Analysis of a film poster

The Butterfly effect 

The most important part of a film poster is it needs to stand out and grab the audiences attention and encourage them to take a closer look at the poster and show interest in the film. By using the films characters or major plot line designers can establish some level of plot while gaining the attention of any person  that views the poster. This is what makes this particular film poster stand out. Both main characters are visible in the poster and the close ups of their faces adds tension and creates a intense and powerful atmosphere. The blue filter makes the film seem quite eerie and cold, giving the audience the impression that there is something to be revealed in the film which is possibly quite unpleasant. The red eye effect used on Ashton Kutcher also foreshadows the plot of the film as he can travel back in time and has visions. This is particularly effective as the red and blue contrast well together and ultimately make the poster stand out, which shows us that the imagery used does not need to be provocative or flashy to attract the audiences attention. 

The most effective movie posters are iconic, presenting the themes in the world without resorting to saying flat out what it is. The iconography in this poster which really stands out is the red eye effect as it simply establishes the films plot. The close up of Ashton is also iconic in the way that the audience automatically have a idea that he is the main character in the film. This effect this has is it allows the film to be marketed to casual observers and drama fans all at once, all through imagery. 
The protagonist in the poster is looking directly into the camera which could make the audience feel more involved and feel like the main character is directly addressing them. This is a particularly effective selling point in the film as it is a more personal way of advertising and selling the film to the target audience. 

The female protagonists face is looking away from both us and from Ashton and we, as the audience, feel we are viewing her from the same character perspective of Ashton, ultimately giving us an incite on Ashton's character perspective. If I was to determine a target audience for this film basing my opinion on only the film poster, I would think that it is aimed at 12+, my reasons for this are; the main characters looks quite young which implies that it's aimed at a similar type of audience and from the poster, I assume the film is a drama genre and most drama genres have target audiences of 12/15. The film poster itself has a basic layout which means that it's easier to analyse as there isn't too much going on. I think what is particularly effective is the way the text has been used as a border as it looks quite unusual and unique. I think the simplicity and subtleness of this film poster makes is stand out and gives it a unique selling point which I think is why it was as successful as it was in the blockbuster office.

Photo Storyboard - Title sequence

Photo storyboard - Title sequence

1) Pan up of the drip.



2) Close up shot of blood in the bowl.

3) Mid dolly shot of a nurse pushing a trolley.

4) A tilt up shot of feet in the hospital bed.

5) An establishing shot of feet walking out of the camera with a walking frame.




















6) A medium shot from the waist downwards of a nurse walking through the door.

7) Same shot as before, however the nurse walks straight into the camera.

 

Makeup tutorial

Makeup tutorial

Tricky Shots

Tricky Shots

This is a video showing us attempting the tricky shots that may be included in our film. 

Short Journey

Short Journey

This is our short journey which has been cut down to show elliptical editing. 

Long Journey

Long Journey

This is our long journey which hasn't been elliptically edited. 

Final Logo

Final Logo

I completed the final logo on Photoshop Express. These logos are the final products that are fully completed, all 6 of these logo's below are similar but some have a different font size, pattern width, shape and measurement. There will be two main logos that will be used to represent our company. The first one will be of the lantern image and the name, and then the second logo will be just plainly the name. We thought having these two logos will be very professional, as the name itself should just be a logo anyway so we have a variety to choose from depending on what we will be publishing and who to. These will be used to represent our company (group) and the work we distribute.

Producing final logo

Logo of our production

After we decided on the logo design that was suitable for our production, I then scanned the image on to the computer so i can begin to edit it and make it as professional as possible. 

The structure of the logo was not simple and quite complicated therefore i struggled with defining the outline patterns. I used photoshop to edit our logo as all the editing tools needed was on the software itself.

Before I started editing the logo I played around with the tools and effects on Photoshop to get some idea on how to use it, once i became more comfortable with the software i began to edit the logo with some advice and help from my group members I completed the logo successfully.

From my previous researching in to film production logos, i saw the trends in the colour of the logos, and i realised that black and white production logos were mainly used for the most successful companies, i then analysed that the reasons why such big companies decided to use such simple colours to represent themselves. And i found out that the colours white and black is like an illusion, it makes a human remember the image 4X more then they would if the image was multi-coloured. So it was easier to make the public familiar with the company, even if they didn't know what they were about. So with our logo design, i though we could do the same with the colour representations, black and white would not just make our logo look professional but also easy to blend in on posters, DVD's and everything to do with us. 

