2. The title of our film is ‘The Replacement’. The synopsis of our film is that the main
character in the film will be the teenage girl who is being bullied and her two “friends”.
There will be a hooded figure who murders the two friends but is unknown which creates
an enigma in the film and suggests that the genre is a Thriller as the unknown figure isn’t
revealed. I would consider our film to be a PG (Parental Guidance) rating due to the
ending scene of a weapon covered in blood inferring to a murder in the film. The release
date for our film would be around Halloween due to it being a Thriller and this is typical to
the genre release dates to make the film more scarier than what it is and it will make want
people to go and see it with friends and family rather than alone.
Film Name & Synopsis
3. Ways in Which the Audience May Read My Ideas:
The main way in which audiences tend to read ideas is through Stuart Hall’s
Reception Theory. The theory states that media texts are encoded by the
producer meaning that whoever produces the text, fills the product with values and
messages. Afterwards, the text is then decoded by the audience which is decoded
by different ways and usually not what the producer intended.
There are three ways to decode and encode ideas:
Dominant / Preferred reading: When the audience agrees with the idea encoded.
Negotiated Reading: When the audience do not agree or disagree with the idea.
Oppositional Reading: When the audience disagrees with the idea.
4. Primary Research
For my primary research, I have decided to create a survey in which I will be
handing people and sharing on social media for them to answer. Below are the
questions which I have used on my survey.
SURVEY:
Name:
Age:
1) How have you heard about films in the past?
2) Do you have a chosen genre and if so state below:
3) Have you been convinced to see a film that you hadn’t originally wanted to see and if so how?
4) How do you consume media?
5) How long do you spend on your phone on average?
6) What social media platforms do you engage with and approximately how long for?
7) Do you use Youtube?
8) Do you read books, magazines, newspapers etc? If so state which one below:
9) Would you be interested in seeing a film about bullying which is considered as a thriller and
why?
5. Primary Research Results
https://www.slideshare.net/BethPotter4/primary-research-results-238857156
From receiving the feedback on my survey’s, it will help me come up with ideas on
how to market my film as I am now aware of how people view trailers and posters
on platforms. Furthermore, it will help me build an audience and fanbase as I know
their interests and hobbies therefore try and base my marketing (posters, trailers
and uploads on Instagram) around them to introduce more people in the audience
and make things fun and interesting in which they will enjoy.
By gathering these results, I can conclude on what marketing strategies I want to
use and how I want to use them.
6. Secondary Research
From this research, we have learnt
that our target group watches
Horrors the most so we decided to
make one ourselves to attract a
mainstream audience. However we
thought to make a Thriller instead
to make it more fun and interesting
to watch as they will want to try and
work out who the killer is and what
is going to happen next. Horrors
tend to have no ages younger than
15 due to BBFC ratings but also
performs poorly in the older age
bracket. This could be because
they aren’t as interested in Horrors
and find them quite overrated.
Graph from: https://stephenfollows.com/what-older-cinemagoers-are-watching/
7. Secondary Research - Existing Products
There are many Psychological Thrillers such as
Joker, Shutter Island, Psycho and Bird Box.
These were all hits and some still are to this
day. One existing product which I will be talking
about is the Joker. I have chosen the Joker as it
has a similar narrative and genre therefore it is a
competitor. There are a number of competing
production companies for this film such as
Warner Bros, DC Films and Village Roadshow
Pictures. By having 3 production companies to
compete with, it means that I will have to do a lot
of work in order to attract a mainstream
audience.
8. By looking at both of my primary & secondary research, it has helped me decide on
how to make my film and the best way to advertise it to others. As a result of learning
things from my survey (primary research) it has allowed me the opportunity to
manipulate these answers in my own work to create a successful film and advertising
for it. Furthermore, by using my secondary research, it has shown that the target age
for my film is mostly preferring horrors rather than other genres therefore I know that
this genre will receive the most watch time and it will be effective to use this genre in
my work. In regards to advertising my film, I will have a much bigger audience
interested in it as my target audience will be talking about it to their friends and family.
