Blocking: Bedroom Scene

Mum and Dad Bedroom Scene
Before filming this scene, I decided that I was going to plan exactly where I wanted my camera to stand, overlooking my actors. I decided that I was going to put the camera on the top of the bed as I wanted it to be a high camera shot showing that Grace's parents were in a bad place due to the illness. 

Blocking: First Scene





Grace First Scene - Beginning of the Trailer
I was still finding it difficult to decide where to shoot my scene, so I decided to get my subject to model in my picture, this gave me more of an idea of where exactly my actress would be sitting and what it would look like when I came round to filming.
From this I decided to go with picture 4, this is as you can clearly see the actress' face, which shows the emotion in the actress' face. It also doesn't show to much of the photo frame, as in my next shot, is an over the shoulder shot, zooming into the frame.

Blocking: First Scene

                             
Grace's Bedroom - First Scene        
I started blocking and filming my trailer on Thursday 2nd October - but before filming, I decided to plan and decide exactly where in my venue I wanted to film my shot.
To do this, I took pictures of all the different places I could film this shot, this made it easier for me to visualise exactly where I was going to shoot, before actually filming it.

Magazine Analysis - Sight & Sound Magazine

When looking at this magazine, the first thing that stands out to me is the feature article picture and in general the brightness of the magazine. The picture, as you can see, is of a man and a woman walking. By just looking at the picture at one glace – I can read that these people are in a relationship. I can tell this as they are walking very close to eachother, the man’s shoulder is touching the woman’s and you can see his other hand, which gives the impression he maybe has his hand on her back. Also the fact that the man is staring at the woman and she is smiling looking at the floor, almost showing she is the more shy and venerable character.
Also, by looking at this front cover, makes you feel very relaxed and almost “yourself”. When looking at some magazines, you may feel slightly intimidated by the models or the way that the magazine is set out – however, this magazine to me seems very casual, which personally makes it easier for me to understand and read. This is as they are both in very casual clothing, the man has one side of his shirt untucked and it’s just a very natural shot. The brightness of the background makes the magazine also seem a lot friendlier and it makes the audience feel relaxed and tranquil. The brightness of the front cover, for me, portrays a lot about the magazine and tells me what the magazine, in a way, is about. For example: a magazine, whose front cover is all dark colours, with a male model with dark sunglasses on and gold chains etc. gives me the impression it’s about horror/action/thriller films as the colours gives off a much more vicious and aggressive sense. However, these bright, delightful, delicate colours give off a much softer feel, which gives me the idea it’s all about Romantic comedies or romantic dramas.
The masthead of this magazine is quite thin and dainty compared to the other magazines that I have looked at. All of the film magazines that I have looked at have been in big font sizes, bold fonts and all in capital letters – however, this magazine masthead is following conventions of having the first letter capital letters with the rest lower case, and it being quite a natural font and again, in soft colours. Although, this was still eye-catchy due to the red and yellow colour scheme, it fitted well with the genre of the magazine. It fitted well also with the brightness and the “softness” of the magazine; it wouldn’t have looked right with a big, bold and clumpy masthead.
Again, unlike most magazines, this magazine hasn’t got cover lines covering the page. For me, I don’t think this is a good idea. I personally think by having cover lines big and quite noticeable. It gives the potential buyer more of an idea of whether they want to buy this magazine straight away – instead of having to flick through the magazine and see that way. However, I think the picture portrays a lot about what is in the magazine, that it is all to do with romance. However, then I went on to look at the bottom of the magazine and it has a few cover lines down there, but they are very small and not greatly visible. However, they give some of an idea of what stories are in the magazine, this would give the potential buyer more of an idea of whether they wanted to purchase this magazine or not.
Overall, this magazine is slightly different to the conventions other magazines use, and is very plain, but it suits the genre it is.

Magazine Analysis - Empire Magazine

 

