Further Research Into Film Trailers - George

Man of Steel Trailer

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F-toIu5JscE

 

The link above is for the trailer of the 2013 film 'Man of Steel'

As is the case with most trailers, this one begins with a green ratings card declaring the films approval from the motion picture association on America, INC. This is one of the ways trailer are automatically recognised by audiences. Something which is of vital importance in trailers is the music and use of sound. The overlapping of sounds over different scenes and the use of non-diegetic voiceovers often helps establish some sort of hint to the story.

Within the 'Man of Steel' trailer we hear the words ' You will give the people an ideal to strive towards.  They will race behind you, they will stumble, they will fall. But in time, they will join you in the sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders".  We have been wondering whether to use voiceover in our film and this is an example of how effective it can be in establishing a tone for the film. This has a kind of epic quality and already hints at an overall narrative arc - there is a hero of some kind who needs popular support to achieve a task. It will look as if it cannot be completed, but will be in the end. We later find out that this man is Superman.

We now live in a time where film fanatics are looking for new takes on overused and overdone genres, the superhero genre being one of them. As we know, Clark Kent is usually portrayed as a wealthy banker, as are many other superheroes e.g. Batman. Yet this film takes a different approach as Clark Kent is nothing more than a lonely fisherman. This is the kind of approach that entices audiences that are looking for something new. Music also helps contribute to a trailers appeal. If anything, music can make a trailer what it is. The 'Man of Steel' trailer uses a haunting soundtrack that works very effectively. This helps with the appeal of the trailer majorly. Editing can help show genre in a trailer, e.g. Fast cuts for action films, slow for romantic/comedy. If there are too many shots to a trailer, it may become confusing. So it is of vital importance that the editing in a trailer is of the right quality, timing and pace. 

This was a useful trailer to watch. The story we are trying to tell is quite a 'big' story - conflict, war, cover ups that go beyond the individuals to a much wider political scale etc. We need our trailer to have a similar epic feel and can borrow ideas from this as to how to achieve it.

Further Research Into Magazine Covers - George

Film magazine Covers

 

 

Film magazine covers are a convenient way of films and magazines appealing and selling to a wide audience. As you can see from the picture above the film magazine cover has two key benefits. Firstly it advertises the film and secondly the magazine also has the potential to sell extra issues depending on the appeal of the film. Although many magazines have a dominant image placed in front of the title, the masthead is still given a distinct colour e.g. bold red. This is to give the magazine a considerable identity when some of the attention is drawn away by the large image associated with the film being publicised. For the magazine to be successful, it must advertise the film without drawing to much attention away from the magazine title itself, otherwise floating readers will take little notice of what the magazine is actually called. This magazine cover is totally dominated by the featured film. It is the biggest font I have seen used to show the title and the main image is also extremely dominant. In this case, Empire are sure that interest in this film is going to sell the magazine for them.

 

This is a very text-heavy cover. If I were presenting this as coursework, I would be worried about being criticised for not getting the right balance between text and image. This is something I am noticing a lot as I research - that I often look at 'real' media products and spot things that I think would be marked down if they were presented as part of a media exam. This shows that in the real media world, the criteria comes down to whether something works and is effective and there are not as many strict rules about e.g.layout as I initially thought.



Further Research into Film Posters - George

Movie Posters

I decided to look at a film poster from the past to see what has changed about posters and also to see if there is anything that has been forgotten as a technique and could usefully be revived to advertise a film today, particularly as anything with a distinctive retro feel tends to be popular at the moment. I decided to pick a big, popular film as that is what we are imagining our film would be and we are going to be promoting it as if it were destined to be a huge blockbuster.

Singin' in the Rain

 

 

 

- Here we can see that there has been a dominant title placed in the centre as to provide information to what the genre may be (singin'=musical).

- This text also links directly to the main background image which is of three people who appear to be singing and dancing in the rain, giving a clear indication that it may be a musical genre. Also the words 'MGM's TECHNICOLOR MUSICAL TREASURE!' provide the classification needed to confirm that this is indeed a musical.