To prove this point, I held a focus meeting with the group of people (target audience)
who I gave the surveys out too and asked whether they liked my ideas. As a result of
this, they would be interested in seeing a film about bullying which is considered a
thriller/horror. Furthermore, the advertise my film, I have decided to create posters as it
will put the viewer in the middle of a scene in the film which creates tension and an
incentive. The incentive being that in order to resolve the situation in the film, the
audience looking at the poster needs to see the film and find out what happens.
9. Secondary Research - Existing Products Continued
For my film, I would have a preferred reading compared to the Joker as it has a
similar narrative and age rating but isn’t as graphic as there are a few violent
scenes used in the Joker (which could create an oppositional reading for the Joker
as parents / adults may not want their children to see such scenes). From
analysing the Joker and comparing it to my film, I have learnt that you can
manipulate a story line in many ways with it still resulting in a similar way.
Furthermore I could also use scenes just like the Joker as audiences could find it
more entertaining and could possibly be the reason why the Joker was very
popular as it grossed $335.5 million in the US and Canada, $738.5 million in other
territories resulting in a total of $1.074 billion.
10. Audience Profile
Age: 14 - 18 years old.
Gender: Male
Education: Student at college studying Graphic
Design or Film Studies.
Job: Unemployed
Why would they see the film: I think that they
would like to see my film as it is a Thriller genre
therefore they will find it entertaining as thrillers
tend to have enigmas which are masked
characters therefore it will give them a task to
work out who the masked character is.
The target audience for our film
is teenagers, 14-18 year olds
who are seen as explorers, they
tend to seek discovery. They
have energy, individualism and
experience. Their values
difference and adventure.
Explorers are typically a younger
demographic (students) with a
social grade of E/D.
11. Black background - Connotates death, danger and an eerie tone which
will scare audiences. Also links to the diversity used on the poster.
Red colour - Links to the black colour palette of death as it could
potentially signify blood but on the other side passion, lust and
romance.
By the main image holding a face mask up to her face, it creates an
enigma for the film as the audience don’t know her identity as it is
hidden.
Negotiated Reading - the audience may agree with the encoded idea
as the producer has used diversity instead of a stereotypical white
person which supports today’s problems in society regarding diversity
problems and the current movement of Black Lives Matter. On the
other hand the audience could also disagree with this due to the lack of
diversity used and cause activists to feel unhappy and annoyed as
they have their movement of All Lives Matter and also they could feel
as though it is sexist as only one gender has been used.
12. The key signifier is positioned in the direct centre of the poster (in
terms of rule of thirds) therefore this supports the idea that she is main
image and the audience will pay all of their attention on her first before
reading the details of the film.The key signifier is positioned in the
direct centre of the poster (in terms of rule of thirds) therefore this
supports the idea that she is main image and the audience will pay all
of their attention on her first before reading the details of the film.
The title of the film is wrote in a sans serif font which takes the edge
away from the poster and adds a less serious tone to it which may
allow the audience to ease from the idea of it being a horror / thriller.
The details of the film is wrote in a serif font which shows the more
serious side of the poster as it holds details such cast members,
directors, producers etc.
The creation of the enigma introduces Bulmer and Katz Uses and
Gratification theory as the audience wants to know who is behind the
mask and tries to work out who it is therefore they are trying to retrieve
information.
13. Actors are centered in the middle of the poster (rule of thirds) which
makes them the main image of the poster and could also link to them
being part of a hierarchy. To support this, T’Challa is placed at the
top of the poste which supports him being King of Wakanda.
Negotiated Reading - Audience will agree and disagree with the
characters represented on the poster as they have mainly used black
characters therefore people will find this racist however on the other
hand, people will agree with this as it supports the movement Black
Lives Matter.
Oppositional Reading - The use of the background colour and title
colour could make the audience disagree as the colour blue is
stereotypically known as male colour. As a result of this, people
could find this sexist due to it being the only colour mainly used.
The gold font and gold outline of the title could also support the idea
of the hierarchy as gold connotates richness, loyalty and prosperity.
