Who are you target audience?From research done earlier in the blog…

Majority are male

Aged 15-25

Urban areas – with multiplexes and specialist cinemas

Like using the internet and social networking

Enjoy horror films

How does your poster stand out in a crowded environment?

At first glance, the poster could seem to be black and white, with NIGHT 1 in eerie text, usually that associated with tombstones. This helps define the genre, but only subtly suggests death, perhaps implying a number of things:

Does the main character die?Is the faceless threat the ‘undead’? Is it a ghost?

How does your poster stand out in a crowded environment?

The stills used would also cause people to wonder because the boy is exploring, he is exploring the dark which will appeal to horror/thriller fans.

I think it is essentially the mass darkness of the poster that will appeal to fans of horror and draw their attention

What impression of the film does the poster give you?

Good enough to win awards

Also being haunted, not alone, horror.

Name of ‘stars’ – conventional so professional.

Ratings and recognised names lead audience into thinking “they know about films and

if they give it a good rating it must deserve it”

Not looking into camera- something is behind him-

haunting? Horror

Film information. Conventional and so professional.

Everything about the poster follows conventions of horror films, and so hopefully this is the impression that the poster gives.

Border suggests entrapment.

Torch- why is he using a torch in a regular house? Why is it dark?

Connotes mystery and an investigation into the dark –

horror: one character against a dark, faceless threat.

Feeling trapped? Climbing into attics, associated with

cold, dark, quiet- scary.

‘Night’ – cohesive with darkness and haunting.

Font associated with tombstones = subtle connotation of death, but

audience do not know if the main character dies or if the threat is

‘undead’ or a ‘ghost’

Looking at drafts

Although my first draft was far too minimalistic to be considered for a real poster, I suppose it could be used as a ‘teaser poster’ – a poster that tells you as little as possible about the film, except the genre. The still will grab attention as it has a very conventionally horror still, but only the name. It will make people wonder what it is and when it’s going to be ‘big,’ the intention being that the anticipating audience will be watching out for the release and more information.

The final draft provides much more information about the film, as it is packed with information that is conventional of feature films. This helps make the poster and film seem more professional. Looking at the final poster, I feel this will appeal to the demographic established in the audience research, as it strongly connotes horror and shows a boy their age- they will relate to this and enjoy the film more. To make it more appealing though, we could have included a website address. 0

How did you include all of the relevant information with cluttering the image?

I was aware that having toomuch textual information posed a

very real risk of causing the poster to look messy and cramped. To

overcome this, I used two stills and put a

feathered border around them, and placed them on

a black background. This way it didn’t have a harsh, unprofessional

looking line, but a clean black space to fill

with information.

I knew the title

was very important to the poster, and by placing images

how I did I was able to place thetitle in a large font, in the centre,

making it the main focus with assistance from framing but the

introduction and the tagline, again making it the main focus but

surrounded by alsoimportant areas.

To keep the most important parts of the stills free, when I did need to place

text over them, I made sure it was the

more irrelevant areas of the picture. This was so the essential information was still available to see, without taking away any of

the more crucial aspects.

How have you created a memorable image that connects to the film?

I have taken stills directly from theshort film, so when the audience watch the film,

they recognise these scenes in the build up to the climax.

I chose the stills I did as I felt they were simple

enough to be remembered, but interesting and telling too.

For example, as the target audience is so similar to myself, I feel the poster could create a stigma such as ‘the poster has a

boy with a torch on it’ so by keeping the

images simple, they are memorable.

How does your poster compare to other short film posters?

Looking at existing horror and short film posters, I found these are the

conventions:

Darkness – adding to the mise en scene and identifying the genre.

One or a number of images introducing the main character(s) and/or setting(s)

An unusual image, usually distorted or unconventional in that they will be

discoloured or in the distance

The title is the main feature of the postersRatings and titles the film may have won

are exaggerated to sell the film

Production and cinematography information in small, usually at the bottom

A tagline creates an enigma, usually accompanies the title

The main actor’s name is usually at the top, to sell it to fans and provide more

information

Magazine Review

Specialized film magazines, as these readers are interested in films of all different kinds and backgrounds- they will be interested in up and coming films, particularly

ones that aren’t mainstream such as ours- this hopefully brings a whole new audience to our film.

We could also appeal to NME readers are they are of the same demographic, and NME already have an existing film section so it could pull in a new audience. This is a particular magazine that I would like to feature my article as the music featured in the

magazine is no longer just popular, but is usually independent and alternative, like short films are.

What type of magazine were you producing the review for?

How did you choose the images you did?

Instead of taking photographs on set, we decided to take stills from our film. This was so it captured the atmosphere and also introduced

the audience to the character and story. We chose the stills we did by watching the film through and capturing stills of when the

tension and narrative was at its best.

I did repeat the image I felt was the most defining of the film, because the lighting, the character and the setting worked well in creating a memorable image. I used more images in the article than the poster because this is conventional and the main image on the article is different to the ones used in the poster, because we can see the main character’s face and so it introduces him, which isn’t necessarily as important on a poster.

Did you repeat images from the poster in the article?

This picture is chosen and repeated in both the article and poster because the lighting and silhouette and prop and setting all come

together as mise-en-scene and define the film. At this point in the film, tension is high and it’s the build-up to the climax, in this way, the

atmosphere is captured and the picture becomes a motif.

Did you use genre and comparative texts to make the film seem more familiar to your audience?

Comparative texts• Introduction to article • Separate boxes for extra

information • Primary image defining the film• Secondary images giving more

information• Final verdict

Other techniques• Caption on pictures

• Quote from producer• Titles and lines split up article

so it’s easier to read• Information box

I feel that all of these techniques put together help to make my magazine look more professional and will be more familiar to my audience. Ultimately, if both the poster

and article attract the audience, then they will be influenced to see the film

Comparison

I feel the poster is stronger than the article because the poster does look more professional, in that I feel it would fit in at places such as cinema

foyers, where the article does look very amateurish and obviously look like coursework as opposed to a professionally- made article

Potential Changes

‘Night 1’ could have been more prominent

Improve layout of photos so they don’t merge into oneCould have been a better summary somewhere to give a synopsis of the film

Journalist name could be included

More interviews or comparisons Page numbers

I feel my article was successful, but could have a number of changes to make it look more conventional. On the other hand, by not following every possible convention, it

becomes an individual article and not part of a set, which I like as my short film is independent and specialized

Potential Changes

A clearer photograph to introduce the main character

Could include more film information to tell more about the narrative and character

Apart from these, I felt the poster was as good as it could have been given the programs we used.

I am happy with the poster

Audience feedback

These are the general answers of around 20 members of my demographic

1. Which do you prefer, why?Poster was chosen more as the target audience are more likely to come across a

poster,and it followed stylistic conventions really well

2. What is good about the poster?Very conventional of a horror film, looks real and effective

3. What is good about the article?Very informative, really good layout, looks professional and interesting

4. Given the chance to improve the poster, what would you change? Make it lighter, add more information about the actual film

5. Given the chance to improve the article, what would you change?Layout of images, more variety of colours

I think my ancillary tasks succeeded in reaching the intended demographic because I received more positive feedback than negative, and the negative

were just small changes as opposed to complete overhauls.