Alot of though went into the shapes on the logo, I wanted our logo to have a link with the name itself, so using a lantern would be  the obvious image to use on the logo. Once i found some examples of Lanterns i started to draw some simple and unique ones to see which size would look the best. From looking at different Lantern images i got inspired by various of them and decided to use different designs from each one into a single Lantern. Once i completed the lantern design, i then had to find a way to fill in the spaces around it, so i began to look through patterns and designs that i could get inspired by, i came across some henna patterns on Instagram and thought it would look really well to have in around the logo, i started to sketch a the design around the logo and started to think of different ways that i could attach the pattern on to the lantern, one of my group members though it would look nice if it was holding the lantern, so i sketched a new pattern that would look elegant on the left side of the lantern then attached it to the top so it looked like it was holding it.

The fonts and editing for the production name was left till the end, as i wanted the editing to fit into the rest of the design of the logo. When i looked at the lantern and the pattern design, i looked around the logo and thought where the production name would fit in, and once i spoke to my group members about it, we all agreed that it would look better on the bottom of the Lantern as it would look alot more catchy as a whole. The editing of the production name was simple, I thought because of the classical look about the whole thing, i thought the font of the name can also be classy and flicky but bold and large at the same time so it could stand out and fit the design of the logo at the same time.

List Of 'Tricky' Shots/Edits/Effects and Research Into Filming/Editing Techniques

A focus pull is a camera technique which allows you to change focus during a shot. This usually involves adjusting the focus from one subject to another. This shot is used in order to direct the viewers attention to where you want them to look. 

This shot is used when Lola overhears her mother and father arguing in the kitchen. This shot will be difficult as the focus will transfer from Lola to her parents, and then we must put Lola into focus once again. It will be difficult to ensure we do this correctly as we must ensure that we do this in the sufficient time in order for the shot to be continuous and not take up too much time. 

Another shot which may be difficult in our film is where we have a Graphic Match. This is a cut in film editing between either two different objects, spaces, or compositions in which objects in the two shots graphically match. These shots are useful in relating two otherwise disconnected scenes, or in helping to establish a relationship between two scenes.  By ending one shot with a frame containing the same compositional elements as the beginning frame of the next shot, a connection is drawn between the two shots with a smooth transition. A famous example of a graphic match is shown on the film Psycho. 

We use a graphic match in our film when the flowers from the accident scene are shown and then we are transferred to the flowers in Tom's garden. This will be difficult as we have to match up the flowers in the same position in both frames in order for this shot to be a success. Once this shot is filmed, we have to zoom out so the girls are seen in the frame, which may also add even more difficulty to the shot. 

A pan shot is a camera movement technique that involves moving the camera horizontally to the right or left. With this technique you can track an object or follow any type of movement.

We use a pan shot when the girls walk past an accident scene. It tracks the movement of the girls as they walk down the street, then the camera will stop on the flowers which are located there. This shot can often produce a 'jerky' motion, which is why it will be difficult to produce a smooth pan shot. In order to avoid this problem, we will put the camera on a tripod and avoid filming handheld for this shot at all costs. 

A canted angle is a camera angle which is deliberately slanted to one side, sometimes used for dramatic effect to help portray unease, disorientation, frantic or desperate action, intoxication, madness, etc. 

We use this shot when Hannah is overdosing in order to shock and make the audience feel uneasy. This shot will be difficult at it is very hard to make it look professional, and not like an accidental bad shot while filming. They are also rarely used in film, so it will be hard to imitate good examples of the shot.

We ideally (and very ambitiously) wanted to include a dolly zoom into our film. A dolly zoom is a cinematic technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame. The effect is that the subject appears stationary while the background size changes. This is used to create an unnatural effect. The effect is quite emotional and is often used to convey sudden realisation, reaction to a dramatic event, etc. A famous example of this shot is used in Jaws. 

We use this shot in our film when Lola walks in and comes to the realisation that she is dead as she sees her dead body. This will be difficult as it will be hard to make this look realistic and to ensure that it is continuos, as we must zoom in whilst moving the camera back. 

Shot list for title sequence

Shot list for title sequence

Story board for title sequence

Story Board - Title Sequence