The empire magazine is mainly aimed at a younger target audience, for people between the ages of 15 and 30. From the colours used in the magazine I believe that the magazine is mainly aimed at males seeing as the colours used are red, black and white. The magazine is for film fanatics, people who usually go to the cinema, that is why it is aimed a younger audience.
The masthead ( the name of the magazine) is shown in big bold writing, which has been designed to fit the genre of the main film they are advertising. The colour red seems to stay the same throughout the rest of the front cover of the magazine, this way it keeps the continuity of the magazine running throughout the whole issue of the magazine.
The main feature on the cover is "inception" with a large image of the film star Leonardo DiCaprio. The main headline is red which is the same as the masthead, which show that they are still keeping that same sophisticated style. The Actors image is place in front of the masthead to symbols his importance and shows that he a useful selling tool for the magazine.
The background of the front cover is from the film itself, also around the image of the actor,there are other names of films given which will be featured in the magazine. The font of the text is in italics and they have used a 3D effect to make it look more attractive to the audience.
There is a sticker on the front page which has been positioned in the centre saying it the film of 2010. This is a good way of advertising, because the use of colour is different from the masthead and the other cover lines, which has stood out very well as it helps with the marketing of the magazine.
The bar code on the front cover is position on the bottom right of the magazine, which has been placed out of the way so it does not interfere with the content of the magazine.
The main selling lines are very short and original as it has target its main audience effectively.
On top of the magazine in between the letter "M" of the masthead, is the issue date, July 2010, which shows the season of that year, which interest me as that is around the time that young people will be on their summer holidays, and they will be going to stores buying this magazine preparing themselves for a good movie for the summer. This shows that the magazine is a seasonal magazine as it doesn't indicate a specific day as to when the magazine was issued just the month and the year.
Also the website for the empire magazine has been placed on the first quarter of the magazine, as it allows people to go onto the website as an option if they would prefer to prescribe the magazines.
The types of sound effects used in horror, have become more and more effective over the years. The reason for adding sound effects in horror, is that it adds an element of fear to the audiance, as it heightens the impact of the scene.
Diegetic Sound-
This is the kind of sound that happens in the film itself, and this sound is heard by the audience and the actors/ actress.
Types of Diegetic sound that can be used in Horror could be footsteps, and dialogue (speech) maybe a character in the film is whispering to scare the protagonist or even sound effects. This creates suspense in Horror and it also portrays the kinds of characters in the films personality and behaviour. For example, a piano can be used when an antagonist is coming for its victim, which shows they are not good characters. Diegetic sound contributes to the realism of the film this is important as it creates a perfect or not so perfect atmosphere for the audience.
Non- Diegetic Sound-
This type of sound is only heard by the audience, it is usually created during the post production of the film, and a certain soundtrack is created to match the action that is going on in a particular scene. This kind of sound provides the audience with an emotion, a mood that adds realism to the scene.
Voice overs-
In horror many producers tend to use voice overs, especially when spirits are in the film, or when a frightened character is thinking. This allows us as the audience to know more about the characters on screen than the other characters who are in the film.
Incidental Music-
This is used to add emotion and rhythm to the film, so the audience are drawn to it from the beginning till the end of the film. Background music usually foreshadows a change in the mood in horror, which is important as it may indicate trouble is ahead or a disaster has happened. It also allows the audience to link scenes from the film to one another, and example could be a situation that may have occurred earlier on in the film which reminds the audience about the idea of the film.
I usually find that in many horror films static effects are used. This also create suspense in horror film, in scenes such as when there's a thunder storm, or a phone and the TV starts to frizz out.
Disturbing sounds are very important in horror, as it excludes any threats if we are unable to see them in the film, but it makes us more aware of what's going on in the actual scene. However, we need to be careful when creating types of sound as it may create an unsettling tension and suspense. So the pace of the music added into the scene needs to be appropriate so it terrify the audience too much.
For my audience research I asked three people a few questions relating to horror films just so that I could see what ideas members from a possible target audience would have as well as their views on horror films.
The research shows that all of the people that I asked about horror film are 17 or 18 which is good because this falls into the groups target audience. This also means that I don't have to worry about any of the questions being inappropriate for the age group.
As a group it was also important to think about appealing to people that don't watch horror films since that was the case for most of the people that I asked. This showed that it was especially important to take into consideration what they would want in a horror film.
My test audience has shown that in a horror film they are looking for something that will scare them as well as looking for something that will keeping them in suspense. This indicates that the trailer will need to be scary and keep the audience guessing.
When it came to the colours that we had to consider using it was very hard to tell because I was given three different answers so I couldn't tell what the best choice in colour would be meaning that the decision on colours would have to be made as a group.
When making a film/ trailer, its generally about capturing light. By using a bright light, it captures the viewers eyes. Also, the way a scene is lit will depend on how the audience relate emotionally to the film. The angle and direction of the light gives the audience an idea of what time of day the film is set as it creates a sense of realism.
Colour Balance
The colour balance also known as the white balance, is a technique used to ensure that a photographed object or setting is captured with its real colours.
