Possible Poster Layouts

Below is a few sketches on ideas on how I want my poster to be designed, after doing a ton of research on how action posters look like in terms of layout

Potential Magazine Front Cover Contents

Name of magazine: Focus

Slogan: The worlds biggest movie magazine

Date: June 2016

Main Cover Line: The Program- Big star Jack Randell talks about his role in the upcoming movie

Other Cover Lines:

• Jason Statham
• Sylvester Stallone
• Scarlett Johannson
• The Expendables
• Undisputed 3
• The Equalizer
• And 10 more
• Samuel L Jackson on visiting London
• Chris Hemsworth talks shooting Thor

I decided the most appropriate release date is during the summer time which is why i chose the magazine to be a July special, since that is usually the time when big action blockbuster films get released.

Potential Magazine Fonts

Using the site Font Meme, I started to look at different style of fonts for my magazine front and as well it would be on my teaser trailer.I want my magazine to be like the mainstream like EMPIRE as I want it to be thick and bold as it represents the type of films its advertising.

Possible Names For My Film

Results Of My Teaser Trailer

When asking my audience about what type of music they expect to hear in an action trailer I got loads of respondents saying a mixture of fast, intense and dramatic music, which would be most appropriate for the genre which is also the type of music I found whilst doing my secondary research.

Answer to the second question the audience thought that the two protagonist should be distant in the beginning of the film which happens a lot in actions films and then when one protagonist saves the other from danger they end up getting together.

The majority of the audience replied 'yes' when asked if there should be taglines as it would make the trailer look more intense and as well the questions whether there should be actors names on it the audiences replies was 50/50 so I decided to put the actors names at the end since that's what comes up in most action trailers.

Lastly the font that will be used for my poster will also be the same on the teaser trailer, majority of audience thought the same , since I want to show the audience that they are representing the same film.

Questionnaire For My Teaser Trailer

Below is a questionnaire about action trailers and what the audience expect to see in them.The questions are based on what I have found when I analysed in my secondary research the action teaser trailers, this will help me in what conventions is needed to make it look authentic.

1) What kind of music will you expect to hear in the trailer?

• Slow and sad?
• Fast and intense?
• Upbeat and happy?
• Dramatic?

2) How do you think the two main protagonist relationship should be portrayed throughout the trailer?

• Close throughout the trailer?
• Close at the beginning and distant as the trailer progresses?
• Distant in the beginning and close as the trailer progresses?

3) Would you expect to see taglines in the teaser trailer?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

4) Would you expect to see the actors names on the teaser trailer?

• Yes
• No
• Not sure

5) Would you expect to see the same font as on my poster in my trailer?

• Yes
• No
•  Not sure

Results Of My Magazine Front Cover Questionnaire

As expected the majority of people voted that they expected the name of the magazine to be on top of the magazine as that would be more noticeable to the public, especially when the bottom half of the magazine will be blocked by other magazines when it is displayed on the shelves, so therefore the top would be the most sensible place to put the name.

All the respondents replied that an a list actor should be the main image on the magazine, since that is one of the main reasons why people buy the magazine or watch the movie is because of the actor and therefore it would appeal more to the public's eye as well as it would be more appropriate for my magazine cover as it is a mainstream magazine.

For a mainstream magazine the audience voted in favour for it to be dark and muted as that shows it is more an action type magazine.

A lot of the respondent said the references of the taglines should be on big a list actors, other big budgeted films, television series and possibly the directors who are bringing out big films. and lastly majority of the audience of said that the font that should be used is bold and square which shows that it is a mainstream magazine whereas rounded and soft would show its more for low budget films.

Questionnaire For My Magazine Front Cover

 To understand in what the audience are expected to see on a hollywood mainstream magazine.So I have compiled a list of questions about the layout, design and the content on what elements it needs to have to make people buy my magazine.

Below is the list of questions:

 

1) Where would you expect the name of the magazine to be?

