Poster draft 4

Front Cover draft 5

Photo Shoot Update

After reviewing my images for the front cover I decided to take some more because I felt as if the one I took weren't good enough.

Poster Updated

Here's a more updated poster with a different background, fonts and also a tag line. The colors were saturated so that the outfits match more. 

Poster Draft

After looking at Korean gangster films I was inspired to change my initial poster ideas and have the 3 main characters on the poster. I have took 3 separate photos and put them together, I have experimented using "Godfather" font and have kept the color scheme very simple. For the background I have decided to use the silhouette of London which would tell the audience more about the location of the film.

Front Cover Updated

After receiving feedback on my last poster I decided to change most of the aspects of the front cover. I have tried make this meet the conventions of the genre, that's why the model is holding the gun. I have decided to keep a similar layout because I feel it's effective in portraying the models emotions. I have changed the fonts and the color scheme to make it fit in more with the genre as most used dark colors in contrast with red and white. I've also changed the name of the magazine to "Direct" in reference to "Director" because I felt that the name Cinematographer was too long.

Magazine front cover draft 1

This is the first draft of my magazine front cover. I have experimented with different aspects such as color, font and layout of the magazine to see what work the best. Although I'm happy with this to some extent as it meets most of the conventions of a magazine I still need to work on certain aspects such as the fonts which will need to be changed and possibly the sell lines to make them relate more the gangster genre. 

photo shoot 2

These are the photo's I took in my second photo shoot which would be used for the front cover of the magazine. 

photo shoot

Here are some of my favorite pic
tures from the photo shoot which I might use for my poster

Front Cover Idea's Update

After changing my initial poster idea, I have realized that my poster and front cover would look similar in terms the pose the model would be doing. In order to change that I have decided to look at different film magazines to get some new inspiration  for my front cover.

I was inspired by magazines such as "So Film" and "Movie Maker" to create a magazine which is aimed at film fans who have some general knowledge about the film industry and recognize relatively popular names and faces. I think that a close up of the character would allow for a interesting composition as it would be ambiguous in terms of what happens in the trailer, encouraging audience to actually see the trailer this is because the only thing which would tell you anything about the film is the facial expression of the character as well as their mise en secne.

New poster ideas + Inspiration board

After further research into posters and front covers I have decided to change my idea for the initial poster. I was inspired by the Max Pane poster to create something that relates to vandalism. Using the "Banksy" style of graffiti to create a sillouete of the main characters. Using this technique it would be easier to implement other things which would blend in together on a wall.

Masthead Fonts Experiments

Production Meeting Ideas

After discussing several issues involving things such as the name, cast and screenplay we have came up with several ideas for the trailer. First being the involvement of a foreign languages, such as Italian or Polish. This has allowed us to develop the first scene being a prologe between the Godfather and his father being in a church, where the father gives him a life lesson which is later applied also to Jason's life to show that the two characters grew up in a somewhat similar way. This scene would be in Polish and it would have subtitles.  For this we would use my brother as the younger version of myself and my dad as the godfathers's father. This religious aspect has also allowed us to come up with a name for our movie. This had allowed me to come up with some names in Latin such as Advocatus Diaboli, Peccavi, Invicta which all have some sort of relation to the film, however this idea was further developed by looking at the story of Cain and Abel in the old testament and allowed us to conclude with a name "Son's of Adam" focusing on this religious aspect is also a convention of gangster movies which we have missed out on in our initial pitch.

Inspiration for Front Cover

Inspiration for Poster

Sketches for initial ideas

Poster:

I have initially came up with the idea of the poster being a split image poster, looking at this sort of design I have found that it is relatively popular although most of the posters looked similar. The poster  which stood out the most was The Ides of March poster which I have decided to use as my main inspiration. It reflects the main motive of the main character which is to be like the main boss(seen on the magazine in the poster) but it also shows that the boss is successful and that the main character wants to be like him, it also shows that their similarities. 

