What kind of influence do film posters have?

Film posters can have a variety of different influences on a film and audience. On the film it can be a good way of advertising the movie, you can make a viewer laugh, cry, or simply just interest them with a good effective poster. They can also be quite popular with the fan cult following the certain movies. For the average person, the trailer and film poster has the potential to influence their choice to choose that certain movie. When visiting the cinema you either know what movie you want to watch, or you can use the film posters as an incentive to your decision. A successful advertising campaign uses film posters as a key incentive to watch or buy the movie. A film poster is usually the first form of advertising a movie produces, it is the first real insight into the movie. It can give a strong idea of what and who the main protagonist is. It will also give a good idea to genre of the movie, if it is an action motion-picture, there will traditonally be some kind of action looking scene on the front, either that or something that screams out "serious action".

To serious fan cults, obtaning the iconic film posters is a must, influential film posters such as the 1975 big hitter "Jaws".

Film posters are also appreciated in their "attractiveness"

Learning how to use photoshop

As I was new to the most of the adobe software, I thought I would make a start with Photoshop as that was necessary for creation of both my ancillary tasks. I used the website http://www.adobephotoshoptutorials.com/
it allowed me to get used to the basics and more! It built confidence in my Photoshop skills and I felt confident to try new things within the software. I would recommend the website for its wide variety of videos and aid to build up your skills in the Photoshoping world.

Research on how to use effective shots

I wanted to remind myself on some good camera shots and how to use them effectively. I visited many websites and learned a variety of new shots that will hopefully help me when it comes to the filming of my project. I hope to integrate as many shots as I can in my movie without make it look unnecessary.
 List of shots

• Extreme Wide shot: used to set the scene or shot (establishing shot)
• Very wide shot (yes there is a difference)  The subject is visible (barely), but the emphasis is still on placing him in his environment
• Wide shot: 
•  The subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as comfortably possible.
• Mid shot:  Shows some part of the subject in more detail while still giving an impression of the whole subject.
• Medium up close shot: Halfway between a mid shot and a close up.
• Close up:  A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.
• Extreme close up: Self explanatory really
• Cut in:  Shows some (other) part of the subject in detail.
• Cut away:  A shot of something other than the subject.
• Over the shoulder shot: Looking from behind a person at the subject.
• Point of view shot: Shows a view from the subject's perspective.
• Two shot: A shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.

A few picture examples

Point of view shot

Extreme wide shot 

Research into the Film Review Ancillary task

For the film review, I wanted to get some background information on the conventions of a film review. This ranging from the layout, format, color etc. I visited a wide variety of film reviews to get a diverse look at what the similarities are and the differences among competitors in the market.

Similarities

• All seem to use columns in their layout choice, it is effective in many ways, easy and concise to read, reasonably attractive on the eye and it has a certain professionalism feel to it.
• Most are very formal in their writing, never any slang or loose phrases. Tends to be very strongly opinionated but with an element of fairness. Some film reviews could simply make or break a film just on the vast majority of voters.
• Pretty much all of the sites with have a rating for the film, whether in stars (Empire) or tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes). Either way there will be some form of rating system present in the film review.
• Pretty much all of the films reviews have shots or the film poster in the review, maybe to break up the text with a bit of visual attraction. Seems like a good idea rather than boring the consumer with facts and figures. Hit them with something from the movie, a teaser and they would most likely be more incline to digest both the review and the film.
• They all seem to include some facts about the film, who its star's, how long it is, director, producer etc.
• They also tends to include the release date if not already released in a certain country.

Differences

• Admittedly some were very formal and factual, but that was not always the case, other websites offering a much more qwerky take. Example (Rotten tomatoes) Effective and funny, very modern and could see why it would appeal the younger generation. 
• Not all the film reviews include images of the film.
• Not all the film reviews provide details on all the elements of the film, some just include big named actors, director, release date and other facts that have been chosen to solely entice the consumer. 

I could go on about many differences and similarities between the film reviewers, but the whole point of this task was to get a general understanding on how and why people use film reviews and how useful they really are. The task has helped me to understand the normal conventions they use, for example facts about the movie is a must, an overall rating, columns seems to be both formal and digestible, the review doesn't have to just be formal, plain, bland, there is an audience for effective, funny and still useful sites such as Rotten Tomatoes.

An example of the Rotten Tomatoes rating system

  

2.	100%	King Kong (19

Broad to do list

• Not in order!
• Finish script and finalize it.
• Get actors/actor.
• Find suitable locations.
• Research for the magazine poster and film review
• Organize props, actors, locations and booking for a camera.
• Organize shot by shot list and diagrams if necessary.
• Organize solid dates when everything can get done.
• Print out the script for the actor/actors
• Draw scene sketches for a rough idea
• Locate sound effects and soundtrack if necessary
• Find a voice for the narration, maybe the actor
• Get some inspiration for film poster and film review
• Get some inspiration on the certain genre of my film
• Learn more about the use of different shots
• Learn more about how to edit and use different software

Examples of a few film posters I have looked at.

