Double-page spread early draft

Here is an early draft of my double-page spread, mid-production. I have designed the basic layout of the text and images of which I am happy with. I feel I have successfully met an appropriate balance of text and images, making sure not to overpower the page with text and contain plenty of images to gain the reader's interest but also, not to add too many images that the text becomes lost. I have yet to write the article for my double-page spread and so have, for now, used a sample text in its place in order to get a feel for how it will look. Having seen how this design looks I feel I may need to alter the text of the film's title as this is difficult to see against the background of the main image and becomes lost where I need this to be one of the main focuses. To finish the layout off and provide a more proffesional finish I plan to add page numbers and the official logo of an existing publication to enhance the idea that these pages have been taken from a full magazine. 

 

Film Shots

In order to prepare for the production of my double-page spread I have taken stills directly from the footage of our short film to be used in the layout of the page. This is a common convention of film articles which give the reader a small taste of what to expect from the film's narrative. I have deliberately taken shots from pivotal moments in the film which should hopefully gain the reader's interest and entice them to watch it.

Magazine Double Page Spreads

I've filled this Glog with examples of existing double page spreads which I can use as inspiration and style models for the production of my own. This has been useful in discovering the common conventions that are used as well as the typical layouts and style features. Studying so many different examples has provided me with many refreshing ideas to include in my own.

Film Poster First Draft

This is the first draft I have produced of my film poster. I'm pleased with the general look of the poster so far though have found a few minor elements that I would like to change and add. I feel the poster will benefit from the addition of a film festival logo and an age certification to gave the overall page a more polished and professional look. I also plan to add a bar at the top of the poster promoting the director's other work as well as a bar containing the names of the cast which I found were a common conventions of film posters, used to plug audiences. The reason I have strayed slightly from the original prototype I produced by not including an image of the ghostly girlfriend in the foreground is due to purpose of spoilers as I felt this made it a little too obvious that film was a ghost story, whereas, the intention was that this would be revealed in a shock twist at the end of the film.

Poster Central Image

I've chosen which of the images from our photo shoot that we carried out yesterday, that I'd like to use as the central image for my film poster. I've used Photoshop to edit the saturation and brightness and contrast of the image in order to enhance the shadows therefore adding to the mysteries and also adding a darker tone which I feel captures the genre of the film. I've chosen to convert the image to black and white to honour the film noir style of our short film though I also feel this filter adds a more sinister impact and enhances the fear, suggesting that all hope and colour has been erased.

Photo Shoot

09/03/13 - Today, whilst filming the final scene for our short film in which Blake is tied up as hostage, we used the opportunity of having the costume and propps set up, to conduct a photo shoot. The photos are presented below:

I really like the lighting in this the first photo on the left and the way that it casts a shadow across one side of the face. This has a mysterious and engimatic effect which I feel will capture the tone of the poster well. I also like that the photo is a mid-close up that feels a little too close and creating an uncomfortable feeling emphasising Blake's discomfort. This photo is a definite contender to be used though I think my favourite is the last photo on the right above as I love that it is a long shot meaning both Blake and the chair that he is tied to are both clearly shown in full. I also love the expression on the actor's face and the fact he is staring directly into the camera lens and making eye contact with the audience meaning they can clearly see and feel his fear.  

 

Film Poster Prototype

I have produced a mock-up of the basic layout for my film poster of how I would like the finished product to look. I have used images taken from the internet as inspiration though appreciate that for my final piece the images used will need to be my own work. I feel this design is appropriate for the genre of our short film as the main colour, black, indicates a dark and sinister tone. The central image is striking which should grab the reader's attention and is also enigmatic, creating many mysteries such as who the character are or why the male is tied up in the chair, which will hopefully entice viewers to watch the film. The ambiguous, hazy figure in the foreground gives indications of the supernatural aspect - alongside the use of the verb 'haunt' in the slogan, which, again, should intrigue audiences. The poster features subtle use of the colour red - a symbolism of danger - to draw the reader's attention to the important information, particularly the release date. 

 

Producing this prototype has been a very useful experiment as it has tested whether the design will be successful in its purposes of persuading the reader to see the film. Given the reasoning above, I am pleased with this design and believe it to be effective at achieving this purpose. The next step is to conduct a photo shoot to capture my own original images, inspired by those used in this prototype, to be used on the final version of my poster.