Typography

We need to consider the typography for our film title. The trailer/ magazine and poster will feature the film title, although this will only take up a small part of each advertisment it actually plays a very bit part in promoting the film. It is very important that it the typography is appropriate for our genre of film. We also need to ensure that the viewer is able to read the writing clearly.

I have looked at the website called 'Dafont' for ideas.

These are some fonts that appealed to us as a group:

Font one:

This is the first font we looked at, this font appealed to use because of its distorted look. It seems to look like its flickering in a way, which is often connected with our paranormal theme. Parts of the font are faded and look like they have been worn away which I think fits in well with our storyline.

Font two:

This font is very different to the first one, this one appealed to us because it was interesting and different. The drips look like blood which fits in well with our trailer but the only problem with this font is that it could easily give of the impression that our genre is horror due to the dripping blood.

Font three:

This font is much more simple than the other two fonts, it appealed to us because of its boldness making it stand out. The font has lines down it that make it look like it could of been sliced with a knife. This is good as it realtes to our film as one of our main props is a knife.

Font four:

This font follows the same sort of look as the other fonts we have already looked at within our group, again this font is eroded and looks jagged. As our trailer becomes fast towards the end I think the would look good and stand out.

Font five:

This font looks destroyed, it has a creepy look to it showing what sort of genre our trailer is. The writing is thin yet it is bold, it stands out to the eye. Although the writing is distorted, it is easy to read this is particularly important.

I liked all of these fonts because they are able to tell alot about the film and its genre before even looking at anything other that the font. Each font is different but they all have similarity's. They all have an eroded look to them, they are jagged and not particularly neat.

As a group we will need to decide which font will best represent our film.

After a group discussion we decided that font five this font was called Acid Label.

We chose this font as we felt it represented our film well.

We then had to decide what fonts we would be using for our magazine front cover our film poster and the other snippets of writing on our trailer. We met up as a group to make these decisions. After looking at different fronts on dafont and microsoft word we came up with our final fonts.

Here is a list explaining what fonts we will use and what sections these fonts will be used for. When we are creating our magazine front cover/trailer/poster we will refer to this list as a reminder.

Music Choices

Our music choice is really important. We need to ensure that we choose a song that will help create atmosphere within our trailer. The song will help create certain feelings for example suspence, or anticipation, a scary part, a fun part.
We will have lots of clips of the girls waiting in anticipation so its important that we put the correct sort of music along side.

Production label

Charlotte was allocated the job of drawing up potential Production Labels. She designed on Microsoft word five Labels that we then had to choose from. Before Charlotte went of to begin the designing we decided as a group to call our "E,C,B" - this is the first initial of each of our names. We decided to do this as it seemed obvious and it also followed suit, Warner Brothers is called Warner Brothers because they were brothers and there surname was Warner, this seems to obvious to be a good name for a production company, but has gone on to be a worldwide known production label.
After creating the logos charlotte presented us with these five drafts. After a group discussion we narrowed it down to two final ideas.

These are the two designs we narrowed it down to. We chose these two as we felt they were the most realistic. We had to think about our company as professional meaning we needed to ensure that our label design looked professional. Both of these designs have stars in them we feel this is again following suit it is a design you often see in production labels, for example "Star-line films" has a row of stars above the names and "Paramount" the title is enclosed by a circle of stars. The symbol of a star often represents glamour and fame. This is exactly what a production company wants to associated with, this is why we narrowed it down to the two designs that included stars. After another discussion we decided that the Design with the single star wasn't as eye catching as the design that was a circle of stars we also thought that the contrast of the black and white in the second design worked better so we came to the decision that this is the design we choose.

This is an enlarged image of the final design we chose.

Film Distributor

What distributor's do:

- Firstly the film distributor has to choose films they would and wouldn't like to distribute.
- They then need to decide how many prints to are going to make this will depend on its appeal. If they think the film will only have limited appeal they will only make a small number of prints.
- The next step the distributor has to deal with is negotiating and organising when and where the film will be released.
- The distributor has to ensure that the film is advertised so they then have to send round trailers and information about the film to cinemas.
- They also in charge of making sure the film is also publicised though: film posters, film trailers, press/TV advertising, press releases and so on.

