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31.03.2010

This is the final copy of the film poster, I feel that it creates a surreal effect as the image has been placed inside the outline of a keyhole which will make the audience question the story being the film. It is also very simple which follows the conventions of the other surreal film posters that I researched. The number of different colours used has been kept to a minimum as they likewise fit in with the conventions. The purple colour that has been used for some of the text is the same as the purple used on the magazine front cover so that they both fit in with each other. In addition, the main imagine is very similar to the one used on the magazine front cover as this then means that the audience will be able to clearly see that they are advertising the same film. There has only been one font used and it is the same as the one used on the magazine front cover, again showing that they are both advertising the same thing. I have kept all of the writing central on the page as it helps to draw the audiences attention to the main image and then to the title of the film and then finally to the other information which has been written. I was eventually able to key a white outline around the keyhole as I felt this emphasised the keyhole shape rather than how it was before.

24.03.2010

Here is a semi-final copy of the film poster. I feel that there needs to be some tweeks made to it as the shape of the keyhole does not stand out, so I would like to get a white outline around it to show its actual shape to the audience. Also the writing does not coincide with the writing that is on the magazine front cover so I am going to change it all to one font which is going to be the same as the one featured on the magazine front cover. Lastly, the main image isn't very big and I would like to increase its size so that it stands out more, rather than the writing being the first thing the audience looks at.

23.03.2010

Finally fitted the image into the keyhole as I was able to import a keyhole outline from google onto the picture and then cut it out so the image behind could be seen. Started to add the writing to the poster but feel that the purple is quite dark and either needs to be in a bigger font so it can be seen clearly or made a bit lighter so it's easier to read. I also feel that the main image needs to be lighten up a bit and the outline of the keyhole needs to be made clear which could be done by adding a white outline.

23.03.2010

This is the first mock up I created which includes the draft title of 'thrown away'. I used a keyhole as an outline for the main image as this fitted in with the conventions of surreal films as it does not have a direct link to the storyline of the film. However, the girl featured in the main image in the main character in the film and therefore makes the main image not completely irrelevant. I decided to include some production information on the poster as well as in all the posters I researched they all have an amount of production information on them, yet I made my font size larger than the ones I researched. I wanted to make the main image be the focal point of the poster and I did this by making it the largest item.

This is the second mock up I created which included the finalised title 'Finders Keepers' but I still kept the original layout as I felt this look good. Now I just need to decide on the fonts and colours which I am going to use on the final poster.

18.03.2010

This is the next part of the poster I have managed to create. It now has the keyhole on it but now need to make the main image fit into it.


This is my first attempt at trying to fit the main image into the keyhole shape. It was unsuccessful and needs some tweeking before it looks good enough to put on the poster.

17.03.2010

This is the beginning of the making of the poster. I am using a black background as I want to attract the audiences attention to the main image which is going to be situated inside a keyhole shape in the middle of the poster. This now seems to be the main problem, as I feel my skills on Photoshop are not brilliant, however I would like to get the main shape done soon.

17.03.2010

Here are some of the images I have taken that will be the main image on the poster. I am going to end up cropping the chosen image so that it fits into the keyhole which will outline it on the poster. I feel that by using these images, it helps to introduce the main character of the film along with her holding the "magic pen" which makes things real when she draws them.

10.03.2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUCrM5i_W3c

• The opening shot displays the production company in a font which looks handwritten. And these feature a lot through the trailer which includes such the directors name and what other film he has directed.
  
• There is no music at the beginning of the trailer, all that can be heard is the voice of the main character while he is performing on his television programme. But at 30 seconds some background music kicks in which is quite slow paced which contradicts the fast editing. Also to split up some of the shots, it has more shots which includes the handwritten font.
  
• Some of the writing begins to introduce the characters at the start of the trailer to give the audience some information as they may feel lost when watching it even though it appears to be chronological order, the storyline still seems to be unusual and hard to follow.
  
