Film Magazine research

Empire magazine is a British film magazine has been published monthly since summer 1989. Regular features within the magazine include: film reviews, film news, film previews, a classic scene section which includes the transcript from notable films, a top ten list, DVD news and releases and interviews. The front cover usually displays an image of an upcoming film, usually with a well known actor or actress advertising it to attract the audience. 

                                                                                       For example this Harry Potter issue has Daniel Radcliffe on the front to advertise the issue as he is the main character in the film as well as a well known actor therefore appealing to a wider target audience. However it does include the images of the other main characters to suggest to the audience that these characters are still important and play a main part. The main image is covering the "I" and "R" in "Empire" but the magazine wouldn't worry about this as the magazine is highly regarded by it's readers and already has a strong following so would be familiar with the magazine name.

"POTTER 7" is in a large, bold font so that it stands out, although the film is actually called "Harry Potter" this didn't need to be included because it is a mainstream film that people have been following for many years. In a smaller font "The deathly hallows part 1" so that the film is introduced formally even though many people would know previously what the film is called.

Above the name of the magazine there is the selling point of the magazine "Our best preview issue ever". This is put there to entice the target audience and make them want to buy this issue. There is also a small taste of what is going to be inside the magazine so that the reader knows if they want to buy the magazine straight away. This is put the purposefully to try and make people want to read on and buy the magazine. Additionally at the bottom of the magazine you have another selling point "10 must see movie exclusives!" this would attract a film savvy audience and make them want to buy this issue.

Occasionally film magazines will do the same issue with more than one cover to introduce all the characters to the audience. For example Empire have done a 3 cover special to advertise Tron:Legacy, this allows a varied audience to buy this issue of the magazine.

 

   

Often, film magazines have a colour scheme which they continually use so consistent buyers are comfortable with what they see and read. Empire's colour scheme is seemingly, black, red and yellow.

Another big British film magazine is Total Film. Again it contains the typical features of a film magazine such as: interviews, reviews, previews, quizzes and top ten lists, however it doesn't have an apparent colour scheme as most magazines do.

     

Here we can clearly see that there is no apparent colour scheme linked with Total Film magazine front covers however the colours seem to represent the genre of the film they are advertising much like an actual film poster. Despite this we can see that the masthead is always in the same place and in the same style of writing to keep continuity for Total Film magazine readers.

When creating our film magazine front cover we need to consider where certain features are commonly place on the front covers, what is information is included and maybe think of a colour scheme. We also need to take into account there is normally only one person on the front each magazine and this person is usually the main character or has been interviewed as a feature for the magazine.

Media Institutions

As part of our research we looked at the media institutions that could possibly distribute our film.

Warner Bros Pictures

Founded in 1918 as a subsidary of Time Warner, Warner Bros pictures is now on of the major film distributers. Warner Bros Pictures is probably most famous for films such as Harry Potter or cartoons like Scooby Doo. However it has, in the past produced and distributed films such as Two Weeks Notice starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock which is much like our film a romatic comedy. Therefore we could use them as a the institution to produce our film and teaser trailer although as romantic comedy is not the companies usual production line it may be better to use another distribution company.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony. In 1989 Sony accquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment, an American film and television distribution unit and in 1991 renamed it Sony Pictures Entertainment. It has been from this company films of the rom-com genre such as My Best Friends Wedding and 50 first dates have been distributed. As it seems that Sony are a popular distribution company for romantic comedies, we should keep this institution in mind and maybe do furhter research into other films that have been distributed by the company.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures is a production and distribution that is owned by Viacom. It is the oldest existing film studio. Paramount was founded in 1912 and it has a reputation of being ranked one of the top-grossing movie studios. By 2006 Paramount pictures became a parent company of DreamWorks. Famous romantic movies distributed and produced by Paramount pictures include Titanic, Pretty in Pink, What Women Want and Falling in Love. I think this company could possibly distribute our film as it seemingly has a range of romantic comedies linked to it previously.

