Film Poster Ideas

As well as making a teaser trailer for our film, my group is also creating a poster.

The first idea I had for the poster was :

The poster will be in colour with a black background and white font. The eyes pictured in the poster will also have the contact lenses in that we have chosen to use as part of our costume for the main character.

Costume - Contact Lenses

In our film we are going to use contact lenses to represent the fact that the main character has 'The Sight'. The contact lenses we are going to use are called 'Berzerker':

Results Of Font Survey

After conducting the survey to find out what font to use or our title, the result was that the 'Slammer Tag' font was the most popular. Therefore the logo for our film will be:

Title Font Ideas

The title of our film will be 'The Sight'.We have looked through many fonts to find the right one for the title, this is the list of ones we thought would be suitable:

We are going to conduct a survey to see which font our target audience likes the best.

Feedback 6.12.09

This is excellent! You are working really hard on this coursework so well done! I know you have also started to storyboard this project. I'd like to see some location shots, caasting shots, props lists, costumes, shooting schedules etc. You need to get filming this asap and over Xmas hols. If you haven't already, and you require it then book your equipment out now as there may not be any otherwise as there are several groups wanting access to cameras etc over the hols!

Mrs A

Genre - Analysis Of Similar Products

I have found four trailers that have similar themes to what my group is aiming for:

The Blair Witch Project (1999) Danny Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez

The Amityville Horror (2005) Andrew Douglas

The Haunting In Connecticut (2009) Peter Conwell

28 Days Later (2002) Danny Boyle

All of these trailers have elements that my group will consider using in our teaser trailer. All the trailers use shadows and the dark to create fear and anticipation in the audience which is something that my group want to create. The fast paced editing used in all the trailers is something that we will definitely use in out project as it is typical of all horror films. The loud non-diegetic sounds and over exaggerated diegetic sounds used in all of the trailers is also something that is typical of all horror films, so my group will therefore be using this technique in our project. The lighting in the trailers is used to create fear in the audience, therefore we will be using our lighting in a similar way. The lighting also helps to create shadows, used in most of the trailers, which is something my group need to take into consideration as the 'monsters' in our project are just shadows.  

Ideology

Our film offers both dominant and alternative ideologies to the audience. A dominant ideology offered is that good defeats evil, this is shown by the fact that Sammael (our protagonist) defeats the demons that killed his loved ones. Another dominant ideology offered to the audience in the film is that anyone can be a hero, shown by the fact that the outsider of the community became the hero of the story. An alternative ideology offered to the audience is that the law is useless, which is pushed at audience by the fact that the law end up killing the hero and the fact that they weren't able to control the riot that destroyed the jail in the story.

All three of these ideologies link to the horror genre. In most horror films the villain is either captured or killed, however in some cases they aren't usually so that sequels can be made. The ideology that anyone can be a hero is evident in most horror films as the hero usually ends up being the most unlikely person. The law being useless is also a reoccurring ideology in horror films as the law is mostly taken into the hands of the protagonist and other characters.

I think that the audience for my product will read it in accordance with Hall's reception theory. The preffered reading for the teaser trailer would be that anyone can be a hero. I do not think that the audience will read the media text in accordance with the hypodermic needle theory as the film would challenge the audience too much for them to be passive, the audience would have to be active for them to understand the film.

The four narrative theories

The four narrative theories are by Propp, Todorov, Levi-Strauss and Barthes.

Propp states there are eight main characters in any media text; The Hero, The Villain, The Helper, The Dispatcher, The Donor, The Princess, The Father, The False Hero. Often one character occupies multiple roles and not all of the later characters appear in all media texts. In our film the characters are as follows; Hero = Sammael, Villain = Lucas (the demon), Helper = Shelton, Dispatcher = Destiny (Sammael was born to do this), Donor = Dwayne & Shelton, Princess = Safer world, our film doesnt really have a father or a false hero.

Todorov states a narrative is driven by equilibrium, disruption, re-equilibrium. In our film the equilibrium is that Sammael is hunting the demons, the disruption is he has just killed an innocent police officer, and the re-equilibrium is that he saves the world and passes on his powers to another.

Levi-Strauss states that all narratives must have binary oppositions or conflicts between two sets of things. For example in ours it could be Good vs Evil, Sammael vs Demons or Alive vs Dead.

