Storyboard

In todays media lesson we focused on planning out our film teaser so that we could finish our storyboard. We looked at other teasers, such as Toy Story 3, 2012, Blair Witch Project and Twilight, to see where they had placed the institutions, such as 'Universal'. We found that in all of the teaser trailers we had watched, that they were at the opening, and so decided that we would carry on this feature in our own teaser trailer. We decided that we would use Universal, as after completing some research, we found that this was the most popular for the rom-com genre. We also decided that we would also use the institutions that we created ourselves in year 12, mine, Mercedes' and Hayley's being Jellyfish Productions, and Alex's being Wolf Productions. These would be after the film certificate, lasting a few seconds each. After this we planned a clip of our couple taking pictures together outside of the cinema. We decided this would be a good way to introduce the couple to our audience, and to show them as being happy together. The pictures they're taking will also be used later in the teaser trailer, and this will show continuity. After this clip of our happy couple, we feel that there should be come text, a question, to provoke the audiences thought, and to show them that all is not as it seems in the first clip. Next we decided that there should be a montage of our male character doing various clumsy things from the moment where he wakes up, which would then lead to the next clip at the school dance, where his girlfriend breaks up with him and he has to win her back. We have decided to take the photos for the poster and the magazine cover before Christmas and to leave the filming until we come back from the holidays. Next lesson we need to complete our storyboard, create our animatic and to organise taking the photos.

Re-Planning

When discussing our film ideas as a group with our teacher we found that there were some holes in our planning, and found that the best idea would be to simply start again. We kept the basic ideas that we had, of a romantic comedy genre. We decided that the main characters that we would focus on in our teaser trailer would be a male and a female, this would enforce the romantic element needed. To give the teaser a funny element we decided that the male character should be clumsy. We went around our school and found the locations that we thought would be best to film. We arranged with the Head when we would be able to use the dance hall, to stage a scene of our couple at a high school type dance. We arranged with one of the dance teachers using one of her classes in our scene for the dance, to make it look more realistic. Between us we came up with a vague story line of what our male character could do to annoy the female. We are still able to keep our magazine and poster ideas, but we will need to re-write our storyboards once we are back in class.

Magazine Research

• The title is bold, in capital letters and bright red.
• The main celebrity it features is the largest aspect of the cover, her photograph covers the name of the magazine and takes up the majority of the right side of the page. The way which the photograph covers the title implys that the company is so well known that they don't need to display their name fully.
• The photograph is of well known celebrity Megan Fox. The feature itself is about the releace of Transformers 2, and Megan Fox is one of the main characters in the film. The photo of her topless would attract a male audience more than a female audience. The text on the magazine cover has slightly sexual connotations which work well with the image, featuring words such as 'hot', 'one-on-one' and 'wanted'.
• The caption 'TRON REBOOTED' at the top right of the cover is referring to a sci-fi film created by Disney in the 80's that is being remade in 2010. The film is about people living inside of computers. This links well with the Transformers feature, giving the magazine a sci-fi theme. 
• The sci-fi theme is carried on in the bottom left corner of the front cover, through the referral to 'Star Trek', 'Angels & Demons' and 'Wolverine'. This again would appeal to a wider male audience rather than female.
• The colours that are used also hint at a sci-fi theme and a male audience, mainly using silver, blue and black.
• The name 'Megan Fox' is one of the largest pieces of text on the front, along with the name of the magazine. This suggests that It is one of the most important aspects of the magazine.
• The pricing and websites are the smallest parts of the magazine, as they would be least attractive to the customer. 

Audience

Recently in the past few lessons we have been planning our rom-com film teaser.

27 Dresses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMY9z_QmM7I

This trailer firstly follows a female narrator. This would initially attract a female audience, as they are able to emphasise with the character. It contains funny elements, which would attract a wider audience. But again, the use of colours such as pink, and the italic fonts used aim the film more towards a female audience. Watching this, I felt myself being attracted to the film, this makes me think that 27 Dresses is a film aimed towards a 17-25 year old female audience.

Love Actually: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rjIADlKx-U&feature=related

The opening of the trailer doesn't actually feature footage of the film, it shows scenes of character Hugh Grant in older rom-com's Notting Hill and Bridget Jones Diary. They then go on to show comical scenes, attracting a wide audience of both female and male. Then going on to address the theme of love in a more serious manner, drawing in the romantic side of the film. The backing track goes from a cheery song, to a song with a slower pace, and then back to an upbeat song, bringing the theme of comedy back. The titles are in the colours white and red, which are typically used in rom-com films. I feel that this trailer would attract a wider audience than 27 Dresses, firstly because the narrator is male, females would find him attractive, and males would be able to relate to him. The film covers both perspectives, leaving it open to interpretation. I'd say that because there is a range of ages to the cast that it would also appeal to a wider age group, maybe 15-30.

