Tuesday, 9 December 2008
DVD(back cover) blurb
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
location/test shots
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Mock Ups
I have designed two detailed mock ups of both my DVD covers (front and back) and the movie poster over the last couple of weeks, looking at what types of shots could be used the layout and typography to professional standard to create a successful piece of production work. By using my product and institution research I was able to get a rough idea of what types of shots to include in portraying the genre of the movie advertised and also the production values as well as plot. As shown in my product research the crime drama genre to display close ups or extreme close ups of the main character as the focal point of both products. In knowing this I decided to apply this convention into my own mock ups.
Above is my final mock up of my movie poster. I have chosen to use a close up of a white teenage girl (aged 16-20) this will enable the target audience to identify the central character. Preferably with blond hair to connote the idea of the characters innocence, though subverting this aspect through the genre and plot of the movie .as the movie is names 'faceless' I have decided that the main charter should wear a black or dark coloured hoodie to one identify the type of character involved within the movie and two have the hood covering the girls eyes and majority of face to link to the title in being the girl is 'faceless' connote her loss of identity an belonging. Her facial expressions should be sullen capturing the mood of the character to display the mood of both her and the film. another convention linked to the drama crime genre I found during my product research is that the title of the film is usually located on the bottom of the main picture if at all , so again decided to follow this trait and put my title 'Faceless' underneath the central picture. The font of the title I would preferably like it that similar to that of the font used in police tape (don't not cross.) I have chosen this font as it again hints at the Genre being to do with crime and hinting at the plot. The background is be a block of flats(estate) during against a night skyline though slightly blurred distorting the image , so that the audience are fully focused on the main picture rather than the background. By doing this the main picture again is seen as the focal point and although the audience are not fully focused on the background it is instilled within the audience the production values and connects with genre and plot of the movie.
After conducting various amounts of research into the production and publishing of DVD covers I found that many independent films especially linked with the crime and drama genre use very similar almost identical images within both the movie posters and DVD covers but with a few minor differences such as close ups of original image or change of colour. In knowing this I produced a detail mock up shown above linking closely to the movie poster displayed earlier. The front cover displays a young teenage girl aged sixteen -twenty in a mid shot from her waist up .This would display the types of clothes hair colour facial and body expressions so to let the audience evaluate the type of film it is and also identify with the character presented and her surroundings. The girl displayed would preferably have long dark hair covering majority of her face showing just part of her eye and bottom of face to link with the title and the concept of her being overshadowed and her loss of identity. This is also emphasised by her long hair adding to the sense of being overcome by darkness and 'faceless'. The characters face should be sullen as like the expression of her in the movie poster so the audience can ink both movie poster and DVD cover together. She would be wearing a dark top or hoodie to convey her social class age etc as well as emphasising again the title and its being. The background would be night skyline as in the movie poster blurred and distorted putting the audience's full attention on the character displayed.
The title would be located gain at the bottom of the case in a police tape style font printed faceless in white to represent the idea of innocence breaking through corruption. As well at the title the usual labels such as the certificate and Production Company's name would be located on the bottom of the cover. The certificate would be a 15 as the film would be first targeting young adults from fifteen upwards, as the film would portray real life in displaying drug use , strong language and strong violence. Lastly on the front cover there would be a review and star rating to complete the authentic look.
The back cover would again have the distorted, blurred building background. The main picture would e of the young girl dressed din all dark clothes face covered by her Hoodie as in the movie poster to portray the idea of in hiding or lose of identity. This picture would be show the whole of her body showing her walking away from the background connoting her walking away or leaving that part of her life behind her although overshadowed by its past .
On the right hand side would be the blurb and over view of film and below that a small section telling of the special features on the disc. On the bottom left hand side would be the certificate as well as the information of the duration of the film as well as the production labels and logos.
Lastly above is another DVD cover mock up I decided to produce. As you can see the main picture on the front cover is very similar to that of the last mock ups back cover and also the movie poster and so as them decided to have a young girl with blonde hair dressed all in dark clothing, with her face hidden to portray the type of genre, plot and story behind the character. having her hands in her pockets as well adds to the idea that she wants know one to see who she is and also the idea of identity is brought up and many looked at fingerprint to identify someone and as she hides her hands away this suggests she either has no identity or is trying to hide it .
In the background other characters are shown watching her walk away this suggest the idea of her walking away from them and that kind of life though also could suggest her hiding away from them not wanting to be recognized. The characters within e background would be as her aged between the ages if sixteen to twenty one. The boys dressed in either tracksuits or jeans with foodie's on both. On the left-hand side the boy presented would also be carrying a baseball bat to convey violence and the use of this bat within the movie. The girl leaning on him would be dressed in brighter colours; this is significant to the plot as although she seems to be part of those involved in the background plays a significant role within the movie in bringing light to the storyline suggesting her important role within the film. On the right hand side another boy dressed in a tracksuit would be sitting on a wall watching as the other's at the main character underneath him police poster would be shown presenting the words , ' if u have any info ring 02087665466' . This poster hints to idea of what the film and characters positions within the film as to why our main character appears to be in hiding. The title would be located not the top of the cover overlooking the image in a font style to that of a fingerprint, that I had chosen in my typography research. Underneath the man picture a review with a star rating and certificate would be advertised.
The back cover background would be just plain black with images taken form the film collaging the page the back cover. one image shown in the right hand would show a young black man holding the main character against the way by her throat , this suggest the violence within the film and leaves the audience wondering why he's in doing this . On the left hand side a collage of characters would be arranged showing firstly and young mixed race guy aged sixteen -twenty dressed in a dark vest, hair shaven looking slighting off form the camera. Underneath him a young man of the same ages and girl would be located talking to each other dressed in darker clothes and next to them our main character hooded up looking distraught straight at the camera in a close up. These shots are important as they are of be clips from the actual film and this way the audience can identify the key parties with the film and how they are to relate to the plot.
On the top of the page would be the review pronouncing ' TOUGH, TENSE, TERRIFIC.', and a five star rating. Underneath her nestled within the pictures would be the blurb of the film nestling within all the characters. Underneath the main picture the credits such as actor's names and production company names as well as directors would be shown with a special feature tab located on the left-hand side. Lastly the certificate 15 (contains very strong language, sex and drug use) would be located on the bottom left hand side with the barcode on the opposite side
After looking at both my mock ups of my DVD covers I have chosen to link the front cover of mock up number 1 to the back cover of mock up 2. reasons being is that from my audience feed back they found the front cover of mock up 2 to be more Hollywood, main stream style and wouldn't link to the independent look I am hoping to achieve. The feedback also told me the front cover of mock up 1 was suggestive and didn't fully portray the plotline and therefore left the audience to work out as a convention of an independent film and so chose to use this image in my final design. There reasons also for choosing the back cover of mock up2 was that this was more authentic in terms of layout as a DVD back cover in displaying the main charters in clips form the film itself.
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Product Research


