My film campaign involved me creating a
teaser trailer, poster and magazine cover. To do this successfully, I had to
research each media platform’s conventions and then the conventions in relation
to the genre. By creating a campaign that used the conventions most
efficiently, it creates the most realistic project.
I started by researching posters
advertising films. This research was of all types of films, I was attempting to
figure out the conventions of posters. I analyzed 5 examples of posters and
made a list of all the conventions found. I will go through each convention and
comment if I have challenged or used it.
The
first convention that nearly every poster has is images. These can be images of
the stars, characters or scenes from the film. The image on the poster is very
important as without it, there is just writing, this will not engage the
audience in the same way an image does. My poster used this convention, there
is a central image, it is a blurred image of a man, the main character, and he is
running. The image is eerie and attracts people to it, it engages with the
audience.
However, Inception challenged this
convention. They made posters early on
in their marketing campaign, which had only writing, they read “Protect Your
Thoughts”, and “Thought Theft is Real”. But this is very early on in the
marketing campaign to get people thinking about the film.
Another convention that my media product
uses is the use of reviews on the poster. Seeing that a well renowned newspaper
or a popular website has recommended the film is a huge encouragement for
people to watch it. This shows that critics, who are paid to judge a film, say
it is good. My poster has reviews; an example of one is “A gripping thriller…
absolutely electrifying”. Many posters also give star reviews from critics
that, like reviews, give even more incentive for audience to see the film.
Taglines are very important on a poster.
This can be taglines that reflect something about the movie, or its release
date. On my poster, I use both. The tagline that reflects the film is “Don’t be
part of their plan” which is the same as the trailer tagline to create
continuity in the marketing. The other tagline simply says “summer 2012” which
is vague due to the poster being released relatively early in the campaign. The
release date is another convention that my poster follows.
One convention that nearly all posters use
is the title. This should be the biggest font on the poster; it should be bold
and clear so people can see it easily. Without this, the audience will not know
what the film is called to go and see it. My poster uses this convention. The
logos of the films distribution/production, and other companies involved in
making the film are also conventions of poster which my poster uses. Usually
with this comes the credits/which shows the cast and crew; this is a convention
that my poster uses. Moreover, the website is also a convention that comes with
this section of the poster; I give a website on my media product.
My media product also challenged some of
the conventions of a poster. It challenged the use of eye candy in the poster;
there is also no certificate (however this is due to the fact that the poster
is meant to have been released early in the films campaign). It also challenges
awards/nominations; there is no reference to other films, directors or
merchandise.
The other aspect of conventions I had to
look at for posters is based on genre. Looking at a number of thriller posters,
I analyzed the main conventions that they had. One thing I found was they had a muted colour
scheme. This is to create a sense of weariness for the audience; I felt this
was effective so I used it in my poster using a dull blue as my background and
just a white figure running.
Another convention is that characters are
often running. This convention reflects a sense that the person is being chased
and is under threat. This causes a feeling of fear for the audience. I used
this convention with my prominent image being one of a man running. It is at a
canted angle, which is another convention I found when researching thriller
posters. This makes the audience feel uneasy about the situation.
The mise-en-scene of the poster is a
convention. However, I did not stick to the mise-en-scene in terms of costume
in my poster – I did not use a picture of a man wearing formal attire. My
poster had an image of a blurred man, conveying ambiguity and anonymity so no
particular costume was needed.
I also found that the tagline on the poster
generally addresses to audience, engaging them. I used this convention in my
poster with “Don’t be part of their plan”. This forces the audience to
empathise with the characters.
The setting is in an urban environment. The
character is running across a bridge of which you can assume is over a dual-carriage
way. There is also a slight high angle used on the image to reflect weakness
and vulnerability, this is another convention I have stuck to when creating my
poster.
My next task to was to research magazine
covers in order to use or challenge their conventions. Before deciding on a
type of publication, I had to analyse a magazine cover to understand the layout
and general content.
The first convention that my magazine cover
uses is the use of an image. Nearly every single magazine cover will use an
image, be it of a star, character or director – they all use images.
The next convention I used is the masthead.
This is the biggest, boldest, clearest font on the page; it is also in the top
third as this is meant to attract the audience’s eye.
Another convention used by many magazines
is the use of banners. These are the circles or rectangular shapes that hold
more information or offers on the cover. I used this convention advertising
‘The Complete Cameron’ exclusive – a banner is a good way to advertise articles
or features that differ to others on the page.
Another convention that my poster follows
is the referencing to stars and films. This is something that all film magazines
have; this is advertising the main content. I used this convention by
mentioning ‘Alex Steele’ the star of Blueprint, I also spoke of ‘The Bourne
Legacy’ and the ‘Avengers’ both films of the same genre.