The Dark Knight

When I first saw the film poster for The Dark Knight I was instantly drawn in, not only does it appeal to my love for the Batman franchise, but it suggests some serious amount of action in the film itself. The burning ash floating down, the on fire batman logo, the smoke rising from the building all gives the feel of an action packed blockbuster! With the great cast with the likes of Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Micheal Caine and Morgan Freeman it is hard to go wrong. The names on the poster are key to grasping certain audiences that appreciate these well respected actors, its obvious that the movie is trying to play on that fact by mentioning these big names on the front of the poster. But in comparison to the rest of the poster, the names only take up a small percentage of the room. The poster seems to put more emphasis on the Batman franchise itself rather than the actors present in the movie, the complete opposite to the John Wayne films. The iconic Batman image is evidently present as in all the Batman films, it would struggle to be a Batman movie without that logo, however it has been developed over time and in this case set alight to suggest that this is a very action packed Batman movie. This is also reinforced with the line "Welcome to a world without rules" this most likely being the first line someone reads as it is at the top. It gives a clear indication of the whole big action packed Batman movie. All of these little things add up to produce a mouth-watering poster fundamentally emphasising the action blockbuster style of the movie.

The Dark Knight produces also "abused" the fact that it was Heath Ledger's last act by making posters solely focused on the joker (Heath Ledger) this is questionably unethical as it is a sensitive subject, but it can also be seen as appreciation towards the great actor. So there was not much opposition to the use of Heath, playing on the fact that it was his great last act. However this poster is not just there to highlighting Heath's last big act, it plays a crucial role in advertising a main character in the film. It also has the famous quote the joker says "Why so serious" this quote is very popular across the Batman fan base and most people that watched the movie, many people attempt to imitate the way it was said and became a popular quote in society with those that watched the film. The red blood writing is also highlighting some blood is involved, this suggesting some kind of action is going to take place, Batman is renowned for his serious face during the movies, this quote suggests a quote said directly to Batman during a potential action scene or some kind of face off between the two. The long bloody smile is also iconic in this film, the joker uses this is a malicious way to make people smile permanently.

This film poster is Pineapple Express, a comedy made by Seth Rogan. Seth Rogan is well known for his comic methods of entertainment and is quite successful in connecting with the audience. He has this certain essence of "loveablity" surrounding him. This film poster is quite comic in itself, there is smoke in the background and knowing Seth Rogan is a comedian and features weed in a lot of his movies, the chances are the smoke is something to do with the weed. His face also enforces the idea that the smoke is weed, after all his face is in weed terms "monged" both eyes quite small but one smaller than the other, and the big cheeky smile are all well known effects of weed, the laughing/smiling at anything stage. This film poster also uses previous big comedy hits such as Superbad to advertise the product. Stating that it is "From the guys who brought you Superbad" this is another technique films use to advertise, using previous hits to gain reputation for the new movie, the audience will also know what to expect from the movie. In this case a bundle of stupidity, laughs and most likely to involve drugs!


Compared to The Dark Knight the film poster is almost converse. It is different in pretty much every way apart from advertising the actor/actors name's on the front of the poster. Both of the posters are clear example for the differences in genre. The comic poster is very laid back, nothing confusing, a few questions answered. But if you watch Seth Rogans movies you would quite quickly understand what the poster is suggesting. Conversely The Dark Knight is quite clearly going to involve some kind of action scene most likely involving a building blowing up as seen in the background of the poster. Both posters give a clear indication of how the traditional action and comedy genre's represent their work in the form of posters. Actions predominately involve some kind of explosion in the background. Comedies usually involve some kind of comic picture on the front, in the case of Pineapple Express it is Seth Rogans "stoned" face.

Who reads magazine reviews?

Magazine reviews can be viewed in two main ways, either online or out of the magazine. Other devices such as phones and tablets can be used but ultimately it uses the Internet as a provider. But who actually reads the magazines reviews? To state the obvious, lovers of film are most likely to read the magazine reviews maybe even contribute in the review in some way. But it is not as simple as that, some people read magazine reviews to find out if the movie is worth watching, no one wants to spend money of a film that is rubbish, to confirm that the movie is worthwhile people use magazine reviews to get the details on the movie and the overall rating usually out of ten. However some people may just read the review after the movie to see if people agree, if some people are touched by a film, they like to research it and people can use magazine reviews to get a more in depth view of the film. Some film reviewers get a sneak peak or early showing of the film, this would also be appealing to certain people that want to find out more about the upcoming movie they want to watch. Overall there is a very diverse variety of people that read magazine reviews, some just because they want to see if the movie is good, or just because they want to get a sneak peak at what the movie is like before general release. Either way magazine reviews are popular for the many services it can provide to the consumer.

