This is my research post, I've decided to research different products within the media for film advertisement, I've chosen to deconstruct a number of posters, film magazine front covers and trailers.
Directors
My favorite directors are George Lucas (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) John Carpenter (Big Trouble in little China, Escape from New York) and Quintin Tarintino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) What I admire about these three directors is that as well as directing their own films, they also right the scrips and the plot line, which gives them a clearer vision of what they want their own films to look like.
With me and my partner both writing and directing our trailer, it has given us a clearing view on what we want the final product to be.
Genre
During the planning stage of our project, we talked about many different type of genre, we decided on the horror genre above all, we also considered other genres of film, such as:
Action
As a great fan of action and martial arts film, the first thought that came to my mind was an action film. After careful deliberation I realised that because I lacked both the required skills and know how for a respectable action scene, the action sequences (which are the main hook of an action film) would be of a b-movie quality.
Some examples of action films are, Die hard, Drunken Master and Gladiator.
Comedy
A comedy film was also considered, but then we thought that a differing sense of humour could potentially ruin the film for someone, Also if the film was not found funny then the project as a whole would have failed.
A few examples of the Comedy genre are; Clerks, Step Brothers and The Water Boy.
Science Fiction
Making a sci-fi film trailer, would suffer that same problems that making an action trailer would suffer, due to a lack of know how and expertise, the trailer would quickly start to look like a cliched b-movie.
Some well known Sci-fi films are Blade Runner, the Star Wars series and The Terminator series.
Westerns
As iconic as western films are, recreating a western film's mandatory sunny, sandy back drop would be quite difficult. Another problem would be creating the right mood and setting for the time period. Since both of these things would be difficult for us, we decided against it.
Some examples of western films are, Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Chick flicks
The genre know as "Chick Flicks" are commonly aimed at teenage girls, the stereotypical chick flick conventions are, rival, love and school.
Some example of chick flick movies are, Means girl, Angus thongs and perfect snogging and john tucker must die.
Fantasy
A fantasy film are a large iconic genre of film, although with out a large budget and a large special effects studio, they are a lot less breath taking and visually stunning, for example Lord of the Rings would not have been as impressive or a stunning if all the of the orcs were running around in paper mache hats.
Some examples of the Fantasy genre are; Alice in wonderland, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Conan the Barbarian.
We finally decided on making a horror film trailer, for the following reasons:
Horror
We thought that a horror film would be the easiest to make since most of the themes, the violence and the horror would be implied in a trailer and implying things can be done with single shots and with talking and voice overs.
Some examples of Horror films are The Thing, Dawn of the dead and the Saw Series.
Horror has many sub genres and which gave us a wide selection of sub genres to pick from, here are some examples.
Zombie Film
As a fan of zombie I was very intent at 1st of doing one, after some in depth research in to the sub genre, I concluded that the zombies would end up looking like people who have just been painted red, and with out the large 200+ crowds of zombies sweeping around like they have on the studio produced Zombie films, the film would be lacking an sense of urgency.
A few well known examples of the Zombie Genre are: Dawn of the dead, Black snow and Evil Dead.
Psychological Horror films
Psychological Horror films are being increasingly more popular. We took some aspects of this genre since Psychological horror films are, I find personally more terrifying than a hack and slash style film. The typical conventions of a Psychological film are; playing on a characters, fears, guilt and vulnerability, as well as using eerie sound effects and relevant music as well as using the characters emotional instability.
Some examples of Psychological Horror Films are; The Shining, The Ring and Psycho.
Slasher films
Slasher films are among the most common of all the horror sub genres, they contain a strong use of gore and shocking sites and images. We used aspects from this Sub genre in our trailer.
Some well known Slasher Horror films are The Texas Chainsaw massacre, Halloween and Jason X.
Monster Films
Another genre of horror films are the monster films, which involve large and usually ugly monsters destroying towns and cities. The main problem is making a monster film is that with out a company of special effects experts it won't meet moderns standards which would lower it to b-movie quality.
