Actual Photoshoot

In today's lesson, we did the actual photoshoot for our print products. We did a variety of shots to experiment with positioning and body language. Here are a few examples from our shoot:

Test Shoot

In today's lesson, my group and I took some test shots. This was done to experiement with camera angles and prepare us for next weeks photoshoot with Edward. So when we get there, we will know exactly what positions to do to save time.etc. We are planning to have the female character taking up most of the frame with a mid shot and the male character positioned slightly to the side behind her, looking at her. This suggests she is the centre of attention, most importantly, the centre of his world.

Case Study - Film Review 3

This magazine review follows the conventions of a normal review. This is because it includes a screen shot from the film of the two main characters positioned at the top of the page and columns of journalistic text placed on the lower section of the page. The film review has four conventional columns of text, an image taken from the film and pull quotes. The lettering is simple and the house style is consistent. This film review is very simple and straight to the point. This helps with my planning ideas as I would like to keep the film review quite neat and simple therefore the audience will immediately understand the concept of the film and images. The review contains the release date, director, names of cast, running time and a brief plot of the film. This will automatically give the audience an idea of what the film is based on and whether or not it suits their individual genre/ style of film. The title of the film is displayed in a large noticeable font, which is easy to comprehend by the audience. It has a star rating of 4, which connotes it is a well put together film which has a positive review. The main review including what is good about the film and what it lacks.

Case Study - Film Review 2

This magazine review does not follow the codes and conventions of a usual film review. One of the first things you notice is the use of the large image which is brightly coloured to immediately grab the audience’s attention. The image is captured from action in the film and the large image takes up most of the frame, pointing out the two main characters. It is a double page spread as there is more space for images and some text boxes with relevant information. Smaller images show other clips from the film, the audience get a glimpse of the action and activities carried out during the film. The review page consists of one main large image, a smaller adjacent image and a series of smaller images along the bottom. The review is dominated by images, this suggests that the images speak for themselves therefore text is kept to a minimum. The Avatar characters are unusual and therefore individuals are intrigued to find out more about these creatures. This shows the use of special effects is huge in the film and this makes it appeal to all age groups, especially families. There is only two columns, the use of limited text connotes that the author of the article clearly thought the images would explain the film much better than text. However, the text used is of a consistent font and size from the title of the film which is in a larger font. Furthermore the text is in the same colour throughout the article. The only acceptation to this rule is the text under the title however this fits with the layout and design of the page.

Case Study - Film Review 1

This film review follows the main conventions of a magazine review as the image of the main character in action during the film is positioned at the top of the page and columns of journalism are placed at the bottom of the page. There are four columns with text and a quote pulled from the review to indicate importance. These are also conventional functions of a film review. Also the actors name is written in bold with the title to ensure readers know the film name and main character. The use of the text box has a quote from film critics, “At its best it’s a brilliantly simple movie.” This shows the positive response to the film. Magazine branding is consistent as the bold squared Q is at the top and bottom of the page to remind the audience which magazine they are reading, ‘Q Review Film’. The review contains a star rating of 3 which is average and shows the film is to a good standard. A critical opinion is then expressed by the writer to conclude the review. Mark Morris regarded it as ‘enjoyable rather than a real thriller’. The image was chosen deliberately as his star status will gain the film publicity and fan loyalty to the star. The image represents the male character as a strong hero. The combination of text and image as the caption, “Denzel Washington in Unstoppable: he’ll be writing a strongly worded letter to National Rail”, links to the image of the main male character holding two trains apart. The film is quite serious; therefore this adds an element of humor and takes the seriousness away from the film. This will then appeal to a wider audience as many individuals enjoy the comedy side of a film.

Case Study - Film Poster 3

The fact the background is a note book, suggests the male annotates and scribbles on his page almost like a dream, imagining them being a couple. However, in harsh reality, the chances of him getting close to her are slim. Notice the drawn love hearts are broken suggesting the failure to make Beth his girl. The use of the mid shot shows Beth standing strong and powerful with a seductive look on her face. She is represented as a beautiful independent and popular female. Whereas, even in his own imagination, Denis looks rather startled and shocked to even be standing that close to Beth. He is positioned behind her connoting he has less confidence and courage to be upfront about his feelings, this suggest who would take lead in the relationship. She is dressed in a white tank top. The colour white is considered to be the colour of perfection; it also connotes innocence and purity. This is how the male character sees her, innocent and pure. The lighting is brighter on Beth’s face to perhaps show she is glowing. Also, the crown over her name suggests she is a goddess, he looks up to her because she has all this confidence and he doesn’t. The lighting is not as bright on Denis image and his dull clothing shows a lack of imagination and personality. The title ‘I Love You, Beth Cooper’ is in block writing in a bubble. The colour red indicates Denis passion and love for the main female character. The title is simple and easy to comprehend; this will give the audience a hint of what the film is based on. The animations and note book suggest they are high school students as it is a little childish and the main target audience is teenagers. The film poster relates to my short film as the storylines are very similar, a nerdy boy falling in love with a popular girl. The elements of this film poster that I will cooperate into my own will be the main image as I think it helps portray their characters, especially when the shy boy is placed behind the girl. Also their facial expressions and body language really help to show their emotion towards each other and this is a stereotypical view that the nerdy boy will never get to be with the pretty girl. However, my short film challenges this view. Other textual elements the film poster includes is the text that runs over the males arm. This is the movies website which is presented in a more attractive way to the audience. Also the release date is in a black bold font which shows its importance as it stands out from the other text.

