From my synopsis I have developed my ideas to come up with the film treatment which is waht I will use to help decide on the scenes.
A group of four young teenagers are enjoying their evening and have been drinking. They head off into the woods and start talking about ghost stories and dares which they will carry out. Matthew disappears from the group when he says he is going for a wee and as he turns away he puts his hood up and has a phone conversation. Whilst Matthew is gone, the three characters come across a crime scene and flee. The audience does not see the crime scene but the group look horrified. Heidi and Jason turn, begin to run, Felix looks at the crime scene and goes to help the person in danger but Heidi runs back and grabs her by the arm and drags her away. (camera view of the criminals looking through the trees and bushes). When running they hear noises in the woods and stop to listen, they see a hooded figure moving about in the trees and Matthew comes out, they drag him with them and say they will explain when they get home they just have to leave the woods as quickly as possible.
Back home, the group are sitting round with few lights on, they tell Mathew what they see and begin to discuss the situation. Matthew suggests not telling anybody and keeping what they had seen a secret. Felix however, persisted to let somebody know as somebody’s life was in danger, and they should go back to help, she is full of regret and has been crying. The other two characters, Heidi and Jason do not want to say anything as they think they know who the figure was in the trees and do not want to say anything out of fear that the figure will come and get revenge. (A small amount of blood is on Matthews hand and Felix spots it, they look eye to eye and Matthew moves his hand out of sight.)
THE NEXT DAY - The crime scene is documented in the news and on the radio, the police are asking for any witnesses and any information which would help. (Show a newspaper clip and have a radio advert/news clip playing over it) We hear Matthew on the phone shouting and it becomes apparent that he had some involvement in the crime. Felix admits that she cannot stop thinking about what happened and that she should go to the police but Matthew shouts at her and she begins to cry. There is a loud knock and the police are at the front door, Matthew tries to take control and threatens the group to stay quiet.
(Black scene) The next scene is of the group at the police station and each member is interviewed separately. Matthew pleas that he has no connection and doesn’t know anything about the events of the previous night, Felix breaks down and begins to reveal what happens. Jason remains quiet and Heidi looks around her and is uncertain what to do and say.
The penultimate scene is of Felix being put into a cell and the door is closed with a thud. She bangs the door then slides down it crying and saying over and over that she is innocent.
Felix then gets let out of the police station as she is found to be innocent and expresses to the police, a connection between Matthew and the crime scene. There is now a warrant for Matthews arrest but he has gone missing. The scene ends with Matthew dressed in black clothing and looking rough appears at Felix’s front door of her house, he bangs on the door loudly and impatiently and is holding a gun. The screen goes blank and the cast list roles. The film then ends with a scream and a loud gun shot then faint police sirens.
A group of four young teenagers are enjoying their evening and have been drinking. They head off into the woods and start talking about ghost stories and dares which they will carry out. Matthew disappears from the group when he says he is going for a wee and as he turns away he puts his hood up and has a phone conversation. Whilst Matthew is gone, the three characters come across a crime scene and flee. The audience does not see the crime scene but the group look horrified. Heidi and Jason turn, begin to run, Felix looks at the crime scene and goes to help the person in danger but Heidi runs back and grabs her by the arm and drags her away. (camera view of the criminals looking through the trees and bushes). When running they hear noises in the woods and stop to listen, they see a hooded figure moving about in the trees and Matthew comes out, they drag him with them and say they will explain when they get home they just have to leave the woods as quickly as possible.
Back home, the group are sitting round with few lights on, they tell Mathew what they see and begin to discuss the situation. Matthew suggests not telling anybody and keeping what they had seen a secret. Felix however, persisted to let somebody know as somebody’s life was in danger, and they should go back to help, she is full of regret and has been crying. The other two characters, Heidi and Jason do not want to say anything as they think they know who the figure was in the trees and do not want to say anything out of fear that the figure will come and get revenge. (A small amount of blood is on Matthews hand and Felix spots it, they look eye to eye and Matthew moves his hand out of sight.)