• The trailer has 110 shots and is only 2 mins 23 seconds long. It features a lot of the surrealist elements of the film which seem confusing to the audience as it isn't telling them the whole story so makes them feel like they want to watch it to understand what is going on and to find out what happens between the two main characters.
• There is no voice over throughout the trailer, all the talking that can be heard is from the scenes which are shown from the film of the actors talking.
  
• In the middle of the trailer the music changes again can be described as chirpy and makes the audience believe that this is the 'good' part of the film and that nothing bad happens because it shows a shot of the male main character looking very happy and content with his life.
  
• Towards the end of the trailer, the music changes and it begins to turn into more upbeat. The editing also becomes a lot faster when switching from shot to shot and the music represents that it is a dramatic ending as it seems so powerful.
  

3.03.2010

• This film poster has been produced for the film 'The Lovely Bones'. Likewise with the other film posters I have looked at, the main picture does not seem to go with the title of the film. However, once watching the film, it will be clear as to why they have used this image.
• Unlike with the other film posters, the writing on this one is very minimal and only features the title, actors/ actresses, director, who it's sponsored by and a tag line which very briefly gives an insight into what the film is going to be about. Also the title which is written in a bold, white font has the main imagine placed over part of it and slightly disguises some of the letters. It makes the audience think that the image of the tree is more important than the actual title of the film and this is why it has been placed over some of the letters to get this point across.
• The background image of the sunset and the leaves which have turned into birds creates a surreal effect for the film as it makes people wonder where the birds are going to along with how the have managed to turn from leaves into birds. There is also a bit in the sky in which there is a ray of light coming through the dark clouds which gives the representation of a heaven-like place being in the patch of light and the rest of the world is grey and that bad things have maybe happened on earth.
• Again, there have not been many colours used on the poster which makes it have a minimalistic look, however very effective. The majority of the writing is either white or a tan/ beige colour which fits in with the sunset on the background. By using these two colours, it also separates the title and the tag line of the film from the other information which some of the audience will not be majorly interested in.
• Similarly, the layout of the poster is very simple and the title seems to be the main focal point of this particular film. However, the imagine is still very key, as it creates a mysterious feel to the film as there is a heaven-like light coming from the clouds, then leaves turning into birds and lastly a girl running in the direction that the birds are going. Yet, she is tiny compared to the tree and especially the title. It could suggest that the title is a key feature of the film.
• The title also has 'lovely' written in a bold font which suggests it has more importance in the film than the other words. It could also be involved in the film somehow, either the title as a whole or that particular word may be used to portray the story.

4.02.2010

• Again this poster gives off a surreal feeling. It shows like a stained glass effect of a butterfly in a blue colour, however there are bits of it which are black and make it seem like there may be another side to this film, something a bit mysterious.
• The title of the film is typed using capital letters which makes it stand out and also because they have used a white font on a black/ dark background. This can draw the audience in along with the use of the main picture. It seems to be a convention that the pictures used for surreal films are very simplistic and they don't make the posters too busy as this draws the audiences attention away from the unusual side which the film is trying to create.
  
• Also the title of the film has a effect on it which makes it look like it's glowing which is abnormal for film posters to have. This makes it seem that bit more interesting to the audience as it isn't normally seen. In addition it makes it stand out as it is kind of competing with the main picture which is the focal point.
  
• Like with other film posters, there are only a few colours used; blue, black and white. This stops it from looking too busy and allows the audience to focus on the title of the film and also the picture which gets the audience interested in what the film is actually going to be about.
  
• The directors name and the other information about the stars and production team surround the title which gives the impression that the less important information is outline the key thing on the post which is the title. Again this draws the audiences attention to the title as it written in a much larger font than the other writing showing its importance.
  
• The layout of the poster is very minimalistic like the poster for The Science of Sleep. This shows that it can be seen to be a convention of surreal films, that they need to come across simple so that the audience is shocked when something unusual or different happens within the film. However they need to get the right balance between looking enticing and looking boring and too simple as this could put off the audience if it is too bland and doesn't get their attention straight away.
• Likewise with the other surreal film poster, the main focus is that picture which they use to try and portray some of what the film is going to be about. Yet, I think from looking at this particular one, it is hard to draw any hint of a storyline from it because it is simply a butterfly. However this is probably done on purpose to make the audience watch it as they want to find out what the butterfly has got to do with being 'unstoppable' .
  

