ali G is obviously what the character thinks himself to look like, a rich pimp with smoking guns. To anyone who doesn't know about this character, then this would look like a poster to a serious gangster movie, not a comical spoof.
-The background shows the house of commons, this is to show that this place will have a big impact on the protagonist.
The white text really stands out from the dark background. This shows that we are supposed to pay more attention to this than anything else.

Target Audience-
-We can tell by the written text that this is a spoof film. The use of "da" instead of "the" mocks how gangsters stereotypically speak.
-This is a film for people who like comedy films.
-They also will probably be quite a young audience from about 15-25. Anyone older may not get the message from the film.
-This is a film that both genres should be able to enjoy.

Representation-
-It is obvious that Ali G is the protagonist. His posture and the fact that he is the only character on the poster proves this. He is holding the two guns up with no problem, this is to show his physical strength.
-He is wearing a white fur coat and this helps him stand out from the background.

Genre-
-It is a spoof comedy film.
-Fit for anyone who likes funny quotes and taglines.

Marcus Pelham Film Poster First Idea

First draft of poster design

Narrative: The narrative of the film is insinuated in the poster through the use of mise en scene. For example, by choosing the broken glass with blood on it as the prominent image (in size and through depth of field), the theme of violence is instantly communicated to the audience. However, it also establishes the link to the narrative 'twist' of our piece, with the connotations of a wine glass being that of parties and social events. This double-meaning offers depth to the poster, with the audience's expectations being undermined through the film and thus, developing the multiplicity of the objects and images used. The thriller-esque feel to the poster would be further developed through the desaturation of the image; this would provide a darker, harsher image associated with murder and violence, key ideas in our film. In contrast to the desaturation, we would draw more attention to the blood on the glass by increasing the colour of the blood to a bright, high colour red. This manipulation of where the audience's attention focuses first will help establish the narrative. So far, this poster has proven successful with early audience surveys showing that the narrative of our film is communicated clearly through the poster.


Representation: Although the main focus of the poster is the broken glass (and the insinuated violence), the audience will also be aware of the distorted character behind that image. This is important as it introduces the main character who, from the blood on his hand and the rip in his shirt, the audience assume is the antagonist. The distorted nature of the image restricts the audience's ability to understand his identity, creating audience intrigue and suspense. In a similar way to the glass, it will also reflect the twist of the narrative, with the haziness of the image reflecting the theme of alcohol and the main character's understanding of the previous night's events.

Genre: The genre suggested by the poster is thriller. This is achieved through the audience's inability to identify the character, creating enigma and suspense. The imagery of violent materials also helps convey this, with the glass and corkscrew (potentially a knife?) providing a sharp hint to the homicidal tendencies the character appears to display. In addition, the use of a single or simple image is a convention of thrillers, again as it restricts the audience's understanding of the narrative and creates intrigue.


Audience: We also believe that our target audience of youth would be attracted to this poster because of it's obvious theme of violence. This idea that 'the more shocking, the more people are intrigued' is evident in The Human Centipede's success and would be something we could try and emulate. It is also important to include review sources that appeal to a youth audience; for example, a 5 star review from The Times might be a great accolade but it will lack the effect that the same review but from MTV would offer.


Points of Development: title - design of logo? 
                                          tagline
                                          reviews - which sources?

Marcus Pelham Film Poster Analysis - Brighton Rock

Marcus Pelham Film Poster Analysis - This Is England

Poster for This Is England

SYNOPSIS: 'This is England' is a story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows'.

NARRATIVE: The poster immediately signals to the audience that the film is a representation of the 1980's, mainly through the tag line of 'Summer 1983. A time to stand out from the crowd' but also supported through stereotypical 'skinhead' costume. The title 'This Is England' is emphasized by adopting the colours of the Union Jack [ie. red, white and blue], also giving the audience a strong sense of it's English setting as well as the film's theme of the dangers of nationalism when bordering on jingoism.