THE NEXT DAY - The crime scene is documented in the news and on the radio, the police are asking for any witnesses and any information which would help. (Show a newspaper clip and have a radio advert/news clip playing over it) We hear Matthew on the phone shouting and it becomes apparent that he had some involvement in the crime. Felix admits that she cannot stop thinking about what happened and that she should go to the police but Matthew shouts at her and she begins to cry. There is a loud knock and the police are at the front door, Matthew tries to take control and threatens the group to stay quiet.
(Black scene) The next scene is of the group at the police station and each member is interviewed separately. Matthew pleas that he has no connection and doesn’t know anything about the events of the previous night, Felix breaks down and begins to reveal what happens. Jason remains quiet and Heidi looks around her and is uncertain what to do and say.
The penultimate scene is of Felix being put into a cell and the door is closed with a thud. She bangs the door then slides down it crying and saying over and over that she is innocent.
Felix then gets let out of the police station as she is found to be innocent and expresses to the police, a connection between Matthew and the crime scene. There is now a warrant for Matthews arrest but he has gone missing. The scene ends with Matthew dressed in black clothing and looking rough appears at Felix’s front door of her house, he bangs on the door loudly and impatiently and is holding a gun. The screen goes blank and the cast list roles. The film then ends with a scream and a loud gun shot then faint police sirens.
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Distribution for my film poster
The options I have available to me to distribute my poster would be:
- To get it published in a film magazine.
- To get a large poster printed and advertise my film in a cinema.
- To upload the poster to Google images.
- Add a link for the poster to the film on Youtube.
- Social networking sites.
Enlarging on this:
To get it published in a film magazine.
A good option to distribute my film poster would be to puclish it in a film magazine (such as Empire of Total Film 50) as I will meet my inteded audience by doing so and will also be able to attract other audiences who do not tend to watch suspense films as these magazines cover a wide range of genres.
To get a large poster printed and advertise my film in a cinema.
The cinema would be a good place to advertise my film as it will reach a wide range. Although as my film is small scale, it would more likely to be featured in one local cinema rather than nationally. If I was to advertise the poster in the cinema, I would make an agreement with the cinema to have a special showing of my film.
To upload the poster to Google images.
If I was to upload the poster to Google images, I would be able to reach a mass audience which is good but then the audience would have to know exactly what they are looking for to be able to find it as I would not have the available finance to have it as a top search. To increase the likelihood of it getting views on Google images, I would need to include many tags.
Add a link for the poster to the film on Youtube.
An option for creating hype regarding my film would be to upload a teaser trailer to Youtube. Along with this, I could add a link to the description which takes the user to the poster which would help get it recogised. In this case, the poster would most likely to be uploaded to SlideShare to create the link.
Social Netwroking Sites
Another method of causing hype for my film would be to publish the poster on to a social networking site such as Facebook (with this I would also incluse a link to a teaser trailer). This would hopefully cause a "chaining effect" with people sharing and reposting the poster so their friends can see. Social networking sites are an effective way of creating hype and would mean that the film would be in high demand and get good viewing figures when it was released.
- To get it published in a film magazine.
- To get a large poster printed and advertise my film in a cinema.
- To upload the poster to Google images.
- Add a link for the poster to the film on Youtube.
- Social networking sites.
Enlarging on this:
To get it published in a film magazine.
A good option to distribute my film poster would be to puclish it in a film magazine (such as Empire of Total Film 50) as I will meet my inteded audience by doing so and will also be able to attract other audiences who do not tend to watch suspense films as these magazines cover a wide range of genres.
To get a large poster printed and advertise my film in a cinema.
The cinema would be a good place to advertise my film as it will reach a wide range. Although as my film is small scale, it would more likely to be featured in one local cinema rather than nationally. If I was to advertise the poster in the cinema, I would make an agreement with the cinema to have a special showing of my film.
To upload the poster to Google images.
