Magazine Production Process

Magazine Product Process from alltimejas

Here is the process of my magazine production that I created on Adobe Photoshop CS4. It includes what websites I used for fonts, brushes etc and the various steps I went through to create my finalised magazine front cover, including the various edits on my main image.

Ancillary Product 2: Impulse Magazine

IMPULSE MAGAZINE FINAL ANCILLARY PRODUCT

My second ancillary product is a film magazine, which I named IMPULSE. I wanted the poster to have a grunge, holga effect that both have close connotations with thrillers. The image, which I selected Jessica Brookes to be the main model, is slightly distorted due to these two effects mixing and it does remain slightly unclear exactly who the character is as her eyes are covered by unruly hair but her blonde hair is distinguishable to audiences.

I feel as though using a slightly purple coloured image is slightly unconventional and originally I was going to use a simple edited image, but when searching for inspiration for the image, I found this effect and I decided to play around with the effect. Overall, I feel as though this magazine will prove to be excellent for promotional opportunities for my film and convey the conventions to my film well. It's eye-catching and any lover of thriller will love to find out more.

Magazine Test Shots and Ideas

IDEAS

MAGAZINE MAIN IMAGE IDEAS

These are several images that include grunge/emo poses and holga effects that I hope to mirror in my film's promotional magazine. Firstly, I considered one of the characters having writing on their hands with something along the lines of 'help us' or 'when in darkness'. These grunge and emo style images all have interesting clothes and effects, such as a splatter paint effect and black and white colouring with high contrasts. Secondly, I also wanted to use a holga effect because it's a futuristic and createsa a distorted effect and will be interesting in terms of colouring.

TEST SHOT

Here are the test shots I created to test the pose I chose for the main image. I choose for Jessica to be acting as though she was crawling towards the camera with only one light lighting the photo. I conducted several shots in order to experiment with the lighting and also to see what the final image may look like.

Film Poster Production Process

Poster Production Process from alltimejas

Here is the production process of my film poster that I created on Adobe Photoshop CS4. It includes the various stages I went through to create the film poster, the websites I used for fonts and how I edited my main image.

Ancillary Product 1: When In Darkness Poster

My first ancillary product is the film's official poster. I selected for Veronica to be the main image because she is the main character and I believe to be the face of When In Darkness. I edited the image on the poster to make it appear distorted and futuristic through the use of a holga effect. I found this to be less conventional and much more interesting than a simple edited picture on my film poster. The identity of the model may appear slightly distorted to audiences, allowing for them to question the film itself, hence allowing for me to receive an audience.

I would like to keep this holga effect as a theme that will run throughout the poster and the magazine. This will allow for me to create an identity and an aspect of individuality to my film's advertising. I believe the main image makes the poster eye-catching, allows for it to stand out and against competing films.

Costume: Coren Vincent

Coren Vincent is one of the only characters with two outfits changes (minus the brief clip of the party where the other characters will be shown in their 'party' outfits) though this may not be clear to audiences as the identity of the villain remains unclear to audiences. Coren's outfit includes what most headteachers will wear, suits. I selected a tan suit as I felt as though tan suits are more associated with older generations, therefore acting as a juxtaposition against the young generation of my other characters. Coren's second outfit is simply all black - jeans, hooded jacket and boots. This outfit will convey mysterious elements as black is a colour that is associated with evil and mystery and will therefore link with Coren's role as the villain within my film.

Costume: Percy Swanfield

Percy Swanfield Costume Idea by simplexdreams featuring ray ban eyeglasses

TOMS black shoes
£32 - toms.com

Ray Ban ray ban eyeglass
pretavoir.co.uk

TOPMAN Stone Cable Knit Jumper
topman.com

TOPMAN Washed Black Cropped Chinos
topman.com


Percy's outfit (much like Billie's) I felt fitted his character perfectly. He is timid, bookworm and is very prime and proper. He also wears glasses like Veronica, but his glasses look much more like the old fashioned reading glasses. He wears a jumper with black chinos that will make Percy appear to be rather timid, the perfect student and a 'goody-two shoes', audiences who watch will immediately view Percy as someone who would follow the rules and perhaps and easy target.

Costume: Billie White

Billie White Costume Idea by simplexdreams featuring dr martens boots

Uniqlo long sleeve shirt
uniqlo.com

Local Heroes white t shirt
localheroesstore.com

Topshop acid wash jeans
topshop.com

Dr. Martens dr martens boots
£92 - zappos.com

Snap jewelry
£2.77 - target.com



Billie's outfit I believe suited her personality and character perfectly, it's about comfort rather than fashion, it shows she is laid back and has aspects of her alternative culture entwined with it also. She wears an almost 'lazy' shirt and has daring, dark eye make-up in order to make herself and her eyes stand out. I will not be using the exact same t-shirt as soon on this image but I will be using one of a similar style, oversized and ill fitting, also for Billie's outfit she will be rolling back the sleeves of her flannel shirt, which is the type of style that many alternative individuals in subcultures will also have.

