Making My Magzine - Coverlines and Plugs

When creating my magazine, to create a conventional look for the cover, I decided that it would be wise for me to add plugs and coverlines onto the cover. 

To begin with I knew that I needed to include plugs of other films on the cover. I did this because it follows convention of most mainstream film magazines. To begin with I thought that I wanted to keep the cover bare, with only a few plugs and a coverline for the main story of my own film. I did this by adding the names of three films on the bottom. I chose a font that was quite plain as I thought that it would not draw too much attention, not being the main portion of the page. 

My main coverline 'Izzy Vince Exclusive: Interview with star of DreamDance' is placed on the bottom left of the page, this is because there was a large space there and the page needed to be balanced. I chose to put the coverlines in a dark blue, as I thought that the colour was bright and contrasted well with the brown colour in the masthead.

To make it stand out from the page, and give it body, I decided to add some effects to the text, including a bevel to both of the title words. I did this by using the effects tool on photoshop and playing around with different features that made the text look the best. These effects made the text stand out from the page, and would draw the eye of the reader, or person walking past the magazine, hopefully drawing in a wider range of audience. 

To make the page feel less bare, and look like your average film magazine cover. I decided to add a few more coverlines to do with other stories within the magazine. I chose to add a story on the right hand side of the page to balance the page out, I also chose to add one on the left upper hand corner. With these two coverlines, places where they are I needed to make the white font stand out; to do this I chose to put a blue box behind the writing. I then added the description, in the same font ass the other plugs lower down on the page. 

To complete the look of these coverlines, I thought that we still needed to darken the background to make it stand out for the reader. To do this I decided to use the photoshop effects menu which is included. I chose a few different options and decided that the one that gave me the darkened effect was the drop shadow tool. This is because it only places the shadow on the words that I wanted and not in a big block. I could also when using the effect, control how much spread the shadow had and how dark it would look. I altered these, giving it a larger spread but with a higher opacity, meaning that the shadow was very gradual. 

These were the completed coverlines on my magazine, and with these additions the final magazine front cover was created. 

Making My Magazine - Masthead

When creating my blog I decided that I needed to make it  memorable to the reader through the use of the masthead. By creating a masthead that would catch the attention of the reader, it would ensure that my magazine would sell and get attention from my audience. 

This is the final masthead for my magazine. I chose to name my magazine 'Reel Film' and decided that I needed to choose a magazine look that would match the feel of the name.

I knew that I wanted to incorporate the use of an actual film reel into the masthead, to make it look authentic. However, when deciding on the choice of film reel, I initially went for the actual reel and the film flowing, however, I decided that this takes up too much space on the page, and the picture did not fit appropriately on the page. 

 

Taking this into account I then decided to go for a different look and chose a different form of film tape. The one that I chose had an old and used look, I thought that this would be effective as it fit in with the colour scheme of blue and brown that I had chosen. 

Once I had this into the document, I placed it into the top left corner, which is the standard place for the masthead. I did this because I felt that I should follow convention in my magazine. I then placed in my name. I decided to change the font of one of the words, because I thought it would draw the attention of the reader, as it is not a usual thing to do. However, I chose to keep the word film in a bolder font, as I thought that it would draw the readers attention and instantly make it clear that this is a film magazine. 

This is the finished version of my masthead. I have decided to add a textured layer on top of the word film. This is to make sure that the word fits in with the worn out look of the film reel. I did this by finding an image of an old bit of film reel from the internet. I then added that on top over my image, and altered the transparency and effect that was on top of the image, until I achieved the desired look. 

Making My Magazine - Background Image

When creating my magazine I originally began with a blank white background, with the picture of Izzy on top. I however thought that this was very bland and boring as there was not a lot left. I chose to insert an image of a dance studio, which fits with the theme and story of the trailer; I removed the background of the original photo because I didn't think that it complimented the way the magazine would look. 

When I inserted the picture into the file, I thought that the picture looked too harsh in the background. To change the look of the picture I decided to change the 

gaussian blur

Making My Poster - Finalising Changes

I have made some more final changes to my poster, as I thought that before it did not seem to the professional standard, that I want to be nearer to achieving. I have done this by changing some fonts and adding some new details, that whilst adding to the poster are also starting to create a brand for my film. 