If I was to upload the poster to Google images, I would be able to reach a mass audience which is good but then the audience would have to know exactly what they are looking for to be able to find it as I would not have the available finance to have it as a top search. To increase the likelihood of it getting views on Google images, I would need to include many tags.
Add a link for the poster to the film on Youtube.
An option for creating hype regarding my film would be to upload a teaser trailer to Youtube. Along with this, I could add a link to the description which takes the user to the poster which would help get it recogised. In this case, the poster would most likely to be uploaded to SlideShare to create the link.
Social Netwroking Sites
Another method of causing hype for my film would be to publish the poster on to a social networking site such as Facebook (with this I would also incluse a link to a teaser trailer). This would hopefully cause a "chaining effect" with people sharing and reposting the poster so their friends can see. Social networking sites are an effective way of creating hype and would mean that the film would be in high demand and get good viewing figures when it was released.
Distribution for my magazine article, film review
Source: http://www.abc.org.uk
Total Film magazine
Future Publishing Ltd
Consumer Magazines marketed in "Leisure interests: Film & Video Reviews
Results shown are on 6 issues distributed between 1st January 2010 and 30th June 2010
The average net circulation per issue for Total Film is 76,088.
This is broken down into the UK and Republic of Ireland having a circulation of 66,055 and other countries 10,033.
The purchase price of a single Total Film magazine is £3.99
Empire
Bauer
Consumer Media marketed under "leisure interests: FIlm and Video Review"
Results shown are on 6 issues distributed between 1st January 2010 and 30th June 2010
The net circulation per issue is 179,064.
The net circulartion is divided into the UK and republic of ireland which has a circulation of 105,589 and 16,617 for other countries.
The purchase price of a single Empire magazine is £3.99
Summary of research
From the research listed above, I have decided that I would want to distribute my article through a film magazine. The top choices for my magazines would be "Empire" (top choice) and "Total Film". This is because they have mass circulation which would allow thousands of people to view the article across the UK. Also, these are my top choices because I have used both of these magazines for my research and know that my article will fit in with the style of the magazines.
Total Film magazine
Future Publishing Ltd
Consumer Magazines marketed in "Leisure interests: Film & Video Reviews
Results shown are on 6 issues distributed between 1st January 2010 and 30th June 2010
The average net circulation per issue for Total Film is 76,088.
This is broken down into the UK and Republic of Ireland having a circulation of 66,055 and other countries 10,033.
The purchase price of a single Total Film magazine is £3.99
Empire
Bauer
Consumer Media marketed under "leisure interests: FIlm and Video Review"
Results shown are on 6 issues distributed between 1st January 2010 and 30th June 2010
The net circulation per issue is 179,064.
The net circulartion is divided into the UK and republic of ireland which has a circulation of 105,589 and 16,617 for other countries.
The purchase price of a single Empire magazine is £3.99
Summary of research
From the research listed above, I have decided that I would want to distribute my article through a film magazine. The top choices for my magazines would be "Empire" (top choice) and "Total Film". This is because they have mass circulation which would allow thousands of people to view the article across the UK. Also, these are my top choices because I have used both of these magazines for my research and know that my article will fit in with the style of the magazines.
Distribution for my short film
The main contenders for the distribution of my film would be Channel 4, Film 4, Sky and BBC1 as these all would show a short film and often Film4 and Sky do competitions for short films.
Weekly viewing figures:
Sourced from: http://www.barb.co.uk/
22nd Nov - 28th Nov 2010
BBC:
BBC 1
- Average daily reach is 30,605,000 people, having a 53.4% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 49,237,000 people which is a 85.9% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 20.1% for all TV channels.
BBC 2
- Average daily reach is 16,277,000 people, having a 28.4% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 37,817,000 people which is a 66% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 6.8% for all TV channels.
BBc 3
- Average daily reach is 3,944,000 people, having a 6.9% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 16,614,000 people which is a 29% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 1.3% for all TV channels.
This research suggests BBC would be a good place to show my short film because of the broad audience it would be able to reach. BBC is a public service broadcaster which means that are not primarily interested in the view figures they get, their main interest would be showing programs and films that are in the public interest.
