James+Moore

__**Trailer analysis:**__ []



__**Trailer comparison:**__ [] []



__**Film magazine analysis:**__



__**Film poster campaign:**__

The Scream series has always served as an embodiment of everything traditional in the stalker slasher genre. As well as defining the stalker/slasher genre, scream also parodies it by over exaggerating the main conventions; such as making characters with strong and obvious stereotypes, such as the clumsy blond or the jock or by following a basic plot line with predictable plot devices. Scream 4 still embodies all of these stereotypes and conventions, however it appears or at least states that it is subverting; as seen in the tagline.

Both posters share the same colour schemes for the background and title, while only differing in amount content shown on each individual poster. The first campaign poster acts more as a teaser in poster form, rather than following the normal more conventional posters (as seen in the second campaign poster). The first poster only contains one image; the image is not of a person and is instead of an object. This object (the bladed mask) is symbolic and serves as a staple for the series by combining two of the most familiar features; the mask and the blade at the tip of the mask. Allot of information is given with only one picture available; it gives the audience a view of an antagonistic yet mysterious figure to those unfamiliar with the franchise. While telling veterans of the franchise, it will still stick to its original roots. Interestingly the image of the mask is facing away from the audience; this is subversion from normal conventions because the image is normally facing the character in order to show facial expressions. However in this case the mask appears inanimate and near featureless, it also helps to give the image a more ominous and malignant presence. It makes the image appear as if it is appearing from the shadows, perhaps hinting to the audience of the nature of the figure in the poster. The tagline of the movie straight away tells the audience that the movie supposedly subverts from the known slasher/stalker stereotypes. As if the movie itself, is aware of its own slasher stalker stereotyping.

The second poster has much more content on it than the first one and follows the same colour layout as the first. This poster contains images of actual characters in the movie and follows a more conventional movie poster stereotypes. In total there are nine characters on the poster which are separated from the foreground and background. The five characters at the front are all dressed in black, resembling or giving a theme associated with death. This also hints towards the audience that all the characters are expendable. The central characters are Caucasian and appear to be in their late twenties (perhaps setting a demographic). Four characters are placed in the background however; they are placed slightly above the characters in the foreground, giving off the impression that they have more power and dominance. Three of the background characters are in grey making them stand out, in fact only their eyes have colour. This is done intestinally as it is the eye that gives of the most expression, it might also link to the concept of the eye being unable to lie, (holding the truth). The fourth image is of a mask in a red tint, this already tells the audience who the antagonist is due to the blood red colour. His/her presence also feels like an intrusion, as if he/she does not belong on this poster.

Interestingly both posters are devoid of any themes of violence besides the slasher/ stalker genre. However there are many different connotations that allude to the theme of violence, such as the hidden knife or the colour of the clothing and background. There are also subtle hints of violence with the blood red colour used in the tagline and in the 4 in the scream title. The lack of violence within the posters also links to the taglines: "New Decade, New Rules" and "Someone is about to rewrite the rules".

__**Genre Research:**__



__**Magazine Sketches:**__



__**Magazine Sketches:**__

__**Audience Research:**__

As part for my research and planning I was tasked with researching my intended target audience in order to find what they would most expect from my chosen genre (slasher/stalker). Once I gathered my audience; a sample of 16-18 year olds who matched aspects of my intended target audience, I organised a meeting where I asked and prompted my audience to discuss the following questions in regards to their expectations of movie conventions. In conclusion my sample produced answers, which overall followed the notions and conformed to the conventions of professional magazines. Through this I am now able to make key critical and vital decisions on my own magazine such as the design and layout of both my film magazine and film poster. The information obtained would also help me make decisions in the editing phase of my film trailer.

__**Shattered logo construction:**__ I felt that the first title did not properly convey the theme of the movie. The second title gives the audience a better idea of the theme and genre of the movie; the genre being psychological, and the theme being the main characters fragile and fractured mental state. I do not believe that the first image will clearly present these themes to the audience. I wanted the title to represent the slasher stalker and urban theme of my movie as well as serve as symbolism for the name of the movie itself. I feel that i have successfully completed my objective through my choice of graffiti on the wall style font; the rough gaps of the writing also help the audience to interpret the meaning of 'Shattered'.

