Ancillary Task

Below is the first draft of the magazine cover I produced for our film trailer, the title of the magazine is 'feature.' Along with the other ancillary tasks for our group.

Evaluation Questions

Below is the link to my Wix website to which I have showcased my evaluation questions.

Final Pieces

Ancillary Task Research

I Am Legend

 “I Am Legend” is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Francis Lawrence; Will Smith plays the main protagonist in the film. It is the third film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist/survivor Robert Neville, who is immune to a man-made virus originally created to cure cancer. He works to create a viral solution to the outbreak while defending himself against mutant beasts that were created by the virus.

Above is both the magazine front cover and the film poster for "I Am Legend." As you can see, the house style for both products are dissimilar, only because "Empire" will convey their own house style through their magazines, while incorporating some of the posters forms and functions. 

Both magazine and poster ensure to display the protagonist (Will Smith) from the movie; this promotes the film to fans of Will Smith - people that may be more likely to watch the film because they have seen him on the poster. 

The poster also conveys a wider image, with the familiar streets of New York in the background; however, with  a sense of mayhem and destruction - unusual for audiences to see. The main subject of the poster is the viral doctor (Will Smith) and his loyal dog, Sam - the poster intends to highlight the isolation faced by the human race in New York "The Last Man On Earth Is Not Alone." 

When creating our film poster and magazine we will ensure that we include the protagonist in both the magazine and the poster.




From research, I have noticed that the film magazine producers produce their magazine around the story of the film, they do not follow the magazines house style. Empire magazine for example tailors each magazine cover around the plot of the film.

 To the left is the film magazine for Quantum of Solace, and to the right is the film poster for the same film. While they are similar, the mise en scene is extremely different. When creating the magazine for the trailer I will need to make sure I use a powerful and clear image, not necessarily from the film trailer itself.





I am likely to take a picture like the magazine for Quantum of Solace when creating the magazine for our trailer. This is because the aim of magazines is to promote the main actors of the film more than the film itself; while our trailer doesn't star any A list actors, we do have a protagonist, which will be the main focus in both the poster and magazine.

As you can see from the pictures above, the poster and magazine main images are different types of shot. The poster is a full length shot, but also an establishing  shot because you can see setting behind it. The poster is a mid shot, but still includes a little bit of setting; the reader is able to see that the subject is in a desert.

Above are the bottoms of four different film posters, although many film posters follow this formatting. Usually they have the title of the film which is edited appropriately to suit the films genre/plot. As you can see, they all have different fonts and designs but the page layout remains similar throughout. An exception to this is the Quantum Of Solace poster above, but this is a minimal poster, perhaps promoting the film in the early stages of production, unlike these other posters which give a definite time of arrival.

On the underside of the title are the producers and people involved with the film. Much like the photo on the right, the posters include a fine printed font, Steel Tongs for example; these make the information visible if a viewer wants to read it but they are not the main focus of the trailer. Beneath these list of people involved with the production of the film is usually a date or a time of when the film is going to be released for members of the public to watch.

Above are the tops of four successful film posters. As you can see they have included a message that is likely to depict a basic outline of the plot of the film. Much like the bottom of the poster in terms of adapting the font and colourings for the film, however this message is not meant to stand out as much. Many different film posters will follow this method because it gives the viewers a basic outline of the storyline, the focus should be on the meaning of what has been written, rather than the editing of what has been written.

FILM MAGAZINES

Above are 6 film magazines from two of the biggest film magazine producers, Empire and Film. As you can see, the subject always covers the title of the magazine.

By looking at the Empire images above and the majority of them, the viewer is able to establish the type of shot used; mid shot. The producers of this magazine deliberately shoot the subject with a mid shot because it effectively allows them to manipulate and tailor the area around the image, I will be following a similar tactic when creating my Magazine front cover for my Ancillary task. I feel that the Empire magazine promotes the film more than the Film magazines so I am going to follow this format closer.

I am going to create a bold title, much like Empire or Film and place it at the top of the magazine front page, this will allow me to place the image effectively in front of the text, and create space around the central subject of the magazine. Around this final image, I will create headliners, much like the X-men magazine, however the headliners and the fonts will be tailored and edited effectively to parallel the genre of our trailer, as well as the story line.

Each of these magazines include a bar code on the front page, for realism, I am going to create a suitable, false, bar code in order to heighten production value of my magazine front page. While we do not have any A-list actors to promote on my front cover, I will create a false actors name but portray it in a way that would be done if it was a real actor.

I will also include a separate box on one of the corners, promoting more content within the magazine, to make my front cover look as real as possible, it will be along the lines of the image to the right, however with my own design and text input.

Above are four of Empire's front covers with their films/issues. As you can see, they are not the usual Empire titling format, this is because it helps to further promote the film. When creating my title I will adapt the trailer to our storyline, perhaps making it CCTV related; further depicting the storyline of our trailer.

Like the other magazines, each main subject of the front cover seems to take priority over the Empire title, when creating my magazine front cover I will follow this rule, because the main actor of the film is presented as priority. The entire magazine will follow the house style set by both the storyline but also the edited title.  

Feedback

Below is the feedback we received when we showcased our trailer to the rest of our Year 13 Media Class.

The POSITIVES we received are:

- Amazing titles

- Amazing transitions

- Nice link to "1984"

- Really good shots such as motorway and police scan

- Good use of music

- Realistic costumes and props

- Brilliant sound effects

- Editing is really good

- Good focus pull at hostages and at terrorist video

- Good title

- Good use of CCTV effect

- Brilliant idea/concept

- "Best one i've seen"

The NEGATIVES we received are:

- Need to change the signs as they are not very clear

- Driving a bit too slow

- Car needs to be quicker with siren

We intend to take on all our negative comments and act on them accordingly. We will re-film all of the shots that we used signs in, we will use white-black cardboard; this is so that the light cannot pass through the sign - it will make them more visible. We will speed up the driving in Sony Vegas and then look at the outcome, if needs be we will re-film these shots but it might not be necessary.