Hovever, majority of the short films shown on the BBC are during the day so this would not be suitable for the broadcasting of my short film because of the "15" classification and the genre of thriller/ suspense.
Channel 4
- Average daily reach is 15,357,000 people, having a 26.8% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 38,924,000 people which is a 67.9% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 6.3% for all TV channels.
Although Channel 4 does not get as high viewing figures as BBC it would be a good distributor for my short film because of the nature of the films it shows. Channel 4 shows films at night and often show films up to an "18" rating. Channel 4 would also be a good place to show my film as they do broadcast short films.
Film 4
Film4 would be a good place to show my film as the program soley show films which include short films. Furthermore, as Film4 do competitions for short film making, it would be a good to enter it into a competition as it would provide the potential to take film making further. Also, by submitting it to Film4, it is very likely to be broadcast.
From my findings of the possible distribution channels, the ideal distributer would be either Channel 4 or Film4 this is because they show many films and tend to show films that have up to an "18" classification which enables my "15" classified film to be aired without any problems. Furthermore, both of these programs show short films and have a widespread audience.
Weekly viewing figures:
Sourced from: http://www.barb.co.uk/
22nd Nov - 28th Nov 2010
BBC:
BBC 1
- Average daily reach is 30,605,000 people, having a 53.4% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 49,237,000 people which is a 85.9% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 20.1% for all TV channels.
BBC 2
- Average daily reach is 16,277,000 people, having a 28.4% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 37,817,000 people which is a 66% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 6.8% for all TV channels.
BBc 3
- Average daily reach is 3,944,000 people, having a 6.9% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 16,614,000 people which is a 29% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 1.3% for all TV channels.
This research suggests BBC would be a good place to show my short film because of the broad audience it would be able to reach. BBC is a public service broadcaster which means that are not primarily interested in the view figures they get, their main interest would be showing programs and films that are in the public interest.
Hovever, majority of the short films shown on the BBC are during the day so this would not be suitable for the broadcasting of my short film because of the "15" classification and the genre of thriller/ suspense.
Channel 4
- Average daily reach is 15,357,000 people, having a 26.8% share of the total TV viewing across all TV channels.
- Weekly reach is 38,924,000 people which is a 67.9% share of the total TV viewing for the week.
- The total share of the weekly viewing across the week is 6.3% for all TV channels.
Although Channel 4 does not get as high viewing figures as BBC it would be a good distributor for my short film because of the nature of the films it shows. Channel 4 shows films at night and often show films up to an "18" rating. Channel 4 would also be a good place to show my film as they do broadcast short films.
Film 4
Film4 would be a good place to show my film as the program soley show films which include short films. Furthermore, as Film4 do competitions for short film making, it would be a good to enter it into a competition as it would provide the potential to take film making further. Also, by submitting it to Film4, it is very likely to be broadcast.
FIVE
Five would be a suitable channel to broadcast my short film as majority of the top watched programmes for FIVE are films. I have looked on the FIVE website and cannot find any short films that have been broadcasted on the channel. If FIVE were to start broadcasting films, FIVE would become a suitable broadcaster.
Youtube
Youtube would be a good way of creating hype about my short film as I would be able to upload a teaser trailer to the film for free. By using Youtube, the audience is very wodespread and not restricted to the UK.
Summary:From my findings of the possible distribution channels, the ideal distributer would be either Channel 4 or Film4 this is because they show many films and tend to show films that have up to an "18" classification which enables my "15" classified film to be aired without any problems. Furthermore, both of these programs show short films and have a widespread audience.
Research for poster
For my poster I have looked at other programs and films which have characters with two sides which would demonstrate the split between the normal, friendly nature of the character and the opposite evil side of the character when dragged into the gang.
I have found a poster of Dexter which is an inspiration for the photo that I will use for the poster I create.
Dexter poster:
http://tvshowdexter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/dexter-calender.jpg
This image is inspirational as the hoody over Dexter's head and the shading over his eyes and face helps portray the dark side of his character which is the effect that I want to create using Matthew.
