Final 'Lullaby' poster

After making all of the preparation for the poster, I started to put it all together. I started with the image which I took into photoshop and created its own layer. I then drew a text box and added the title 'Lullaby'. I chose a white colouring for the font, as this contrasted best with the background. Red is another popular choice for this text (as you can see in my previous post) but due to the fact that the blood is red on the hand, I didn't want to overload the use of the colour, which would take the focus away from the blood.

I thought this looked okay as it was, but was lacking in something, so I added a motion blur to the font, (by 500 pixels on the horizontal axis, and 20 pixels on the vertical axis). I felt like this gave a ghostly feel to it, which suits the storyline to our film. 

I then created the billing block for the bottom of the poster on another photoshop document, which is a common feature to most film posters. I did this by downloading another font, and a template which allowed me to simply fill in the gaps of where text could be personalised to our own film. I then made the background transparent, and changed the colour of the text from black to white, in order to contrast well with the background, and not to contrast too much with the font of the main film title. Also, white is the typical colour choice for the billing block (again, this is evident in my previous post). 

Due to the fact that there has only been me and Ashleigh creating this trailer, I used only our two names (apart from Ellie and Holly's name, who we added to the actresses section). This looks unusual for a normal billing block, as there are usually a lot more names which make their appearance on here. 

As our trailer would probably be an independant film, I decided to add the logos of film festivals such as the logo from the Cannes film festival and the Tribeca film festival logo. I google searched the logos, then saved them and opened them up into photoshop. I then made the backgrounds transparent and inverted the colours, so they turned from black into white. This would fit with the colour theme of my poster. I placed them onto my poster, and fitted them into appropriate spaces in my billing block (which is a common place for film festival logos). 

There still seemed to be something missing, so I looked at the images I had gathered from Google images, and saw that on many of them, a piece of text stating the directors of the film ('A film by...') was placed above the title. I added a text box with this text onto the poster, and changed the sized of the fonts accordingly. I felt that this seemed to fit well onto the poster. 

At this point, I quite liked the poster how it was, however, I added the final touches by adding a vignette to the edges. I copied the original layer of the image and then drew a circle around the edge. Then, I feathered the edges by 200 pixels. I inverted the circle, and then lowered the brightness. This produced a very faint vignette, which was minimal, but was quite effective. 

I also added a small piece of text underneath the billing block 'Coming Soon', which is another feature that I have found common on film posters in general. I made the text red, using the pipette tool I managed to get a similar colour to the colour of the blood. This maintained the colour theme. Here is the final poster that I created;

Film Poster font options

Another important component of a film poster is the choice of font. I didn't want to use a font that was unprofessional looking like Times New Roman or Comic Sans, so I decided to look on font website 'Dafont' for suitable options. There were so many options on this website, and I wasn't sure whether to use a serif or sans serif font, so I did a simple google search for 'Horror film posters'. Here are some of the posters that I saw;

As you can see, serif fonts seem to be the most popular for horror film posters, so I looked on the serif section of Dafont. I narrowed it down to 3 fonts, which looked like this;

Although they all look relatively similar, I decided to go with the middle one because of the enlarged first letter. I really like this font as it is quite bold and looks the most professional. 

Poster Mock up

Before starting to create my poster, I made a mock up of how I wanted it to look. This plan will help me to focus my ideas to a point where I know exactly what I want to do. I made this mock up in publisher, which is very simplistic. After looking at my posters inspiration and deciding on what photograph to use, I planned out where I wanted the image, title and billing block to be.

Poster photograph edit

After I decided which photograph I wanted to use on the poster, I edited it in photoshop to make it look more appropriate for a horror genre poster. First of all, I removed any blemishes from the hand using the spot healing tool, which took away imperfections such as the drop of fake blood near the top of the hand. Next, I selected the skin of the hand and deselected the blood. 

Then, I used the desaturation tool to make her skin look less alive and more like a dead and lifeless hand which was the concept behind this photograph - this is the hand of the dead girl from the trailer, which actually links with the shot of the same hand dripping blood. After desaturating the skin, I then altered the brightness and contrast accordingly, making the blood a deeper red and more realistic (previously, the fake blood looked to bright which made it look actually fake). Below is the original image and the final image which I will use for my poster. 

