Textual Analysis of Existing Products

In order to gain a better understanding of the conventions of film magazines, I have carried out a textual analysis of some existing products. This will give me an idea as to what kinds of features I should be including within my own final product.

"Empire" magazine

Image source: http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/covers/

This front cover was taken from a recent issue of "Empire" magazine, and features the new action film "Sherlock Holmes" which was released on December 26th 2009.

The masthead of the magazine is presented in large, capitalized red font, which makes it very eye-catching against the pale blue and black background. The feature photograph on the front cover is also covering up some letters of the masthead, suggesting that the publishers are confident that the magazine's popularity will overcome this.

The headline for the main article within the magazine is situated over the top of the feature photograph and in the centre of the page where is will be most likely to capture the audience's attention. The title of the featured film "Sherlock Holmes" has been capitalized, again making it more eye-catching. The name of the actor playing this starring role (Robert Downey Jr) is located above this main headline. If the audience are fans of this particular actor, this line plus the feature photograph will persuade them to buy the magazine.

Another conventional feature of this magazine front cover is the use of plugs to give the audience a insight into what other articles can be found within the magazine. These snippets will persuade the audience to buy the magazine to find out more about these other articles. The plugs are also laid out conventionally around the edge of the page so they do not obstruct the feature photograph. The sub-headings accompanying these plugs have been backed onto a plain white background so that they deliver maximum impact against the darker background.

The magazines strapline "Best Preview Issue Ever!" has been placed just above the magazines masthead. The fact that this sentence is exclamatory will create excitement amongst the audience and convince them that they should buy this magazine because it is 'the best'. The font of the strapline is also eye-catching as it is in pale silver, making it stand out against the dark background. However it also does not draw too much attention away from the bright red masthead situated below.

The colours used within the front cover are also iconic of the feature films action genre. The dark blacks and blues create a sense of suspense and mystery. The bright red connotes action and blood, whilst the metallic silvers can be linked to weaponry. Therefore this issue will be particularly attractive to audience's who enjoy films of this genre.



"Total Film" magazine

Image source: http://www.aliceinwonderlandmovie.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/magazine-02-420-751.jpg

This front cover was taken from a very recent issue of "Total Film" magazine, and features the new fantasy film "Alice in Wonderland" based upon the novel by Lewis Carroll. The film stars the well-known actor Johnny Depp, who is featured in the main photograph on the cover.

The magazine's masthead "Total Film" has been capitalized in order to make it as noticeable as possible. The white font of the word "Film" also heavily stands out against the dark purple background, whereas the word "Total" has been incorporated into the "F" in this same purple to create a layered effect. Just like in the issue of "Empire", the photograph here is overlapping the masthead, covering up some of the letters.

The colour scheme used on this front cover is very iconic to the genre of fantasy. The colours are all very bright and stand out against each other, for example the purple against the orange wig. This creates a heavy contrast giving the cover a 'magical' feel, linking back to the genre of the featured film. The featured costume that Johnny Depp is wearing is also very iconic of this genre, as well as the heavy facial make-up. Using a big star such as Johnny Depp on the cover will attract a wide fan-base, which means that more people will be interested in purchasing the magazine.

Once again this cover features a range of plugs to give the audience an insight as to what other articles they can find within the product. The text accompanying these plugs are a mixture of white and yellow, which makes them stand out against the dark background. The heading "Massie 2010 Preview" has also been capitalized as this will be one of the main articles of interest within the magazine. Below this heading are sub-headings containing well known and iconic films from a variety of genres. Naming all of these different films will reach a wide target audience and therefore a greater amount of people will interested in buying the magazine.

Another conventional feature which has been used to attract a wide audience is the addition of a free gift with the product. Details of this free gift, in this case a poster, are located at the very top of the page in capital letters where is will gain maximum attention. Free gifts are another good way to persuade people to buy your media product. The yellow font of this heading is also very noticeable.

A Film Magazine Front Cover

Image source: http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/covers/

To gain an understanding of how and why film magazine front covers are constructed, I must apply to LIIAR principle to the chosen medium.