Although that the image I have found is for a calendar, I believe that it would make an effective poster as the main focus is on the main character and there is little text and other items that do not take the focus off of the character. The colour scheme is also very relevant to the Dexter calendar as it compliments the plot and storyline in the series and the red glow around the image puts the focus on Dexter.
Another film poster that I have looked at is one for G.I. Joe
link: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/01/27/gi-joe-char-poster-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/01/gi_joe_posters_using_classic_l.php&usg=__Ko8XLBBh3U31qmYDbUaX9nERWdI=&h=667&w=450&sz=51&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Z3GEuzsdjwZ4OIv1ZpHbQw&zoom=1&tbnid=KZmlS0Fdv3Vz-M:&tbnh=162&tbnw=109&ei=MoXJTYDBHIPVtAbg-q2PAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfilm%2Bposter%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D834%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=335&page=1&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0&tx=79&ty=74
I believe this is a good poster as there is one photo which takes up the whole of the page which puts all the attention on to the figure in the poster. By having just one image on the page, all the focus is to the one image and the viewer does not need to try and work out whats happening in all of the other images included.
The colour scheme featured in this poster is good as it shows a contrast between the subject (the lady) which is a dark colour and the background colour which is a light colour. Next to the figure, is the film title which is on the right hand side of the page, going down the right side of the page. This is an unusual location for the title as when I have looked at the Google results the main location for the title was either at the top of the page or the bottom of the page. In this case however, the title works really well as it makes the best use of the space.
There are very few other items on the page which are logos of the distributor and screenplay etc. This part of the poster looks good but it would benefit having more information on such as a release date which would give the audience a greater understanding of the purpose of the poster (other than to just build hype and inform the audience of a new film).
What have I learnt from this task?
By doing this task, I have a greater understanding of the conventions of a poster and to see what works and what doesn't.
An advantage of creating a poster for this year, is that in AS media I created a magazine cover and a article so I already have knowledge of using the software and seeing what works and what doesn't work.
To improve my research for my article, I could look into more posters which would increase my knowledge of posters and in turn, improve the ideas I have towards my poster. The more amount of ideas I will have will help me to pick out all of the best bits of each idea and make my final product a very good product which will be completed to a high standard.
I have found a poster of Dexter which is an inspiration for the photo that I will use for the poster I create.
Dexter poster:
http://tvshowdexter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/dexter-calender.jpg
This image is inspirational as the hoody over Dexter's head and the shading over his eyes and face helps portray the dark side of his character which is the effect that I want to create using Matthew.
Although that the image I have found is for a calendar, I believe that it would make an effective poster as the main focus is on the main character and there is little text and other items that do not take the focus off of the character. The colour scheme is also very relevant to the Dexter calendar as it compliments the plot and storyline in the series and the red glow around the image puts the focus on Dexter.
Another film poster that I have looked at is one for G.I. Joe
link: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/01/27/gi-joe-char-poster-3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2009/01/gi_joe_posters_using_classic_l.php&usg=__Ko8XLBBh3U31qmYDbUaX9nERWdI=&h=667&w=450&sz=51&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Z3GEuzsdjwZ4OIv1ZpHbQw&zoom=1&tbnid=KZmlS0Fdv3Vz-M:&tbnh=162&tbnw=109&ei=MoXJTYDBHIPVtAbg-q2PAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dfilm%2Bposter%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D834%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=335&page=1&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0&tx=79&ty=74
I believe this is a good poster as there is one photo which takes up the whole of the page which puts all the attention on to the figure in the poster. By having just one image on the page, all the focus is to the one image and the viewer does not need to try and work out whats happening in all of the other images included.
The colour scheme featured in this poster is good as it shows a contrast between the subject (the lady) which is a dark colour and the background colour which is a light colour. Next to the figure, is the film title which is on the right hand side of the page, going down the right side of the page. This is an unusual location for the title as when I have looked at the Google results the main location for the title was either at the top of the page or the bottom of the page. In this case however, the title works really well as it makes the best use of the space.