Romantic comedy film posters

 This film poster is very typical of the romantic comedy genre. The use of the colours pink and purple appeals to the main target audience of women and with these colours on a white background it makes them stand out to attract the target audience. The pink and purple colour scheme is carried through to what the stars of the film are wearing to ensure continuity all of these features are used to attract their target audience of 25+ year old women.

Unusually the name of the film is at the top of the poster along with the billing block. These typical features are usually at the bottom of the poster so here the conventions have been broken. However the cast names are at the top to catch the attention of the audience.

 As in most romantic comedy posters the main characters are at the forefront of the poster to suggest to the audience what is going to happen in the film. In this poster the female character is in the middle with the two male characters either side implying that there is going to be come sort of conflict between the two male characters over the female character. Also the handwriting over each of their heads reminds the audience that the film is about the stories a woman writes in her diary.

The film poster for romantic comedy "Never been kissed" is similar to the Bridget Jones poster as it uses the same colour scheme of pink and purple to attract a female audience. They have also kept the main character in these colours to keep the continuity much like in the Bridget Jones poster. Although this poster is similar to the Bridget Jones poster it is clear that this poster is trying to attract a much younger target audience as the actress is younger and is posed in such a way that attracts 16-24 year old girls rather than a 25+ female audience

Unlike the Bridget Jones poster the film name and billing block are at the bottom of the most therefore sticking with the normal conventions. However the cast names are not horizontally along the top as they normally are in film posters.

Made of Honor stays with the typical conventions by having the main male and female character on the poster, this automatically suggests that they are romantically involved or are going to be romantically involved. 

There isn't a large billing block on this film poster and the the name of the film is at the top of the poster unlike most film posters. Also the well-known actor's name is at the top, although this is typical it is unusual for there only to be one well-known actor as usually both the male and female characters are played by popular celebrities.

As in "Made of Honour" both the main characters are on the film poster suggesting romantic involvement. The film poster is very simple with a white background and green writing to stand out.

This film poster is very typical of the romantic comedy genre with the two main characters being played by well-known Hollywood stars who's names appear at the top of the poster. Both the billing block and film name appear at the bottom as they do in most film posters.

 This film poster is very different from many film posters. It is a very simple poster with the typical white background with black writing very cleverly in the shape of a wedding dress implying what the film is going to be about. The name of the film is in bright pink to stand out and attract a young female target audience. There is no celebrity names that stand out to the audience to make them want to see the film because of the stars that are in it.

 This film poster is similar to the Bridget Jones poster as it has the three characters on it suggesting that their is some sort of love triangle between the three of them. Unlike Bridget Jones the female character is not between the two male characters which suggests that she is not interested between both the male characters. Again the cast are dressed to match the colour scheme of orange that is on the poster.

The casts names again, at the top as it is a typical convention. Although the film name is quite high up compared to most film posters the billing block is still at the bottom sticking to the typical film poster conventions.  

500 days of Summer is challenges many of the stereotypical conventions of film posters, by doing so this suggests to the target audience that the film is going to challenge the typical conventions of a romantic comedy. It could also suggest that the film is trying to attract a new young audience.

It is unusual for film posters to have more than one image on them as many images do not always convey to the audience what the film is about. Also the casts names are at the bottom of the poster compared to the top and the name of the film is in the middle of the poster compared to the bottom. However the billing block is still at the bottom as the audience would expect.

Movie Poster layouts

Initially we looked at a range of film posters to get an idea of the general conventions of film posters rather than just focusing on romantic-comedy posters. From this research we found that the typical conventions are:

- The name of the film is usually towards the bottom
- The actors/actresses names are at the top
- Release dates and the billing block are at the bottom of the poster


 

However more recently there has been a serge of movie posters that challenge some of these conventions to attract a younger and new target audience. For example, 500 days of Summer has moved the stars names to the bottom of the poster, has the name of the film in the middle of the poster and has a range of images rather than just one focal image. Remember Me still has the stars names typically at the top however the name of the film is much higher and the billing block is in the top left hand corner. Alice in Wonderland sticks with the typical convention of having the name of the film at the bottom but doesn't include any stars names or a billing block leaving the audience confused yet intrigued. This could have been done purposefully to suggest to the audience what the film is going to be like or to make them want to watch it to see what actually happens.

