FILM MAGAZINE RESEARCH

Here are some magazines I have looked at to try and give me some inspiration

I found that two major film magazines were 'Total FILM' and 'EMPIRE'. First I looked at 'Total FILM', the first thing that stood out to me was the big bold masthead which I thought was very appealling and easily caught my eye.



The clevel use of space means they were able to call the magazine 'Total FILM', I liked the effect of fitting the first part into the 'F' of Film. Also the big bold white text makes it stand out against any background used and means it can be a reccurring theme throughout all covers, this therefore provides a instant recognition and symbol to the audience as to which film magazine it is.

My favourite cover of 'Total FILM' is this one:

What I like most about this cover is the striking image which immediately catches the eye and a medium close up provides us with an insight into the actor character and costume. The dark background makes the character look very vibrant, colourful and makes the image the focal point of the magazine. The large anchorage text 'Massive 2010 Preview' informs the reader on first glance as to what this issue features, the colour of the text also ties in with the masthead therefore providing a nice colourscheme. The plain white and yellow text makes it readable and stand out without being over the top and taking the focus away from the main image.

Another film magazine is 'EMPIRE':

'EMPIRE' has given me the most inspiration. I love the big bold red text and the layering used to hide parts of the text however even though parts are hidden the magazine is still instantly recognisable because of the recurring theme of the red masthead used throughout the covers. As you can see with the 'Joker' cover, featuring the new Batman: The Dark Knight preview, when the masthead is a different colour layering isn't used and instead becomes the focal point along with the striking image.

'EMPIRE' use a range of different camera shots within their covers, from close ups to medium close ups and all are used effectively to achieve the best look.

My favourite within the covers I have found and which have given me the most amount of inspiration in producing my own are:

AND

I believe that I have had more inspiration into producing my own since researching into current magazines on the market. I feel that by taking the ideas from different magazines and putting them together into one piece can make my magazine into being the most effective and eye catching to the audience.

Before I begin to produce my magazine I will draw up drafts of different covers and take many different pictures as my starting point. From my work last year on my foundation portfolio, I believe I can carry my knowledge through into producing a high quality magazine cover. I will also make a questionnaire to hand out to my potential audience and ask for feedback.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF MAGAZINES

I have now decided upon researching into current film magazines to see the codes and conventions as producing a magazine front cover featuring my film is part of my ancillary tasks. By looking at these, I will also be able to have a fuller knowledge and will prepare me in making my own. From doing research it will enable me to produce a higher quality magazine cover.

Here I have annotated a film magazine cover 'Empire':

From this research I can clearly see how a magazine cover is laid out and from the knowledge of my foundation portfolio I was able to easily use specific media terms to annotate this magazine cover.

FILM PRODUCTION COMPANYS

6 major production companies

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, with hyphen, from 1935 to 1985) – also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox – is one of the six major American film studios as of 2010.

20th Century Fox's most popular film franchises include Avatar, The Simpsons, Star Wars, Ice Age, Garfield, Alvin and the Chipmunks, X-Men, Die Hard, Alien, Speed, Revenge of the Nerds, Planet of the Apes, Home Alone, Dr. Dolittle, Night at the Museum, Predator, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Chronicles of Narnia (which was previously distributed by Walt Disney Pictures).

Paramount Pictures is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last majoy film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., one of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, TheWB.com, and DC Comics. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network.

Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (CPII) is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies in the world, a member of the so-called Big Six.

Universal Pictures (sometimes called Universal City Studios or Universal Studios for short), a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six major movie studios. Its production studios are at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California. Distribution and other corporate offices are in New York City. Universal Pictures is the second-longest-lived Hollywood studio; Viacom-owned Paramount Pictures is the oldest by a month.

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney Studios, acquires and produces output that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures and Touchstone Pictures banners. Their most commercially successful production partners in later years has been Great Oaks, Caravan Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer, Marvel Studios, ImageMovers Digital, Spyglass Entertainment, Walden Media, Mandeville Films, and Gunn Films.

