Ancillary tasks format research : magazines analysis

FILM MAGAZINES ANALYSIS

(click to enlarge images)

EVALUATION:

From the analysis of these magazines, I have found some general conventions of magazines. These include:

• The masthead being positioned at the top of the page and is the biggest font on the page. Generally, the masthead is positioned behind the cover model so that the image is not distorted/covered up. 
• Cover lines are used to promote other key articles/features of the magazine, and are generally positioned on either side of the cover model in the main image.
• The colour schemes for horror films are darker colours, so this should be reflective in the colours chosen for the main image and text colour. Fonts are also important as they can help to emphasise or show which type of genre the film is.
• Bar codes and prices are usually in the bottom corners of the magazine, as it will be the last thing that the publisher will want the viewer to see.
• The main image is always a cover model and is normally a mid-shot/close-up of them.
• The name of the magazine is something to do with the film genre of magazines. For example, Empire is a cinema and Total Film clearly shows what the magazine is about, which is especially important if viewers don't recognise the actor/cover model on the front cover. 

I will use these conventions in my magazine, so that it conforms to other magazines and looks very professional. 

Poster FINAL

After gathering the feedback and evaluating what I should change, I have now finished my final poster.
I think it has turned out well, and the feedback I gathered has helped me to make decisions that ultimately have made my poster look more professional and effective as a film poster.
To the draft I changed the title positioning, added a 'Bevel and emboss' effect to the title, and added some more text/credits at the top of the page.

Below is a picture of my draft, and the final.

Poster draft : feedback

Once I had created my draft for my poster, I decided to get some feedback. This is so that I could ask people what is good about my poster and what isn't/what could be changed, so that I could alter the poster to look the most professional and most like a horror film poster.

I decided to ask the people in my Media class what they thought about my poster, because they also have been carrying out the same tasks as I have. They therefore may have different ideas to me about what does/doesn't work for a film poster, and what all of the conventions for different film genres are. 

I showed them my poster draft and here are a few of the feedback comments I got:

Good - Nice effects (brick wall etc.) and looks scary
Improve - Add text at the top of the poster, such as 'staring..' to look more professional

Good - The colour scheme works well and conforms to the horror genre conventions
Improve - The positioning of the title (film name) should be placed higher

Good - Linked well to the film
Improve - The title font/effects on the title should be changed to look more 3D

After gathering this feedback I will try to incorporate the new ideas/improvements such as more text, and will keep things such as the main image and colour scheme as the feedback shows that this is working well already. 

Poster draft

To create my poster I used Adobe Photoshop CS6, which is the latest edition of Adobe's photo editing software. I have used this programme (well, the older editions of it) before, so I knew my way around the programme.

The poster is actually 2 images. One picture of Slender and another picture of a brick wall. These are the images I started with:

I then edited them together, by cutting, pasting, changing opacities of layers and lots more to create this (my poster draft):

Photo-shoot for poster : How did it go?

What went well

• The composition of my photos worked really well. I tried different angles of the camera and different distances from the model (both by using the tripod). The photos turned out well as they were a close up of Slender (from his shoulders up), which conforms to the conventions of most horror posters (where not all of the model is shown).
• To get the right photo I changed the lighting around. I only used the torch for lighting, but when I started taking pictures, the light was on in a room near by, and the light coming from this room was making the pictures look bad. I therefore turned this light off and used just the torch, changing the heigh and distance of the torch from the models face to get the right shadows.
• I took many pictures to choose from, which will be very useful when it comes to making my poster. This way, I have more chance of getting a good picture, rather than just taking a few and choosing any one. It also means that I can edit different pictures to see what gives the best effect.
• Although I only used a torch for lighting, the quality turned out great. Due to the good camera on my iPhone 4s, there was enough light to make sure that the quality was not poor. Again this is useful when editing and meant that I achieved the strong contrasting effect.

What didn't go too well

• It took a while to get the lighting perfect for great quality and contrasting/shadowed effect
• Hard to hold the torch still and in the right position whilst taking the photos (but using the tripod helped)
  

Here is my most unsuccessful (left) and successful (right) photos:

Photo-shoot plan for poster

Photo ideas:
For the film poster, I want to get some pictures of Slender. I want the photos to be a close up of his face, with a torch shining down onto his face to create strong contrasts and shadows.
Date and time:
Wednesday 20th Feb

Models:
Nick Wilson (actor playing Slender)

Location and setting:
Against a white wall inside my house, with no lights on at all (apart from the torch shining on his face)

Costume / make-up:
Black suit
White shirt
Black and white face paint (as it is in the trailer)

Equipment: 
iPhone 4s
Tripod
White light torch

Ancillary task : poster initial ideas thought web

Here is some ideas I thought that I could possibly use for my poster.