When looking at this magazine, the first thing that drew me in was the cover line in the middle of the magazine that says “Gone Girl”. The reason this drew me in is as the colour red makes it stand out compared to the bland, grey colour of the picture. The colour red also symbolises the sense of power, energy, importance but also danger. This straight away gives me an idea of what to film “Gone Girl” is about. The fact that the text is in all capital letters also makes it stand out a lot more than it would if it was written in lower case. Also, the fact that it is centre of the magazine, straight away shows that all the attention should be on this, and it should have priority over everything else on the front of the magazine front cover.
The next part of the magazine that really stood out to me was the feature article picture. It fits in very well with the genre I am using on my trailer – Romantic Drama. It gives off the idea of Romantic Drama, as in the picture, it is clear that these people are in a relationship. However, the connotations of the picture, for example: the man has his hand around the woman, touching the side of her face, with his face very close to her other cheek and his other hand above her. He also has his leg over the top of her, and his body is very close to hers – this gives off the impression that he is attracted to her, specifically sexually attracted. However, the woman is not portraying any of the same signs as she is both of her hands are by her side, she is not looking at the man, she is just looking straight forward, however she is not stopping him from touching her. The lighting in this picture is also very dark and gloomy, suggesting danger and risk but also a sense of exposure and vulnerability.
Although a lot of the mast head is covered by the feature article picture, this shows to me that it is clearly a well-known magazine, as viewers don’t have to see the whole of the masthead to know what magazine it is. The masthead is also in bright red, like the cover line, showing its importance compared to the rest of the information on the front of the magazine. The masthead is also in a large bold font, and all in capital letters making it in the priority of the front cover.
At the bottom of the magazine, it has a row of all different films and a small picture of the main character / most famous character in the film. This is so that it is promoting the actual film, but it is also promoting the film by showing the most famous actor/actress in the film – for example: Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games – if someone who is reading this magazine is a big fan of Jennifer Lawrence and they see she is in a film – they will most probably go and see the film straight away.
Underneath this, they have some text in white writing, explaining what else is in the magazine – giving potential buyers more of an idea of what stories and information are inside the magazine – which would make their mind up on whether they wanted to buy the magazine or not, due to if they were interested in “Jolie’s Unbroken” for example.
There is another cover line saying “Winter Preview”, this also stands out very much as it is capital letters, in large font size and takes up quite a lot of room on the front of the magazine. The font that it is written in, is quite sharp and almost aggressive – which almost draws you in and makes you wants to know what it’s all about.
They’re promoting films in all different ways on this front cover, but the way that most of the films are being shown and advertised on the bottom of the page and the Ninja Turtles is at the top of the page, and it is also is in its own section, with a circle around it. This tells me as a viewer, that this clearly has more priority and advantage than the rest of the films.
The first bit of writing, which is the title of the ninja turtles bit, is in bold, red writing in all capital letters – which makes it eye catchy. This would result in people looking at it and thinking that it clearly has some importance so they should go on and read it.

Magazine Analysis - Total Film

When looking at the front cover of this “Total Film” magazine, the feature picture stood out to me. It automatically gave me the impression that the two people in the feature picture were either in a relationship, very close, or the man was is very protective. It gave me this impression due to the way, for one, they are standing. The fact that the women is in front of the man and the man is standing behind her, with his chest out, head up and standing up right gives the impression that he is a strong individual character, and the fact that the women is standing in front of him, but standing so close, shows that she is slightly more vulnerable, also due to her height compared to his, and is relying on him to “look after her”. The fact that they are both looking up also gives me the impression that they are watching “something going wrong”, then linking in with his costume which is a superhero costume, shows that this is probably correct. The man is also in the colours blue and red, which are quite symbolic colours to passion, danger and freedom. However, the lady is in a grey skirt and white blouse, with a black waist coat. This also symbolises a school child due to what she is wearing, which also gives off a slightly childish, vulnerable character.
 The masthead is very big and bold, making it clear to the viewers as to what magazine it was, and the fact that some of the picture is covering the “L” in the masthead, gives the impression that it is a well-known magazine, and that the whole masthead does not need to be seen, as viewers already know what it is.
 Right at the top of the magazine, is a collage of pictures showing all different stories and films that are spoken about in the magazine. This is a good convention to include in a magazine as it would potentially bring in more readers. This is as; someone who is viewing the magazine may be interested in one or more of the films, and may want to know more information about it, so they would buy this magazine to find out this.
  On flush left, there is a plug saying “100 greatest heroes and villains ever”, the fact that the “100” is in red, and is overlapping the masthead slightly, automatically gives it a sense of importance. The fact that the 100 is in red, also makes it bolder than the rest of the white writing, so makes it stand out and eye-catchy, which would encourage a reader to read it, as they would look at it as being importance and interesting. On Flush right, they have structured what they have done at the top of the magazine in a different way, they have listed a few extra things that they have in the magazine down the side, as this would also bring readers in, showing that they range from all different films and there is a lot of exciting information and stories to read about.
  Directly in the centre of the magazine, is the cover line. It is very big and eye-catchy which is what the readers would most probably see first. This is as it is in a white and silver font, and this stands out against the dark picture behind it. The font has been changed into a more bold and noticeable font for when they say “The man of steel”, this is as this name would be recognised and if anything, is what readers would buy the magazine for. Slightly overlapping the “A” in “The man of steel”, is the characters hand, this automatically gives you the idea that he is “The man of steel”, making the reader feel more comfortable as they know exactly who they are reading about. They have also changed the font to silver. The colour silver is often associated with meanings of industrial, sleek, high-tech, and modern, as well as ornate, glamorous, graceful, sophisticated, and elegant. Silver is a precious metal and, like gold, often symbolizes riches and wealth, and of course, the colour of steel itself.  
   Underneath the cover line, it has a question, which would make the audience/readers question themselves, which also would encourage the readers to buy the magazine, so that they could answer this question.