Poster photoshoot

During one of our filming sessions, I took several photographs on one of the shoots. This shoot was from this scene that will be featured in our trailer of a hand dripping with blood. As I took the photographs, it became clear that I used the inspiration from the 'Let the Right One In' illustrated poster that I had seen before. On my the hand (of my sister, who is one of the main characters in our trailer) we used fake blood that we had bought in a shop to create a realistic consistency and colour, rather than trying to make our own synthetic blood. As the blood trickled down her hand, I managed to capture the moments as it dripped, producing these images; 

It took a while to set up the composition of the photograph the way I wanted it, because the hand kept making strange shapes that did not resemble a hand at all (more like a claw). I directed my sister, and poured over the blood myself, before taking this photograph. I also took it in the late afternoon after I got in from school, so the lighting was not ideal as it was a bit dark, however, this created a more eerie feel as the deep red of the blood strongly contrasts against the blue/ purple of her hand and the background. My favourite of these shots is the second to last one as the drop of the blood is in the position that I wanted - the drop is suspended in motion which is what I hoped to capture. This photograph suggests death, without showing the explicit image of a dead body, which may be too horrific for a poster which could be displayed in public places. I will later edit this photo in photoshop to enhance the red of the blood, desaturate the colour of the skin (to make it look more dead) and to remove any blemishes from the hand, and add the necessary components to make the photo into a film poster. 

Let the Right One In Poster Analysis

After doing research into horror film posters, I found the illustrative poster for the 2008 film, 'Let the Right One In' to be particularly inspirational. Here is my analysis of the poster on Flickr. I hope to use this as inspiration for my own poster, as I really like the use of contrasting colours and the use of blood to implicate death without the explicit image of a dead body. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoeradford/12818949874/

Poster inspiration

As well as our film trailer, I wanted to begin to look at inspiration for my ancillary products; my magazine cover and film poster. I started off by looking at film posters for 'Let the Right One In', from which we gained inspiration for our trailer, and I found many interesting film posters for the film (as shown below).

I like these posters as they give a feeling of mystery - the face of the main characters are hidden/ distorted and in the last poster, they are not shown at all. Instead, the focus is on the hands of the characters, and the colours in all posters are desaturated, apart from the vibrant red blood in the third one. I also really like the composition of the last one, with the drop of blood suspended in the air. I will use these as inspiration for my poster.

Draft of our trailer

This is one of the drafts of our trailer - the editing of the visuals in the trailer is almost complete, however the sound is still unfinished. We are unsure how to edit the sound from that point, and so we will ask our peers for their opinion and change it accordingly. 

As you can see, we have stuck to most of the ideas that we originally looked at in the storyboards, however, we have then developed these ideas and added more shots (for example the enitre piano scene). I think that by adding these scenes, more tension has been created. 

Spectre House Ident

After looking at the Napoleon Dynamite introduction scene, we have had an idea for our trailer ident. As it would most likely be an independent film, we wanted to create something that gave it a slightly independant feel to it. We wanted to create some sort of either stop motion or animation clip of film, where the name of our production company 'Spectre house Productions' would appear, and we decided to have a go at making a flip book. I recently bought a small book which could be used in this way, which had squared paper (to help to keep the titles the same size) and a flexible cover so that it could bend appropriately. As with the Napoleon Dynamite title sequence, we wanted the ident to have a handmade element to it, but for it not to look as cheerful as that did, so we made the font look handwritten, but not in the pretty looking curly fonts that Napoleon Dynamite uses. Also, we considered the colours of the ident - we didn't want there to be a lot of bright primary or pastel colours as we felt that it would look too much like the ident of a comedy, romance or teen movie, so considering that the flip book was orange, we placed it on a black background (orange and black are colours that, when combined, are often associated with halloween, which is linked to the horror genre). Below is the original out take of our ident (the clip looks best played in 1080pHD).

Clearly, the length of our ident is far too long, so we had a go of editing it to see what it would look like sped up. Below is the first clip that we had a go of speeding up, which was edited in Windows Live Movie Maker.

As you can see, the clip looks slightly disjointed. We later had a go of editing it in iMovie, which produced a much more fluid flow, so we will be using this for our ident. Also, when we edited the clip in iMovie, the sound sped up too (which was originally just the ambient noise of the television in the background). This created quite a creepy, squeaky/ scratchy effect which seemed to fit into the horror genre quite well. We kept this noise in the background.