There are very few other items on the page which are logos of the distributor and screenplay etc. This part of the poster looks good but it would benefit having more information on such as a release date which would give the audience a greater understanding of the purpose of the poster (other than to just build hype and inform the audience of a new film).
What have I learnt from this task?
By doing this task, I have a greater understanding of the conventions of a poster and to see what works and what doesn't.
An advantage of creating a poster for this year, is that in AS media I created a magazine cover and a article so I already have knowledge of using the software and seeing what works and what doesn't work.
To improve my research for my article, I could look into more posters which would increase my knowledge of posters and in turn, improve the ideas I have towards my poster. The more amount of ideas I will have will help me to pick out all of the best bits of each idea and make my final product a very good product which will be completed to a high standard.
Research into magazine articles - film review
For this research task I have looked at several reviews from magazines and also from the Empire website to get an idea of the conventions of a film review and to see the typical layout of the page.
Empire
I have looked on the Empire website to look at recent reviews to help me create my own.
This is the link:
Film review for "Hanna"
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137215
The style of the Empire's review is that it mainly talks about the action within the film and making comparisons to other films that the director has produced as well as other films by other directors.
Empire starts off by giving a brief summary of the plot and then goes on to the review followed by the verdict and giving it a star rating.
I like the way that the review opens with the plot which immediately tells the reader about the film if they do not already know about it which is a feature I would like to include in my article as it immediately engages the film with the reader. I also like the way that in the "Review" section of the review, Empire has focused on explaining the character.
An aspect of the review that I do not like, is the section named "Review" as the main focus is of the story line and the action involved which is just amplification of the plot. Despite, Empire giving the film four stars, they do not critise the film enough and only include one paragraph (7th out of 8th paragraph) about how the camera shots fit the purpose and amply the subject matter.
Overall, I believe that it is a shame that the plot is the main focus of the review and that it would become a better review if more of the focus was on how the film was filmed and any improvements that could be made.
Layout
- The page is divided into three sections: Plot, Review and Verdict.
- The page contains a box with facts about the film in.
- The page contains one image of the main character.
Total Film 50
I have also looked at the "Total Film 50" magazine (issue 150, Date January 2009) to get inspiration as to how the articles are layed out and what features articles they have written include.
- On each of the reviews featured in the opening line of the text is the date that the film will be out. This is a good point to include as it is important to let the reader know when the film will be released.
Slumdog Millionaire
I have looked at the review for Slumdog Millionaire which got a four star review. The text begins with the release date for the film followed by a question which draws the reader into the review. The review then goes on to the explaining the plot and comparing it to other films. The review then ends by summing up the genre of the film and has a final paragraph named "In short" which summarises the opinion of the person that had written the review.
Summary:
- Each of the reviews has a box which states the raw facts of the film which is a convention I would like to follow.
- Each review has a star rating beneath the title.
- Underneath the title of the film reviewed, there is a tag line.
- The review is not critical towards the film which is a feature I would expect to see as the film only got a four star rating.
Layout
- This review is not a feature review and covers half an A4 page.
- The review shows the title, one picture, the rating of the film and a tag line.
- There is a box which contains facts about the film.
- The review is followed by the name of the person reviewing the film.
DVD and Blu-ray review
I have also looked at the "DVD and Blu-ray review" magazine (issue 148, December 2010 ) to get a better understanding of how a different magazine writes their reviews.
Toy Story 3
This review is the best review I have read so far as its main focus is not on the plot. The review mentions the history behind the film and talks about the plot but does not give a lot of attention to the individual events that make up the plot which I believe is important as it doesn't spoil the film for the reader. The review also critsises the film against the previous ones and also compares the technology (the quality of picture). The review then ends with the "Final word" which sums up the review.
Layout
The page is laid out with the title and the star rating of the film. The double page spread also contains many brightly coloured pictures which is very appealing.