For her makeup, I have the idea of Billie wearing dark and daring colours - winged eyeliner and plum coloured lipstick, a modern grunge look. In order to create Billie's makeup look, I watched at several tutorials on YouTube so to get an idea of what it will look like. For her hair, I found inspiration from tumblr of messy hairstyles and I found that messy plaits would be suitable for her personality and additionally be convenient for the actions that take place throughout the film.

Costume: Finn Lester

Finn Lester Costume Idea by simplexdreams featuring a flight jacket

Flight jacket
£66 - topman.com

Hollister Co. jeans
£33 - hollisterco.com

Converse vintage shoes
£63 - converse.com

TOPMAN Grey Marl Roller Fit T-Shirt
topman.com


Finn Lester's outfit exudes an aura of coolness, this outfit communicates clearly to my audience that he is a fashionable guy and will link with his popularity on the social ladder. He wears blue denim jeans and a cool black biker jacket, using this outfit on Finn may suggest to audiences that he is the main character (as white males tend to be the protagonist in films, especially within the thriller genre) but it will soon become clear to audiences that Finn is not the protagonist, nor does he lead the plot, but assists Veronica in restoring equilibrium.

Costume: Jessica Brookes

Jessica Brookes Costume Idea by simplexdreams featuring a matte lipstick

Topshop blue dress
£26 - topshop.com

Topshop short sleeve shirt
£13 - topshop.com

Nylon stocking
£11 - topshop.com

Ankle booties
£105 - romwe.com

MAC Cosmetics matte lipstick
£11 - belk.com



Jessica's outfit was a lot more 'fashionable' and daring, showcasing Jessica's interest in mainstream culture. Though this outfit may prove to be inconvenient when running and fast pace action scenes through the trailer. Jessica's final outfit may be a little bit different from this idea as firstly I will not be purchasing the same products as it will be a little pricing, but I will be selecting products of a similar style which would be a skirt / dress in a skater style, boots, patterned tights, a white top and a pink MAC lipstick (which I do own) in order to create Jessica's fashionable look.

For Jessica's hair and makeup, I took inspiration from the character Daenerys Targaryen from the popular series Game Of Thrones. She has long and very pretty blonde hair and neutral and understated makeup (though I will be using pink lipstick for her character). The makeup tutorial above I will be using a guideline for her look, it's subtle yet stunning and gives indications for a particularly 'girly' character which of course she will visually look like, but Jessica's character herself will counter this stereotype.

Costume: Veronica Calder

Veronica Calder Costume Idea by simplexdreams featuring a pocket purse

NSF zip hooded sweatshirt
£92 - intermixonline.com

Forever 21 tank
£6.58 - forever21.com

Zara black zipper jeans
£39 - zara.com

Converse flat pumps
harrods.com

Lori s Shoes pocket purse
£35 - lorisshoes.com

Plastic eyeglass
£22 - firmoo.com

Black slouchy beanie
£8.88 - amazon.com

Mead 3-Subject Spiral Notebook, 120 Sheets, College Rule
£3.39 - yoyo.com


I created a sort of mood board for Veronica's outfit. Veronica's outfit remains to be quite casual, with a 'superhero' vest top, black jeans and white converses. I also included her glasses as they are key to her character, glasses usually associated with nerd culture. Her casual look is also complete with a black beanie, which I believe would suit Veronica's character of the female protagonist and additionally her character. She carries a cross body bag, so in order to make it much easier to run with and go through action scenes with. Though these will not be the actual products I will use for Veronica's outfit, it gives an idea of what her outfit will look like pieced together.

For Veronica's character I wanted to keep her makeup simple and to a bare minimum, only really using eye makeup in order to capture audiences attention on the close-up image on the film's poster. Her hairstyle will also be a ponytail, simple but also convenient for her character who is mostly about comfort as opposed to what looks good.

Decision Making

Throughout the research and planning of my media product, I made the majority of my marco decisions and aspects of my micro decisions during these part of my coursework. First and foremost in order to create a film I needed to have a least a brief idea of a film plot. I came up with various plots that I either did not believe strongly enough in or it would be simply too complicated to show through a two minute trailer. My original ideas included aspects of a dystopia society, where a group of people are determined to rebel against their leader. But I felt as though these ideas were simply too complex to communicate to audiences through a trailer and would leave my consumers more uncertain whether to watch the film or not. My final plot decision came to me whilst I was watching the 1985 the Breakfast Club and I came up with the idea of a murder-like twist to it. The Breakfast Club was a cinematic success and is still popular among all generations, Another film that I found inspiration from was the not so well known 2010 film Detention, directed by Joseph Kahn. The film centred around high-school students who are being targeted by a serial killer.