Some of the major distributor companies

The British market is dominated by six American distributors which is made up of:

- Columbia
- 20th Century Fox
- Universal
- UIP
- Buena Vista
- Warner Brothers

These film distribution companies were responsible for 85% of British box office takings in 1999. The five majors primarily handle American films and have relationships with the key cinema chains and multiplexes in Britain. Warner Brothers is the only vertically integrated company of the five makin, distributing and exhibiting its own films, which overall means they retain maximum profits.

We have done the research on film distributors in order to give us an idea of how these companies run, also looking at their distributor label to give us ideas for our own.

Film poster

For my film trailer I am going to create a film poster advertising the film.

Firstly I need to decide which type of film poster I am going to create either a teaser poster a main poster or a blurb poster.

I have chosen to do a Teaser Poster and a main poster.

To give myself a good choice I am going to create two potential film posters, the other two members of my group are also creating posters so we have a really wide selection.

Here are my two poster ideas:

We ended up changing the name of our film during the drawings of these posters. I decided to continue and finish these drafts for planning reasons, but then me and my group members all went on to do one more draft of a film poster with our new name on it "Darkness Awakens"

These are three new Potential film posters:

<-My final design for our film poster.

My final design is a teaser poster. This means it only displays the vital and significant information i did this to make the viewers want to find out more about the film. The teaser poster i have done only displays the 'tagline' the 'star-rating' the 'title' and the main image. The main image is of a house, the hosue is quite vague as we were not fully decided on which house we were going to use. I drew a scary looking house with a wood surrouding as this is the idea of the set we are using. This gives a slight idea of the genre and what the film may be about.

Below the main image it has the star rating. This is important as it will attract people to watch the film if it has a good star rating.

The main title is placed below the main image. This is in the same fontthat i have used for the title on the magazine front cover, this gives it a running theme. This font is again distoreted and jagged. Below the main title is the tag line, I used a different type of wirting for this. It quite circular writing but still holds the theme of creepy.

<-Ellas final design for the film poster.

<-Charlottes final design for the film poster.

After a discussion we have decided to go with Ella's final film poster idea. This was because hers contained the most variety and was the clearest. This advertisment is such an important part of promoting the film. So it needs to catch the viewers eye, we felt Ella's poster did this more than the others. We will be using various different programmes to create the actual poster. The next stage is to make the real thing.

Film Magazine front covers

I am also planning to magazine potential magazine front covers. Both of the magazine front covers below are called "68", I drew and designed these before we had decided on our final film name.
I have annotated around each of the designs to show what each part is.
It is important to ensure that each magazine included a:

• Main title- masthead
• Main image
• Bar-code
• Pictures of other films

Film Magazine Idea One:

These were just my two initial ideas, After deciding the name of our film I thought I would do one more design with the new Film Title. The other members of my group also did another design so again we had a selection.

These were our three final designs we were then left to choose from:

<- This is my final design for a magazine front cover. This front cover design is simple. I didn't want to make it to complex as it might look overcrowded and the reader may find it hard to work out.

I began by naming my magazine. I named it playback. I saw this name on the side of an old video case I had at home and though it would be perfect for the name of my magazine. I wrote the title on in bubble writing i did this to make it stand out. The typography is quite large and the letters are lightly shaded. As my main image takes up the majority of the background this was the next thing I did so that the rest of the features would overlap the picture. The image is of a girl screaming, she has her face turned to the left and her head is tilted down. She has her hands up to her face covering half of her cheek. This image isn't in colour but the colours were dark greys blues and blacks. Her face was shaded in a grey/creamy colour as if to make he look slightly ill. I did this to show her fear she looks ragged and worn. The main story of our movie trailer is one girl survives the "supernatural being" my idea was that this image was of that girl.

