RESEARCH - Software

MAGAZINE AND POSTER

For my magazine front cover and movie poster the main piece of software I will need is Adobe Photoshop. It has various features including the colour replacement tool, the magic wand and other more sophisticated features. It is better then Microsoft Publisher as I can do much more with the piece and make it look more professional. The previous tools I have mentioned are more for the image, however the features available for me to manipulate my masthead are much better then Publisher too. I have many more fonts to choose from and once I have done that I can add many effects to it. These effects include a stroke, inner glow, outer glow and many more.

TEASER TRAILER

For my teaser trailer I have chosen to use Final Cut, rather then IMovie as it is more professional and has more features. There are much more levels of audio and video I can use as well as more features, for example the chroma key. For the credits and title of the movie, I will use LiveType. This is an easy way to add text to the video as well as adding effects to it. Finally if I want to add special effects I will use Adobe After Effects, this will make the effects look more realistic and add depth to my final piece.

RESEARCH - What is a Teaser Trailer?

A teaser trailer is a short trailer used to advertise the release of an upcoming film or tv show. Unlike a normal trailer, it is much shorter, typically between 30 and 60 seconds. Also unusually like normal trailers it contains little, if any footage from the film/show.

RESEARCH - Analysis of a Movie Poster

As a poster is usually bigger then a magazine front cover and is used to sell the film, it doesn't follow the same conventions. It is trying to sell only one thing and as it will be much bigger, it will try to fit in as much about the film as it can.

Posters of films typically show the best reviews about the film and awards they have recieved. This is to show its critically acclaimed and to boost the appeal to more audiences.

If there is a well known cast in the film then this is typically displayed on the poster in a big font. This is again to boost appeal to those who are a fan of that cast member.

A tag line can also be seen on the poster, this is so we have some idea about what the film is about, without giving too much away.

In this poster we can see all the cast, underneath the title of the film. By seeing the cast we get a good idea about what the film is about. The title of the film is also in a big bold font, in red, white and blue. The colours along with the title of the film denote that it is based in England.

Finally the law of thirds is mainly applied here, as the heads of the characters and the title of the film intercept the imaginary lines. The law of z is also applied if you read along the award mentions at the top, across the title of the film and back across the cast.

RESEARCH - Analysis of Movie Magazine Front Page

Empire magazine is the UK's leading movie magazine so there is a degree of arrogance in their front page. An example being that they are such a successful brand, that they dont even need to show their masthead in full. In this picture we can see the main figures head is covering the 'P' in 'EMPIRE'. Despite this it still shows many common magazine features.

It has a bold masthead, there is no glow to it and it is in bold. The colour it uses is also the classic red of 'Empire', it also contrasts all the other colours on the page so it stands out. Due to these reasons its easy to see and the consumer knows what magazine they are buying.

To increase the appeal the magazine has an exclusive. This is featured above the title. An exclusive means that no other magazine will have the information that they do. This is put above the masthead, as they believe it to be such a massive appeal to that particular issue.

There are also various puffs on the page. They fit with the general green, purple, white colour scheme. However they manage to contrast the background, so they stand out easy for the consumer to see. This again is to boost appeal and so quite simply the reader knows what stories are inside the magazine.

Finally you can see the law of thirds and z are applied, as the main parts of the image intersect the imaginary vertical and horizontal lines. Also if you follow the masthead, then the main picture, back across to the puffs in the right hand corner you can see the law of z is applied.

RESEARCH - Movie Magazine Examples

RESEARCH - Z Rule

In our culture when we read, we usually go from left to right. Then back down to the left and to the right again. This is in the shape of a 'Z'. Therefore the 'Z' rule is when the main parts of the image are in a 'Z' shape. This is because these are the parts we tend to look at in more detail.

RESEARCH - Rule of Thirds

This is a rule applied to designs including magazine front covers, or movie posteres. The rule is that an image should be seperated into nine sections by two horizontal lines, and two vertical lines all equally spaced apart. It states that the main components of the picture should intersect the lines. This rule is applied as apparently it adds more tension, energy and interest to the image.

RESEARCH - Movie Poster Example