• Top of the page?
• Middle of the page?
• Bottom of the page?

2) Who would you expect to be on the magazine cover?

• A director?
• An A list actor?
• 
  

3) What would you expect the colours to be like? 

• Dark and muted?
• Soft pastel?
• Bright?

4) Would you expect to see a large amount of text?

• Yes?
• No?
• Not sure?

5) What would you expect the cover lines to be referencing?

• Big budget films?
• Well known actors?
• Television series?
• Directors?
• Producers?

6) What kind of font would you expect to be used on the front cover of a mainstream magazine?

• Rounded and soft?
• Bold and square?

Results Of My Poster Questionnaire

Most of the results I got from the questionnaire does clarify most of my findings when I analysed my posters in my primary research.As expected the majority of the audience ( around 80%) said the main image for my action poster is an individual running whilst holding a gun and the point of this it shows the audience he is running away from something or chasing someone, which is common thing that happens in action films therefore shows danger and action.Some people wrote in the questionnaire they should be a group of characters but I decided against it.

The colour theme in almost all action posters is dark and muted to signify action.So I thought this would be appropraiate for my poster as well to make it look like a action poster.Obviously soft pastel colours and bright colours would be out of the question since these colour themes are often used for romantic posters.

The posters I analysed in my secondary research most of them had like a fire setting or something exploding which is why I chose a city on fire to be the background as it signifies danger/trouble and that something big happened in the film.The other prospects like the beach would not show its action but rather something more romantic/nice, some people chose the forest but decided not to go with that since it does not show it' scary/action as much as a city on fire.

I already done my research on the certificate of my film is going to be, which is a 12, quite a big number of people wrote in favour for the 15 certificate but I wanted to target a much bigger audience than that so opted against it.

The response for what style of font the poster is meant to have everyone wrote it should be blocky and bold as this font is used in almost every poster shoes it's action, as well as the the font case that everyone chose is upper case as it sticks out more and it signifies the action genre more rather than the lower which is often used for romantic genre.

Majority of the people wrote that the main season for a action film to come out is during the summer, most of the actio films posters I analysed said on it its coming out 'This summer' therefore mine will be coming out around the same time.

The question whether there should be the names of the actors should be on my poster, majority again said it should be so i decided to put my lead actors names on my poster.]

All respondents say they should be taglines on my poster .

I asked the audience whether there should be reviews on the poster.......

The final question i asked the audience is what kind of props/vehicles do they expect to see on a action poster and I gathered some of the best ones.Some suggested a individual shooting out of a car whilst being chased or chasing someone, another one is a individual  motorbike with a gun strapped around him.

Questionnaire For My Poster

After doing some secondary research for creating my poster in which I learned what elements/conventions are usually found in posters, I am now going to clarify it by distributing out a questionnaire to my audience of my action genre and asking them what type of elements/conventions are found in posters.Below is a list of questions that I am going to ask regarding the image, font, colour scheme, setting etc.

What do you expect the main image in a action poster to be?

• Individual running whilst holding a gun?
• Group of characters?
• A couple in a romantic?

What do you expect the colour theme to be?

• Dark and muted?
• Soft pastel colours?
• Bright and colourful?

What backround do you expect to see in the picture?

• City on fire?
• Forest?
• Beach?
• Mountain?
• Space?

What would you expect the certificate of a action genre to be?

• 12?
• 15?
• 18?

What font case would you expect the poster to have?

• Upper case? 
• Lower case?

What style of font are found in action posters?

• Blocky and bold?
• Metallic and futuristic?
• Gothic and sinister?
• Soft and curl?
• Calligraphy?

What season would you expect the action film to be released?

• Autumn?
• Winter?
• Spring?
• Summer?

Would you expect the names of the actors to be on the poster?

• Yes?
• No?
• Not Sure?

Would you expect to see the tagines on the poster?

• Yes?
• No?
• Not Sure?

Would you expect to see reviews on the poster?

