2. These are my final versions of my film review and poster. I originally made a handful of drafts
which I then showed my teachers in order to get feedback about improvements. I also showed
my drafts to people outside of my group to see if they could understand the concept of my film
through my poster and to see if my film review made sense. I did some background research
where I looked at different film reviews from a number of different magazines and news papers to
get an understanding of what a film review should look like and what I should write about. When
making these I tried to take into account codes and conventions whist using what I thought would
appeal to my target audience.
3. Assignment brief
The main objective of our task wasn't create a short film
approximately 5 minutes in length from a genre of our own
choosing.
We were then given post production tasks to create a film
poster and write a film review based on our short film.
My group created a short film based on the action adventure
genre. We then made individual posters and film reviews.
4. Inspiration from real film reviews
I used Empire magazine as a source to base my film
review layout on. I thought this would work as I liked how
the layout was very simplistic using a single central image
with the writing underneath, but still managed to look highly
professional. In order to replicate a similar style in my work
I put a picture of my protagonist at the top of the page
using a scene from the film. As a whole the layout of
Empire film reviews really appeal to me as a result I
decided to replicate this a closely as possible. I feel that the
general tone of my film is very masculine and I wanted to
reflect this through my ancillary tasks. I feel I did this mostly
through my colour scheme. I chose the colours Blue, black
and White reflecting the masculine tone of my film also as
they complement each other without over powering one
another. I chose to make key information about the film
such as the release date, actors names, and verdict in bold
to help make them stand out as important. Other things I
replicated in my review was the positioning of the film title,
verdict and the use of a quote to draw readers in as this
would likely be the first thing they see on the page. Things I
didn’t include were the look closer tab and the in cinemas
logo. Instead I chose to use a coming soon logo as my
agreed release date wasn’t until April.
5. Inspiration for film poster
When researching different kinds of action adventure
film posters to use as inspiration or to base my poster
on I found this poster for the film Avatar . I thought this
would be a good poster to use as inspiration as it keeps
a simplistic style whilst being pleasing to the eye. I liked
the fact that the pictures are slightly faded into the
background and that like mine, all pictures used give
you insight into what happens in the film which
becomes more clear as you watch the film. For my
poster I used my own original ideas whilst adapting and
building on similar effects that was used in the poster
on the left. In terms of colour scheme I used a much
more simplistic style choosing a simple black and white
background and black and white writing. However I
chose to keep the pictures I used in full colour. I did this
as I thought it would make them stand out, not allowing
them to completely fade into the background because I
had already chosen to use faded effect. I particularly
chose to use this poster as inspiration as I liked the
effects used. Overall I am very happy with the way my
poster turned out and that I was able to recreate the
effects that are also used in the poster to the right,
whilst sticking with a simplistic and eye pleasing style.
6. What was the purpose of the ancillary task
We were told to create and use our ancillary tasks to
promote our film using both image based and text based
mediums. E.g. Film poster and film review.
Both tasks were meant to appeal to our target audience and
link to our creative artefact so the audience would be able to
make links to the genre and the narrative using both or on
there own.
I aimed to create a final product that would be regarded as
high standard, in order to do this I made sure I used a high
quality camera and carefully selected the pictures I would
use. I then used ‘Photoshop’ as I knew this was one of the
best software packages to use for this type of product and
would allow me to create a product of high standard.
7. How does my poster relate to my chosen genre?
The language used in my
tagline. “ Remember stay
focused. Stay alive” this
language makes the
audience question. “Stay
alive” lets the audience
know that there is a risk
of death and implies
action letting them
understand the genre of
the film.
The audience can
instantly see
through the use
props, guns that
action is involved
in this film
My choice of
background picture a
forest suggests
adventure, as many
films which have
adventure within them
also have some kind
of forest setting.
The title ‘Pinpoint’ suggests
accuracy and that someone
is targeting at our
protagonist. This implication
is further enhanced by my
use of red crosshairs which
symbolises that someone is
aiming at the protagonist.