     

The main idea for the magazine front cover came from the batman magazine where you can see him aiming down the sight this inspired me to do this, in this image we can see the main boss aiming the gun at the camera which would feel intimidating for the audience which portrays the sort of character he is 

Gangster Movie Survey Analysis

Gangster survery analysis from Filip97

Gangster Genre Research - Vox Pop

Mr. Nice BFI Article Marketing analysis

Target Audience:

The primary target audience for Mr. Nice is 16 – 24 year old males

Including students as well as 25+ year old ABC1 males who are fans of the

Best-selling book and who may already be fans of Howard Marks.

Marketing Strategy:

The film was the official sponsor of the Q Glastonbury Festival which has over 100,000 festival goers which started the promotional campaign for Mr Nice.

This followed an online event which allowed the users to interact with the online game which was also a competition for a trip around the world. The task for users was to work for Mr.

Nice across the summer by smuggling ‘packages’ across the internet.

Users visiting partner sites were ‘cookied’ and encouraged to go to the

Mr. Nice site to enter a competition: ‘working’ for Mr. Nice.  Users who successfully delivered the package by visiting those sites where encouraged winning the trip around the world. The websites were NME, FHM, Vice and Nuts. When during the course of those 4 months a user visited a website

Closer to the release date, the TV, Outdoor and press campaigns kicked in and on the release day we had Home Page Takeovers on three of our partner’s sites: NME, Nuts and Vice.

As well as a interactive mobile app was created to target the iPhone market which got over 1,000 downloads.

As a result of this campaign it had reached over 2.2million users as well as an additional 1k from the application. The campaign resulted in 39k clicks in total which shows that they have paid just under a pound for each interactive user  which resulted in a successful marketing campaign for a low budget  

Statistics:

Various Marketing Techniques for Gangster Squad

Online Vlog Movie Review.

This a popular method of finding out whenever a movie is good or not. Many YouTube users will post reviews of movies which would include their opinions about movies once they're out.(they tend to be some of the first people to watch the movie due to the production companies sending them invites to movie premiers ) This allows the audience to see their opinion of a movie and then based on that decide whenever or not it's worth watching the movie.


Interview with an actor

These sorts of interviews allow actors to talk about how they felt on set and whenever or not they liked working on the movie or not. It allows the audience to grain an on opinion of the movie from someone who was actually working on it. This allows the audience to realize how hard it is to be an actor as well as how much work gets put into a movie. This promotes the movie because its often big companies that do these sort of interviews, for example news papers which lets more people to hear about the movie.

Actors promoting their movies on talk shows. 

Many talk show hosts will invite actors from newly released or upcoming movies to let them talk about their movie and promote it. This is different to a "normal" interview because it more open question based where the host would only ask 1 or 2 questions and let the actor talk about it. For example here we can see Ryan Gosling talking on the Jimmy Kimmel live show, Many of these night talk shows are very popular especially in America and get millions of views  each week. This makes this a perfect way of promoting a movie as it will reach alot of people despite out the 10 minute interview only 1/3 was about the movie.

Gangster Squad Website Analysis

Gangster Squad Website Analysis

The website http://gangstersquad.warnerbros.com/ was created in order to promote the film gangster squad; its sleek design has allowed easy for navigation through the different elements of the page. Although not much is seen on the homepage all the relevant information is could be found. This includes the main cast of the movie, their names are crucial to add because people would want to see great stars such as Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn. As their names are used in order to promote the movie to the audience who already know about these actors. 

The website has all the relevant information sorted into tabs, which means that it’s easy to navigate the website and its easy find all the relevant information. The tabs are Home, About the Film, Trailer, Gallery, Downloads, Sweepstakes, Soundtrack, Crime wave, Photo Challenge and “Get Booked”

The first thing we can notice on the website is the image, this due to the layout of the website which leaves all the writing on the sides, allowing the viewers to clearly see the image without any text over it.  It’s a recognizable image because it has been used as the main image for the promotional package, for example the posters.

The most interesting being is the app called “Crime wave” which tells us about the locations of the film. Which this tells us more about the fact that it’s a gangster film with a major involvement from the police. As places such as the police station and Micky Cohen’s house are on location

 At the bottom of the page we can see the Production company logos and information; they have done that in order to promote themselves. Warner Bros is one of the biggest production companies this tells the viewers that the film had a big budget which generally results in a film of a better quality.

