film posters

I have looked in depth at film posters, i looked on a website that told me what the top psychological thriller were - it was http://listverse.com/2008/06/23/top-15-psychological-thrillers/

This is the poster from the film Hand That Rocks The Cradle, and i like this poster because there is a happy scene of the family and 'ripped' down the middle is the killer. She is a completly different colour and this is really sinister and works well. I could incorporate this into my poster by using an image of the girl looking perfectly happy, and have the stalker with this effect on the other side of the poster.

I do however want the image of the man slightly concealed, so i want to make sure he has a lot of shadow.

This is a poster for the film Scream. I really like this poster because it is all focused on one character in the film, we don't necessarily know who because we can only see a extreme close up. I think the black and white works well because it makes it look creepier - to reflect the genre of the film.

The reason i like the close up is because it shows the importance of using a image to explain to the reader what the film will be about. The expression also adds to this. This relates to my film poster because the facial expression is also important on mine.

I like the simplicity of the poster and that they have focused on the image, its basic but really effective.

This film poster is from the film American Psycho, this film poster focuses on the killer instead of any victims. I know the reason for this is because the killer is obviously the main character, but i would like to highlight that i could potentially focus on my antagonist, instead of all of the focus on the victim.

This picture is also good in my research because he has shadow on his face to make him look sinister. I also have had people think it would be a good idea to use a weapon on the poster.

This has widened my ideas for what my film poster will include.

more actual pictures.

First photo_________________________ Second photo

Third photo

The first photo is for my film poster, on the parallel wall will be the male actor. I like her facial expression here and it's a good angle because you can see enough of her without her being too far away. The second and third photos are for my film magazine cover. The girl will be on her own and she is gripping on to a brick wall 'looking' for her stalker, looking scared or worried. The brick wall will be blacked out but so you can still see the shape of the wall. On the black bit will be writing down the side. The second photo differs from the third because in the third i placed her hand near her face, to see what it would look like. I still don't know which i prefer.

pictures on location.

I have also taken some pictures on location of shots in my trailer, here they are..



This is the location where the stalker will be sitting on that bench and hiding in the dark in the bushes. This is also where he'll rustle the bushes.
In the dark this place gets a bit creepy so i thought it would be perfect.








For my trailer i want a pub or restaurant in it, i want the restaurant to be fairly modern looking, and i want there to be enough space across from it so that my actors aren't that clear. This will be my establishing shot. This is in fact a café and isn't open in the evening which is when i would like to shoot it, so i would have to use another one. It is just to show my ideal pub.

This again is a modern pub and fits into my specification. It is open around the time i would be filming, so not only will it be darker but also most of the cars will have disappeared.

My only trouble is that you can't get far enough away from it, this is as far as i can go and you would probably still be able to see the actors faces...however it might be different when it's dark. It's one to consider.

I want to look for pubs/restaurants like this one. If you guys have any you know of, either in villages aurrounding hunstanton or in kings lynn, please comment :)

update on my decisions.

I have decided that for my film magazine cover i shall have the main actress on the front. She will be standing looking forward past the camera with a scared look on her face. She will be alone, the male character will not be on the front of the magazine cover.
Included on the front will be in big writing 'Ever wonder what it's like to be stalked? Eliss Andrews tells all!' - there will be an interview inside with the actress on filming, getting into character and her co-stars.
Other puffs will be 'Interview with top director..(name)' , ' Top 10 releases this year' , 'Free posters' , 'Reviews of latest films' , 'Actual drafts of script from new film in the making'.
There will also be a barcode, price, issue date and a website for the magazine cover.

For my film poster, there will be both the characters on the front. The actress will be in a slightly different pose and an even more scared look on her face. She will be standing next to a brick wall, holding on to the edge and looking out past the camera. Behind her, in the shadows (so he is disguised) will be the stalker, the male character, he will be looking down towards the floor so you cannot see his face.
The poster will have the tagline - "Don't you hate it when she never calls?" (referring to the fact that in my film there is a man who has been on endless dates and none of them ever call, he basically has a mental problem of some sort and goes out of proportion and kills each one that does that. The film focuses on one woman.)
It will also have the release date, the production company, the website, credits, and some reviews.

writing..

For my magazine cover i need to decide what font i shall use for my title. I want to have something that reflects the genre of my film - thriller.