The use of smaller pictures
of other characters help the
audience understand the
narrative as they can see a
picture of the protagonist
looking like he is running and
two pictures of what look to
be opponents giving the
audience further detail into
what the film is about.
8. Pictures
I used this picture in my poster as I thought it clearly
showed the Ricky as the protagonist I added to this
by making this picture the largest, in order to draw the
attention of passers by. In this picture you can see
Ricky in my main location hiding behind a tree.
However in my poster I chose to crop all of the
background out and add in a different background. I
did this so that I was able to add an effect to the
picture making it look as of it had slightly faded in to
the background, this way the picture wouldn’t take
complete attention away from the other pictures and
information put on the poster. To take this picture I
asked Ricky to look off into the distance as if he was
looking at something and focusing on it to give him
the correct facial expression that I was looking for.
This facial expression implies concentration but also
makes the audience question as to what he is looking
at. I also decided to use this picture in my review as it
shows off Ricky as the main character.
As you look at this picture it instantly
suggests action as the background is
slightly blurred, when you look at the
protagonist their stance suggests they are
running. The fact that in this picture Ricky is
also holding a gun suggests to the audience
that he is in some sort of combat.. I chose
make this picture small on my poster as I
helps to give the audience insight into the
narrative.
9. Pictures continued
I decided to use these pictures on my poster as like the second picture of my protagonist
it gives the audience insight into my narrative. Looking at these pictures straight away the
audience can see that there will be some kind of action in my film. They can see this
through the actions taking place in each picture. The picture on the left shows a guy
aiming a gun this implies that there will be some kind of altercation between characters.
The picture on the right is a guy with a menacing expression on his face implying that her
is an enemy or a bad guy, from this the audience will make assumptions on how the
protagonist will deal with this character. Using the information they have been given from
the poster already they would assume that it would be a fight.
10. Fonts for poster
I chose to go online to find a
specific font for the title on
my poster as I wanted it to
give the audience a clue as
to the type of film I have
created. I used a font called
Dead Kansas. I then decided
to use a colour that would
make it stand out even more.
As I had a grey background I
used white as this would
make sure that the title would
be the first thing the
audience would see.
I made sure that I followed
the codes and conventions
as close as possible by using
the standard billing layout
and font called ‘Steel tongs’
for my film billing this consists
of the directors name,
producers names and other
information about the films
creators.
I chose to used the
same font for the actors
names as the title I did
this to guaranty it would
stand out from the
background and to add
to the flow of the poster
11. Fonts for review
I chose to use simple fonts for my
poster as this would make it clear
and easy to read
For the main body of the article I
decided to use Helvetica Neue Regular.
I chose this after researching what fonts
many magazines use for their articles,
picking this one as it lacked any fancy
styling keeping my article clear to read.
I found this image on Google
images, choosing it because its
style follow the look and style I was
going for
12. How did my review work with the final product
The overall design of my film review was very masculine, I
personally feel that this represents the overall tone of the
film. As the film is about a boy and is based on the types
of games that boys would mostly play, this helps it appeal
to the type of person who is most likely to go and watch
this film. The main body of my review goes into some
detail about the directors inspirations and reason behind
why they chose to create this film, further enticing the
audience to watch the film as reasoning's becoming
clearer after watching the film.
13. Logos
I kept the use of logos to a minimum when creating my film poster. I only
chose to use the BBFC rating as this is key information when advertising a
film and gives the audience a brief idea as to what themes may be included
in the film. I also added my production company logo to make sure my film
poster meets the common codes and conventions that audiences have
come to expect and rely on. Although I had created profiles on social media
such as Facebook and Twitter I decided not to add these logos as I feel it
has become a given that any new film will have some kind of social media
profile to reach a greater audience and share things about the film.
14. Summary
In conclusion I feel that the combination of my ancillary tasks
the poster and the film review work well as they are both
successful follow the codes and conventions of other
products of a similar nature. I feel both tasks were able to
clearly portray the genre and general narrative of my final
product. Through style, photos and language used. This why
I believe my ancillary tasks have been effective in
successfully promoting my production to my selected target
audience and others.