On all magazines, a convention that is not widely
spoke of, but without it magazines would be impossible to sell are the issue
numbers, barcodes and website. These 3 things nearly all magazines have and my
magazine had to have this on it.
Now I understood the convention of a film
magazine covers, I knew what type of publication my product would be (a mainstream)
so I had to analyse what these magazines had in them.
Reviews are a convention that every film
magazine (especially mainstream) has in them. It is one of the main reasons for
buying the magazine and my media product has reviews, for example on
‘Avengers’. Previews are also a convention that I have stuck to, with the
‘Bourne Legacy’ being an example of one in my media product. Previews allow a
sneak peak at a film very far in advance to its actual release.
Interviews are a main convention of mainstream
magazines. With big Hollywood stars being involved in the type of films they
promote, having an interview with a big name can bring in a huge fan base. My
exclusive reads: ‘Max Steele reveals his Blueprint for Success’. Max Steele is
the main character in blueprint who is a famous actor, without interviews like this;
the audience would not want to buy the magazine.
A convention that my magazine cover
challenges is the use of posters or competitions. Offering a free give away
like a poster, or entry into a competition that could win a holiday to Hollywood
is a very effective way of selling copies. However I did not use it, as I
wanted my magazine to promote the conventions of a film
magazine that are film related.
For my teaser trailer I did lots of
research into the conventions that they all have. I analyzed many trailers and
found these were the basic conventions:
·
Production/Distribution Company Logos - for example Warner Brothers or
Universal. This usually comes at the beginning.
This is a convention I used, my company logos
were ‘Syncopy’, ‘Warner Bros’ and ‘Legendary’.
·
Images from the film
An obvious convention, but one that should
not be overlooked as without it, the audience has no idea what kind of film it
is, who is in it and what it is about.
Title of the film
This was used in my film so the audience know
what the film is called to go home and book tickets (although this is a teaser
trailer and is early on in the films campaign) or find more information on it.
·
Release dates (for a teaser this is likely to be 'Coming Soon' or something
vague like this, rather than a specific date.
My trailer uses these conventions with a
vague release date; this gets the rough time of release into the heads of the
audience.
·
Indication of genre - the intended audience should be clear (this is
done through the music, voiceover and mise-en-scene)
In my trailer this is done through costume
(the use of suits in antagonists is a conventions), weapons (especially guns
which the audience feedback told me was an important aspect of thrillers), and
cars (another significant convention.)
Use of cars
Use of guns and suits.
·
Website (usually always at the end)
This is used to give the audience a way of
finding out more information about the film if the want. I used this
convention.
·
Voiceover man
This is a convention I challenged by not
using it. At the beginning of my trailer there is non-diegetic speaking from a news
reporter, but I felt my film was not ‘epic’ enough to justify the use of a
voiceover man. All of the things I wanted to say came across well through my
taglines.
·
Editing - transitions often include flashes, quick fades and dissolves
alongside more conventional cuts.
My trailer uses all of these types of
editing. The changing in editing type and speed adds a sense of suspense and
unease to the audience.
·
Possibly cast, crew, director credits
I used this convnention as
all trailer have this. They show nt only the cast.crew buyt laos give naothger
chance for the company logos ot be shown and sound logos.
Possibly reference to other films (that this is similar to) or other
films that have been directed/produced by the same people.
This is a convention I challenged as I felt
my film did not need director who had previously directed famous films.
·
Stars / names of the stars
I only used the name of stars in my
credits/billing at the end of my trailer. As teaser trailers are so short, I
thought it was more necessary to include as many images of the film as possible
rather than the main stars.
·
Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated
for (these may refer to other films).
·
Music - make sure that it reflects the genre but also that it works with
images
The music I sued starts off with a slow
tempo, builds up, then goes into a fast tempo beat that is used to create
suspense within the audience. This is a convention I followed.
·
Tagline
I used a tagline in my teaser trailer. It is direct;
to engage the audience and make them empathise with the characters.
·
Quotes that reference other films - for example 'From the Director
of...'
I did not use this as I did not have to time
in my trailer due to the amount of shots.
·
Sound effects
·
I used many sound effects in my teaser trailer. I created the sound of
riots at the beginning of the trailer using samples of fighting, fire and
explosions to give a sense of authenticity. I also used impact sounds in
between certain shots, for example when my tag line appeared.
·
Eye candy
I attempted to have some ‘eye candy’ in my
trailer in order to match conventions.
·
Reference to the source material the film is based on
My film is not based on source material.
·
Try to use a variety of camera shots / movement
I used a variety of shots: close ups, two
shots, mid shots, high angle, low angle, canted framing etc. This is to create
a sense of ‘on-edge’ cinema.
These are just two examples.
·
Reference to prequel
There is no prequel.
