Film Magazine Research

Film Magazine Conventions/Layout

 

The following review is from the popular film magazine 'Empire' I have annotated the page and noted the layout and conventions of film reviews.

 

 

 

 

I have found that many film reviews are there to advertise the film more then analyse the good and bad points of the film. It is common for magazine reviews to praise films and is used more as an advertising device then anything else. I've found common techniques magazine reviews use include:

• Mentioning films that have been successful by the same Director, producer etc.
• A list that tells the reader some interesting facts about the film.
• They may mention awards the film has received or been nominated for.
• The films website where you can find out more about the film.
• They always leave information about the film out so that the reader is drawn in and leaves them guessing meaning they will want to see the film more.

 

The review above is taken from another popular film magazine 'Total film' As you can see the review almost has exactly the same conventions as the first example. The layout is slightly different but not by very much. This article is once again positive and very little criticism is written about the film.
I feel that these are both two very good and clear examples of professional and interesting film magazine reviews. I think this because they are attractive to look at but also interesting to read by the light-hearted language that is used. The writers of the reviews try to inject some humour into the reviews which I feel is important and also the writers seem to often aim to make the films sound good especially if it has been directed by a recognised director.
I have found in the past reviews often either go two ways. They either praise the film and do everything they can to convince you to go and see it or alternatively they may try to be more controversial and give the film a terrible review and slate it saying it isn't worth watching. This in some cases I feel could come across as reverse phycology as people may want to see it to see how bad the film actually is and to see if the film magazine was exaggerating or not.

Both of the previous examples that I have shown are both quite mature and I would say that they are probably aimed and people 16/17 and up. This is good as it means that it should attract the correct ages to the films.

This example on the other hand taken from 'Unlimited' is a little more light-hearted and could be more related to a younger audience as well as an older adult audience.

This review still has pretty much all of the common film review conventions however the way it is has been drawn out is a little more light-hearted. This kind of review would attracted a younger audience more due to the colours and the fact that the pictures are more relevant and eye catching and the fact that there are more of them in this review.

I feel that our Film review should be more like the first examples as the film relates more to people aged 16 and above. I think this because the themes and plot of the film could be seen as a little complicated and the storyline is quite mature meaning a much younger audience may not like or be interested in the film therefore our film review would be more appropriate for a older audience.

Distribution Of Our Film.

Distribution company

After researching into different types of distribution, I feel that for our edgy, unique film, ‘Art House’ distributors would be the best company to release and get our film known. They claim to distribute quirky, small budgeted films like ours, at festivals, theatres and on DVD. I think that this sounds very good as the typical way of distributing a film may not work so well in our case because of how different ‘UNANSWERED’ is. We need a unique, creative way of releasing ours to the public to match the mood of our film and maintain its ‘Mockumentary’ style. Below is a quote from their website showing what they aim to do with their movies.

Revolver Entertainment is one of the UK & Eire's leading 'All Rights' distribution companies, shaking up the industry with a unique approach to managing its enviable and edgy slate of Film and DVD releases.

Handling both large scale and smaller films with equal care and attention, Revolver are specialists in delivering maximum media coverage and awareness via multi-platforms, with Revolver Books and 357 Records also operating under the Revolver umbrella, we are an aggressive all rights brand marketing entity.

Their marketing strategies also found to be very intriguing and sound like they would match our ideas very well...

Our Marketing teams continue to win awards for their creativity, originality and guerrilla marketing, with the 'Zombie Walk' making International News with hundreds of Zombies parading through London's Leicester Square to break a world record. Our pioneering spirit is highlighted with our release of the first ever live action Digital 3D movie earlier in the year, and tailed at the end with the first ever entirely eco-friendly film release, indicating our dedication to breaking new ground within our industry.

Overall, I think that ‘Art House film’ distributors appear to be a perfect fit to distribute our film and I would feel comfortable with them releasing our film knowing that they would maintain the style of our film and I would feel confident that they would help us achieve a buzz for the movie.

Link to the website: http://arthousefilmsonline.co.uk/about.php

If we had a large budget, below is a step by step list of ideas we formed to release our film:

1.  Two months before release we would start to release our series of posters. First the exit sign one, as it doesn’t release too much information and leaves people with questions. The second poster would be the one with a black figure standing underneath the exit sign and the last would be revealing the main actress peering round the corner, releasing the most information. We would place them in edgy places such as train stations, bus stops, universities, using black tape with #UNANSWERED printed on to it, this would keep the authenticity and appear like a student was in fact releasing her film on a low budget. The hash tag would build a buzz.