Some examples of monster films are, Godzilla, King Kong and King Kong vs Godzilla.
Terminator Salvation Trailer
The Columbia pictures logo is also distorted which adds to the effect and helps to continue to the mood with out breaking the immersion, which I thought to be a nice touch.
The next shot is that of a forest, again it's not clear who's in the forest or what's going on, but some unknown entity is breaking trees with apparent ease, this adds more tension and drama to the scene.
The next shot is a high angle shot of a man hanging in a parachute on a broken power pylon, this shot hints at death and further shows that the world is in disrepair. There is then a shot of the pylon in a long shot, again showing the man still hanging, and a unknown figures enters the frame, this again adds more drama and tension.
The lead actors name then is displayed "Christian Bale" this shows who's in the film, as a large fan of the actor might be attracted to see the film, just because one of his favourite actors has a part in it.
The next shot is that of a unknown human looking figure is seen to be staring, unflinching at several dust filling explosion that are happening in the back ground of the shot, this adds mystery to the character of the figure, and adds more tension in to the trailer.
The voice over then says "this is John Connor" which then leads to the actor Christian Bale holding what looks like to be a flare, which illuminates his face, this would be a very large clue to what the film is, as previous fans of Terminator film series would recognise the name and the basic plot line of the film.
The following shots are fast paced flashes on images which adds both drama and tension of the scene, the clips are shown to crescendo to a climax, as the Terminator theme tune begins to play (which links in with the conventions of previous terminator films), in sycroniseing of the image of an explosion flashing up on the screen. This adds drama and tension.
The tag line "The End Begins" flashes up one word at a time, this helps the message to sink in, and creates more serious feeling to the message. The title and the release date show up shortly later, all the same font, this creates a sense of fluency to the trailer.
After the release date is shown, John Connor is seen to be pointing his gun at the camera, this links back to the militarism that has been shown previously in the trailer, a machine is then seen to appear behind him, and John then turns around to face it, as this is happening the music climaxes which brings about a dramatic end to the trailer.
Empire Film Magazine Construction
Empire magazine is one of the largest and well known film magazines. The "EMPIRE" logo is in block capitals and in it's unmistakable font, as well as being the only bright colour on the page, which would attract attention towards it, making it more eye catching.
The main feature from this poster is the close up of Star War's Darth Vader this would be eye catching to all Star Wars fans as Darth Vader is a very well known fictional character. This was made to commemorate the release of Star Wars Episode III The Revenge of the Sith, which was a major release at the time. The back ground for the close up Darth Vader is space, this goes well with the theme of Star Wars being set in space.
"Behind the mask" would entice readers and Star Wars fans to possibly find out more about the movie attracting more people towards the magazine.
American Film Cover Deconstruction
The American film magazine cover is quite odd, because of all the dim colours, the close up of Sean Connery is the main feature of the page, this would attract fans of his many films to the magazine.
There is four different fonts on the main page I find that this makes the page look cluttered and makes all the other fonts look flippant. All the font is also the same colour which further takes away from the font making it looking more plain and boring.
The back ground is very dull, which draws no attention, with a lack of anything apart from the close up of Connery I think this makes the magazine cover very dull and boring.
Everything is pushed on to the left side of the magazine this makes it look cramped and doesn't make use of all the other space.
Total Film Magazine Cover Deconstruction
Total Film is a well known film magazine, The Total Film magazine logo is easily recognisable, the "Total" in "Total Film" in with put with in "Film" but in a different and often contrasting colour.
The medium close up of Natalie Portman with the "V" would attract fans of the film and comic book, and for those who haven't heard of the film or read the comic book would be curious and confused by the "V" sign and could be tempted to look further in to it. The close up could also attract fans of Natalie Portman to buying the magazine.
The whiteness of the back ground contrasts with her dark dress, her pale skin and the redness of the font as well as the big red "V"
Conclusion
Over all I think that the "Empire" film magazine is the most effective, with "Total Film" coming narrowly in second and "American Film" being by far the worst.