L anguage - Conventionally the key feature of a film magazine front cover is the main image which appears on the page, which usually contains the main stars of the film being advertised. These actors are expected to be recognised by the magazines audience, therefore if the audience is a fan of the actor featured on the cover, they will be influenced to buy the magazine. An example is shown on the issue of "Empire" magazine shown opposite, where a photograph of Daniel Craig is the central component of the cover. The text used on this issue is also very minimalistic so most of the attention will be focused upon the image. The magazine's title "Empire" is placed conventionally at the top of the page where it is the most eye-catching. The headline underneath the photo "Bond Begins..." instantly tells the audience that the actor shown on the cover will be the star of a new James Bond film. This magazine uses a range of other conventional features as part of the magazines language such as a strapline "The World's Best Movie Magazine" which has been placed underneath the masthead. The cover also contains conventional features such as a barcode, the price and the magazine's website. The colours used on magazine covers are also very important. This particular edition uses a mixture of red and grey, which represent the themes of violence and technology apparent in all Bond films.

I deology - "Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. Our business is built on influential media brands with millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners. Our strategy is to connect audiences with excellent content through our broad multi-touch point brand platforms, wherever and whenever and however they want." - http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/About

I nstitution - The publisher of "Empire" magazine is "Bauer Media". Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Publishing Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

Source: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/About

A udience - Magazines are generally targeted at a very specific audience, and the cover should reflect the content which readers can expect to find within the product. My film is targeted at a young teenage to young adult audience, predominantly females but also males, therefore my magazine cover should be looking to attract this age group as well.

R epresentation - The main way in which "Empire" magazine represents the films they are advertising is through the digital photographs of the film stars featured on the magazine's cover. The way in which film magazines chose to represent actors on the covers of their magazines largely depends on the genre which the featured film is from. As an example the issue of "Empire" shown opposite is advertising a new James Bond film, which is part of the action/thriller genre. Because of this the actor Daniel Craig is shown adopting a serious expression, and his tie has been left undone to create the idea that he has been in a brawl or fight. He is also seen carrying a gun, a prop iconic to the action/thriller genre.

Ancillary Texts

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with the following two ancillary texts:

• A magazine front cover, featuring the film
• A poster for the film

The next stage of my Advanced Portfolio in media is to create the two ancillary texts to accompany my completed film trailer. The ancillary texts which I have chosen to produce are the front cover of a magazine featuring the film and a poster advertising the film.

Conventional features of film magazine covers:

• Masthead
• Strapline
• Headline
• Sub-headings
• Feature photograph
• Plugs
• Competitions/prizes
• Free gifts
• Barcode
• Price
• Magazine's website address
  

Conventional features of film posters:

• Film title with a logo
• Feature photograph
• Strapline
• Names of main actors
  
• Name of director/producer
• Production company logo
• Film release date

Main Product

First Cut Edit

I am very happy with the first cut edit of my film trailer, however I believe that there are still several elements which I improve upon.

Firstly, I am not entirely happy with the lighting in some of the shots. Some of the scenes seem a bit dark and lacking colour, so I will be looking to re-shoot these in the college theatre, this time using stage lighting to make the trailer brighter, more eye-catching and more professional looking.

I am also not happy with the framing of the shot in which one of the student throws his script upon the ground (1:30 - 1:37). Instead of having this whole action shown in one single shot, I will re-film these scene as a match-on-action sequence, the first scene a medium close up in which the boy is seen going to throw the script, the second a shot of the script hitting the floor. This will also give me a wider range of shot types and styles.

I also think that some of my graphic captions could look more interesting and exciting. When I come to re-edit some aspects of my trailer, I am going to seek advice to see if there is anyway I could make my graphic captions move or zoom in on the screen, much like they do in professional film trailers.

Final Cut Edit

Above is the final cut edit of my film trailer. I made several changes between the first cut edit and the final version of my trailer, such as re-filming some of the shots in the theatre using the professional stage lighting, altering some of the sound levels so that during the climactic moments the backing track volume increased and had more of an impact, creating a billing block and importing a sound effect of an applause over the final shot to give more of an atmosphere. The most common transition I used between the shots was a straight cut edit, particularly towards the end of my trailer when the narrative pace increases and I wanted to reflect this through the editing. I did however used fade to blacks to represent a passing in time or a change in location between some of the shots.

My trailer opens with four long shots of the characters in my film, who are seen bowing as if they have just completed a stage performance. I slowed these shots down to match the slow, repeating sequence in the backing track. My aim was to start the trailer off more slowly, then increase the pace of the narrative dramatically further into the trailer to create the sense of enthusiasm and excitement musicals conventionally create.

I followed this shot with a wide shot of some of the characters sat around a table, taking part in a discussion about a performance competition which will allow them to win £10,000 for the college. This shot is really important as it establishes the sense of the narrative and the relationships between the two sets of characters, the two boys, the underdogs in the contest who as an audience we naturally want to succeed, and their dreaded 'rivals', the two female characters.