__**Movie poster drafts:**__ The first two images felt to plain, so I decided to find a way to interpret the meaning of 'Shattered' by using effects and tools to distort the background. For my first few attempts I tried to quite literally Shatter the background and leave the foreground intact. I was not satisfied with the end result as i don't believe it helped me to fully express my idea. For my following attempts i tried to make it more subtle so it would not become immediately clear to the audience. I ended up with small markings which effect the background but left the foreground intact, thus adding another layer of meaning to my movie poster.

__**Final Movie poster:**__ I had one central theme which served as the main focus of my trailer poster; this theme was of instability and I attempted to incorporate it as much as possible initial all decisions made during the creation of my poster. For example scratched background helps to blur out and distort the background which helps to add another layer of uncertainty to the poster and aid the central theme. It also helps to make my main model stand out. This is important as her face expression helps to represent her as the venerable female protagonist, which conforms to the initial stages of the final girl formula. Mise en scene also played a huge role, partially my choice of location; by choosing a more closed off and isolated area i.e. a tunnel I am able to conform more to the conventions of the slasher stalker genre. However The lighting of the tunnel assisted in in serving as a connotation of light and dark;, although I am happy with the quality of poster I feel that overall it is not a clear representation of the slasher genre; therefore the genre of my project might not be clear to my target audience. .

__**Film Flix logo construction:**__

Te original idea of my magazine masthead was to have the x at the end appear larger than the rest of the text, i thought it would help the audience to abbreviate my magazine and better identify it. However the end result proved the larger X to be a irrelevant and not a clear representation of a movie magazine as the X would appear to vague of a meaning to a larger audience. It also did not fit well with the rest of the text on the magazine, making it appear uneven.

During the the organisation of my layout i attempted to designate a space on my magazine where it not obscure my typography while at the same time being able to stand out on its own accord. I believed that this layout would fully maximize the effectiveness of both my main image and sell lines.

__**Movie magazine drafts:**__ I felt that the red background did not help to make my main image, headline and sell lines to stand out, so after trying a verity of different colours i opted to have an actual image to serve as my background instead of one colour. In my first draft i felt that my colour scheme lacked focus. so i decided to stick to black white and red as i believed that it would help the text to stand out on most backgrounds and background colours.

__**Final Movie magazine:**__ Overall the majority of my film magazine conforms to the conventions of the common magazine however their are some aspects which clearly subvert. One such subversion is that my main image breaks the rule of 3; my main image is slightly off center and leans more to the right. I did this so my main 'shattered headline' would not overlap with my main image. My main image also subverts from normal notions as it is a full body shot with two models; one in the foreground and one in the background with the latter facing away from the camera. The background model is also partially obscured by the main model. This is intentional as it adds to the enigmatic presentation of the antagonist. Interestingly my main image appears to be more confrontational when contrasted with my movie poster which displayed my model in a much weaker and lower phase of the final girl formula. My model appears to be dominate which is presented through her placement in the foreground and facial expression (conforming to the end of the latter part of the final girl).

In regards to the layout and structure of my magazine I ensured that it correct followed as conventions of a normal magazine front cover as possible. I chose to mainly follow the layout of a more compact magazine which is slighter smaller in size in (such as XXL magazines). These magazines tend to put more emphasis on the main image and limit the amount of headlines and sell lines. I also used Empire magazines as an example design for my masthead; the masthead for Empire magazine takes up a lot of space on the top half of the magazine however they compensate for this by having their main image cut into their own masthead. I took this concept one step further and gave my masthead its own background in order to make it as eye-catching as possible.

For the colour scheme of my magazine; I stuck to dark colours that could represent an urban environment such as grey, black and white. I opted to focus on the urban theme of my project rather than the violence of the slasher stalker genre. I felt that the focusing on the urban theme would appeal more to the age group of my intended target audience 16-18.

Shot List

Cast and Job roles

Location and Settings



**Final Trailer:** media type="youtube" key="T3wU7Ry0pUY" height="315" width="560"

**Evaluation:** Part1:media type="youtube" key="WmCythsYnmM" height="315" width="560" Part 2:media type="youtube" key="6w6ooExwrYA" height="315" width="560" Part 3:media type="youtube" key="QLItN_lZc28" height="315" width="560" Part 4:media type="youtube" key="gGWHl05WbyI" height="315" width="560"