2.  A month before the release we would distribute a quick, subliminal advert that fuzzes on to the screen for a split second, revealing a twitter hash tag saying, #UNANSWERED. Some viewers may notice it where others won’t. This would start talk as to what unanswered means and also gives our audience a social network to discuss #UNANSWERED. 
     Michelle and I were influenced from the recent BMW advert that uses the same concept. After releasing ‘Subliminal messages’ to their audience they managed to create a buzz leading up to their main advert. I was a victim of this dangerously clever advertising campaign, I found myself noticing the quick advert and researching the hash tag to find out more. It then occurred to me that not only does it entice their target audience but also brings in a wider audience, as I would not normally be interested in BMW let alone take the time to research into it but with one simple advert they controlled me and made me interested in their product.

However this also made Michelle and I feel slightly scared and shocked at how a simple advert controlled us and made us research a company we never would have looked into. This made us realise that Foucault’s theories do in fact hold truth. I decided to research into the rules of subliminal advertising and see where the boundaries lie so we would know if we ever produced a similar marketing scheme...

I found that subliminal advertising is banned in Australia and Britain but I think that BMW’s advert was allowed as it was noticeable from the conscious mind and the viewer was not completely unaware of what was influencing them. Below is a description of subliminal advertising...

'Subliminal messages are words, images, or sounds that might appear in television or radio commercials, TV shows or movies, print ads or recorded music. Usually when subliminal messages are seen or heard, they’re not recognized for what they are. In fact they may be ignored by the conscious brain and be beyond the level of conscious perception.'

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-subliminal-messages.htm - this website discusses the ideas of subliminal messages and was very interesting.

3.  Eventually we would release the main advert for our film and by then we would already have a wide audience. Our advertising campaign of using Twitter and placing posters in universities would already have enticed our target audience of students and placing posters at train stations and bus stops would have also enticed our older target audience of 25-40.

4.  Our next step would be to release our film. We would want to release our film in small town cinemas at first that hold a spooky feel. For these tickets that would give people first access to see the film first, we would broadcast on twitter, that if people added UNANSWERED on ‘Snapchat’, at midnight a week before the release, a special code would be shown that allows just those people to see the film first at their local, independent cinemas before wide release. This unique one week only experience could be further enhanced by merchandise sold at the events and decorated in a scary way. This would make our audience feel special and a part of something unique. It would also be exciting for the audience as Snapchat is a social network where you can release images very quickly, so they would have the excitement of trying to get the code or print screen it before the picture disappears. The film would then go to larger cinemas for wide release.

The following laptop company inspired my ‘Snapchat’ idea, as they are the first company to use it as a marketing tool.

The following link explains how Co-operative electrical, set to use Snapchat for their marketing campaign towards students…

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/08/28/co-operative-electrical-set-use-snapchat-marketing-students-snaptop-campaign

I think that it is a fantastic idea and an extremely modern way of attracting a target audience. That is why I think it would fit perfectly with our edgy, modern film.  

Continuity

Whilst filming in the cinema I brought along my SLR camera. This was so that I could capture some great images for our poster but also keep track on continuity. 

Throughout our AS project we realised how important continuity is because you never know if you will need to re-do any shots and the actors costumes, the location all needs to be the same to ensure quality.

This helped us when filming our A2 short film because we already knew before shooting that we needed to take photographs before each take of the actors to ensure quality if we had to redo the shot. This means that their costume would be the same whether that meant their jacket was on or off, even their facial hair needed to be the same length for one of our actors case. We had to tell him to not shave his beard off even after finishing shooting, that he grew especially for the part, incase we weren't happy with the footage he was in, otherwise that could have jeopardised the quality and realism of our film. Fortunately, the shots were all successful. 

Below are some of the continuity shots we took of each actor/actress before their scene:

 Michelle- Student Filmmaker 

 Real Mr Arnold

Local who was interviewed - Becky Gliddon

 News reporter - Carol Johnson

Local who was interviewed- Laura Johnson

Fake Mr Arnold - Unknown?