Detention was a 2010 film directed by
Joseph Kahn.

The Breakfast Club follows the story of five
teenagers attend a detention together on a
Saturday and they each tell their story.

My completed plot idea now centres around five teenagers who are all from completely different social groups and are serving an after school detention. These characters have certain traits that will ultimately clash with one another, making the plot more compelling. These five unlikely friends then work together to make it through the night when they discover that a murder is on the loose in the school.

The title for my film took a while to produce. I was originally very indecisive about what I wanted my film to be called. I created a mind map of potential titles and from this I chose my top five favourites ('D3AD FIV3', 'The Shadow Room', 'In The Dark', 'Detention' and finally 'When In Darkness'). From this, I decided to see which titles were the most popular in my audience questionnaire that I disturbed via Google Forms. When In Darkness was the most popular title among the others and this was part of the reason I selected for my film. Additionally, I also really liked this title as the title communicated aspects of the film, the word 'darkness' related to how characters will be submerged in darkness for the duration of the film. I felt as though When In Darkness suited both my plot and my genre of thriller.

My characters were a prominent aspect of my film and I wanted to make each and every character an outstanding and unique individual that would add up to make an unlikely group. One important aspect is firstly using a female as the protagonist, so my film will challenge the gender divide in the film industry in terms of female protagonists. Popular existing female protagonists include Lara Croft and even the character of Jessie from Pixar's Toy Story. These female heroes became immensely popular among females and were strong role models to young girls, meaning that my film would appeal to a much wider audience. So, I created the slightly nerdy yet definite character of Veronica 'Ronnie' Calder, a character obsessed with Game of Thrones and science, she is selfless and doesn't shy in the face of fear. I felt as though I had created a female character who defied gender stereotypes of females being passive and coward in fear. Veronica's character represents the positive internal development individuals go through in life changing situations.

The character of Finn Lester was a contrasting character to Veronica. Unlike Veronica, he is popular, he is active in sports and is very artistic. I liked the character of Finn because he has a lot of depth to him, though to his peers he appears to be nothing more than a pretty face, he is a creative and proves himself by sticking with those who need him and dismisses the labels that society place upon individuals. I created his character to represent how people and society will presume certain things about a persons personality because of their outside appearance and behaviour.

Billie White was also an important character in terms of representation. She is a character who comes out with outrageous yet truthful statements about society. She is also bisexual which is a particularity under-represented community in the film industry and media. Bisexual representation is viewed as important, an article I discovered stated that: 

For bisexual representation, it helps bisexual youth see themselves on television, and it helps everyone understand that bisexuals are really not that different from anyone else.

Therefore Billie's representation will be an important part of my film. Other films that have included a bisexual character include Lisbeth Salander from the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this character in particular had a very positive and original representation, many articles describing her as a feminist hero that appeals to different kinds of consumers because of gender ambiguity that pulls males and females, the young and old. I take inspiration from this representation as I want Billie to have a similar positive in-look on bisexuality.

Jessica Brookes is another interesting character in terms of representation. She is a blonde the not-so-stereotypical blonde. Blondes, within the media and films, are seen to be dumb and air-headed, these types of characters include Karen Smith from Mean Girls. Jessica however is a character who is smarter than even the 'nerds' (who are always viewed as the most smart characters), she excels in all of her subjects and has an excellent vocabulary. She is a character who does not hold her tongue when talking to others. Her character represents how misunderstood certain individuals are due to stereotypes.

Percy Swanfield may be the first character to sadly be killed, he is by no means an unimportant character. He's a timid bookworm, who is determined to prove himself. In his time during the film, he accompanies Veronica and Finn in situations that could have potentially cost them their lives. He proves to be loyal to his new found unlikely friends. Finally, I created the character of Coren Vincent as used him as the mysterious villain. As the headteacher of a school, he is an individual that many place a high amount of trust in him and will lead audiences to question who they should trust in the film.

My filming will take place entirely within a school location. The obvious reason for this is because my film sets place entirely within a school and this would scare audiences a lot more. A school is something universal that everyone who watches my film can relate to, they can visualise themselves in my film, place themselves in my characters shoes and create a much more realistic experience for them. Many people are much more scared by realistic situations than paranormal experiences, ones that could potentially happen in their life. I chose specific areas in a school because they would act as hiding places but also places that the villain could break into easily, for instance, toilet cubicles, which would connote aspects of being trapped.