- This poster appeals to audience in a few ways. It does this firstly by listing the actors that star in the film. During this time, Gene Kelly was a huge movie star so fans of his acting will be enticed by this. The colours and words used on the poster are also often associated with positivity e.g. White and blue colours, words like 'singin' and 'musical'. This entices fans of more light hearted films.

- Overall, this poster provides a distinct sense of genre through text being linked with imagery. It also appeals to audiences well even though it provides little sign of a distinct hint to the storyline, yet this is part of the way posters appeal to an audience as people become curious as too what the film may be about.

- A key thing to notice is that the actors are drawn rather than photographed. This is an intersting idea that we could maybe look at with our poster. I'm not sure it is quite right for our theme, but would give a more old-fashioned feel to sut the kind of old-fashioned tale we are telling.
 



Initial Evaluation of Promotional Campaigns - Brendon

 “The Avengers” 2012

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The Avengers marketing campaign was started back in 2008, albeit very briefly. The company was dropping small hints at the end of the first “Avenger, Iron Man” movie. This tease carried on in the second all the way to the fifth separate Avenger specific movie from 2008 with Iron Man to 2011 with Thor. Each of these movies hinted at the Avengers being joined together for ultimately a team or joint movie. This marketing strategy, that had started years before the movies release, was exceptionally brilliant as it bought all the fans from each of the different characters together and made all of them watch all the movies until the very end, even through the credits of the movie to see the next hint at the Avengers movie to follow gaining suspense and getting people interested in the movie well before it came out so when the movie was released the hype was immense. The current Avengers movie also hinted at the end after the credits of a new villain, carrying on in the same marketing theme/strategy as the previous in the saga.

 The Teaser Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJK3TVVceSc

The first teaser trailer was released in July of 2011. This trailer started off with a black screen with the Avengers emblem slowly fading in from the back. A voiceover from Samuel Jackson (one of the main characters in the movie) starts by explaining how the avengers were formed, and how it was a day unlike any previous. As the voiceover continues we see a panning down shot of a building in New York and as the camera stops panning we see Captain America running out of that building looking disorientated. The next shot is of Captain America running through the streets filled with cars and people, the shot changes to a view of the public and what is happening around him as he runs towards the camera where he stops due to a fair amount of black vehicles pulling up around him, where the voice over voice stops and is now heard from a character in the trailer. He states that the “Captain” has been asleep for almost 70 years, which brings context to the new era he is in. That part of the trailer finishes with a title screen showing at the end of “Captain America” “The first Avenger”. The trailer then continues with a fast cut shot of each character in the Avengers movie finally finishing with them conversing slightly and then Samuel L Jackson talking again. That part of the trailer ends with a black slide and then the voiceover starts once again as the Avengers logo and then title fades from the blackness and then the trailer ends.

Final Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPpG4s3-O4

 

The trailer starts off with a ratings card as usual stating that this trailer is rated for the appropriate audiences. It then is followed by a black screen which quickly changes to a pan of the New York sky line. The next shot is of the camera panning through the buildings quickly, until a quick fade to black transition leads the shot into another shot a horrified lady looking from behind a window in a restaurant at the skyline. There is a constant voice over up until this point. The next shot is started by a loud noise and several cars being blown up causing havoc and chaos in the streets. This shot quickly transitions into a shot of some soldiers within the wreckage of buildings looking up at the skyline purposefully, the next shot follows a similar theme with police around their cars pointing there weapons to the sky. The next shot is of a dark room, the music is steadily increasing in sound bringing a sense of danger approaching, with a close up on a mans feet as he is walking forwards, followed by a shot of this man in the dark leading the viewer to believe he is the villain. The next shot is one of a street filled with cars being destroyed and explosions occurring. The trailer follows on with Samuel L Jackson doing a voice over again explaining how the avengers were bought together, as we see shots of the different members coming together in this S.H.I.E.L.D organisation. The next scene is of the characters conversing and teasing each other and playing on each others Ego’s. Next few shots are of each character within some sort of conflict followed by a title screen showing a date of release and a title slide for the name of the movie and the fact it will be in 3D.