Barthes states the enigma code is in most films. The narrative is driven along by enigma then resolution. This is true for our film

Representation Stereotypes

Stereotypes are used in media so that people don't have to think about people. If someone has ginger hair, green clothes and drinks a lot and fight a lot people know he is your stereotypical Irishman.



tackie bottoms, caps and bling you think of Chav. Stereotypes just make it easier for us to watch a film and enjoy it knowing whats happening but not having to think about it. For example if you see an Irishman turning down a pint at a bar we would ask the question why isn't he drinking that? and this would lead to confusion which many of todays audience dont like while watching films. The fact is stereotypes no matter what are not real. Noone in the world is all the things that make a stereotype. They may have traits of the stereotype but they don't actually exist.

We have decided to not use stereotypes too much as we are looking to create a more realistic feel to the characters, so they have darkness and light is they are a good character, or they have reasons they are doing something if they are doing anything that is going to harm people that make them do it. This may limite the audience of some of them may not find the film as enjoyable but realistic characters are a trait of British films rather than the Hollywood stereotypes.

Representation

The main characters in our film will be:

Sammael: He is an outcast for society and on the run from the police. He is one of the chosen warriors against the souls and has many characteristics of a protagonist i.e. courageous, self sacrificing and intelligent. However, unlike most protagonists due to his past and having suffered from guilt of not being able to save his family he drowns his sorrows in drink, he doesn't care if his actions please anyone or if he hurts the feelings of others and he tries to always stick to himself. This is staying away from stereotypes as it shows that no matter what you do as long as it helps people in one way (killing souls) then you can be seen as a hero by some.

Shelton: He is a man who has been wrongly accused of murdering a whole family. He grew up on the streets with no father and found his family in his crew. He is the youngest of 4 brothers and 3 sisters. He has had a hard childhood being arrested for pickpocketing, grand theft auto and assault. He changed when his mother died and he was the only one in the family not dead or in jail to go to his mothers funeral. He goes after the killer but after putting a gun to the killers head stops as it is 'not what his mother would have wanted'. The killer is murdered the same night and Shelton is arrested due to witnesses seeing him in the area. All this hate has made him hostile and he seems not to like or trust anyone. He seems to be the typical 'Black, Ghetto, Gangster' but really he has a huge heart and only wants to help the people he holds close to him. Again this means he is not the stereotypical gangster on the inside but may seem that way on the outside.

Dwayne: He is your typical cop who breaks the rules to keep everyone else by the rules. He could be classed as the stereotypical 'Dirty Cop'. He hopes to rid the streets of crime and wants to catch some of the most violent and evil criminals around. He is represented to be the bad cop in the good cop/bad cop relationship with his partner (who is killed by Sammael). Once his partner is killed we see he wants revenge and bad. Once he catches Sammael he treats him like the scum of the earth. Once Sammael saves him Dwayne feels like he owes him his life and vows to try and help him find a way to keep everyone safe.

Lucas: He is the stereotypical demon who wants to bring hell on earth and end the world. He wants to destroy humanity.

Audience

Our target audience will be white Caucasian males aged from about 18-25 who are middle and working class. Our wider secondary audience will probably be females of the same status. I think this film will appeal to this audience as it can be linked to the fear of invasion and people trying to take over by force. This can be linked to immigrants and terrorism. Also it can be linked to family issues which many people in this age group may have but will be trying to get away from. This may work as a horror film as it addresses both these fears of people in the UK of terrorism and family problems.

Our film will be aimed at aspirers as they will be motivated by the smart ideas and status. It isn't for mainstreamers as the British Film Industry is not as well known as Hollywood. It is not aimed at succeeders as this film doesn't emphasise power or control over the rest of the world. It is not aimed at reformers as this film is not about making the world a better place or trying to save society. Our secondary consumers would be the individuals as it is a unique film unlike any of the others and can not be put into a specific box.

Our film covers Maslow's Hierarchy of needs in a unique way as the main character starts at the bottom of the scale just fulfilling the Physiological stage. However as the film moves on we see him work his way up the hierarchy to reach self-actualization. This is good as it shows people that anyone from the bottom of society is able to achieve self-actualization.

Narrative structure

The Classical Narrative System:

1. The narrative is linear and chronological
2. Events are organised around the ideas of cause and effect
3. The action is driven by one central character
4. The narrative has a definite closure
5. The goal in the narrative is clear
6. Narrative is driven by equilibrium, disruption, re-equilibrium
7. Narrative is driven by enigma - resolution pattern

Our narrative structure would follow the typical narrative structure in many ways. The film will not be in chronological order, there will be flash backs in the film to explain the back story. All of the things that happen in the film are going to be organised by the idea of cause and effect, enigma - resolution and equilibrium, disruption, re-equilibrium. The narrative will be driven by one central character (Sammael) and we know what his goal is, to stop the souls from being released into the real world. The film also has a definite closure.