Animated features produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, ImageMovers Digital, and DisneyToon Studios are usually released by Walt Disney Pictures under the Disney banner.

Walt Disney Pictures is noteworthy for being the only film studio to have three films that have surpassed the $1 billion mark, these being Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Toy Story 3 (2010). In addition, Disney is the only major Hollywood studio which released two films in a single year (Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3), each of them having accumulated more than $1 billion worldwide at the box office.

FILMING SESSION 2

Setting: House – Bedroom

              

Props/Special Effects used that day: Wardrobe, china dolls

The first scene we filmed in this session was the point of view shots on top of the wardrobe, this proved very difficult because it was difficult for me to get behind the wardrobe and stay propped up enough to get a good shot, therefore this needed to be re-filmed a couple of times

Roles:

My role within the filming was to do most of the shots and camera work, this enabled Tewsdae to do lighting and Alex to play her main role. Tewsdae also did dialogue which was the screaming heard in this clip:

China Doll: The china doll was the main theme throughout filming, and the Ghost girl was used as a human representation of this, the porcelain skin of the ghost girl represented that of a china doll. The idea of our storyline was that the china dolls were a favorite childhood doll, however after being neglected they come back to haunt

SOUND

Sound is highly important throughout the production of my trailer.
Whilst looking on different internet sites I came across this, which came under the heading 'DON'T SHOOT! 10 tips to beat bad home video'

Don't use the built-in microphone.

Most consumer camcorders have tiny, low-power microphones. If you're shooting a school play, an interview, or anything in which audio is crucial, you'll achieve far better results with an external mike. First, make sure your camcorder has an audio input--not all models do. For interviews and other close-up work, choose a lavaliere--also known as a lapel mike, the kind you'll often see newscasters wearing. If you're trying to record audio from afar, a shotgun microphone will do the trick.

 From reading this and from shooting parts of my trailer already, I have noticed that the sound quality whilst trying to film can be pretty poor. This is be because when filming the camera can be quite far away and the built in microphone on the camcorder has trouble picking it up, unless your shouting however this isn't very realistic. To overcome this I have decided to see how I can enhance the sound whilst editing and if this doeesn't prove successful, I shall use an external microphone to re shoot the scene or dubb the voice over the top.

 Sound FX

• Hard sound effects are common sounds that appear on screen, such as door slams, weapons firing, and cars driving by.
• Background (or BG) sound effects are sounds that do not explicitly synchronize with the picture, but indicate setting to the audience, such as forest sounds, the buzzing of fluorescent lights, and car interiors. The sound of people talking in the background is also considered a "BG," but only if the speaker is unintelligible and the language is unrecognizable. These background noises are also called ambience.
• Design sound effects are sounds that do not normally occur in nature, or are impossible to record in nature. These sounds are used to suggest futuristic technology in a science fiction film, or are used in a musical fashion to create an emotional mood

For the use of sound FX, I found websites which could be used which provide copyright free effects. One website I have found provides these to my knowledge free of charge, the only problem is if they fit our trailer and if they would sound effective enough. If they don't then we could provide our own effects in through using the equipment in our music department.

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/soundeffects/horror_sci-fi/
This provides sound FX free of charge, hopefully I will be able to find one thats effective enough and fits our trailer. By using these it would mean downloading an array of effects and fitting them together to provide one effect or eerie music, this could be achieved when editing.

 Music

Establish a Mood 

At the beginning of a movie or scene, music is often used (along with establishing shots) to help set a tone, before any dramatic action takes place. In the beginning of a horror film, shots of a desolate, empty street may have ominous, foreboding music accompanying them, to establish that the action about to transpire is very scary.

Heighten Drama

Music score is a basic and effective way to heighten the drama of a given scene in a film. Regardless of the genre, a film score can add to nearly any scene. In an action set-piece, the music will match the action in terms of power and intensity. In a comedy scene, the score can be expected to be as light or silly as the action taking place within the scene.