The tag line “No names. No badges. No mercy” is also included, this tells a bit more about the movie as it summaries the plot of the movie into 6 words, it tells us that it’s about cops who are going undercover to get to the bottom of their issue.

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube links are also added with the ability of sharing the content for the “word of mouth” type of promoting a movie because people are likely to see what their friends recommend to them and a lot of them would be using these social networking sites.

Empire Public Enemies Magazine Analysis

What can you say about the layout design (fonts, colour scheme)?

The colour scheme uses grey, red and white. This could have been done in order to highlight the importance of red. Which could connote to blood and murder which relates to the genre. In terms of layout a very basic one is used with the main headline being in the middle and the sell lines on a side in a box, there’s also a button promoting ghost busters and a banner.

What can you say about the image?

It’s a still from the movie with the main character of Johnny Depp’s character, he conforms to the conventions of a gangster film by wearing a typical gangster outfit from the past and without even reading about it we know it’s a gangster film. Also the use of a tommy gun symbolizes that it’s a violent movie.

What can you say about the sell lines?

I like the idea of putting the sell lines in a box which makes them stand out more.  Empire is a magazine which focuses on sci-fi and fantasy films and that’s why the films included are Robin Hood, Iron Man 2 and Clash of Titans/  

What genre of film does it cover?

It’s a mix of both gangster and sci-fi movies although the main headline focuses on a gangster film it’s not a gangster specific genre.

Who is the target audience?

It’s most likely adult male audience as they are the most likely to watch crime movies. This genre appeals more to males because of the guns and the action, they are more likely to see it because of the brutality of the genre. There isn’t an age limit as older people may be more interested in these films which are based on a particular period in time.

Empire American Gangster Magazine Analysis

What is the name of the magazine? Why do you think it is called that?

The magazine is called Empire possibly because of the popularity of the magazine, it’s published in many countries around the world mainly in US and UK, and the readership of the magazine could be called its “empire” due to the size of this large number of readers.

What can you say about the layout design (fonts, colour scheme)?

The colour scheme is relatively dark the use of colours such as blue and red the connotation of this could be police, this is a convention of all gangster films as they need to show that crime is fought with law.  A unique feature of this magazine is layout. Instead of the sell lines being on the sides of the magazine framing the main image, they are in the centre bottom area of the cover which leads your eyes to the sell lines after reading the headline in order to get the audience interested in this issue. This also makes the audience focus more on the image.

What can you say about the sell lines?

Due to the fact that this is a 'crime issue' the sell lines are features on other crime related films including films such as Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Scarface and Eastern Promises.

What genre of film does it cover?

As this is the crime issue, all of the features relate to crime and the appropriate sub-genres

Who is the target audience?

It’s most likely adult male audience as they are the most likely to watch crime movies. This genre appeals more to males because of the guns and the action, they are more likely to see it because of the brutality of the genre. There isn’t an age limit as older people may be more interested in these films which are based on a particular period in time.

What is the magazine's mission statement or slogan?

'The World's Biggest Movie Magazine' which relates to the name of the magazine “empire”

Eastern Promises (2007) Trailer Analysis

Poster Analysis 3 "Goodfellas (1990)"

Poster Analysis 2 " Scarface (1983)"

Poster Analysis 1 "The Untouchables (1987)"

This poster must have been made from at least two images which were put together. Straight away you can see that the main antagonist is the character in the background. His dominance is shown through him being a much larger character comparing to others. He conforms to the conventions of a typical gangster character. This is seen through the use of his clothing, he is wearing a suit and a fedora as well as tinted glasses and a big diamond ring suggesting that he is a wealthy mafia boss. He is overlooking the other characters almost as if he is their god, this suggests that he hold control over the situation. This is contrasted to the bottom image which is much smaller and shows the other side of the situation possibly the protagonists who are trying to take the main boss out. We can see that they are also dressed in suits and they are holding guns. The main character stands at the front aiming his gun while his support can be seen by his side. The poster also tells us that there is a difference between the two sides through the use of color. The top image is black and white where as the bottom image is in color. The poster also follows all of the conventions of a typical film poster, this includes: large bold title (which is the biggest font on the poster) names of actors, directors a tagline, as well a production company logo, An unusual aspect found on this poster is the two blocks of text in the top right corner and just below it. I found this to be very usual however the film dates back to 1987 which could explain the reason behind this usual layout.  