Close up on characters depicted on the poster

The theme of an unemployed youth demographic and subsequent youth culture that followed in the 1980's is also communicated through the body language of the characters; all either signal nonchalance by leaning against the corrugated fence [see the green character] or anger through a confrontational stance [see the blue, orange and red characters]. This instantly presents the audience with the film's exploration of young people's attitudes in the 1980's. The way in which the characters are presented is also key to the narrative. In a similar way to the Animal Kingdom poster, the characters exude a sense of community [maybe even family] through their proximity to eachother. This idea of family is key to the film's narrative as well, with the 'trouble boy' protagonist [the gold character] fully integrated into this group of youth, despite his age. It also heightens the idea of anger, with this group of 11 youth all focusing their anger and frustration towards the camera. However, the way in which they are lined up can also refer to a police line-up, suggesting a criminal aspect to the narrative.


REPRESENTATION: There is a strong sense of class representation in this poster, especially that of lower/working class youth. Firstly, the group of characters position on the poster is in the final third of the poster, giving the impression of lack of importance or that the audience should disregard them. This subtle technique - and it's corresponding effect - allows the audience to identify the type of characters that the film concerns. This is supported through the background of the poster; not only do they stand in front of a corrugated fence [which suggests an urban environment] but two post-war council estates can be seen towering over them. These firmly place the narrative in a working class setting which, when combined with the costumes and expressions of the characters, inform the audience that this film is concerned with the working class youth in 1983. The idea of run down areas is also present in the font of the title and other text on the poster; even the text appears to be painted on without skill and had begun to peel.


GENRE: The poster suggests that the film is of the social realism genre as it is concerned with the representation of identifiable characters in an identifiable setting. The exploration of class is also a common theme of the genre, with it's main concern being to focus on real issues that people face - see About A Girl or Fishtank. In addition, social realism is a genre of film associated with the UK, with Britain's class system being an ideal theme to explore through the genre. The theme of crime is also present in the poster, with the aggressive body language, suggestion of youth gangs and the play on the imagery of a police line up all hinting towards criminal activity in the film. Also, by choosing to create a film exploring issues and themes in 1983, the director is able to point out to the audience the continued existence of such issues in a modern British society [ie. jingoism manifest through the BNP party].


AUDIENCE: The poster suggests that the target audience of the film covers a range of demographics. For example, the obvious reference to British [especially English] culture would attract the interest of the British audience, keen to see a portrayal of their culture. The choice to refer to the three film festivals [Toronto, Rome and Tribeca] the film has featured in suggests that the film is designed to attract an audience of sophisticated film watchers who do not exclude the range of films they watch to 'Hollywood produced' movies. In addition, the setting of the film in the early 1980's would appeal to adults who lived in that time, interested to see a modern portrayal of that time of their lives. However, a youth audience would also be attracted to the film, for the themes of violence and class systems that still exist in today's society.

Marcus Pelham Film Poster Analysis - Animal Kingdom

Poster for Animal Kingdom

SYNOPSIS - 'Animal Kingdom tells the story of a seventeen-year old as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him'


NARRATIVE: As an audience, we are instantly able to identify the protagonist, mainly through his positioning in the centre of the poster. His focused facial expression directly towards the camera also establishes him as a character the audience is meant to sympathize with. The important narrative aspect of family is also prominent in the poster; the image itself is loosely based upon a family portrait whilst the matriarchal character is placing a protective and comforting hand on the protagonists shoulder. However, this can also be interpreted as a repressive action - the matriarchal character is forcing the protagonist to not only remain for the photo but to also remain in the criminal organization that she runs. In addition, the audience can identify the character in the far right as a detective through his police badge on his hip as well the the stereotypical moustache associated with the profession. His positioning behind the family denotes that he is undercover and is intent on revealing their criminal activity.


REPRESENTATION: The characters portrayed rely heavily upon pre-existent stereotypes. For example, the female character fulfils the motherly matriarchal role associated with criminal families, especially those with dominant males [ie. The Kray's or The Mitchell's in EastEnders]. This strength of character is communicated through her costume; there is an absence of any colour that suggests femininity but she is wearing practical, non-sexualized dark clothes that edge towards an almost masculine representation. Another key representation is that of the detective; his profession is hinted at through his professional costume in addition to his badge on his hip - however, due to his top button being undone, the audience can assume one of two things; firstly, that he rejects the traditional role of a detective and thus, is prepared to use unorthodox (maybe even unlawful?) methods to uncover the family's activity. Also, it suggests that this case has encroached upon his personal life: even when he is not at work, he is considering how to achieve his goal. This is supported through his focused and determined facial expression directly towards the camera.