I decided to change the font of my two main characters names. The font that I had used before was thinner, more standard and boring. I have changed the font now to something that is more solid and bolder. I have chosen to do this as I think that it makes the words stand out more. This would be helpful as my audience would want to know who is in my film, by making the words stand out more its helping them to decide if they want to see my film.

I also decided to add a tag line which would accompany my film, I chose to use 'dance as if no one is watching'.I chose to use this as I thought that it sounded quite inspirational about dance. I placed it underneath my  main film title, as that is an eye catching part of the poster, placing it here would ensure that it would be seen by my audience helping to secure a brand for my film. 

I put this in the same font as the actor names, I have done this as it would make the poster look neat and tidy on the . This also ensures that we get the same house style throughout the whole poster, which makes it look more professional. 

Making My Poster

I held a photoshoot with my actor to try and get a photo for my poster and magazine front cover. I took a variety of my photos when Izzy was dancing to try and get action shots of her. I decided on the photo below for my poster and decided that I wanted this one for my poster, I then proceeded to put it into Photoshop to edit it and make it look more professional.

This is the original photo that I had, I placed a photo over the top of this to try and add some more colour to the original picture. 

I then cut Izzy out of the picture and made her a duplicate, this means that I can place her above this new colourful layer. I needed to do this because when I added the new layer, it started to block her face. By cutting her out I could place her above the rest of the layers, I placed her specifically so the image of her on the background layer then became her shadow. 

I then changed the colouring of the background layer to, lighten the whole image. This drop down menu gave us a lot of different options that would change the colour of the image. I found that the best colour overlay, was 'colour dodge', it made the picture brighter and slightly opaque, meaning that we could see the background layer slightly darker in the background.

Once I had done everything to the background layers, I added in my font. I transferred it from my other file and placed it onto this file. I however found that now with all the colour on the photo, the purple colour no longer worked.

To tackle this I decided to add a white line behind it. I used the paint brush tool to get a white block behind, however, I felt that the solid white block would be way to harsh, therefore I changed the brush type to more of a graffiti style brush. This added to the 'feel good' genre as we are moving away from the harsh solid lines, which connotes a tougher more serious feel. 

I then needed to follow convention of film posters and add the names of the actors. To begin with I only added on the name of my main protagonist as I felt it was all I needed. However, afterwards I realised that really that did not actually look very good, especially because I had originally made it purple, which did not look good with the background. 

I then decided to change it to include the two name on either side and make the black. This then became much more conventional and made it easier for the audience to read on the poster as the black really contrasts with the bright yellow and pink colours. 

I have also changed the fonts that I used on the first one, I did this because I found that it was too thin and not easy to read. I then used a similar font but chose one that was slightly thicker, this helped as it still looked very standard, but still easy to read. 

Making My Poster - Fonts

When making my poster I needed to decide on my font that I wanted to use for the film title and for the other information. In Photoshop I inputted the name of my film and then played around with the different fonts and the different effects that were available.

I decided to choose the colour purple, as I feel that it is a very happy colour. I wanted to use a happy colour because it would help to support my 'feel good' genre. I was using the Footloose and the Flashdance trailer as models for what I would use; this is because I wanted to ensure that what I had chosen would follow the conventions of this genre. By following this I chose to play around with a few different flowing, handwriting fonts as this follows the style of the genre. 

I chose to add glow to the title as I thought it would make it more glamorous and showstopping, this follows the feel of my film as people associate dancing with being quite a glamorous 

Almost Final Trailer

This was the first version of my trailer, however, when I burned it and watched it through I decided that some elements of the trailer did not match up to the sound. This meant that I had to go through and change some elements, meaning I had to re-burn and re-upload.

Making My Trailer - Title Screen

To give my film an identity and ensure that it stayed memorable to the viewer, I decided to frequently show a title screen of the name of my film. I chose to do it frequently throughout the trailer, as this was what I had found from my competitor trailer research, therefore, by doing this I am following the convention of these trailers.

I chose my film editing software to create this feature, as it came with a tool that would make this easier for me to do.

 On the edit screen of Adobe Premier there is access to a few title screens that I used as a base to the creation of my title freezframe. I selected the one titled fun_credits, as I thought it was the plainest one that I was able to use and edit to suit my genre.