The colours in the wheel above are made from the three primary colours, red, blue and green. Where the three colours overlap in the middle, we get a neutral grey which is somewhere between black and white.
A proper camera white balance has to take into account the colour temperature of a light source, which refers to the warmth or coolness of the light. Our eyes are good at judging what is white under different light sources, however, digital cameras have difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) and can create an unsightly blue, orange or even green colour cast.
Colour Temperature
Colour temperature describes the spectrum of light which is radiated from a balckbody with that surface temperature. A blackbody is an object which absorbs all incident light neither reflecting it or allowing it to pass through.
The graph above shows how 5000k produces roughly neutral light where as 3000k and 9000k create light spectrum's containing more orange and blue wavelengths. This proves that shorter wavelengths contain light of higher energy.
Hard Light
Hard light cast shadows on objects or a person. Photographers usually use background lighting without reflectors to create a edgy look.
Soft Light
Soft light is the light that is used to wrap around objects casting with soft edges , by using a single light source you can control both the background and the light on the object.
Fluorescent Light Bulbs
A Fluorescent light converts electrical power into useful light more effectively than an incandescent light would. However, it cost more than an incandescent light because it needs a ballast to regulate the current through the lamp.
Incandescent Light Bulbs
This type of light bulb is generally used in households and commercial lighting for example table lamps. These light bulbs are gradually being replaced for other electrical bulbs, as they do not last long also creates different kind of mood in peoples households.
Producer: Michael Aguilar, Rob Cowan, Dean Georgaris, George A. Romero (executive)
Financing/Production Company: Overture films
Synopsis: A toxin begins to turn the residents of Ogden Marsh into violent psychopaths, while the sheriff of the town, his wife and a few other uninfected people come together as a group to fight for survival.
As you can see, I will be analysing the teaser trailer for ‘The Crazies’. By doing this I have print screened each shot in the trailer which I think is important and will analysis each shot.
The beginning of the trailer shows that the trailer has been approved for appropriate audiences by the MPAA which is the ‘Motion Picture Association of America’. This means anyone from the age 15 and over are capable of watching the trailer as long as they feel they can cope with what they are about to see.
The next clip shows the name of the production company and one of the studios that were used to create the film. This clip was show for less that a second, this could be for copyright purposes because people may try to copy the logo idea for ‘Overture Films’. Also during the trailer the Production Company and studio used is not as important as what’s happening in the trailer which is why it is only on screen for a short amount of time.
The 1st scene shown in the trailer is of a young woman lying on a hospital bed asking ‘is this really happening?’ this shows that she does not believe what is happening or what is going to happen. Seeing as she is lying on a hospital bed, it shows she may not be well and be infected. However even though she is in a hospital, she may not be able to be cured. The connotes she may die. This is because the light is shining down on her as if God is looking down at her. Also light she will ‘see the light’ or ‘the doors of heaven’. However because she is looking away it shows that she is not ready to die yet.
After the 1st scene is shown the words ‘Before our Lives End’ fade in from the background. The sentences causes the audience to think what is going to happen before their lives end. The font is a bright white which makes it easy for the audience to read because the background is completely black.
The next scene is of a woman trying to open a door that has been locked, the lighting is dull so the room seems dark, this could be to give a sense or fear and warning. The woman who is opening the door was panicking and looked as If she was in a hurry to open the door. The woman could be panicking because she maybe infected and locked in a room for other peoples safety or she could be locked in a room with someone who is infected.
The next scene is of a man holding a lit match, he looks confused and as if he cant control what he is doing or what he is about to do. This shows that this maybe one of the symptoms of being infected. The background is quite dark to focus all the attention on the man.
After the scene of a man holding up a flame, the words ‘before our cities are take over’. This means that there will be an epidemic and the cities will now survive. The background is still dark but towards the end of the shot a grey/green cloud that is spreading into the shot. This could represent the toxic virus because viruses spread quickly and they are visible.
At the 19 second mark in the trailer it is a quick cut of the sheriff, the trailer has shown the sheriff because he is one of the main characters. In the background there are a several amount of people including an army soldier. The arm soldier maybe in the shot to help keep the crowd calm and to secure the place. This then alerts the audience that the scenery they are in is not a safe place and that they could be trouble.
At 21 seconds a shot of a man walking towards lights with his hands in the air shows that he is surrendering and that he is not infected. The lights in the background shows that their colour be safe people up ahead and that they are keeping alert for any infected people.
In a shot not to long after the words ‘before our humanity is lost’ the words are not as bright as the 1st sentence shown in the trailer, and the words are not fully white. This could represent people within the cities hope. This would mean that at the beginning of the toxic virus epidemic, people had high hopes that the virus wouldn’t be much of a big deal and a cure would be made before the city is destroyed. While the more people get a virus the less hope people have.
At 26 seconds a shot of a badly infected man is show reaching though jail bars. This clip is very important for the trailer because it shows the audience what the victims of the virus will look like and how they will act.