GENRE: The concept of crime is prominent in the poster. Firstly, the tagline 'A crime story' instantly declares the genre of the film. In addition, the protagonist is seen handling a gun, instantly relating him - and thus his corresponding characters - with the idea of violence. The image of a gun can also be seen in the logo [the curl of the 'G' in 'Kingdom' adopts the outline of a pistol], again highlighting the film's themes of violence and crime on the poster. Lighting is also used effectively to cast shadows upon the characters, suggesting a sinister undertone to the family portrait.


AUDIENCE: The film appears to be aimed towards a younger male audience; this can be seen in the reviews chosen to be shown on the poster. For example, Rolling Stone is a print media organization associated with youth culture. Also, the strong themes of violence and crime are considered to appeal to a young male audience more than a female audience and, due to the posters heavy portrayal of this aspects, a young male would be expected to be more interested in the film than another audience.

Film Poster Analysis - Stephen Neal

                                           

• Narration
• "Iron clad" the title, give the impression of being covered in armour and knights.
• Templar cross – Crusades and Barbarian Conquest.
• Men below look young and with inadequate weapons. The narration could link the three characters or have one of them become the other man.
• Battle field behind the man. Shows lots of bloodshed and fighting, he seems resigned to is and almost giving up?
• The blood at the bottom emphasizes this.
• Lots of arrows over the boys also emphasize this.
• Lots of fog and cloud, it’s too early for cannons or musket fire so it must represent his judgment or decisions being clouded.
• The tag line suggests violence but also perhaps fleeing from war with the word “Run”.
• Very dirty clothing, showing he has been through a tough fight
• Target Audience
• Action lovers, similar style to the film 300 which could attract that audience.
• No review which is a bit of a problem as it alienates a possible audience who may watch the film based on the reviews.
• Set in the past during the crusades.
• The tag line also attracts action loving film audiences
• Representation
• Typical representation of masculinity, all the men are fighting.
• Traditional view of women also, they are not seen in the fights of anywhere on the poster.
• Clearly aimed mainly at males due to the fact women do not feature within the poster.
• Represents religion with the Templar knight as they had to pledge their life and sword to the church.
• The young men show they are fighting for their life with the ferocity on their facial expression
• Genre
• Very action oriented.
• Block font is similar to the army stencil style which suggests action and possibly drama.

• Narration
• The prominent title “Botched” clearly suggests that something has gone wrong. This coupled with the harsh lighting and grey colours reinforces this idea.
• The body positioned under the title implies that this person will play a key role, possible suggesting that the three onlookers are his killer.
• The fact that the “Body” is laid out in front of all the other characters and their seemingly anticlimactic reaction to this body suggests subtle hints of dark comedy.
• The rips in the wall paper suggest that they are in an abandoned location in the film.
• This suggests that they characters are in trouble and need help as well as possibly being outside of the law.
• Even the bright lights positioned above the characters fails to illuminate the whole picture, this could forebode a narrative where many unsuspected events will occur.
• The dark yet smart clothing could represent the characters being in stable careers and not being ready for the situation they have found themselves within.

• Target Audience
• The dark and unknown areas of the poster could easily attract thriller lovers as well as possibly a comedy favouring audiences.
• No review which is a bit of a problem as it alienates a possible audience who may watch the film based on the reviews.
• The time period is unknown aside from being relatively present due to the clothing choices of the characters.

• Representation
• The female character is set in a position of power due to her being slightly larger than the others.
• The film is aimed at both genders due to both of their use within, as well as this is would most likely be aimed at an adult audience due to the suggested content and the colourless background which younger audiences would find boring.

• Genre
• Very thriller and horror oriented.
• The large white font is very generic and suggests that the film could be set anywhere, increasing the thrilling aspect for the audience.
• The dark unknown areas within the poster could indicate a horror genre.
• As previously mentioned the almost comic positioning of the body that is being looked upon with contempt could represent elements of the comedy genre.

Stephen Neal - First Poster Draft

This is the very first draft and so the pictures used will probably not be in the final should this design be deemed the best.