The mise-en-scene used reveals the location, and the futuristic vibe
as the blue glowing behind them and the use of weaponary used
which supports the narrative and genre of it being a sci-fi.
14.
15. Idea Collage
For my idea collage, I decided to use some possible colour themes, images taken by myself, photo effects I
could use, poster flatplans and different font styles for my poster.
Colour themes - The colour themes which I have used, uses quite a dark colour palette which instantly links to
horror / thriller genre as they are dark, sinister and scary.
Photo effects - I am hoping to use glitched effects and layered images on top of the photograph for the poster
to manipulate the image itself. By adding a ripped paper / brush stroke across the eyes on the image itself, it
will create an enigma for the audience which ties in with the genre of the film.
Font styles - By creating a small list of possible fonts that I could use for the title of my film on the poster, it
allowed me to decide on which one I liked best and was able to gather the audience’s opinions on them.
Furthermore, I added the name of the font underneath the title so that it was easier to find or refer to if needed.
Images - I have put together a small collage of my images so that it is easier to decide on which ones to use /
decide which ones will be most effective, as they are layed out in front of me rather than stacked up in a file. In
addition to this, the audience can also possibly give me feedback on which images are best to use to fit the
genre of the film.
(Ideas Explained)
16. The images which I will be using are these three. I have decided to use these ones as I thought that it would be the
most effective and fitting to the planned genre. Furthermore, the type of low-key lighting shots and close ups will
make it more eerier and allow me to successfully cover the key signifiers eyes to create an enigma for the film and
audience. I took these images in the photography studio at Bede Campus (Sunderland College). I did this as it gave
me access to the use of different types of lighting and the plain background to keep it easier and simple. In addition to
this, it was quite easy to access which made stages of the production a lot more quicker and easy.
17. Different Fonts for Posters
These are some of the fonts in which I
will use on teaser posters and the official
movie poster for our film. All of the fonts
are from DaFont.com and each has the
name of the font underneath the title of
our film.
18. Poster Flatplans
Teaser Poster 1
Film Title
Release Date
Main
Image
Teaser Poster 2 Theatrical Poster
Release Date
Film Title
Main Image
Top Billing - Actor’s Names
Main Image
Film Title
Release Date
Billing Block
19. Flatplan Ideas Continued
For the teaser posters for my film, I will have more than three which will allow the
viewers to create an accumulation of the posters as they will be seen as
collectibles/ exclusive to fans. On each of the posters, it will be a range of each
characters or an item from the film etc similar to Toy Story 4 or Frozen 2 (As
shown on the next slide).
Furthermore, on the posters it will only include the release month and year along
with the main image or possibly even the films title with a small slogan as shown
on the next slide. I have used both thriller and horror posters in my collage to try
and infer the different ideas in which I will use as some of them are minimal which
I think is useful for teaser posters. Each poster will be released separately within
certain time periods to make the campaign somewhat more successful as the
audience will want to see them as soon as possible.
21. In local cinemas, there are limited and collectible posters for audiences to collect.
An example is Star Wars, there were different posters released each month and to
get these posters, you had to go in the cinemas to collect a new version. This
mainly happens in the mainstream cinemas i.e the Odeon rather than niche
cinemas, This may be because with them being a mainstream cinema, more
people go to these therefore they will be able to give the posters out straight away
as they are very busy. By having the idea of collectible posters, it inspired me to
make some myself. As a result of this, it may attract more people to see my movie
as they will want to collect the posters and possibly even make it a hobby. The
type of people that may do this is people that really enjoys watching films and likes
to collect little figurines etc of the characters.
22. Primary Research Continued
From the surveys and other primary research, I also thought that having the film
named ‘The Replacement’ was quite fitting with the storyline as the audience were
interested in seeing how it would turn out. In addition to this, when choosing the
font for the title of the film, I decided to choose the Macabre as the audience liked
that font more compared to the other suggestions and felt as though it fit in with
the genre the most as it is commonly used on posters, items around the
Halloween period due to it being spooky, ghostly etc. In addition to this, the
audience are interested in how the synopsis of the film is going to turn out as it
isn’t your typical horror / thriller film and is based on a true story therefore this will
interest them even more as it could possibly be seen as a murder documentary
too rather than just a thriller film.