At 28 seconds a shot of a large crowd of people running away from army soldiers. This could show the audience that all the infected people may not be able to be kept tamed as there are too many of them. This warns the audience that there is a small chance of survival in these conditions.
At 29 seconds a shot of a extremely infected man (worse than the first man showed). The main character in the show has green alienated eyes which could show how bad each stage is. This could show that if a infected person has them green eyes, there is no cure for them and that they may even know what they are doing and are passed the ‘confused’ stage.
At 30 seconds the words ‘It will begin here’ is shown. These words as the background are seen to be particularly weird because the background has not been funny invaded by the green cloud that had been shown with the last sentence. This could represent the toxic virus to be coming and causing and epidemic, and then going without any trace it was even there. The sentence automatically breaks the pattern by starting with the word ‘it’. This is because every sentence the trailer had shown had started with the word ‘before’ to show what would happen in the future. However because this sentence ends with the word ‘here’ in capital letters larger than the other words, it indicates it will show something that has happened in the past.
The scene at 32 seconds shows the setting where the first victim of the virus took place. The setting is a baseball field in what look like a small town. The setting was chosen to be a baseball field to show that the virus can infect anybody not matter if they are athletic or not.
The second to last shot is the name of the film titled ‘the Crazies’. The background is complete darkness except for the right hand side there is a cloud of green that could represent the virus. It looks like the same cloud that was on behind the other sentences but except the cloud is much clearer and not as faded into the background. The film title is in full capitals except for the word ‘the’. This could be to make the word ‘crazies’ stand out more and grab all the audience’s attention.
The last shot in the trailer is of the credits and the date. The background is only dark around the wording and logos to make sure the audience is capable of reading the words and recognising the logos. However in the corners and on the edges of the dark background behind the writing is the cloud that represents the virus, this specific cloud could represent that the virus is now an epidemic because the majority of the town has it. The words ‘coming soon’ are in full capitals but the word ‘soon’ is much larger than the word ‘coming’. This is to show that the film is coming out sooner than the audience would think. The websites in in between the logos are to grab the audience’s attention; this is because it shows that the audience is able to investigate more about the film and to see if there are any exclusive clips that are only released online. The logos that represent the studio and the production company are placed on both sides of the websites to balance to credits out.
When researching different heart rate monitors and heartbeat sounds online, I realised most of the monitor displays were pixelated. What I thought of doing was to create my own heart rate monitor which would be learnt off of a tutorial on Youtube but unfortunately I did not have the software to create it. Instead I tried to use the software ‘Paint’ to create the monitor by saving each stage and then creating it into a gif on the website 'http://gifninja.com/'. Below are the stages used to make the gif:
I did not like the gif that had been made because when the speed was at a medium pace, it was too jittery and seemed as if it jerked a lot. However when the speed was at a fats pace it looked as if it was just a flash.
After doing more research I came across a Youtube video which was a 2 minute and 29 second long heart rate monitor with the flat line. The thing that caught my eye about the video was the title which was ‘ekg (YOU CAN USE THIS VIDEO)’, this meant anyone was able to use the video by just downloading it as long as the user credited the maker and let the maker know they were going to use it.
This is the video we will use in our horror teaser trailer because I was able to let the maker know we are going to use it. The image below is of the message I wrote to the user.
While doing my independent research I mainly focused on the British film magazine ‘Empire’ which is published by Bauer Media. The issue I will be analysing is for the film ‘Iron man 2’. The main image is of the main character who is ‘Iron Man’. The magazine draws more attention to the main image because it is placed in front of the actual magazine title. As you can see there is lighting shining down on the character, this could mean that they want the audience to feel he is a hero and maybe looked up to, preferably by young boys. The light source on iron man is his heart, which is a glowing mechanism inside him. The light being that bright could mean that he is ready to take on new missions and that he is bigger and better than he was before.
The title ‘Empire’ uses the ‘EF Kaffeesatz Schwarz’ font which causes the magazine to be differentiated with other magazines. This is because most magazines whether it is film, music or gossip happen to use basic bold fonts such as ‘Impact’ or ‘Kartika’. The colour of the title is an electric blue which is the same colour as Iron Man’s heart, this could connote that the title ‘Empire’ is the heart of the whole magazine. The lightening behind and to the sides of the title look as if it’s electrocuting the title and that’s its creating making the title the energy source of the magazine. Underneath the title is what looks like a sticker that states ‘Ultimate review of 2009’. This could help capture the audience’s attention because it gives a reason as to why the audience will enjoy reading the review.
The release date and price of the magazine are in-between the to peaks of the letter ‘M’ in the title ‘Empire’. They could have been placed there to not draw away any attention from the title and for it to stay/hide in the distance.
The main cover lines which are about the main image are across the middle of the main image but below Iron Man’s heart. This is because the light from the heart is giving the cover line a bright glow to make it stand out more than the other cover lines so the audience knows that it is the main thing to read about in the magazine. The cover lines at the bottom of the page do not stand out as much because the images are small and the white font is put on a dull grey which gives a sense or boredom.