   

When we create our film poster we need to keep these typical conventions in mind and decide whether we wish to stick to them or challenge them.

Teaser Trailer Research

For us to fully understand what we need to include in our teaser trailer we had to research them. The typical things we looked for was running time, how much of the narrative is suggested, the titles used, fonts linked with romantic comedies, whether they include the distribution company and how much information they give about the film i.e. release date and website information.

Wedding Daze

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn10w6WQAJw&feature=related

This teaser trailer uses a lot of cuts and although it doesn't tell the actually story it gives strong suggestions as to what is going to happen in the film as well as strongly suggesting the ROM-COM genre. At the end there is a shot with a lot of information regarding the film on it that is small and almost unreadable that includes information such as: a website, the film name, stars and the distribution company logo. Although most of the writing is unreadable the important parts such as the film name and website are clearly visible so that they are eye catching to the audience. Another prominent feature in this teaser trailer is the voice over which suggests a lot of the narrative to the audience. The distribution company is shown at the beginning but it is only a quick shot so that the audience know who distributed it.

The Hottie and the Nottie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH-P8J8tDTE&feature=channel

Again the quick shots of the distribution companies appear at the beginning of the teaser trailer and the music starts. The voice over then comes in straight away to suggest the narrative to the audience. Quick cuts are used to show a variety of shots to help the audience understand the genre and the narrative. Throughout the teaser trailer flash backs are used, this is not a common feature of teaser trailers but here the device is used to help give the audience background knowledge of the two character's relationship. The stars are also introduced with a shot of them in the scene shown with their name underneath it. The film name then appears in white and pink on a background of red hearts suggesting the ROM-COM genre. Lastly, what looks like a billing block comes up with a wide range of information on it which is again barely readable, then "coming soon" with the website appears to give the audience more information about the film.

She's out of my League

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6M9UfytUPM

In this teaser trailer we see a clip of the film before the distribution companies appear unlike the others. There is a strong suggestion to the narrative throughout, mainly through the use of quick cuts. Another feature that is different is that there is not a voice over all the way through the trailer and it relys on the characters of the film to suggest the genre and the narrative. The voice over doesn't come in until the end, when the film name and website appears on the screen. Also the colour theme for the film is green which doesn't automatically suggest ROM-COM to the target audience.

500 Days of Summer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILCB_f0IIyI

This teaser trailer is different from the previous ones. There is no dialogue from the characters what so ever and the narrative is completely suggested through the voice over and quick cuts. The distribution company is shown at the beginning of the teaser trailer as it is in many teaser trailers. Then the music begins much louder and prominent than it is in any of the other teaser trailers and this carries on throughout. The repeated use of listing with the "500 days...." suggests the narrative of the film to the audience and also with words such as "magic", "distance" and "tenderness" it suggests the ROM-COM genre. The voice over introduces the stars as their characters so the audience feel as if they are included in the film thus making them want to go and see it. Also the continual repeating of the film name makes it stick in people's minds and makes them remember it when the actual trailer is released nearer the time so that they hopefully go and watch it.

After watching these teaser trailers there are some clear indications as to what we should include in ours, such as:

• Put a shot of the distribution company at the beginning
• Use a variety of quick cuts to suggest our narrative
• Use a voice over to help explain the narrative
• Don't include the actual film release date just use "coming soon" as it is likely the exact release date won't be known at this stage
• Use a typical romantic comedy colour such as yellow, orange, pink or pale blue to imply our ROM-COM genre
• Have a limited use of character dialogue
• Include the website address to allow the target audience to research into the film