I followed this sequence with four close up shots of the main characters in my film. I also inserted graphic captions alongside the shots, giving the details of the name of the actor playing the character, a conventional feature of film trailers. Close-ups are also a conventional shot used in trailers as they establish a relationship between the characters and the audience, as they clearly portray the character's emotions.

I then went on to establish the genre of the film as a musical through the next long-shot, in which one of the female characters performs a dance move. Once again I slowed this shot down to match the pace of the backing track.

The next sequence consists of a series of medium-close ups, taken from different conversations between the characters. This diegetic dialogue further establishes the relationships between the on-screen characters, as the males are portrayed as being aspirational and really wanting to win the competition, whereas as the girls are represented as being over-confident and nasty towards the boys, through the line "Too bad you're not going to get it."

After this sequence I inserted two graphic captions with voiceovers imported over the top, as these are also conventional features found in film trailers. The aim of graphic captions is to create further excitement and make people want to see the film, so I used the captions, "January 2010....Prepare to be blown away." To create a Hollywood style, over-the-top effect on the voiceovers, I stretched them using a tool on the editing suite, making the voice appear much deeper.

At this point in the trailer the pace of the narrative greatly increases, mirrored by the increase in speed and volume of the backing track. This is also the point when the lyrical section of my backing track begins, so I was able to match up the shots with the lyrics which best suited the situation on-screen. The action on-screen also becomes much more dynamic, showing one of the dancers first performing an impressive back flip, followed by a series of dance leaps. I reduced the speed of the back-flip and the leaps to make the moves seem powerful and strong, reflecting her strong personality in the film.

The next scene is one that I had re-filmed from my original edit, in which one of the male characters looks at himself in the mirror. In the original edit this shot was very dark and grainy, however with the lighting it looks much more effective and adds colour, and conventionally musicals are known for their bright colours and dramatic, dynamic shots. I followed this with two further graphic captions and voiceovers, which again I stretched out to give them a Hollywood blockbuster feel. These captions contain the slogan for my film which I have also used on my ancillary products, "They have a dream to perform". I chose to use a gold font for my graphic captions as gold connotes fame, fortune and success, key themes which run throughout my film.

Next I used an over-the-shoulder shot sequence to present a dialogue sequence between the two male characters, followed by a two-shot of the female characters also conversing in a stairway. These conversations again develop the sense of narrative, reaching the climax in the story.

The next shot I used is a match-on-action of one of the males throwing his script on the ground in anger. The match-on-action develops a sense of narrative pace whilst the backing track also begins to reach is climactic point. I also reduced the speed of this match-on-action shot by 50% to enhance the dramatic atmosphere I wanted it to create amongst the audience.

I matched the next long shot carefully with the repeated lyric in the song, "Don't stop believing," in which the two male characters are represented as being worried and stressed as the competition looms. The next line "Hold on to that feeling" also matches the on-screen narrative in which the two girls perform simultaneous dance spins. Once again I reduced the speed of this wide shot slightly to further enhance the drama and tension. This shot is followed by a long shot of one of the male characters reading a script, further establishing my film's genre as a musical and developing the narrative. The genre is further established through a long shot of one of the male characters break-dancing, which again I slowed down to build up tension and excitement amongst my audience.

The final scene in my trailer is a two-shot showing the two male characters walk through a red curtain, as if they are about to undergo their final performance. I imported a sound effect of an applause to create an atmosphere of a crowded theatre, again a conventional feature of the musical genre. This shot then fades to black to finish my trailer, building tension and leaving the audience wondering how the narrative will be resolved. I then used a fade to bring up the logo of my film, "Believe", which is very brightly coloured to represent the glimmering lights of Broadway. This is followed by a billing block with production logos, a conventional feature of film trailers, coupled with the traditional font used. I end my trailer with a final graphic caption, "In Cinemas January 2010". The release date is an important aspect of film trailers as this reveals to the audience when they will be able to see the full production.

Edit Log Sheet

Now that I have collected all of the footage which I want to use in my trailer, the next stage is to edit my film trailer together. I did this using a piece of software called "Adobe Premiere Pro". As I completed the editing of my trailer, I had to fill out an edit log sheet, which gives the details of when I completed certain stages of the editing process and of the new skills I have developed as I have become familiar with the software. A scan of my edit log sheet can be found below.