Conclusion
Over all I think that the "Empire" film magazine is the most effective, with "Total Film" coming narrowly in second and "American Film" being by far the worst.
The Last Exorcism Poster Deconstruction
The Last Exorcism is an American 2010 mockumentary horror film about a girl who's become possessed by the devil.
The main object in the centre of the frame, is the little girls, who's clinging to the wall like some sort of spider. This adds a uneasy feeling to the poster. The girls shadow is also a prominent figure of the poster, as it takes up a large amount of room. The girls face is mostly concealed by shadow,this adds a sense of mystery to the trailer. The girl is also dressed all in white, which is a change from the stereotypical black, which the villains usually wear, although since the girl is being possessed she could still be technically be the villain.
The colours of the poster, are mainly very plain and bleak, this also adds to the horror element of the film, the room also looks very gritty and horrible, which adds to the mood of the film even more.
The Last Exorcism is in a horror style font, this again adds to the mood of the film, we can tell this by the way it is distorted and rather creepy looking.
The tag line, "if you believe in God, You must believe in the devil" points at it being a film with religious and satanic themes, which would coincide with the reputation of the 'Exorcism' Films.
The names of the Directors and other key staff are in red, whilst all of the other font is in black, this makes the key names stand out more, possibly attracting more of an audience, while also crediting the actors and key talent.
Harry Brown Film Poster Deconstrucion
The film Harry Brown, starring Micheal Caine as the title character. The film has very dark and mature themes, ranging from social commentary to gun crime.
The 1st thing that catches your eye in this poster, is the large target, which also contains the title, actors and produces, the white, blue and red could be a reference to 'the Italian job', another film that famously started Micheal Caine. The red and blue, are the brightest colours in the frame, which is immediately eye catching, the target is also similar to a mod symbol from the 1960's, which could also be a reference to Caine's age.
The figure on the right is clearly recognisable for many people in Britain, which could attract views for the film. His large dark clothing hints at him having a dark persona, as well as the gun in his hand, his grey face, half covered in darkness, also hints at him being evil or the "bad guy". He also contrasts to the white back ground, this further hints at him being a criminal, or a law breaker.
The writing at the top is red, which would hint at violence, and the high rating reviews are a good way to attract people to watching the film.
Old Boy Trailer Deconstruction
Old Boy is a controversial Korean Film, which revolves around kidnapping, revenge and 15 years of false imprisonment.
The scratched effect and the distorted effect that has been put adds great effect to the mise en scene, giving an impression of a dark surreal atmosphere. The font is miss matching and also scratched which also adds to the feeling of grittiness. A feeling of speed is also given, with the scratched blurriness.
The pose and facial expression of the man in the poster would denote violence, particularly with his hammer raised in that over his head position. The main character is giving the gaze, which can be used to draw in people to the artifact.
The colours of the poster are very dark and surreal tones, this helps to prepare the audience for the dark surreal and a slightly disturbing themes of the film.
Valhalla Rising Poster Deconstrucion
The Film Valhalla Rising is about a viking warriors, with one eye, who was unimaginably called one-eye. One-eye according to the rumours is from hell it's self, one eye possesses to ability to see in to the future, even predicting his own death.
The main character is present in the centre of the artifact, showing him with war paint and runes painted on to his body, with a choker on his neck. This as long with the pose of the character is unnerving, giving the character an eairy persona. Since he is the only character in shot, it is safe to assume that he is the main character of the film.
The back ground being large misty mountains along with the viking like runes on the main characters body sets the anchorage as set in medieval times, with no man made structures in site it is likely set in a remote location.
The Blood red font denotes violence and blood shed. As side from the red font the colours are mainly dark and foreboding, hinting at this will be quiet a dark film with little lighting in it. It also sets the mood for quite a dark depressing although enjoyable film.
The light fades out towards to the bottom, this makes the production notes stick out more, due to the red on black, but it could also indicate darkness and binary oppositions.
The reviews and the rewards that it's won can be a indication of that it's a good film and more of an incentive to watch it, the films the director has previously directed are also on display, as fans of those movies may also be encouraged to watch this movie.