Does a bad review ruin the films chances?

The success of a film is determined by many factors, good reviews being a key factor in the success of a film. If there is a substantial amount of bad reviews about a movie, it is quite obvious the film is bad or simply aimed at a small target group. If a film gets the odd bad review, it usually has an effect but not a substantial one. If a film gets a huge amount of bad review the chances of more people seeing the film is quite low. Really it all depends on the franchise of the film, if it is known, famous actors/crew and another big factor being good reviews. No one wants to go to the cinema and waste nearly ten pounds of a film that is poor, especially in times of huge amounts of deficit. Many people use film reviews to one, make sure it is a good film by looking at the rating. Then seeing if it is appealing to their taste and need at the time. Even if a film has got a bad review, but has a great cast, some people will see the film just because of the cast. For example, the John Wayne films were arguably bad movies, but because John Wayne was in the movies it was an instant hit. Big well loved actors can easily make or break a movie.

This is a perfect example of how John Wayne would sell the movies even if they are mediocre films.

However not every film is graced by the presence of a big, well loved star like John Wayne. They have to rely on other ways to appeal, such as film reviews. Film reviews can easily make or break a film, however they can also portray the film in a completely different light to other reviews. All reviews are going to be diverse and appeal to a certain group of people, its a well known fact that not everyone has the same taste in film. But there is a majority holder known as mainstream films. Big hit action movies are listed under the category of mainstream films. Most big budget films will  include some element of mainstream ideology. The aim to please the masses.

Many films have a diverse reviewing opinion, for example "Real Steel" has had mixed reviews on a huge variety of different websites. On the likes of IMDb the movie has a 7.4 rating, this is a respectable rating and its created by thousands of users voting for the rating, this is also quite reliable as it gives a wide opinion of many people, instead of a standard review in a magazine developed by one person or a team of people.

Steven (started something I couldn't finish)

This short film is based around a limited page of quotes to inspire us, issued by my teacher.

Ideas..

Well, I am planning to update this post with every single idea I get and develop a select few. My plan is to challenge instead of conform, make it different in some manner. Maybe go for the mixed up scenes or twists in the plot, either way I want to make it mine, unique in some fashion.

1. Idea 1: Okay, basic plot, boy and girl talking over Skype or some kind of web communication service, girl jokes about wanting her parents killed as they have upset her somehow, boy takes it literally and decides to take on the challenge of killing the parents, but how to do it is the question. There is also a lot of tension between the mother and father, mother even decides to cheat on the husband with some other man, the man however could be a suspect to the murder. 
2. Idea 2: I want to express something close to me, something that actually means something, but I am lost for how to express some kind of problem or feeling. All I know is that I want to do something personal to me. 
3. Idea 3: I have always wanted to express the talented but somehow impaired in his talent, for example a blind guitarist, or a deaf pianist. Something along them lines. But musical instruments have been done before, I want to do something different, something close to me... 
4. Idea 4: Something completely random, not much point to it, but it is successful in its own right. Something weird or crazy.. along the lines of this boy that has an imaginary friend even though he is nearly an adult, then when he is finally made to face his imagination he breaks down.. 
5. Idea 5: Something a long the lines of family, that has always been a close thing to me and many. How to show the importance of family without the normal deaths is the question.. I would like to stay away from all the traditional dying and trying to deal with it kind of stuff.. yes it happens pretty much 24/7 but everyone knows that, I want to try something new, put emphasis on something new...

How are short films consumed?

Short films have a diverse market. It ranges from Internet websites (BBC film network) to live film festivals (Berlin film festival). They can also be consumed from extras of DVDs However compared to feature films the market is considerably smaller than that of shorts. Shorts are occasionally broad casted as a filler when a feature film is too long for the designated time slot. Short films are a typical first stage for new filmmakers. However, professional actors and crews still choose to create short films as alternative form of expression. Short film making is growing in popularity as equipment becomes cheaper and more amateurs are making films. Shorts are also growing in schools, they are accessible due to the cheap equipment, not too long and can be respectable even at a low budget. Most schools in the UK either create short films in their media studies, or they create a music video, but recently the short films have grown in popularity in schools.

Examples of quite big successes in short films are big companies such as Disney, when they acquired Pixar in 2005 they started to make big hits such as Goofy. Also Dreamworks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, an example of this is on the DVD release of classic Warner Brothers films such as "The Adventures of Robin Hood".