Film Poster Analysis - My Sisters Keeper

 

On the front of this poster, there are pictures of the 3 main characters in the film, but you’ll also find they’re also the most well-known and famous characters in the film. By having these 3 people on the poster, advertising the film, will potentially bring in a wide audience, as the three characters have been in various different films, so will most probably have “fans”, also people will know the names of the actresses, and if they have been in a film previously that they like, they may go and see this one. The next point in the poster I noticed was the colour of the background, green. The colour green, to me, symbolises growth and hope, reflecting on Kate, the girl who has cancer, the hope that her illness will go away, yet it still leaves you wondering.
Again, at the top of the poster on the left hand side, it has the names of the two most famous actresses in the film – Cameron Diaz well known for the film “There’s something about Mary” and Abigail Breslin well known from the film “Little Miss Sunshine”. 
In the picture of Kate, down the bottom right hand corner, she is blowing bubbles. The symbol of someone blowing bubbles gives the impression that they are having fun and enjoying themselves, which is nice to see as everyone knows that she is the girl that isn’t very well.
In the middle of the poster, there is the headline of what the film is called: “my sister’s keeper”. However, they haven’t followed any conventions here, as it is all in lower case. I personally think that this has been done to give a gentle and soothing feel, and not make it seem as sharp and harsh.
At the very top of the poster, there is some writing saying “From the director of the notebook” - Nick Cassavetes was the man who directed both of these films. If someone had read that quote and seen that Cassavetes was the director who directed “my sisters keeper” this may make them really want to watch this film, as they enjoy all the films that he directs. The same as if someone had seen that quote and was a massive fan of the notebook, they would automatically be drawn to go and see “my sisters keeper” as it would have some similarities to the notebook.
In small writing it also says that it is based on the “best selling novel” this would automatically again, draw the viewers in as they would know that the book was successful so the film would most probably be aswell.

Film Poster Analysis - Silver Linings Playbook

The first thing that I am drawn to on this poster is the feature picture. The picture, as you can clearly see, is of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, who are the protagonists of the film. These are also very famous actors/actresses. Jennifer Lawrence best known for her work in the films “The Hunger Games” and Bradley Cooper best known for his work in the film “The Hangover”. The picture portrays to me before knowing anything about the film, that these two people are in competition but the girl is much more competitive. The reason of why I think this is because the girl is looking straight at the man with an emotionalise face, and the man is looking forward with a smirk, stereotypically viewing him as he knows he is going to win. However, in the middle of the two actor’s faces, there is a few words saying “Love hurts”, which then changes my perspective on these characters and makes me think they are in a “complicated relationship”. The blur in the background is the colour green, which gives me a sense of hope – which again, tells me a little about the story – that it could be a complicated relationship but things hopefully get better?
The headline is bold and in red and black writing which makes it stand out to us as an audience – the red symbolises importance, power and energy which makes the front cover seem more exciting and the black makes it stand out, giving a harsh feel – these two colours put together stand out well and make its eye-catchy for the audience, so they will notice it. Above this, they have the names of the biggest stars in the film, this is to draw in the audience as they will know the names and if they’re big fans this will draw them in to go and see the film. 

Film Poster Analysis - The Notebook

 

When looking at this film poster, the first thing that really stood out to me was the feature picture. It automatically told me that the story was about a man and a lady who potentially fell in love, so straight away I felt like I knew something about the story. This also helped me as a viewer straight away decide on whether I would enjoy the film, as it shows that it is obviously based around romance, so if im interested in romantic drama or romantic comedies, I would probably be interested. However, if I was interested in horrors for example, I would know it wouldn’t be my kind of film. Then you have the names of the main and most famous characters in the film, for example: Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdam’s are very well known, Gosling mainly known from being in the film “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and McAdam’s famous for her role in Mean Girls playing “Regina George”. Straight away, this would either bring in the audience or turn them away, as if someone was to look at this poster and be big fans of the famous names on the poster, they’d be interested in going to see the film – however, if they weren’t big fans, they probably wouldn’t.
Below the names, there is a sentence saying “From the best-selling novel” – this would indicate to the audience that the storyline is obviously very popular, so the film will probably be very similar and a big success. The film title is also in a bold black font, making it clear to the audience what the film is called. The colours used on this film poster are blue, white and a hint of green. The colour blue to me resembles depth and stability, trust, loyalty and wisdom, which almost sums up a romantic drama film. The colour white is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity and is also considered to be the colour of perfection. The colour green symbolises the hope and growth and almost lack of experience of someone. These colours altogether symbolise exactly what the film gives off, romance, innocent, trust, perfection. The colours they’ve used tells a story on their own.