He's Just Not That Into You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVlqVHKn2dg

The trailer opens with a scene which sums up the whole of the film. Similar to 27 Dresses, it is from a female perspective, meaning that it would appeal more to a female audience as they would be able to emphasise with the characters. A caption is then shown in a white and blue font, featuring italics. This breaks the typical rom-com conventions by using blue colours instead of pink or red. This would make the audience more diverce, blue being a typically male colour. The trailer then goes on to feature scenes from the male perspective, appealing to a male audience in the same way as the female audience. By having a cast which is mainly of the ages 25-35, this would thus appeal to the same age audience, but watching this trailer I feel attracted to the film myself, so I'd say the audience was 17-30, but both male and female.

Poster Planning

In today's lesson we began to look closely at the poster for our film.
We thought about the main aspects of our poster, which were the different types of images that we could use, titles, taglines, layouts, and the cast of our film. As a group we decided that the title needed to be short and catchy, and needed to be light hearted so that it gave the impression of a romantic comedy instead of a drama of romantic film. When researching into existing rom-com's we found that the titles are simple, and are used as a really basic summary of the film. The tag lines are witty and draw the audience in. Again, the images used are simple, on white backgrounds and usually feature both of the characters.
These are our ideas..


Title:

• Hot 'n' Cold
• Hating Faith
• Opposites Attract
• Incompatible

Tagline:

• Every rose has it's thorn
• You don't have to like someone to love them

Research & Planning

For our coursework, we have firstly decided to create a teaser trailer of the rom-com genre.
In class we looked at some teaser posters of films of different genres. The rom-com posters typically had a white background and featured bright colours.

The posters here are typically American, we can tell this through the cast listing, they are mainly well known American actors. The posters are simple, and any information which is not likely to attract an audience is in a small font or faint colour. Both Love Actually and He's Just Not That Into You have similar posters, they both start from the top with a list of well known actors, then the image of a heart, and then the title and release date.

I think that the poster for our film will have a white background, and will have to be kept simple, as these are two main conventions of rom-com teaser posters. The image would again be something conventional, like a photograph of the characters, or something generic linked with romance, like a heart, ring, or flowers. The colours would be bright, mainly red's or pinks to imply romance. The dates would be vauge, as the film has not actually been made when the teaser poster is released. I also think that the title would be placed wither at the top, or the bottom of the poster, not at the centre. With an image at the centre, and a billblock and then the release date. As we are planning to aim our film at teenager's ranging from 13-19, we will have to create our poster to attract this audience. I think that this can be achieved through simplicity.

Love Actually - Universal
Four Weddings and a Funeral - MGM
27 Dresses - FOX
The Devil Wears Prada - FOX
In Her Shoes - FOX
13 Going on 30 - Columbia Tristar
After looking at institutions I found that the majority of American rom-coms were created by 20th Century FOX. I found that British films we're made by Sony Pictures, such as Eat Pray Love, Friends With Benefits, and Just Go With It. Although these films are linked to British institutions, they are also linked to American ones, and are often funded by American money.

Eastenders vs E20

Which do you think most accurately represents youth, Eastenders or E20?
I feel that Eastenders represents today's youth most accurately in comparison with E20. I think that this is because the characters in E20 all fit the same typical stereotype's of teenagers. In Eastenders we see a range of stereotypes of teenages. For example, Libby was the 'geeky' teenager, who focused on her school work, whereas Lauren was the 'rebelious' teenager who got pregnant.

Which do you think caters best for their target audience?
I believe that Eastenders caters best for it's target audience, mainly because it is so diverse. It contains people of various cultures, ages and stereotypes. 

Do you think new stereotypes are being created?
In comparison with perhaps Eastenders or Coronation Street 30 years ago, the stereotypes which were featured then are very different to the ones which are shown now.

I generally feel that the branch off of Eastenders (E20) is a poor programme, mainly because all of the characters fit a specific stereotype, and don't show a variation. I feel that the storyline's are poor and predictable, and I think it is trying too hard to appeal to what they feel teenagers want to watch.