25. THE REPLACEMENT
NOVEMBE
THE REPLACEMENT
TRAVIS
MILLER
LEXI
TAYLOR
BETH
POTTER
ANNALISE
JOHNSTON
FRIDAY 13TH NOVEMBER
Here, I have made some mock ups
of teaser and theatrical posters
however I don’t like them as they
seem quite bland and boring. As a
result of this, the audience won’t be
interested due to the lack of detail
therefore they may think that there is
also going to be a lack of detail in
the film itself. On one of the teaser
posters, I have used a black, yellow
and red colour palette which doesn’t
fit in well at all and reminds me of a
fire safety advert rather than a
poster for a thriller. The caution tape
I used on the poster was to hide
Lexi’s identity to create an enigma
and caution tape is also used by
emergency services. As well as this
the red colour used for the title and
subtitle can connotate danger and
death as it is the colour of blood. On
the other teaser poster, as part of
mise-en-scene I have used jewellery
which is -
26. Stereotypically known to be worn by women. This could link to the other teaser poster and
create a negotiated reading as people will find this sexist due to using a female on the poster
and female items rather than including men too. On the otherhand, people could also agree
with this as some women are stereotypically known to be “pyschopaths” therefore the audience
can link her with the enigma and killer of the film. Moving onto the theatrical poster, I have used
an image showing a silloheute of a rose which is held by a hand. The rose can signify death by
creating a shadow with the low key lighting. On the poster I have included the actors names on
the skyline of the poster, the title of the film in the center of the poster therefore it will be the
first thing which the audience sees and lastly the release date at the bottom of the poster. I am
missing the billing block on the poster as I was very limited to resources due to technological
problems and unable to access Photoshop to create the posters therefore I made them on
Google Slides. Instead of using these posters, I decided to make more as they were bland,
simple and not effective at all so I waited until I was able to access Photoshop to make more
eye-catching posters in which I was able to manipulate the images more and add better effects
to make it seem more like a thriller and interest the audience more. Furthermore I also didn’t
follow my flat plan layout on my mock ups as I thought that I could change how things were
typically used on a poster today and manipulated the image by adding the title in the center so
it was almost hiding it.
27. To create these posters, I had to drag and drop the image from my SD card onto
the Google document and then use the text boxes to create the title, cast etc but
had to use basic Arial fonts as what I had was very limited and by being limited on
what I could do due to technological problems, it was very hard to manipulate the
images themselves. On one of the teaser posters, I used yellow caution tape to
hide Lexi’s eyes to create an enigma. To do this, I went onto Google Images and
searched ‘caution tape jpg’ which brought up alot of stock images of the tape.
Once I had found which one I wanted to use, I saved it onto my desktop and the
dragged and dropped it onto the image itself with having to increase the size and
crop it so it fit well on the poster.
28. Audience Feedback on drafts I asked my target audience on feedback for my
draft posters so I knew what was techniques
were effective and what improvements can be
made in order to create the official posters. Here
I have gave a few examples of the feedback
which I received. Annalise likes the use of mise-
en-scene used to reveal one of the characters in
the film without giving away too much information
and also how I have covered her eyes which
creates a sense of mystery and an enigma for
the audience to solve. To improve the posters, I
would personally like to manipulate them alot
more to make it more detailed and creative to
attract all audiences rather than it being bland
and simple. From feedback, I have been
suggested that I change the saturation and
lighting on the posters to give it a creepier vibe
and make it more like the genre of the film.
29. Film Posters 1
So far, I have started creating the
theatrical poster for our film ‘The
Replacement’. To start off, I dragged
one of my images from my desktop onto
the Photoshop document and made the
background (that wasn’t filled) black with
the fill bucket tool. After this I dragged
another image onto the Photoshop
document then blended it by changing
the opacity of the image to make it look
as though that the setting is based in a
dark, creepy forest. To make it seem
more realistic, I used the eraser tool and
erased the part of the image which was
covering both key signifiers so they are
both clear on the poster.