Fake Blood

Our film includes a bloody T-shirt and hands. For this we needed to make some fake blood, for a long time we were convinced we were going to use red wine, but after trying it out on a white T-shirt we decided that this didn't have the effect we wanted. Our next idea was tomato puree, again we tried this on a T-shirt but the viscocity was too thick. We mixed the puree with water and tried that on a T-shirt, thankfully this is exactly what we wanted. We tried a couple of shots to see what it looked like on camera and it was what we were looking for. So this is what we used on the T-shirt and the hands.

Props & Items Needed:

Props for MES (Mise En Scène): 
 

-          Beer bottles

-          Crisp packets

-          Broken glass (maybe – presents a health and safety risk – sugar glass possibility?)

-          Wine Bottle

-          Red wine / Ketchup / Fake blood

-          Old rug for spillages
-          Chairs (upturned to show there's been a struggle)
-          Empty tobacco packets
-          Cigarette butts
-          Toys and household items to help create the mess

Props for Actor / Actress Usage:

            -           Orange Juice with assorted chopped vegetables and mayonnaise – Sick Scene

-          Scrubbing brush

-          Landline cordless phone

-          Knife (Blunt for safety reasons)

-          Drinks Tray

-          Bin bags

-          Wheelie bin

-          Heavy Door Bolt (One may be on scene but we have access through Stephen to another one should it be necessary)

-          Mobile Phone

-          Ripped up T-shirt

-          Make-up for black eye

Items needed for filming

-        HD camera

-        Tripod

-        Dolly

-        Lighting equipment



Filming- 22nd December

Over the holidays we decided we were going to re-shoot some of our film, using a different actor and trying to show more skill using the HD camera.


We started out re-filming some of the first shots. Our first problem came when we were attempting the tracking shots outside near the garage. The dolly (a dolly is a device you can attach the tripod to that has wheels on so you have more movement in the camera) that we had borrowed from the college didn't have big enough wheels to make the shot smooth. We tried a method of putting down planks with grooves in them for the wheels to sit, but unfortunately the wheels kept sliding off. In the end we got a trailer from Rory's garage and he climbed in with the camera and tripod. We had to check it was safe first so we pulled it along with just Rory to see how stable it was. It seemed fine so we tried it with him and the camera. The shots were a lot smoother and we managed to get some smooth tracking shots that we have decided to use in our film.


The rest of the filming went a lot smoother and we managed to get all the shots we wanted, as well as some backup shots if we need them. We are now in the process of editing. 

Log Of Action - December

December 1^st – 31^st
(any problems with font colour and post overlapping other areas of the page are down to blogger, we have edited the post many times to try to fix these problems)

Day	Week Starting Thursday 1st December	Week Starting Monday 5th  December	Week Starting Monday 12st December	Week Starting Monday 19th December	Week Starting Monday 26th December
Monday	See November	Location Scouting Documentation & Props Used Draft Uploaded. Filming Started	More Editing Of The Film From Monday The 5th & Fine Tuning The Match On Action	More experimenting with the camera and finalising plans for filming on Thursday	Boxing Day
Tuesday	See November	Uploaded Rushes From Monday & Began Editing Some Of Them Together	Organise Blog Work & Re-Building Our Animatic So We Have A Better Quality One Uploaded To The Blog	Editing Blog Draft Entries and updating the log	Nothing Done
Wednesday	See November	Discussed Editing Times & How The Edited Version Should Look	Blogging & Deciding What Shots To Re-Film Over Christmas	Nothing Done	Nothing Done
Thursday	Uploaded Draft Animatic Version One & Testing For “Drunk” Scene	Experimented With Some Different Editing Techniques To Find What Worked Best  In Our Film	Blogging Work & Getting The Christmas Filming Organised & Booking The Camera & Equipment. Took A Lesson On How To Use The New Camera	Filming of the new scenes and re-filming some scenes where there would have been a continuity error of actors.	Nothing Done
Friday	Ordered The Equipment And Sorted Out Monday For Filming	Editing & Putting Some Of The Scenes Together	Nothing Done	Reviewing footage and checking that everything done the previous day was good and did not need re-filming	Nothing Done
Saturday	Nothing Done	Reviewing Blog & Working On Updating Some Of The Drafts	Experiments with the new camera done and experimental filming.	Christmas Eve	New Year’s Eve
Sunday	Nothing Done	Nothing Done	Nothing Done	Christmas Day	See January