• Yes?
• No?
• Not Sure?

What kind of props/vehicles do you expect to see on a action poster?

Please state below:

My Film Certificate

I have decided to make my film a 12 certificate as I want my audience to be aimed to at least 12 year olds. My film would be good for this criteria as it is bound to have a bit of sexual content, strong language and some fight sequences.

BBFC Research- Certificate For My Film

I am going to research on two certificates on the BBFC website, which is 12 or 15 and I am going to decide which one will be more appropriate for my film

Below is the link to the BBFC website where I done my research.

BBFC Website

Below is the guidelines for a 12

The BBFC's guidelines state that strong language (e.g. f***) may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification.Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category.There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category.There may be moderate language (e.g uses of terms such as ;bitch' and 'twat' at 12 or 12A.

Any discriminatory language or behaviour will not be endorsed by the work as a whole.whole. Aggressive discriminatory language (for example homophobic or racist terms) is unlikely to be passed at 12A or 12 unless it is clearly condemned.

Sex may be briefly and discreetly portrayed at 12 A or 12.Verbal sex references should not go beyond what is suitable for young teenagers.Comedy may lessen the impact of some moderate sex references or innuendo but frequent crude sex references are unlikely to be accepted at this category.There may be nudity in 12A films but nudity in a sexual context should only be brief and discreet.Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality.

Action sequences and weapons may be present at 12A or 12, and there may be long fight scenes or similar. Weapons which might be easily accessible to 12 year olds (such as knives) should not be glamorised in 12A and 12 works.

Sexual violence, such as scenes of rape or assault, may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated at 12A and 12.Such scenes must also have a strong contextual justification.

Some horror films are passed on this category Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12 or 12A as long as horror sequences are not too frequent or sustained and the overall tone is not disturbing.

Dangerous behaviour (for example hanging and suicide) may be present in 12A or 12 works but will not dwell on detail which could be copied or present those activities in a manner that children are likely to copy.Anti social behaviour should not be endorsed.

There may be infrequent sight of drugs misuse in a 12A or a 12 but the portrayal should not be glamorised or provide instructional detail

The guidelines for a 15

At 15 there is no upper limit on the number of uses of strong language (e.g. f****).Ocasionally there may be uses of the strongest terms (e.g c***) depending on the manner in which they are used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification.However, continued or aggressive use will not normally be passed 15.There may be racist , homophobic or other discriminatory language, and the work could explore themes relating to this, however at 15 the work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

At 15 sexual activity can be portrayed, but usually without strong detail.Some sex scenes can be quite long at this category.Though nudity may be allowed in a sexual context there will be usually be no strong detail.There is no constraints on nudity in a non sexual way or educational context.There can be strong references to sex and sexual behaviour, but especially strong or crude references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context.Sex and sex references are treated the same irrespective of sexuality.

Violence at 15 may be strong.It should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury, however, and the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.Strong sadistic violence is also unlikely to be acceptable.There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence (e.g descriptions of rape or sexual assault in a courtroom scene or in victim testimony) but any portrayal depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.

At 15 there can be strong threat and horror as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat.

At 15 drug taking may be show but the work as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse (e.g. through instructional detail).

The misuse of easily accessible and highly substances like aerosols or solvents is unlikely to be acceptable at 15

Dangerous behaviour such as hanging, suicide and self harming should not dwell on detail which could be copied

Whether the depiction of easily accessible weapons is acceptable will depend on factors such as realism, context and setting.

My Billing

Potential Crew For My Billing

To do my own billing I need to compile a list of people who will be producing my film.So I researched online on people that has worked on action films and I will be using the names for my teaser trailer and poster

Music: Alan Anthony Silvestri is an American composer and conductor who works primarily in film and television.He is best known for his frequent collaboration with director Robert Zemeckis, including composing major hit films such as the Back To The Future trilogy and Forrest Grump as well as the superhero films Captain America and The Avengers.