 

Teaser Posters

 

 

These two posters are two of the original teaser posters. The one on the left would have been released very early in the campaign as it only shows the Avengers emblem and the words “ASSEMBLE 2012” over it. It also shows the production company “MARVEL”.

The second poster on the right would have been released later in the campaign as not only does it show the Avengers emblem but on either side of the emblem there is a half face shot of each of the avengers/characters from the movie being 8 in total. On the poster on the right there is also text showing the release year “2012” and the production companies as well as the catch phrase “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

Full campaign Posters

 

These two posters would have been from further in the campaign towards the end due to the specific date shown. The poster on the left would have been displayed later than the one on the right as it displays the names of all the main characters with a main image of all of them almost cascading from the hulk to iron man with the Avengers logo and title centrally placed towards the bottom of the picture with the credits underneath with a large specific release date seen in between the credits although at the bottom of the page. The second poster on the right however is on of the 8 special posters released with each one having a specific character featured centrally in the poster. This one has the “Black Widow” shown with a brief image of “Captain America” in the background. This poster displays the main character amongst some carnage as well as the film title central to the poster with the release date at the bottom of the poster with no credits.

Magazine covers

 

 

These magazine covers would have been issued mid way through the campaign. The Total Film magazine cover on the left shows three of the eight main characters from the movie in an arrow formation although they have the largest/tallest in front and the other two in the back ground the same height. The cover is effectively empty other than the main image and the movie title in the centre, the magazine title is at the top of the magazine cover in the movie colours although it is behind the main image so as not to undermine it. The Empire magazine however is a collector’s special edition cover which features iron man in this specific cover although there is a cover for each individual Avenger.  The cover consists of Iron Man central to the magazine cover with the movie title just underneath which is on top of a brief film strip of other films in the magazine. The back ground of the cover reflects the colours of the hero displayed on the cover as does the main title of the Empire magazine which is in the same colour and roughly the same font as the Avengers title on the cover.

Overall

This was a very elaborate and well-planned campaign. It began very early and shows how long the film was in the minds of its producers. It relies on the conventional elements of a teaser campaign such as trailers, posters and magazine covers, so there is a lot we can learn from this to give ideas for our campaign. One thing I have noticed is that a gradual tease over months or even years works very well to gain interest. Secondly, all the different elements of the campaign have to be considered in relation to each other. The order in which they are released dictates how they will be read and what information is taken from them. For example, if we plan teaser posters, there needs to be some buzz about the film already for these to work, especially as we are not working in a known franchise.

Initial Research Into Film Promotional Campaigns - George

The Avengers 

“The Avengers” was a film with a huge advertising campaign. It was released in the UK on the 26th of April. Yet before the film was released, teaser and full posters were used, as well as trailers and magazine promotions in order to help promote the film. The film’s premier was held on the 19th of April.

 As is the case with many other film campaigns, it all begins with the release of teaser posters. The first Avengers teaser poster was simply the avenger logo, this supplied little information yet allowed viewers to know that the film is to be released soon. This technique of mystery can only be used if the story or characters are familiar to lots of people, which in this case it is with films already made about characters such as 'Iron Man', 'Thor' and 'Captain America'. Even for those who were not familiar with the comic books or other films, there was swiftly a big internet buzz about this film making it easy for anyone to find out. 

Eventually the full 'Avengers' poster was released.

This supplied the audience with a lot more information. Within this poster we see 'Iron Man' standing at the front of the poster. This causes the reader to presume that he has adopted a more dominant role. Then behind 'Iron Man' we see the remainder of the Avengers. Each of them are standing in an action type pose which is a common occurrence in film promotional campaigns as they wish to catch the reader’s attention. It also establishes one of the key settings within the film – a big city, which is conventional for the genre. Generally, the aim of the full poster is to supply the audience with key information prior to the film’s release. It must also contain the billing block seen at the bottom for legal reasons.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1hPpG4s3-O4

The trailer includes a very high quantity of action shots, which of course grabs the viewer’s attention and promises them that this film will deliver on action and thrills. It also displays each character individually throughout to supply a basis of information about who they are and what they are seeking to do. This means that for any fan who has a favourite, there will be a some screen time for this character to reassure the audience that they are important to this film. This is achieved mainly through diegetic dialogue. Much of the screen time is given to the character 'Iron Man' as it seems that he has a somewhat dominant role in the film and might be seen as the ‘main’ character. Yet there are parts of the trailer which are fixated on establishing setting and other locations. In general it is clear that the trailer is set out to establish a genre, setting and in particular, a description of the characters and action.