3.02.2010

• This magazine is very Batman orientated as it shows 'the Joker' as being the main feature on the front cover. It displays quite a surreal effect to the front cover as it is just him sitting in what looks like a jail cell as there are metal bars behind him. He also has a very strange look on his face which people could interpret as him looking like he "isn't all there". This could make the audience feel uneasy about the nature of the film from this.
• The magazine title "EMPIRE" seems to be getting overlook to a certain extent as "meet the joker" is nearly the same size font wise and is not being overlapped like EMPIRE by the joker himself. But as this is such a well known magazine, everyone knows the title and the kind of layout it uses and therefore they don't have to solely rely all the letters being in full view.
• The colours used on the front cover vary and give a bit of a mixed look. The purples, greens and white all seem to coincide with the main theme of the magazine, the release of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. However, the red is still used for the title which makes it look a tad mismatched.
  
• The strapline "meet the joker" has used an unusual font for a magazine front cover which gives off a representation that this is something very special and different so a big deal should be made out of it.
  
• Everything on the front cover is very focused on the Batman film and by using the joker as the key character from the film, it shows that this is an important character. Maybe due to the fact that Heath Ledger started off playing this role, but then unfortunately died and could not carry on filming which was viewed as a great loss to the film society.
  
• It could suggest that the target audience of this magazine or even film would be anyone who is interested in Batman but also people who like films and ones with bits of suggested surrealism as 'superheros' don't exist in the real world.
  
• There is a small amount of writing on the front cover which leaves the audience to concentrate on the feature of that particular issue. There is also nothing apart from the barcode in the bottom left hand corner which is unusual. However, the audience's attention has already been drawn to the strapline about meeting the joker along with the actual picture of the joker. There is no need for the whole of the A4 space to be filled as this would just overcrowd the front cover and leave nothing to stand out.
  

• This poster clearly shows that the film has a surreal side to it as there is a toy horse walking on clouds. It could suggest that either it may be a fantasy film or just something which people find very unusual.
• The horse seems to be the main focal point of the poster as the cloud it is walking on is a lot brighter than the others, plus with it being so unusual to see, it draws the attention of the audience even more so.
• Also the title of the film is displayed differently to conventional films as two colours have been used. The brown colour highlights the more 'interesting' words, whereas the white is just used for 'the' and 'of'.
• In addition, they have also made the title seem like it has got some sort of texture to it which adds to the unusual nature of the film.
• The colours used are very dull and unappealing to the audience which may seem strange as the point of the poster is to attract the audiences attention, however due to what the actual image is, this may be the USP and draw the audience in more so than bright colours.
  
• Also the writing at the top of the poster which includes names of producers and the distribution company etc, is written in a font a few shades lighter than the background colour which makes it not seem so important for the audience to see this or be drawn to it. It is also a small font which could again make reading it from a distance quite hard, yet it is not a key element to draw the audience in.
  
• The whole layout of the poster looks very minimalistic which may make it seem as though not a lot happens throughout the film. On the other hand this is probably done on purpose for people to wonder why there are two people riding on a horse on a cloud and that there is probably a lot more to happen within the film and they will have to watch it in order for them to understand the simplicity of the poster.
  
• The horse which is featured as the key point of the poster is clearly not realistic and looks similar to a rag doll type toy. This could lead the audience into thinking that parts of this film may not be realistic or that it may have child-like elements involved as it uses a childs toy to portray some of the story through the poster.

3.02.2010

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with a film magazine cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.

- Title: 'Thrown Away' (TBC) -- Final title: 'FINDERS KEEPERS'
- Genre: Surrealism
- Aims: To create a surreal and post-modern media text
- Target Audience: People who are interested in film and/or have knowledge in film, where they are able to notice specific techniques used. Students within colleges or universities.
- Institution: A small, independent film company, such as New Line Cinema