Evaluation of task
Although the film reviews that I have looked at have not been of the same genre as my film, the conventions of the reviews will be the same. An improvement to the research of articles would be to look into a greater selection of reviews and look at films that have a similar genre to the film I will be making.
What have I learnt from this and what I would want to include in my own article?
By looking at these reviews, I have got an idea of how to structure the article ie starting with a summary of the plot, followed by the review then the verdict at the end to sum up the review which is a convention (seen in Empire and Total Film 50) that I would like to include in my own article. I also like that the website contains a box on the left hand side with the film details in which is good as it gives raw facts at just a glance (such as Directors name, running time, the cast, the certificate, the screenplay and the distributor - list found in Total Film 50).
I have also decided that I would like to focus more on how the film was made rather than the storyline within it. By not going in depth into the plot, I believe I would not be revealing too much information the reader who would want to go and see the film as I would not want to spoil it for them.
Empire
I have looked on the Empire website to look at recent reviews to help me create my own.
This is the link:
Film review for "Hanna"
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137215
The style of the Empire's review is that it mainly talks about the action within the film and making comparisons to other films that the director has produced as well as other films by other directors.
Empire starts off by giving a brief summary of the plot and then goes on to the review followed by the verdict and giving it a star rating.
I like the way that the review opens with the plot which immediately tells the reader about the film if they do not already know about it which is a feature I would like to include in my article as it immediately engages the film with the reader. I also like the way that in the "Review" section of the review, Empire has focused on explaining the character.
An aspect of the review that I do not like, is the section named "Review" as the main focus is of the story line and the action involved which is just amplification of the plot. Despite, Empire giving the film four stars, they do not critise the film enough and only include one paragraph (7th out of 8th paragraph) about how the camera shots fit the purpose and amply the subject matter.
Overall, I believe that it is a shame that the plot is the main focus of the review and that it would become a better review if more of the focus was on how the film was filmed and any improvements that could be made.
Layout
- The page is divided into three sections: Plot, Review and Verdict.
- The page contains a box with facts about the film in.
- The page contains one image of the main character.
Total Film 50
I have also looked at the "Total Film 50" magazine (issue 150, Date January 2009) to get inspiration as to how the articles are layed out and what features articles they have written include.
- On each of the reviews featured in the opening line of the text is the date that the film will be out. This is a good point to include as it is important to let the reader know when the film will be released.
Slumdog Millionaire
I have looked at the review for Slumdog Millionaire which got a four star review. The text begins with the release date for the film followed by a question which draws the reader into the review. The review then goes on to the explaining the plot and comparing it to other films. The review then ends by summing up the genre of the film and has a final paragraph named "In short" which summarises the opinion of the person that had written the review.
Summary:
- Each of the reviews has a box which states the raw facts of the film which is a convention I would like to follow.
- Each review has a star rating beneath the title.
- Underneath the title of the film reviewed, there is a tag line.
- The review is not critical towards the film which is a feature I would expect to see as the film only got a four star rating.
Layout
- This review is not a feature review and covers half an A4 page.
- The review shows the title, one picture, the rating of the film and a tag line.
- There is a box which contains facts about the film.
- The review is followed by the name of the person reviewing the film.
DVD and Blu-ray review
I have also looked at the "DVD and Blu-ray review" magazine (issue 148, December 2010 ) to get a better understanding of how a different magazine writes their reviews.
Toy Story 3
This review is the best review I have read so far as its main focus is not on the plot. The review mentions the history behind the film and talks about the plot but does not give a lot of attention to the individual events that make up the plot which I believe is important as it doesn't spoil the film for the reader. The review also critsises the film against the previous ones and also compares the technology (the quality of picture). The review then ends with the "Final word" which sums up the review.
Layout
The page is laid out with the title and the star rating of the film. The double page spread also contains many brightly coloured pictures which is very appealing.
Evaluation of task
Although the film reviews that I have looked at have not been of the same genre as my film, the conventions of the reviews will be the same. An improvement to the research of articles would be to look into a greater selection of reviews and look at films that have a similar genre to the film I will be making.