Costume Designer: Sanja Milkovic Hays is a costume designer and she worked in films such as Furious 7, Total Recall and XXX.

Editor: Audrey Simonaud is an editor who has worked in big films such as Taken, Colombiana and 3 days to kill.

Production Designer: Hughes Tissandier is a production designer and art director , known for Taken, Lucy and The Transporter.

Cinematography: Mauro Fiore is an Italian-American cinematographer he is known for his work on Avatar, Training Day and The Island.

Executive Producers: Boaz Davidson is an Israeli film director, producer and screenwriter, he worked in action films such as Rambo and The Expendables.

Ryan Colin Kavanaugh is a film producer and film financier.He is the founder and current CEO of Relativity Media, he has produced films such as Zombieland, The Fighter and Limitless.

Trevor Short is a well known producer who has worked in big action films such as the Expendables and Rambo.

Writer:Robert Mark Kamen is an American screenwriter who has been writing major motion pictures for over 25 years.He is best known as creator and co-creator of the Karate Kid and transporter franchises as well as the 2008 action thriller Taken.

Producer(s): Alan Siegel is the CEO of Siegel-vision, a brand identity.He is the founder and chairman Emeritus of global brand firm Siegel+Gale.He has produced action films such as Law Abiding Citizen and Olympus Has Fallen.

Steve Chasman is a producer who is known for his work in action films such as The Transporter Franchise and The Bank Job.

Terence Chang is a Hong Kong and American film producer.He has worked in action films such as Bulletproof Monk and Hard Boiled.

Director: Olivier Megaton is a French director, writer and editor best known for directing The Red Siren, Transporter 3, Colombiana and Taken 2&3.

Stunt Coordinator:Dominique Fouassier is a stunt coordinator and is known for his work in The Transporter 3, Go Fast and Ronin.

Weapons Design:Christophe Maratier is a weapons designer and is known for his work in Ronin, Special Forces and Killer Elite.

Billing Analysis

In this post I am going to analyse two billings from the action films Jack Reacher and The Equalizer.This will show me what type of billings will come up in actions poster and it will me when I do mine so it will make it look more authentic

I analysed these billings and this is what I found in order:

1) The production companies

2) Names of actors in the film

3) Name who produced the music

4) Name of costume designer

5) Name of editor

6) Name of production designer

7) Name of director of photography

8) Name of executive producers

9) Name of who it was written by

10) Name of who it was produced by

11) Name of who it was directed by

Now I know how to organise my own billings when it comes to make my own poster.

Potential Production Companies

In this post I am going to look at potential production company that will produce my type of film which is an action genre.For my teaser trailer it will need to have a production company logo .I am going to look at action films and comply a list of companies that potentially will produce my film.

1) LIONSGATE

Lionsgate is a Canadian American entertainment company,it is the most commercially successful mini major film and television distribution company in north america and the seventh most profitable studio.It produced some big action films such as the Expendables franchise, John Wick, Rambo, Dredd and Crank High Voltage.

2) MILLENNIUM FILMS

Millennium Films is an American independent global film distributor based in LA.The company acquires and distributes feature films, television series and specifically programming.It has produced action films such as Ninja. Homefront, Undisputed 2 and Olympus Has Fallen.

3) Dark Castle Entertainment

Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production label, it is a division of Silver Pictures, a production house formally affiliated with Warner Bros, now affiliated with Universal Studios.It produced The Losers, Unknown and Bullet To The Head.

4) Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures Industries is an American film production and distribution studio of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.It is one of the leading film studios in the world, a member of the so called Big Six.They have produced action films like 'Spider Man 3, Spectre, 22 Jump Street and RoboCop.

5) Warner Brothers

Warner Bros is an American entertainment company that produces film, television and music entertainment and its one of the major film studios around.It produces some big action films such as The Matrix, The Dark Knight Rises and American Sniper.

6) Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is a film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor, consistently ranked as one of the 'Big Six' film studios of Hollywood.It produced big action films Beverly Hill Cops, Mission Impossible and Iron Man.

Possible Magazine Names

I decided to make my magazine front cover to be like the Empire magazine.So I am now going to list of potential names for my magazine which will be appropriate for the type of films I will be talking about.

1) Action
Immediately suggest genre but I dont want my magazine to exclusively focus on one type of film.

2) Final Cut
Instantly suggest film but implies editing rather than mainstream Hollywood films.

3) Zoom
Another film term that audiences recognise .Also good because it suggest that the magazine will be looking at films closely.

4) Hollywood
Tells the audience that the magazine will be focusing on mainstream movies though I would like a shorter title for my magazine.

5) Splice
A shorten punchy title but again it sounds like the magazine focuses on editing.

6) Montage
One of my favourite names for my magazine though it also implies  focus on editing and sounds like the kind of name that would be better for a magazine that deals with independent films rather than mainstream movies.

7) Blockbuster
Instantly suggest to the audience that the magazine will deal with big budget Hollywood movies but again it's quite a long name which means the mast head might not be very eye catchy.

8) Close Up
Suggest looking at films in detail and is a term that readers would instantly recognise.

9) Focus
Again suggest looking in depth at films, this might work with the addition of the word film on the masthead

There is one or two words that are potentially good for my magazine but before I decide, I am going to conduct a focus group and will ask them to rate my potential title out of 10.

Empire Front Cover Analysis 3

• The masthead is in red, thick and bold font
• Again like the previous 2 front covers the dominant image are well known actors from a big blockbuster film
• The cover lines include big blockbuster series and famous actors
• The background is again reflecting the type of movie its trying to produce
• The main cover line is big and bold font which is usually for the main film it's trying to promote

Empire Front Cover Analysis 2

• The Masthead is in a big red bold font
• Again the dominant image are well known actors who are all starring I the same big blockbuster film
• The background is as well reflecting the dominant image and the type of film its trying to promote 
• Cover lines include big blockbuster films such as 'Ant-Man' and 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'
• More cover lines on famous actor such as 'Jennifer Anniston', famous musician 'Kurt Cobain' and a film director 'Michael Mann'
• The main cover line font is thick and bold which is usually for the main film of the magazine that its trying to promote

Empire Front Cover Analysis 1

• The dominant image is a recognisable actor from a famous blockbuster movie
• The large bold font usually show that its talking about a big blockbuster film 
• The cover lines are famous actors who are starring in movies
• There are loads of other cover lines about other big blockbuster movies
• The background of the magazine is usually dependant on the dominant image and the movie its promoting
• The fonts on the other cover lines are smaller than the main one.

Empire Magazine Front Cover Analysis Introduction

I have decided to use the magazine Empire which is a big Hollywood blockbuster magazine which is what I want my magazine front cover to look like.I am going to be analysing three covers of Empire magazine in terms of layout and content so I will know what type things to include when I do my own magazine front cover.

Action Taglines

In this post I am going to look at taglines from various different action posters and to see the common theme between them, this will help me when I put my own tagline in my teaser trailer and poster which is part of my marketing campaign.

1) Wrong Side Of Town

2) WAR

3) Drive Angry

4) Commando




5) A Good Day To Die Hard

6) First Blood

7) The Dark Knight Rises

8) The Raid

9) Furious 7

10) Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol

11) A Single Shot

12) Unknown

13) Samourais

14) The A Team

15) Snitch

16) Expendables 3

17) 13 assassins

18) Jack Reacher

19) From Paris With Love

20) The Losers

21) Smokin' Aces

22) Colombiana

23) Killer Elite

24) Contraband

25) Bullet To The Head

From the following taglines it is often split up into three brief phrases, as well as there is a common action/revenge type which make it sound urgent/pacy and deals with the theme of revenge.It makes references to action in each of the taglines which highlights it is an action genre film.