My chosen target audience is aged 16-25, are both male and female and are within the E-C1 bracket. I chose this specific target audience for various reasons. Firstly, I selected this age bracket because my questionnaire geared me in this direction but also because this is also the age bracket of my characters and people who are 20-25 will still identify with the school setting. I wanted to have a target audience that would be able to identify with the characters within my film and also be able to relate to them on a personal level which is why I came up with the idea of having them from completely different social groups with completely different personalities so that audiences can see different aspects of each character in themselves. My target audience being within E-C1 bracket is practical for my film as it would allow for those who use social media on a regular basis be able to view the trailer and enjoy it. In this bracket, students are what stuck out to me as students are what my characters are, allowing for this audience to empathise with these character. I chose to stray away from aiming the film at A or B audience as they will not be able to enjoy, understand or relate to the film and this is due to individuals within this bracket having a much different interest. Using both gender also allows for my film to be gender neutral and I believe that aiming for one specific would have made my film too stereotypical and predictable.

The USP for my film is that I will choosing is to challenge typical character conventions and introduce under represented community to a large audience that are powered by social media. The inclusion of a bisexual character will allow for to appeal to those who are also bisexual and will open to the LGBT+ community. I feel as though challenging expected character types will be profound upon my audiences and will lead them to realise that stereotypes are simply social concepts and how misunderstood everyone really is.

Camera Filming Inspiration and Ideas

For the types of shot used, I wanted to be as creative as I could in my trailer. I wanted to find existing videos on YouTube that are creative with different types of shots. One vlogging channel that I watch regularly does this, the Michalaks. They are a family who vlog the weeks events in a range of beautiful and creative montages, using a wide range of camera shots, angels and colours, the music fits with the scenes perfectly and is going to be a huge inspiration for my trailer in turns of creativity.

I screenshot several shots from the video that I hope to also use in my trailer and use angles and movements similar. From the screenshots I created a mood board of my favourite images so to give a clear idea of the different shot types, angles and movements that I will use.

This type of shot was one I wanted to use in my trailer, where an actor is stood in front of a light (in this image it happens to be TV and I may recreate this, but with a more sinister video) with the model's back not facing the audience. I hope to use this in my trailer for my villain, it will enable for their identity to remain a mystery and to create a stylised, powerful image around the villain's unknown character.

This gif was not taken from the YouTube video, but the video
does use several time lapses to show time going by

I also hope to use a timelapse of either the school (as the sun sets and darkness fall) or of the town. Time lapse are effective and make time appear to go by much quicker and aesthetically they look a lot better than just speeding up the video.

This screenshot is clearly shot through a window pane. It makes the landscape appear much older, vintage and run down. I could use this type of shot, using a low angle, to perhaps show a character in a mysterious way.






Based on this analysis, I have considered and thought about what the camera angles and shot types will look like throughout my trailer. Additionally, it has also allowed for me to think about what these different angles and shot types mean, for instance, using a low angle to show a character will make them appear to be much more powerful and bigger, suggesting an important character who is above everyone else. It has made me think more thoroughly about the impression and feelings I wish to evoke from these angles and shots. 

When In Darkness Teaser Poster and Progress

When In Darkness Teaser Poster

This is the finalised teaser poster for When In Darkness. I decided to create a teaser poster as it's a way in which up and coming films create a theme that will be linked through the official thertical poster. Choosing to create a teaser poster first and foremost creates an enormous amount of hype and excitement around the film. My teaser poster, conventional of teaser posters in general, contains a basic design and includes my film's iconography; blood and darkness. Below I will explain the process of just how I created this teaser poster.

I started with a portrait A4 page, which is the size that posters are typically are. I also decided to use black as the background colour because it's a colour that thriller posters tend to use. The reason for this is because black is a often associated with evil, mystery and death. Though the colour also has more positive connotations such as elegance, the negative connotations have a much stronger connection to my film's plot and themes that run through the storyline.

Secondly, I used a brush tool to create a 'blood splatter' effect, which I made through selecting a bloody red colour. It took me a while to find the create colour and position, I changed the opacity and flow and in the end I feel like I created and communicated a strong iconography through the background alone in my poster.

I then went on dafont to find a capitalised font that I could use for a small amount of text on the poster, for the release date/month. The one I selected, when added to the poster made the poster looks modern and creepy.

Though it's difficult to see, I added text effects to the release month. I included bevel and emboss which, though it was small, made the text look as though it was more natural and not stylised.

I then added the year in which the film will be released. This gives audiences a very clear notion of when the film will be released. Using a vague date as opposed to the actual release date creates a lot more excitement and encourages audiences to find out more about the film.

I then began to include the title onto the poster. As I explained in my post about my chosen fonts, I picked this simplistic and handwritten looking font as it communicated the school theme through the poster.





I didn't like the thickness when I added the title to the poster, so similar to the date I added the bevel and emboss text effect, which made the text appear slimmer and also make it appear to be less 'fake'.

Finally, I added the final part of the title 'Darkness'. I put this in a red colour because similar to black, red's connotations (violence, blood, adrenaline) all have connections and links to my film's plot and themes.