Film Analysis: The Departed

The Departed is a 2006 American crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Anthony Anderson, and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles.

The film “The Departed” is film about an undercover state cop who has infiltrated an Irish gang and a mole in the police force working for the same mob race to track down and identify each other before being exposed to the enemy, after both sides realize their outfit has a rat.

Although not all of the gangster movie conventions are shown in this film, many are still present. This is because it’s a modern gangster film. There are enough conventions used to tell us that we’re watching a gangster film. For instance the character “Frank Costello” is a notorious criminal; he is also a leader of the Irish mafia. He supports the conventions of a gangster film by showing no remorse for his actions he would do anything to get what he wants even if it could potentially harm someone.

In this scene we are introduced to the boss, we can tell that he is powerful and has lots of respect. For instance, the lighting is dark which connotes to being mysterious; this alternatively could mean that he is doing illegal business that he doesn't want anyone to find out about. It’s also a low angle shot showing us that he has superiority over others who have to look up to him. 

Probably one of the most recognizable scenes from the movie is this two shot when Leonardo DiCaprio smashes a glass on this man’s head after he taunts him on his selection of drink, not only because he waits to do it, he does it without saying a word. This scene also shows that the movie supports the conventions of a gangster movie through the use of location. Many of the films scenes are taken in this bar. It’s a place where all the mobsters go to meet their boss and have their business meetings

This is contrasted by the scenes in the office, which also play an important role in this movie. The link between the two suggests that both sides have similarities and “when you’re standing in front of a gun, what’s the difference?” and although the setting is different it supports the convention of a gangster film, because all gangster films must contain at least some way of fighting the crime, this could be through the use of police or inspectors. 

The mise en scene must also include some sort of weapons. Most gangster movies contain guns because they are the most effective weapons to use; this isn’t however limited to only guns, as weapons such as baseball bats and crowbars could also be used.

Conventions of Gangster Films

Gangster Film Timeline

Group Profile

This is our group profile which consists of Favour (left), Farida (centre) and Filip (right). We are known as 'F Studios'.

Favour is the costume and props director. His role includes organizing the miss-en-scene and making sure it's appropriate to our trailer as well as providing fitting locations, as well as organizing the filming in those particular locations if permission is required before hand

Farida is the director of cinematography. This role consists of supervising the actors and staff in the film to ensure the shots that  taken are well-suited for our trailer. She will be in charge of the cameraman job and will instruct him what sort of shot they should take from what angle, under what lighting etc.

Where as I'm the head editor. I will provide the essential editing for our trailer and will aid and oversee any editing made by staff. My role involves picking sound that will give the desired effect and putting together the shots considering certain aspects such as continuity and flow of the trailer in order to make it as professional as possible.

The Departed trailer analysis

The Departed (2006)

Similarly to “Gangster Squad” the opening sequence of the trailer beings with the introduction of the main antagonist character. The Departed shows a silhouette of the villain due to the dark lighting walking and narrating the story, we also see him smoke. This is underplayed with a slow and relaxing track suggesting that he is calm and has nothing to worry about.  The following shots include the introduction of two other characters a cop and a criminal.  Mise en scene used includes the cop wearing a badge and being in uniform, the criminal working out in jail and being “tough” as well as a shot of a gun which could be linked to both sides.  “when you face a loaded gun what’s the difference” the main antagonist says this with the implication of blending the roles of cops and criminals suggesting that they have a lot in common, in this shot, the face of the villain is also revealed in a close up.  This is also when a production logo is showing; following a change of pace showing a scene of the police department more mise en scene is included as we can see a police station. This is where we see a link between the two main characters and how one of them becomes an inspector in the elite unit while the other becomes an undercover agent.  This follows a montage of scenes of the cop working undercover as a gangster. The music also changes to traditional Irish music; this was done to show that the gang is from an Irish origin. That’s also where we find the plot twist of the story and find out that there is people working undercover for both sides. This also works well with the change of music that turns into very dramatic and deep orchestra music  Other mise en scene also includes locations such as bars for the gangsters and office’s for the police men. In the final section of the trailer the song changes to “Comfortably Numb” by Van Morrison (a cover of a song by Pink Floyd) which in my opinion ruins the flow of the trailer, however the continuity is established by the complex story line which includes the characters struggling to cope with their undercover identity. Followed by a sequence of action shots in form of a montage showing the most exiting parts of the movie which suggests that it also has some action film conventions, which is also similar to the movie “Gangster Squad”