What have I learnt from this and what I would want to include in my own article?
By looking at these reviews, I have got an idea of how to structure the article ie starting with a summary of the plot, followed by the review then the verdict at the end to sum up the review which is a convention (seen in Empire and Total Film 50) that I would like to include in my own article. I also like that the website contains a box on the left hand side with the film details in which is good as it gives raw facts at just a glance (such as Directors name, running time, the cast, the certificate, the screenplay and the distributor - list found in Total Film 50).
I have also decided that I would like to focus more on how the film was made rather than the storyline within it. By not going in depth into the plot, I believe I would not be revealing too much information the reader who would want to go and see the film as I would not want to spoil it for them.
Target audience for each product
Film
My target audience for this film would be for teenagers and older because of the genre of the film. Although you do not see the crime scene, the atmosphere crteated would not be suited to the younger viewer. This is why I have given the film a "15" classification which means nobody younger than 15 is allowed to either watch or purchase the film.
I have posted a forum topic on the college website asking about peoples favourite films and film genres which will give me an idea on the number of poeple who are interested in horror/ suspense films. Although the core audience of the forum will be teenagers between 14 and 19, the forum is also avaliable to teachers and the mature students which should allow a broader view of my target audience.
These are the results:
Poster
The audience for my poster will be the target audience for the film. This is because, the target age group is above 15 years which will mean that the people will be independant and will be able to make their own minds up about watching the film - unlike a film for young children, the target audience for the film would be parents.
Specifically, my target audience for the poster will be people who enjoy suspense/ thriller films as this is the intended genre for the film. However, if my poster was to be featured in a cinema or in a magazine, a larger audience will be addressed including people who do not enjoy suspense films.
Article
The target audience for my article will be general film magazine readers. This is because not all of the people in my target audience for the film will read film magazines on a regular basis. This will mean that the main audience for the film would not be addressed by distributing the article in a film magazine.
Specifically, my target audience for the article will be people who enjoy suspense/ thriller films as this is the intended genre for the film. However, if my article was to be published in an magazine, it will reach a much larger audience which will include people who do not enjoy suspense films. However, as the audience are likely to keen on watching many films, there is potential to get a greater audience of people. This is because people who do not necessarily watch many suspense films may have enjoyed the article and have been intruiged by the film, they may decide to watch it.
My target audience for this film would be for teenagers and older because of the genre of the film. Although you do not see the crime scene, the atmosphere crteated would not be suited to the younger viewer. This is why I have given the film a "15" classification which means nobody younger than 15 is allowed to either watch or purchase the film.
I have posted a forum topic on the college website asking about peoples favourite films and film genres which will give me an idea on the number of poeple who are interested in horror/ suspense films. Although the core audience of the forum will be teenagers between 14 and 19, the forum is also avaliable to teachers and the mature students which should allow a broader view of my target audience.
These are the results:
Poster
The audience for my poster will be the target audience for the film. This is because, the target age group is above 15 years which will mean that the people will be independant and will be able to make their own minds up about watching the film - unlike a film for young children, the target audience for the film would be parents.
Specifically, my target audience for the poster will be people who enjoy suspense/ thriller films as this is the intended genre for the film. However, if my poster was to be featured in a cinema or in a magazine, a larger audience will be addressed including people who do not enjoy suspense films.
Article
The target audience for my article will be general film magazine readers. This is because not all of the people in my target audience for the film will read film magazines on a regular basis. This will mean that the main audience for the film would not be addressed by distributing the article in a film magazine.
Specifically, my target audience for the article will be people who enjoy suspense/ thriller films as this is the intended genre for the film. However, if my article was to be published in an magazine, it will reach a much larger audience which will include people who do not enjoy suspense films. However, as the audience are likely to keen on watching many films, there is potential to get a greater audience of people. This is because people who do not necessarily watch many suspense films may have enjoyed the article and have been intruiged by the film, they may decide to watch it.
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