As a promotional campaign, I can see how this was thought out. This was an easy film to promote in lots of ways because it had an established target audience already. Really all that was needed was to alert this audience that the film was coming out and leave them to do the rest themselves with chat and discussion on the internet. There are many versions of the trailer on YouTube, for example, and all with an extraordinary number of views and lots of comments left. It is easy to see that this campaign was simply based around alerting audiences to the fact that the film was being made in the teaser stage, then allowing them glimpses of the different characters involved to catch fans with more specific tastes.

Promoting a film that does not have an established audience must be much more difficult, and I imagine that is the reason why the most elaborate campaigns are created by the bog successful franchises. It is a lot of money to spend if there is not a good chance of success.

Evaluating Photoshop as a Tool for Making Print Products

1.            What have you learnt about the way Photoshop works?

We have learned how to add layers and merge them into a composite.

You can manipulate images, resize them, take parts out, add bits in, add text.

2.            What have you found most difficult about working with Photoshop?

Image extraction was difficult – you have to be very precise and it can look a bit ‘stuck on’ the background instead of realistic.

Working out what all the tools are – some of them are unfamiliar and some we didn’t use at all.

Trying to match colours between different images.

Having to confirm changes before moving to next step.

3.            Which of the tools have you found most useful?

Basic select tool which means you can resize and move around an image.

Blending outlines using blur tool. Smudge tool also good but more dramatic.

Text tool gives a lot of font options and colours.

Clone stamp to get rid of any small unwanted spots.

4.                 What are the main limitations of working with Photoshop?

You can only choose from the tools which are in the toolbar.

Can be a bit slow and frustrating if you are not used to it.

If your basic photo is not right, Photoshop can’t completely change it.

Images in pixel formats lose quality if made bigger.

5.                 Manovitch argues that software such as Photoshop encourages a focus on a new kind of creativity, “creativity through selection”. How creative does working with Photoshop allow you to be?

You can still be really creative even though you are limited. You are still creating something artistic and having to think about how you want things to look.

Lets people who can’t draw be creative.

You have to be creative to select right.

The way you combine existing images is creative.

Evaluating Print Products - Brendon

Poster

What worked well:

Chosen background reflected style of film (dark / horror) as it created a tunnel effect into centre of image where all the main action was placed.

Black and white filter over whole image helped to create sinister effect and made image overall flow nicely as without filter colours conflicted in terms of brightness and added images looked out of place.

What codes and conventions did I follow

Followed usual conventions of using dark background with black and white effect which is typical of genre.

What was not so successful

From feedback I see the poster is a little too dark and maybe empty.

May contain too many images /characters as feedback suggested.

Title is not big enough and appears to be afterthought – not placed correctly

What I will bear in mind for ‘real’ products

Have a large title that works well with main image

Image must convey narrative of movie more carefully

Will make everything easy to read and clear from a distance

Magazine Cover

What worked well

Main image seems placed well and is large enough to0 cover the expanse of the cover while leaving space for the masthead and other text as well as institutional necessaries e.g. price and barcode.

Text placed well although time limitations meant I did not put in intended special offer text and tag line.

What codes and conventions did I follow?

Normal conventions of layout e.g. textured background, not too busy or a solid colour

Maybe the background colour is a little too dark?

Main image looks right for a magazine cover and placed correctly in relation to masthead.

What was not successful?

Feedback suggests main image should have contained more emotion to convey more narrative and engage more

Same font overused and more variety needed

More teaser text needed (although time limitations played a part)

Masthead could be more prominent

What I will bear in mind for ‘real’ coursework

Will need a really engaging, large, prominent main image

Much more text needed

Needs to be planned in relation to image

Masthead should stand out

Fonts need to work well together