Presentation

Magazine Review Research

The magazine I decided to have my review in was New Empress magazine.

 

They are an independent film magazine that has hard copies available for purchase on a monthly basis.

The reviews and other pieces of writing found in the magazine strive to look at films in a different way in their pieces, to challenge the stereotypes and pre-conceptions that the audience would have before seeing the film, but instead allowing the directors to showcase their work and be critiqued in a positive and constructive manner.

As you can see in this picture, the magazine tried to not have all text but
instead keep insterest by including pictures and illustrations

The layout consists of a picture and text layout, but one thing I found was that the magazine tried to ensure the reader wouldnt be looking at a wall of text but instead it tried to break up the text with pictures, usually screenshots from the film. This works well as it not only helps break up the article well and give extra insight in regards to the pictures, but it also means that the reader wouldn't lose interest as soon as they open the magazine as they would find an article with a balance of text and pictures a lot more enticing than an article with just a wall of text for them to read.

Film Poster Research

The first poster I analysed was the poster for the ROMCOM movie "The Switch". The first thing that I immediately noticed was the way the text was a simple clean font and it was made large and easy to read and immediately gained the attention of anyone viewing it.
I really liked the way that the text was big and stood out amongst everything else, especially the main title of the film, this was something I wanted to ensure I incorporated into my poster in regards to the large and easy to read text.

 

One thing that I noticed about this poster that it had quite a "warm" and "inviting" feel to it in the sense that its not really something that would deter you because of the colour. The colours are quite neutral and make the viewer want to look in and view more. One thing I noticed was that the main title was cented quite largely and the font was quite rounded which added to the "inviting" aspect of the poster. The pink also would help to attract the dominantly female audience whom ROMCOMS are targeted at. I wanted to try and make my poster inviting to the audience and make them want to see more as wel as using the idea of having a rounded font for the main title as it would give the impression of "fun" within the film.

 

After looking at both of these posters I wanted to ensure that I incorporated the methods used in both to my poster to not only entice the audience, but be visually appealing no matter where it would be seen, whether it be a large billboard or a sshop window.

Audience Feedback

Audience Feedback

·        Confusion as to how the girl falls in love.

·        Character development needs to be a bit clearer.

·        Soundtrack fits well with the film

·        It was made clear that the guy likes the girl

·        Film may have been too short for any of the characters to develop

·        Use of a classroom was done well and effectively

·        Shot of classroom was good as it helped to establish the setting

·        Use of dream sequence was well done and helped to portray the girl as more of a “dream” girl

·        Creative use of the tracks and tracking shots throughout the film

·        Bee sequence was an example of a good use of editing techniques

·        Titles were well mad and helped set the tone for the film as it told the audience the film would be in somewhat of a school setting

 

General Audience Ratings + Feedback:

 

·        The bee sequence was a bit slow but overall enjoyed the film (8/10)

·        The film definitely fits the genre of a ROMCOM and story was told well in most areas (7/10)

·        There were a few continuity errors however they  may have been unfixable but overall I think the narrative was well told through the film (9/10)

·        Liked how creative the shots were and felt that they added to the story (7/10)

·        The story was written well and the film was edited quite well all round (8/10)

·        Liked the film but some parts of it weren’t clear (7/10)

·        Good idea and was executed well in the film, the characters general personas were clear, eg. Clumsy friend, dream girl.  (7/10)

Film Review Development

The blue lines are the rulers which helped to line things up and keep the review organised

Starting from the end, you can see from the screenshot that the ruled lines helped to line up the text and keep everything organised and lined up ensuring nothing is off of the page.

 

To get this row of stars I duplicated the original I created and then merged
them all into one layer
 

 

Everything was created from a primary resource, including the stars, to make these I used the pen tool in Photoshop to create an outline and filled it. I then duplicated this layer to get the row of stars you can see in the review.


This is the transform tool at use when I was resizing
the picture

When inserting pictures I had to use the transform tool in order to scale them down to the correct size, I decided to add screenshots from the film based on research I had made which had shown me that various reviews had actual screenshots from the film. It was also a good way to break up the review for the reader as a pose to having them look at a wall of text and potentially become disinterested.






This large message helped to grab the attention
of the reader as it would stand out


I opted to go for a large font with an overall short conclusion of the review as my research found that this was prominent in many reviews, however it was also a good way to grab the readers attention.

Script Version 2

Scene 1

 

INT. CLASSROOM, DAY.

 

Tracking shot shows CHARLIE BUTLER walking to the class where he is in detention. He looks at the board in disappointment and gives out a loud sigh. CHARLIE takes his seat in detention and hastily turns around to look at the clock and releases how agonisingly  slow time is passing, as he turns back round his disappointment is quickly turned into joy as he notices the girl his had his eyes on for the past year, SARAH JAYNE. With a massive grin on his face he then texts friend, HARRY FORSTER, and the text says ‘SARAH’S in detention with me!’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene 2

 

EXT. OUTSIDE OF CLASSROOM, DAY.  

As soon as HARRY gets the message he exits the toilets he puts his headphones in his hear and makes his way to CHARLIE. Being in such a rush HARRY slips and falls straight on to the ground, living up to his reputation of being quite clumsy. HARRY curses and CHARLIE repeats the words. CHARLIE ends up shouting this at the girl and once he realises what he has said has just said and he covers his mouth in embarrassment with his eyes opened wide. SARAH looks bizarrely at CHARLIE. As he gets up his head hastily appears at the window. HARRY watches on to observe their behaviour of the two to see how they react to each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene 3

 

EXT. BUSHY AREA, DAY

 

HARRY then gets followed by a swarm of bees and runs chaotically runs around the field. He continuously repeats the words ‘’BUZZ OFF!’’ that CHARLIE repeats the words humiliating him in front of SARAH.

 

 

 

                                              “BUZZ OFF!”

Shouted HARRY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene 4

 

EXT. BUSHY AREA, DAY + INT. CLASSROOM,DAY

 

HARRY then arrives outside CHARLIE’S classroom and looks worn out from all the running. HARRY signals to CHARLIE to move closer to SARAH, however he his unaware of what he is miming. As CHARLIE moves closer to the window to hear HARRY he knocks over the pot of pencils. CHARLIE begins to pick up the pencils and SARAH and CHARLIE reach for the same pencil and gaze into each other’s eyes. It is then revealed that SARAH also had a headphone in her ear as her friend was feeding her lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scene 5

 

EXT. OUTSIDE CLASSROOM NEAR BUSH, DAY

 

As HARRY watches on from outside the classroom he  gets smacked in the head by a football which sends him off balance causing him to fall into the bush behind him. Whilst HARRY is stuck in the he manages to wiggle himself out of the bush and walks painfully towards the school gates whilst holding onto his back and limping in pain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Film