Planning - Email to cast

Hi Everyone.
I have spoken to you all individually, and you have all agreed to be part of Trailer in my Media A2, which is absolutely fantastic.
Basically, its called "Grace" and its about a teenage girl who has been diagnosed with leukaemia and the trailer is going to show her living her life, having fun but also show the rough sides of her illness. However, I need to schedule some rehearsals and filming times, as I need to start filming as soon as possible! Below, I am going to post who you are playing and dates of when I will need you. If you cant do any of these dates, please let me know at least 3 days before so I can reschedule.

Cast List
Grace - Abby Greensmith
Jake - Chris Spink
Jessica - Natasha Fisher
Lisa (Mum) - Jenna Lucas
Mark (Dad) - Dan Hunnable
Liam - Aaron Glitz
Friend - Abi Maynard
Friend - Jade Smith
Friend - Lauren Eagles
Friend - Summer Loan
Jakes Friend - James Looby
Jake Friend - Mark Fenton.

Filming Dates
Thursday 2nd October - Filming: Abby Greensmith.

Wednesday 8th October - Filming: Abby Greensmith, Natasha Fisher, Jenna Lucas, Dan Hunnable & Aaron Glitz.

Thursday 9th October - Filming: Abby Greensmith & Jenna Lucas.

Monday 13th October - Filming: Abby Greensmith, Natasha Fisher, Jenna Lucas, Dan Hunnable & Aaron Glitz.

Wednesday 15th October - Filming: Abby Greensmith, Chris Spink, James Looby, Mark Fenton, Natasha Fisher .

Thursday 16th October - Filming: Abby Greensmith, Natasha Fisher, Jade Smith, Summer Loan, Abi Maynard, Lauren Eagles.

Monday 20th October - Filming: Dan Hunnable and Jenna Lucas.

Tuesday 22nd October - Filming: Abby Greensmith, Natasha Fisher , Jenna Lucas, Aaron Glitz, Dan Hunnable.

Costumes
2nd October - Abby : Dark coloured clothes and bandana - (I will provide bandana)

8th October - Abby: Colourful top and jeans
                         Jenna: Jeans, top and cooking apron
                         Dan : Suit (what you wear to school)
                         Natasha – Skirt and shirt or polo (resembling school uniform)
                       Aaron – Top and jogging bottoms.

9th October - Abby : Jeans, top and a coat AND a dress.

                        Jenna : Skirt and a top AND a dress.

13th October - Abby: Bright coloured dress, bandana AND a different dress
                         Jenna – White top, jeans and a coloured cardigan, hair down AND a different top
                         Dan – Jeans and a top (no logo) AND a different top
                         Natasha – Jeans and a top (no logo), hair in plats AND a dress
                         Aaron  – Jeans and a top (no logo) AND jogging bottoms and a different top


15th October - Abby – Dress AND a different dress AND a top and skirt                        Chloe– Dress                Chris – Jeans and a top (no logo) AND two different tops
                          James – Jeans and a top (no logo).
                          Mark – Jeans and a top (no logo).

16th October - Abby – Dress AND bandana.
                          Natasha– Jeans and a top AND hair down.
                         Jade – Dress AND hair in pony tail AND nice lipstick.
                         Abi – Dress AND hair down AND nice necklace.
                         Summer – Jeans and top AND hair up AND bright red lips.
                         Lauren – Dress AND nice necklace – hair down.


20th October -   Jenna : Pyjamas  
                       Dan : A vest top and trousers/jeans/jogging bottoms (whatever you prefer).


22nd October -Abby: Dress, Jeans and a vest top AND different to AND cardigan AND different dress

                          Chloe: Dress AND skirt and shirt/polo (resembling school uniform) AND different dress

                          Jenna: Dress AND Jeans and a top (no logo) AND different top

                          Dan: Jeans and a top (no logo) AND Suit style (what you wear to school) AND different top

                          Aaron: Trousers and shirt (resembling school uniform) AND jogging bottoms and top

Thank you for reading this guys - If there is any dates you cant do, please let me know asap so I can reschedule.