as well as looking at movie posters connected to the drama /crime genre i secondly looked at the ways in which DVD covers are used to portray the genre plot and more importantly attract an audience into buying them.

just as both movie posters memento uses the same technique in the use of extreme close ups of what we perceive to be the main characters. the covers shows as picture within a picture foretelling and connection or story between the two characters shown. we automatically realise as guy pierce is the first and biggest picture him to be the main focus of the movie. the background behind him in his Polaroid frame is bright and out of focus suggesting firstly the idea of the light to show him as the Innocent party within the film and secondly the idea of the background being out of focus suggests his mental state or his story to be disordered and out of focus its self, lastly the denotations of his close up has been used to not distract us as the audience from the main focus which is him and draws us into him and his face. the picture within his featuring Carrie Ann Moss suggests her accompanying main character her backgrounds is solid black . making us the audience suggest she may cause conflict within the movie from the contrast of her back background to guy's suggesting the idea of good and evil . the way in which both pictures are repeated zooming out as it where also portrays the idea of a story repeating itself of not quite ended , as like the movie posters we are left struggling to understand the plot and so intrigues us into seeing the film . the title is located on the bottom of the cover on the actual Polaroid, written in an irractict way as if scribbled quickly in capitals connotes the pace of the film be echy and disordered. the idea of the writing on the the Polaroid could as well obviously hint at the plot and the way in which these pictures could fortell the story . lastly as not on the movie posters reviews comments are displayed around the main picture written is bright yellow to stand out projecting comments such as 'A master piece ' and ' A new master piece among thrillers' , tempting us the audience and trying to persuade us tho watch the film through its reviews and star ratings
Audience research results
The results charts below show the results taken from the questionnaire to which was given out to 30 people to discover; (1) there ideas on film and film reviews (2) what they felt made a successful movie poster (3) there knowledge on gun and knife crimes (4) their views and feelings on ‘gang’ and gun an knife related culture in society.


During my production work I wanted to address a sensitive topic in London and Britain, being that of gang culture and the recent rise in gun and knife crime amongst teenagers and young adults. to obtain the information I would need I asked a series of questions carefully to ensure I could collect the information I need to draw a conclusion on people perspectives and experiences in addressing this sensitive topic . I found just form the thirty people I had asked that 65% had actually fallen victim to this crime or had witnessed this travesty, illustrating that this serious crime is being experienced by normal people each day in such a controversial way. In doing some background research also I found that only one in ten causes concerning this crime that witness had come forward, and only one in twenty cases were solved. These shocking statistics were made more real through my questionnaire when asked whether those asked if they had been involved in this this crime or witnessed it had they or would they every report it to the police or stand as a witness.



Tuesday, 23 September 2008
audience reserch
Below is the first draft f my questionnaire to which i piloted to see if i could get the answers i needed to forward my research and production ; featuring questions on trailers , posters and DVD covers as well as questions concerning the recipients thoughts and feelings towards gun and knife crime within society .
Questionnaire!!!
(Please tick appropriate box)
1. Gender : male female
2. Age : 13-15 16-18 19-21 22-25 25+
3. Ethnicity: white black Asian other...........................
4. In which type of area do you live: city small town suburbs rural coastline
5. Any hobbies or interests?
:.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
6. Which type of film do you most enjoy: thriller drama comedy animated action adventure other................................................?
7. Do you prefer independent or mainstream films? Independent mainstream
8. Why do you prefer watching this type of film ? ?..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
9. How many times on average do u go to the cinema : once a week couple of times a month once every month once every few months once a year never
10. when going to see a film what type of trailer do u find the most effective : longer trailer (2-3mins) shot snippets ( this can be just the title displayed) shorter trailer ( 30sec’s)
11. Why do you prefer this type of film trailer? ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
12. Where do you mostly see or her advertisements for new and up and coming movies: billboards TV adverts magazines bus stops Internet radio other..................................................................
After piloting this first draft i realised there was a few questions more i needed in order to realise more thoroughly my Target audience and what they though on the rise of gun and knife crime in Brittan and how it has affected them . I also needed to learn more about how, where and what , my audience thought where good ways of advertising and so redrafted the questionnaire to give a more accurate idea of my audiences needs and wants . I also decided on piloting this questionnaire to instead of producing a film trailer.
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