I think it needs to be bold but also something a little different and out of convention...this will link to the fact that my film is a bit out of the ordinary (because it's a psychological thriller, not many people can relate to the events happening in the film).

I have found some that i like...

(click on the image to enlarge)

The first font i like because it has a creepy look about it, i think this would reflect the 'creepy-ness' of my film.

The second font looks like the style of writing you'd have on an old parchment, that you see in old horror films, this could work well.

I picked the third font because it occurred to me that i wanted a font that was bold so it stood out, and this one had elements of both boldness, and creepy looking.

pictures are important..

I like this poster because it matches the theme of the film, throughout the film Hannibal is hiding, and by having him half shaded, if reflects this. I want to use this kind of idea for my film poster. My idea is a stalker film, so to have the stalker shaded so you can't properly see them would fit perfectly..this poster is a good example of that.

This poster which is promoting the psychological thriller, Hard Candy is a really good example of a poster with the genre thriller. The main focus is of the girl in the middle, and there are 3 things to notice; she has her hood up which shows that she cannot see clearly what could potentially come up behind her. She is portrayed as little red riding hood, who is a vulnerable character and she is wearing red which symbolises horror, or blood. The fact that she is standing on a trap obviously indicates that she is trapped, which reflects the plot of the film (she is subject to a paedophile). Overall, i really like this poster.

audience i'm targeting.

My film trailer will be aimed at people who tend to watch thriller films so they know the conventions that are portrayed, i will specifically pay attention to their views about what should be included in the trailer. I will also aim the trailer at those who are above the age of 15 because people above that age will be able to understand the concept and most films that are thrillers (particularly psychological thrillers) are certificate 15 or above in most cases. The age range will be 15-45.

facial expressions.

I like this cover because of Sweeney Todd's facial expression..from the results of my questionniare, facial epxression's are important so i am going to look at some and see which ones i want to incorporate. I will also take pictures of my own.

His face in this is pure sinister, it matches the film perfectly beacuse of the character he plays.

At first i thought of using my main character on the front, but not in character, just as the actor. But due to 'popular demand' for facial expressions to be clear, i've decided the character will be on the front, like you would see them in the film trailer i am making.

film magazine cover results.

Today i finished getting all my questionnaires filled in, i focused first on the questionnaire for the film magazine cover.

I asked;

• age
  
• gender


• how often you buy film magazines


• what you'd expect to find in a film magazine


• important aspects of a thriller film magazine front cover


• price you'd pay

I asked a range of ages, my age ranges were from 15 to over 37, and i asked people that filled each of the age ranges. This helps me get a wider response when i come to producing my film magazine cover. I also evened it out so that i asked 5 boys and 5 girls to get a variated response.

When asked how often they buy film magazines, 9 of them responded with never and only one person bought them once a month. Despite the majority of people answering that they didn't buy film magazines, they still have knowledge on what goes in a film magazine. I gave a choice of interviews, pictures, countdowns to new releases, list of top 10's, talks with directors, posters, reviews and other. The top favourites that everyone picked were; interviews, reviews and list of top 10's. The least favourite's were talks with directors, posters and countdown to new releases. 8 people picked all the choices and 2 people left a few. Some people wrote on the 'other' line and they would like to see freebies/competitions, talks with actors (informal) and possiby a script (screenplay). From these responses i will use the posters on the front and make it so they are freebies that come with the magazine, so i'm incorporating people's freebie idea.

I am doing a thriller film trailer, so will be incorporating that theme on to my magazine cover, i then asked people what aspects were important. The majority of people thought the font was important...i used this font as an example...


Along with this people also picked the facial expressions of actors on the front cover, i personally think this is important because if they look scared you get an idea of what the film is going to be about, it matches the genre. Other people picked the dark background as being important. One person wrote that colour coding is an important aspect, like red=blood..

This Fangoria magazine cover uses red as its font colour to match the horror theme..

This magazine not only uses red as it's font colour but the blood coming from Megan Fox's mouth is central on the cover.

The final question i asked was the price preference, 4 people want the price at £1 - £2 and 4 people wanted the price £2 - £3 and 2 people picked £3 - £4.. from this i will price my magazine somewhere between £1 and £4, probably £3.50.

I am now going to work on asking more people questions for my film trailer..