30. Official Theatrical Poster
This is the completed theatrical poster for our film.
To create the poster, I used the text tool to insert
the title, cast members, billing block and release
date. For each section of text, I had to download
different fonts from DaFont.com and
Fonts4U.com. To start the poster I had to drag
and drop the image I wanted to use from my
desktop onto the Photoshop document and then
needed to use the fill bucket tool to fill in the
empty background black. After this, I had to drag
and drop the image of the dark, creepy forest
onto the image already placed then needed to
change the opacity of the image using the
blending tool to make it seem more realistic and
that the setting of the image is actually in a forest
which fits with the genre of the movie. Afterwards,
I used the eraser tool to erase parts of the forest
image which was layered on top of my image and
covering the actors faces to keep the key
signifiers image clear.
32. Creation of Teaser Posters
To create the posters, I had to get the picture from my SD card and then open it on Photoshop to make it
the background of the project. After this, I had to unlock the background to make it editable and also a
layer. After turning the background into a layer, I then right clicked on the layer and converted it into a
smart object. Once it was converted into a smart object, I had to then make adjustments to the
saturation/hue levels so that they were down to -100. Afterwards I copied the layer and then renamed
each layer as ‘Original’ and ‘Colour’ for when I create the glitch effect. To create the glitch effect, I had to
make adjustments to the blending options on the ‘colour’ layer and then turn off the red channel, keeping
the green and blue channel turned on. Next, I clicked on the move tool and then I moved the colour layer
across to the left using my left arrow key until I was happy with the placement.
Once I created the glitch effect, I had to download both of the ripped paper effect and paint brush effect.
Once I downloaded them, I selected which one I wanted and then had to drag and drop it onto the
Photoshop document, then I had to adjust and position where I wanted them both. (On the first teaser
poster, I used the fill bucket tool to fill in the brush effect red to make it seem like it is a smear of blood).
Once placed I used the text tool to then add the name of the film and then when the film was being
released.
I have decided not to use the company’s name as planned too on my flatplans as I decided that the
posters looked better without anything above the key signifiers heads and to keep the blank, dark
background to fit in with the Thriller genre.
Teaser Poster 1: https://youtu.be/dGprOdBDX_Q
Teaser Poster 2: https://youtu.be/-fOr6XKKi3s
33. Theatrical Poster Feedback
I asked a group of friends if they were able to
give me feedback on my theatrical poster
which I created for my film. In doing this I
asked “What do you think of my poster and
how could I improve next time?” and then sent
an image of the poster itself. To which then I
received positive feedback and areas of
improvement. The main area of interest was
the background of the poster and how I
blended the image of the forest in with the key
signifiers instead of leaving a blank
background. By receiving the areas of
improvement, it will result in improvement of
my next posters which I will make.
34. Copyright
When planning and making my front cover and double page spread, I have used my own images
therefore I don’t need to worry about copyright issues and don’t need to ask for permission to use
any photos as I took them myself, using a DSLR Canon 1200d. If i was to use someone else's
images without asking for permission, I could credit the photographer in my work or underneath
the image otherwise I would face copyright issues and the owners of the work might think that it
has been plagiarised if not credited. Furthermore I will also need the model’s permission as well as
copyright. Royalty free material is subject to copyright or other intellectual property rights that may
be used without the need to pay royalties or license fees for each use, per each copy or volume
sold or some time period of use of sales.
35. During this work, I made sure that I followed the correct stages of both pre-
production and production. This included completing health and safety forms,
location scouts and research making sure that everything was going to run
smoothly, effectively and most importantly, correctly. Below I have included links
to my blogger for the risk assessments and location scouting forms. I chose to
take the pictures in the photography studio in college as it was free to use and it
has the equipment that I need i.e lighting, blank background.
https://bethpotteryear2media.blogspot.com/2020/12/risk-assessment-for-replacement-pitch.html
https://bethpotteryear2media.blogspot.com/2020/12/location-scouting-for-replacement-pitch.html
https://bethpotteryear2media.blogspot.com/2020/12/location-release-for-replacement-pitch.html