Once I selected my screen, it goes into editing mode. This allows you to change the text and to add effects onto specific parts of the text if you want them. I chose to remove all the design that was already included - the purple dots and excess text that I no longer needed. 

As you can see I have removed all the excess and changed the text to the name of my film. Using the editing panel on the right hand side of the screen I was able to change the font, size and style of my text. This was helpful as it ensured that I was able to make sure that my product was the same in my trailer and throughout all my other ancillary products.

Using the text animation panel, I was able to select from various different modes which would change the way that my title moved across the screen. There were many modes to choose from, for example, pan and zoom, fades, slide and various other special effects that would change the way in which the title entered and exited from the screen. On my title screen I chose to use the focus in mode, this means that my title starts really zoomed in and out of focus, and gradually zooms out so that we can see the whole word in focus.

I added a transition effect to my title screen as I thought that the transition between it and other shots was too harsh. I decided to use a fade to white as most of my shots have quite high key lighting and using a dark fade would be too harsh of a transition, if the mood and shot did not call for it.

Making My Trailer - Montage

To make sure that the trailer included a change of pace I decided to include a montage of Izzy dancing about a minute into the trailer. I chose to place it here as the music changes pace at this point, to a faster tempo, this means that I can have faster cuts during this section and it would fit in with the music.

I created the montage in a room where there was stage lighting attached to the ceiling, this meant that I could control the amount of lighting that was on Izzy. I did this so that I could try and create a silhouette effect on my actor. Using the stage lighting I was able to create this effect and alter the lighting to make some shots lighter and some shots much darker, creating a contrast.

Creating the montage was easier as I had already had some experience with the software, meaning it became easier to use. I loaded in all the footage that I had filmed with the various types of lighting and cut them together at different stages, this is so that each shot was only around a second, second and a half.
By doing this in the beginning it meant that when I came to cutting the shots together, it was easier for me. I the proceeded to place all the shots together in a way that flowed and didn't seem too disjointed. I decided to put all the darker shots into one section, and all the lighter shots into threat section. I did this because when I was cutting the shots together, it didn't flow correctly between the different lighting settings. I then chose to put all the darker shots together and all the lighter shots together, this made the trailer flow more, even with the contrast of the lighting.

Making My Trailer - Changing from the Storyboard

I decided to change the first page of my storyboard to a different set of shots. This is because when it came to filming and the initial editing, I did not feel that it would actually aid my trailer. I chose to changed the shot of the group dancing to a long of my protagonist dancing, this is because I thought it would be more beneficial to the audience to understand her character better.

I also didn't include the pan shot of the town. I did not do this because when I was trying to film it I as using the dolly to help me get a good shot. However, the road in which I was using was gravely and the shot came out very shaky. When I tried to incorporate this into my film it did not look very good as the quality of filming way very low. 

Instead of this I decided to use a close up shot of Izzy laughing and an over shoulder shot of Sam talking to Izzy. This helped with the character development as a close up shot is very personal, meaning they will feel closer to her. The over shoulder shot I used was done to help show the audience that there is a possible friendship between these two characters. It would aid them to understand a build in the relationship between the two characters. 

Making My Trailer - Adding Transitions

When creating my trailer, it seemed helpful to me to include some transitions in the trailer. I used cross dissolves, dip to black and dip to white all to signify certain aspects of the trailer to make the audience feel a certain way when watching.

I used cross dissolves in the trailer to make the editing process seem less harsh. When I used them between my second and third shot it created the effect of an action match between the pan of the houses and the dancing of my actress. This helped the beginning of the trailer to look smoother and ensured that it would not be dramatic at the beginning, which would have not gone with the 'feel good' genre of my film.

The dip to white creates a feeling to happiness and hope. I wanted to do this as I thought it would help to portray to the audience something that the protagonist loves. For example, I used the dip to white mainly on shots of her when she was dancing, this to show to the audience that it is her favourite thing to do.

The other transition that I used in the trailer was the dip to black. I used this in the opposite way to dip to white, to create unhappiness and tension between the characters in the next scene. I have mainly used this when I am moving from a happy shot to a more tense shot of two people arguing. I have done this to show the audience how the characters are feeling, this is because black connotes a feeling of unhappiness and despair.