Gangster Squad trailer analysis

Gangster Squad (2013) 

The trailer begins with a establishing shot which pans over Hollywood telling us that the film is set in L.A. following a scene which establishes who the main antagonist is. It shows us a scene where the main boss is being ruthless and has no mercy on his enemies. Following a short scene where we can see him killing a person as well as setting barrels on fire. Suggesting that he will do anything to get his point across, in the following scene we see Ryan Gosling’s character say “This is Mickey Cohens town, you’re not going to change anything around here Sgt” this line tells us the basic goal of the films protagonists. Followed by logos of the producing companies; this is done to advertise the companies who made the film this convention are seen is any blockbuster movie. This also when the pace of the trailer changes. In the next several seconds we get to see more conventions of a gangster movie, some of these conventions include the use of guns, gambling in casinos as well as being in a bar/lounge. The subsequent scene introduces the protagonists; some of the mise en scene includes the characters being dressed professionally in suits as well as fedoras. You can also see that many of the characters smoke either cigars or cigarettes. The characters are introduced using close up shots of their faces, which clearly illustrates who is who. The story of the trailer clearly tells us that the policemen are working undercover in order to take down a notorious gangster. This can be seen the following shots where we see them preparing for the mission. This is also when the song “Oh My God” by Jay Z starts playing. I think that the song works well with the trailer as the shots become in sync with the beat. This creates continuity despite of the montage of shots. This also makes the trailer flow better, as the beat builds up so does the pace of the action in the trailer. We are then introduced to the love interest of one of the characters. The girl is wearing a red dress and appears to be rather seductive. The second section of the trailer appears to be high pace action with many gun shots and explosives which suggest that this film has lots of action in it. The gun shots also appear to be in sync with the music which also impacts on the continuity of the story.  

The Pitch

Tagline of film:“If you want something, take it”“If you have a problem, solve it with a gun”“No one stays on top forever”“What would you do for love” "How far would you go for love"
"What goes up must come down" "What's a mob to a king"
Basic plot synopsis:The Godfather is being investigated by the chief police inspector (Jake) after committing his biggest crime yet and needs a way to "get rid" of him. Jason longs to join the mob but is held back by his older brother who doesn't want him to get involved in a life of crime. When Jake begins getting friendly with the Godfather's girlfriend, the Godfather find a way to both initiate Jason into the mob and get rid of Jake at the same time. A series to violent and merciless events finally turns Jason mad with both and revenge to get to the top.

What type of characterization will you have?:Jason – Main characters name is Jason; he is a teen who just dropped out of college at the age of 18. He is a violent character who doesn't like to speak much.  Grew up in a single parent household and was always seen as second best to his brother Jake. Has never had a father so therefore looks up to "godfather" and can relate to him as they have had a similar past and upbringing.Jake – He’s Jason’s older brother and works as a chief police inspector and investigating the crimes committed by the mob in an attempt to take the "godfather" out.  Although he is considered as the “good guy” he can show his rough side due to his short temperMob people – The gang consists of many members of different ranks;“Soldiers”“Associate”“Capo” (captain)“Street boss”“Counsellor” on the same level as “underboss”“Godfather” - Unwanted child growing up and always had to fend for himself. Killed his family in a house fire as a result of his mistreatment and contempt by them which shows his barbarous and merciless behaviour. Vanessa – Jake’s girlfriend that eventually joins the gang as “godfathers girlfriend”. A good looking girl that’s very flirtatious and can be seductive.           

Describe mise-en-scene to be used or any visual motifs?:Professional suits, drugs, weapons (guns, baseball bats, chains, crowbars), cars,Lounge, alleyways, torture place, cards (mobsters playing poker)

What are your ideas about cinematography/photography?:Close ups on main characters, wide shots or location to show wealth and power, low angle shots to represent status. A long shot of the mobsters in the lounge to show what they do in their free time.