Case Study - Film Poster 2

This film is primarily aimed at teenagers; however some may argue its real audience is females as the issue of feminism and the debate between men and women are explored within this film. The film poster consists of very little which could be seen in two lights. Some may argue, it’s too plain and uninventive, which does not attract the audience’s full attention. On the other hand, others will argue that the simplicity of the poster is what is eye catching and the slogans themselves are what stand out. 'How Do I Loathe Thee? Let Me Count The Ways'. This film is based around the Shakespeare text, ‘The taming of the shrew’; therefore this slogan will give some hints to the audience about what the film is based on and whether it is a rewrite of Shakespeare’s original version or is it suppose to mislead us to another topic. Also the slogan of 'Romeo, Oh Romeo, Get out Of My Face' suggests teenager’s attitudes towards school and Shakespeare. They are perceived to be uninterested and foul mouthed. The tagline/slogans are positioned at the very top and bottom of the page, suggesting it follows the conventions of a normal film poster. This film is based on a love story; however the film poster strangely does not give away any clues of romance, apart from the colour red connoting love. Also, the word ‘hate’ does not give the audience much hope of a traditional love story. This challenges the codes and conventions of a stereotypical love story and adds a modern take of how society portrays love. The title of the film is the name of a poem ‘Kat’ writes about her bittersweet romance with the main male ‘Patrick’. The combination of text and image, whereby the arrow is directed at Patrick shows the audience who the title is targeted at. Minimal colour and scenery is used for this poster as the producers want the characters body language to speak for itself. The use of the long shot shows all the main characters and their body language and attire portray how their characters will be played out in the film. For example, Kat is the main female character, standing straight in the middle with a rather confident stance. She is seen to be a feisty feminist and the colour of her top (red) could connote anger or passion, two emotions she endures throughout the film. The producers ensured that there was an equal amount of males and females; therefore no gender was singled out, and this leaves the audience to decide who should be in control, women, men or both. The two male characters either side of Kat are dressed in dark dull clothing which portrays them as serious mysterious characters. The boys are standing firm to perhaps show their dominance and this begins the debate between males and females, one of the themes explored in the movie. Kat’s sister, Bianca, is dressed and positioned like a respectable innocent teenager, whereas we come to find in the film, she is in fact the popular girl at school who wants a huge social life and a handsome boyfriend, which she is denied by her controlling father. The other two young boys have a bit more colour to their wardrobe and they are pulling silly smiley faces which suggest they are happy teenagers just trying to fit into a very judgemental high school. This film poster will relate to my genre of short film as it tells of story of two falling in love. However the only difference is that this film has multiple characters whereas my film will only star the lead male and female as I want all the attention to be on them.

Case Study - Film Poster 1

The animated film has both elements of comedy and fantasy. It is based from another fantasy adventure 3D animated film from DreamWorks Animation. The lighting and colour scheme is very bright and colourful. This automatically grabs the audience’s attention. The use of the long shot captures all the action and helps explain the storyline and themes of the movie. It also displays the main characters which gives the audience a little glimpse of their personalities and their roles in the film. The main image is both creative and mythical as the characters you expect to be in a fairy tale are not usually an ogre, donkey and dragon. This therefore challenges the stereotypes of a fairytale. On the other hand, the sky is blue which is positive and connotes a happy ending and the fairytale castle is in the background, to show they do follow some norms of a fairytale storyline. The framing of the image is very important to the storyline. Shrek is positioned at the front as he is the main character. He looks built and strong which represents his strength and power. Fiona and Donkey are positioned either side of Shrek at the same level connoting they are competing for the spot to be Shrek’s partner, either romantically or friendly. The dragon is further in the background to indicate they are likely to get away from the beast. The fairytale castle is in the distance to suggest Fiona is escaping from her tower. Princesses are expected to stay in their castles as they are portrayed in a magical wonderful way, however, Fiona is running away from the castle which tells the audience a lot about what happens in the film. The main image tells the audience a lot about the characters and themes involved in the film. For example, the princess is wearing a gown and has a tiara on, which is the usual attire for royalty. However her body language shows otherwise. She is in a fighting position, suggesting she is not as innocent and calm as princesses should be. Also, a fire breathing dragon and talking donkey add an element of humour and fits the fantasy genre which will appeal to the target audience, children and families. The title is bold and colour coordinated to indicate the main character, Shrek the Ogre. The tagline/slogan “The greatest fairytale never told” is how the film describes itself. “Never told” suggests an original and untraditional storyline, as fairytales are usually told with a happy ending. However, Shrek follows a unique quirky storyline whereby the characters are not your usual princess and prince charming. One major difference between this film poster and mine is that this includes cartoon characters. Therefore the animated film is more likely to use a colour scheme of bright bold colours to attract the younger audience. This film poster relates to my style of film as the main storyline shows the journey of two very different characters slowly but surely falling in love. I will use similar elements of this poster when creating my own, such as the main characters facial expressions and body language saying a lot about their characters and what we expect to see within the film.

Our Pitch - Print Products

Accidentally In Love - Short Film

Our short film is finally on Youtube. Here is the link:

Planning our print products

In todays lesson, my group and I were discussing our print products and got inspired by the rom com "I love you Beth Cooper". I liked how the image is on a note pad page, making it obvious they are in school. We also experiemented with different fonts and we like the idea of the font being in a sketched style, showing it is hand written like scribbles on a note pad. The title of our film is "Accidentally in love". We have decided to have the word 'accidentally' slightly slanted to connote their romance was an accident as they are not youre normal couple.