Pre-production plan

For my pre-production, I am thinking about making a film poster based on one of my favourite books 'Dead to the World' by Charlaine Harris. This is a book based on a teenage girl, Sookie, and the extraordinary life she leads both living in the supernatural world and being a supernatural being herself.

For the film poster I am going to try to create what I think the characters would be like and how they would act, trying to convey their personalities and attitudes through a photograph. As the main character is a teenage girl, I am thinking about using my sister as a model for the picture this should help to convey the characters age and also the target age group and genre of the film. I am also thinking about having a young man or older teenage boy behind her in the background of the picture, this will work as bringing in another character from the book, Eric, but in addition it will create a more mysterious and at the same time dangerous atmosphere for the image - I am going to ask my brother to act as the male.

In terms of location I am thinking about going to Combe Abby and shooting some photos of my siblings in the forest areas and within the trees so that I can convey to the audience the setting for the film and also, as woods normally give connotations of being lost, it being dark and that there is danger, the fact that I am shooting on location in Combe Abby in amongst the trees should help to increase the mysterious air of the image and make the poster look both more professional and like it belongs in the desired genre.

Textual analysis of Film posters

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) Film Poster

In this film poster the main focus is the main character of the movie, Steve Rogers (Captain America). As opposed to most film posters where the person in focus is making direct eye contact with the viewer, in this film poster the person is facing away from the audience and is looking towards the floor - giving the audience a view of the characters profile. In addition the background of the image looks gloomy and deserted with a small/distant view an iconic building in America. This can be interpreted to be that something has happened and that whatever it is has cause a lot of destruction - meaning that as a result the main character has a solum face. This idea that something bad/upsetting as happened is further enhanced by the darker colours and tones that they have used in the image as there aren't any bright or cheerful colours. As in the previous film poster, the title of the film is in the largest font followed by the date of release and ten the smaller typeface for the details on who the producers are.

Textual analysis of Film posters

Star Trek (2009) Film poster

This is the film poster for the 2009 Star Trek reboot film. In this poster there are pictures of the main characters in the film, the title, a scene that is from the film, and details about the director, producers and when the film will be released at the bottom. The colours are mainly blues and blacks - other than the red of the fire on the Enterprise in the background - this can have colour connotations of space but also of action, as the colours are dark and blend in well with each other. This therefore makes the film look more like its a serious film than a comedy. The fact that the title of the film is in one of the only colours other than blue and black (gold) makes it stand out a great deal more than if it was in the same colours as everything else. In the background of the poster, Uhura - the woman - is the only one that isn't facing forward, this could have connotations to the fact that she is more mysterious than the other characters in the film and on the cover.

My media course work survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/B7JBC9K

This is my survey for the media project!

Margin Call analysis

'The Margin Call' (2011)

This film is aimed at an audience of business men and office workers, as it is based on the discover f  downfall in profits in a company and how that will affect those who work there. The miss-en-scene of this film are mainly the suits that the characters are wearing - indicating that they are office workers/business men and women and also that they have high paying jobs - and the setting of the film - New York in a multi-story office block, containing scenes on the floor, in the bathrooms, in the meeting rooms and some scenes just outside on the streets or on the roof.

The lighting through out the film indicates the time of day that the film is set - late at night going into the early hours of the morning - this being mostly low key lighting and a few minutes of natural lighting (morning) towards the end. As a result of this drama and dramatic effect are added to the scenes, this works to draw the audience in and bring interest to the film.

Camera shots are also a good effect in this film as they help to draw the viewers into the scene. A range of different camera shots/camera angles are used, such as mid shots, close ups, medium long shots and hand-held views. These also aid the audience to focus on the characters and the dialogue of the film.

The film contains a mixture diegetic and non-diegetic sound through different aspects of it. Diegetic sounds - such as keyboard tapping, taps and vehicles (cars and helicopters) - reflect both the genre and the area that the film is set it. The non-diegetic sound is the music that they have overlaid over the top of most of the film, this has been used to create tension and a certain atmosphere both to bring the audience in and to present to the audience the severity/the cruciality of the scene.

Codes and Conventions in Magazine covers

Entertainment Magazines cover on 'The Maze Runner'

The main image on this cover of Entertainment Weekly is of Dylan O'Brien for his new film 'The Maze Runner' (coming to cinemas on October 10th 2014). A key aspect of most main images for magazines which is shown here is that the model usually makes direct eye contact with the reader. The fact that the picture of Dylan O'Brien is covering part of the magazines name (the masthead) shows that it is well known enough that the name doesn't have to be completely visible for it to be recognisable. The representation that is being given off from the front cover of this magazine is that it is aimed at an audience of film, television, book and music loves - not only do we get this idea from the slogan 'best movies*TV*music*books' but also from the masthead of the magazine 'Entertainment Weekly' and from the fact that the main image and cover line, focusing on one of the new films that is coming out. The age range for the magazine can be quite varied - as can the audience group (a, b, c1, c2, etc) - because people from different social integration's can have a common interest in films and other types of entertainment, however because of the topics that are shown in the cover lines (naming some other films that appeal to a younger age e.g Percy Jackson) the audience is probably in the age group of 13-25 and the audience demographic is most likely d and e (being students and those of a more average income) as they are more likely to spend some of their spare time going to the cinema or listening to music. Another group of people who are likely to buy this magazine are teenage girls because of the main image being Dylan O'Brien and the fact that he is seen as attractive and that he's popular among that age and gender group.