Conventions of trailers/posters/film mags you plan to reinforce or reinvent?Most trailers show the boss, by showing a scene where he shows no mercy on his enemies. This could be reinforced in our trailer to show his dominance over everyone else in the story.  Most also show a action scene where the two sides have a standoff and shoot out, and although recreating the gun scene may be hard, a standoff between the two sides could be recreated. Thirdly the dramatic close ups on the face of the people who are faced with the problem, in this case when they wage war against the mob.Also on most posters you can see that the main colours are dark, mainly black with some contrast of white and details of red, if not a dark fainly coloured image is also included. Most posters show the protagonist in the front, and a shadow of the main boss who is the antagonist in the background “lurking” at the main character. This is a convention which should be reinforced to suggest that it is a gangster film.

What resources will you need? (include actors, props, costumes and settings)We will need a lot of actors, including at least 6 more important roles along with several extras that will be part of the mob, props will include a car, weapons such as fake guns, baseball bats, crowbars, crushed tablets (fake cocaine) duffle/barrel bags. Settings will include a lounge (possibly a shisha lounge) alleyways for standoff, the

Justification of ideas in relation to genre and recognisable film influences, also what is your Unique Selling Point?The brutality and the plot twists are most likely to surprise the audience which will make them want to see the film. The story line is the unique selling point because we’re not aware of films with similar sort of stories.

Gangster Moodboard

This mood board represents the main conventions of gangster/mafia films. In order to make our trailer fit within the genre we should include most of these aspects in our tailer. These include a head boss of the mafia who's greatly feared by everyone else in the gang, and for whom everyone has the greatest respect. Others include living a luxurious and and a rather  glamorous lifestyle. Due to all their wealth. Some of the main props will include drugs, money and weapons as these are the biggest conventions of the genre. This is also contrasted by some of the conventions of police crime thrillers which include extensive brutality from the side of the "bad guys".

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer analysis

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

The trailer begins with logos of the producing companies; this is done to advertise the companies who made the film this convention are seen is any blockbuster movie. Slow non dietetic music also begins to play at the same time, the trailer then begins the story with an establishing shot of a Forest suggesting that this is where the film is based, the slow pace music works well with the long shots. We are first introduced to a civilization of monkeys that are riding horses which suggests that they are not typical apes. As the trailer progresses the pace of the music speeds up along with the length of each shot getting shorter. We are shown a civilization made by apes with no human interactions where they live in peace. This is further implied by the text that is shown between shots with the keywords such as “peace”.  We are shown a variety of shots ranging from close ups of individual monkeys to wide shots which show us how big the population of this forest is. Here is where we meet the first main character called “Cesar” who is the leader of the ape tribe.  In the next shot the music is stopped to enhance the importance of the silence between the first human and ape interaction we see, after a pause we can see that the humans are the aggressive ones through the use of mise en scene. We can see that the group of traveling humans is aggressive because they carry weapons and they threaten the ape which they have met.  In the second part of the trailer the fast pace music begins to play and a montage of shots is shown from the human’s perspective. Establishing shots of the abandoned urban environment are shown and most lines include keywords such as “virus” “they’re animals” “war” which all have negative connotations which imply that the humans are against the apes, this leads to a build-up cross cutting between the survivors and the man who’s trying to make peace with the apes which ultimately leads to the final event which is the war between the apes and the monkeys 

Wolf of Wall Street Poster Analysis

Wolf of Wall Street poster analysis from Filip97

Blog Page Sections

Research and Analysis

Pitch and Rationale
Textual Analysis- Poster and mag front covers
Textual Analysis of teaser and full length trailers
Textual Analysis Seminar Presentation
Film and Genre Case Study Research

Planning of print work
Pencil Sketches
Original photos
ICT draft
Experiments with fonts and colour schemes

Planning of trailer

Mise en Scene Research, location and cast shots
Story boards
Script
Shot list
Meeting Notes

Final Draft 

Final Magazine front cover
Final poster
Evaluation