In the top right hand corner I have put the bar code for the magazine, this is quite small as to not take to much attention away from the other features.
Underneath that it says "film awards 2010 highlights" This is in a gold colour. I did it in gold as it was about awards and this colour usually is associated with awards. I also did it because it contrasts with the background and although its only a small feature it gives the reader something else to look at if the main article doesn't interest them.

The title of the film "Darkness Awakens" is placed on the right hand side below the main image. This writing is creepy and distorted. This is to hint at the films genre. If the film was a "chick flick" it would most likely have swirly pretty writing. Instead this writing is jaggedy and and scary looking. Ellie Failes is one of the actors we are considering to be the main actor in our trailer. So on the front cover in a circle i have written EXCLUSIVE INTWERIEW WITH ELLIE FAILES this is to premote the film. Her name "ellie failes" is in bold writing to premote her charecter.

<-Charlottes final design for our magazine front cover

<-Ellas final design for our magazine front cover.

We have decided as a group to use my magazine front cover idea. We liked this idea because it was simple but effective. The back- ground image is eye-catching and will attract the readers attention. The only issue we had with this magazine front cover is that the title of the magazine does not follow the conventions of normal magazines. Most magazines have the title at the top. We decided that when we come to create the actual magazine we will move the title to the top. This wont make much of a difference to the magazine look but it will make the magazine cover more life like.

Cast

My next factor I needed to consider was the actors I was going to cast in my short movie trailer. As i have now decided my genre I need to ensure that the actors I choose fit the criteria. I am thinking of doing auditions for my potential actors, doing this I can compare how good their acting is and ensure that i choose the best cast to include. It is very important when picking my cast that they look like stereo typical actors. This means having a good dress sense. I don't want any of my cast to wear to much make-up and I want them to all look fairly natural for the parts they are going to play in the film trailer. Doing some research I found that Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz really portray the look I am looking for. They are both very natural and where casual clothes the majority of the time. This look is something we are going to mirror for our cast. This is Ellie Failes, She has a very natural look and doesn't seem to wear a-lot of make-up. Ellie is drama student giving her an advantage. The clothes she is wearing in this image are casual although this is the sort of look we were going for in our trailer we would pick out clothes for her to wear. We would have to ensure the girls are wearing similar sort of clothes so that is shows there similarities.

This is Katie. Again she is not seen to be wearing alot of makeup. Her style is again casual which is what we are looking for. Katie has no experience in acting and this would be new to her. This is Imogen Clapp she again fits the criteria very well she has quite a dramatic/dark look. She again is wearing casual clothes in the picture. She has a different look to the other girls which could be a problem as we need to have the same sort style with each of the girls.

This is Annabelle Roberts. Annabelle appears to be wearing more makeup than the other girls but this could be made more natural if we decided to use her. Annabelle is enthusiatic and hard working so has potential for a role in our trailer.

This is Lizzie Hopkins. Lizzie again fits the criteria, she is very natural and has a good dress sense. Lizzie is in our close friendship group with benefits us as we would be able to contact and see her when needed for filming. This is Samantha Caunt. Samantha is an ex- drama student which will benefit us. Samantha is wearing more make-up but it is evenly done. She again has similar dress sense to the other girls which is good. I think Samantha has a very good look for what were looking for. Samanatha is very self motivated which is important for the tasks we would be setting her.

This Is Beth Joyce. Beth has a very glamorous star quality look to her. She is again in our close friendship group this being an advantage to us. In this image she is dressed up but for the film trailer we would pick more casual clothes for her.

<- This is Lucy Smith. Lucy is doing her second year in drama and very enthusiastic. Lucy is very girly but is naturally pretty wearing little make-up. Lucy follows the same sort of dress-sense that we have seen some of the other girls wearing this is useful as it would show there similar interests e.g. fashion. <- This is georgie Lewis. Georgie is extreammly co-operative and a good listener. I no that georgie would be happy to help and get involved. Gerogie has a bob which would be good as it would give variation in the girls hairstyle.

After looking at each girls photo and considering their talents and achievements we decided on five girls. We then did a video of each girl asking them why they thought the were good enough for a role in our production.

These are the videos below.

These are the five girls we will use in our production.