Devil's Advocate Poster Deconstrucion
Devil's Advocate is a American horror film, starting Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino. In which Reeves plays up and coming lawyer who is aided by the Devil, played by Pacino.
The back ground of red fires swirling is synonymous with the Christian description of Hell, as a fiery waste land.
Pacino's character is standing over Reeve's character showing that he is at a higher status than Reeve. He also has his arms around Reeves to show that he's pulling the strings so to speak.
Both characters are giving the gaze which immediately connects with the viewers of the posters.
Pacino and Reeves' are both wearing suits in the poster, this shows authority and power.
The poster has kept to a singular colour scheme with the main colours being red and white, which the only things that are white is the text and the main characters them selves, the poster is also heavily centralised, showing nothing towards the sides.
The font is also quite Gothic which again ties in with the Christian view of Hell and the Devil.
Dog Soldiers Poster Deconstrucion
Dog Soldiers is a British horror cult film, the basic story line of the film, is a group of a soldiers who are on a training mission, suddenly find themselves surrounded and out numbered by a group of werewolves.
I choose to research this film, because much like our film, it's set in a forest, with the trailer not full showing but heavily implying who or what's attacking the soldiers. I enjoyed the film a great deal, because of the great characters and the great sense of comic timing and the comic relief in the film.
The blue and black tones, can denote authority, which since the film revolves around the army, peoples places in the army and their relationships along with a civilian who is also surrounded by the werewolfes.
In the shadow of the man there is a clearly a image that looks like a wolf man of sorts, along with the title dog soldiers and the tag line "Six Men. Full Moon. No Chance" it is fairly safe to say that the film is about werewolfs. Particularly when the review at the top makes a pun on the word bitch, which confirms that it's a werewolf movie. It could also be considered that having a review at the top could be unorthodox. The wolf like shadow takes up more room and is a great deal more over whelming with a sense of mystery. This show the binary opposition between the shadow like wolf and the smaller army man is clear.
The anchorage for the film is that it is clearly set in a forest, or that at least a part of the film is set in the forest.
The font used is very cracked up and distorted this makes the poster look gritty and some what surreal. The slashes turn the font in to a logo of sorts that would be easily recognisable. The tag line and the website are both in yellow, they are the only bit's of yellow in the entire poster, making they both stand out and grab attention.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Poster Deconstruction
The Good, the Bad and The Ugly is an 1966 spaghetti western, which tells the story about three gun slingers races to find a cache of hidden gold.
The levels of all 3 characters match the title they are given, for example Clint Eastwood's character "Blondie"(AKA "The man with no name) is known as the "The Good", Lee Van Cleef's character, "Angel Eyes" is known as "the Bad" and Eli Wallach's character "Tuco" who is known as "The Ugly".
Clint Eastwood's Character looks good because of his large "God-like"size with his face fully illuminated, which hints at purity. His beard and the fact that he's smoking would hint at the fact he could be an anti hero, which would coincide with the role of a bounty hunter he plays in the film.
Van Cleef's character looks like a bad person, his dark clothes and the fact that he's the one holding the gun. He is also mostly encased in shadows, which adds an aura of mystery and darkness.
Eli Wallach's character is shown to be the least important, since he is the smallest and in a crouched position, although surrounded by gold, he is still seen has the lowest ranked person of the three.
The back ground looks very powerful and full of emotion, which looks like a sun set with can be very calming and auspicious.
The font is very typically western looking, which would tell an consumer of this poster that the genre of this film is a western. It also emphasises the key words, such as Good, Bad and Ugly. This makes the title stand out more. The "Clint Eastwood" Line is in a dark grey, possibly so it doesn't divert all the attention away from the title.
Conclusion
I find that an effective poster depends on what the film is, for example the poster for "Valhalla Rising" is my personal favorite poster, although it wouldn't be as effective for anything else other than a psychological action film, but for it's genre it's very effective. I think the perfect film poster would depend on the genre and the mood of the film in question.