Art of the Title - Research for our Production Company Ident

Recently, I watched film 'Napoleon Dynamite' (2004), and I was inspired by the opening title sequence to the film. Obviously this film is an 'indie' comedy (which actually screened at the Sundance film festival), and so the title sequence is light hearted and quirky, and although we are producing a horror film trailer, I liked the unusual quality that it had. We researched the title sequence and found an article explaining how the title sequence was filmed with extremely low budget in a basement. Due to the fact that our trailer is a horror trailer, our ident would have to be much darker, but we liked the independent feel to it. We may use this as inspiration for our own ident, obviously making a short sequence that is more suited to the horror genre. Below is a link to the article explaining about the title sequence and the full video.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004) — Art of the Title

Second Day of Filming

Today we managed to film the shots which we were unable to get yesterday - today they were much more successful due to the lighting. We also filmed several planes taking off from the runway of John Lennon Airport. The only problem that we encountered with this, was that the aeroplanes seemed to bank round to the right after taking off, so we could not get a shot of a plane flying directly overhead, which is what we originally planned. We did get some shots though which we will use, and which will hopefully (after being edited) fit well with the rest of the film. Here are a few of the shots that we took here;

Clearly, the first shot was unsuitable for our trailer as it was a private plane, however, the second shot is much more suited to the storyline. We will be using this clip within our trailer to show the journey of the character from Britain to Paris. 

Beginning of the filming process

Today was our first day of filming, which we completed in the location in Crosby. We got through the shots that we planned to today, however, we came across a set back - due to the fact that we filmed in the house after school, the lighting was severely restricted, especially in the shots in the loft area. Even though we are quite happy with the shots that we managed to get, we will need to return to film some more. We hope to go back tomorrow on Saturday, so we can go earlier when the light is much brighter, and we also hope to travel to Speke Hall (which is situated right next to John Lennon Airport). There is a path that runs around the end of the runway, so we will hopefully be able to capture an aeroplane in flight, which is one of the necessary shots that we need. 

Let the Right One In Trailer Analysis

After looking at several film trailers for inspiration, we have decided to use some components of the trailer for 'Let the Right One In' as inspiration for our own trailer. Below is an analysis of the trailer, looking at the use of sound, mise en scene, cinematography and editing.

Let the Right One In - Trailer Analysis 

Within the trailer, certain features, such as the use of blue filters, the build up of tension through fast cuts and an elongated shot at the end (which draws the trailer to a close), have caught our eye.

Horror film trailer inspiration

After fully analysing several horror film trailers, we decided to look at some more unusual film trailers to look for inspiration for our own trailer. 

The first trailer that we looked at was for the 2008 Swedish film 'Let The Right One In' (which was later remade for an Amer audience starring Chloe Grace Moretz in 2011). Filmed in Sweden, the film is set in the winter, which means that harsh white and blue tones are prevalent throughout. The coldness of the tones are linked with the horror genre (obviously the polar opposite to the warm tones you may get in a comedy or romance). With the main characters of 'Let The Right One In' being children, it helped us to get an idea of how to portray our child ghost in our trailer. As well as this, the fact that the film is Swedish meant that the international trailer did not have much dialogue in it. Our trailer has one main character, and almost pushes the normal conventions of a film trailer, in that she will have no one to interact with. The use of sound in this trailer is important, and therefore, we will have to carefully think about the use if sound in our trailer. Also, the last 20 seconds of this trailer is a single shot of snow falling. This scene is literally and figuratively chilling, with a shrill echo playing as the snow is falling. The use of text over it is effective, and it is a very effective way to end the trailer, from the crescendo of the music beforehand. The contrast of the red of the title against the black and white of this last shot is very eye catching, and this scene has given us many ideas for our own trailer. 

Another trailer which caught our eye was the 1980 trailer for Stanley Kubrick's film 'The Shining'. The rising credits alongside the loudening, creepy music with the still frame of the elevator builds a lot of tension, and the flood of red 'blood' (at 0:55) is a very effective way to insinuate death, without showing a dead body. This teaser trailer is quite clever, and we may use this as inspiration for part of our trailer. 

Cinematography shot practice

Before we went out to shoot our main footage, we decided to have a go at some initial shots of film, to practice the shot types that we'd like to use. To shoot our trailer, me and Ashleigh are using our DSLR cameras (Nikon D3100). Due to the fact that they are DSLRs, it means that we can get cinematography effects that we wouldn't be able to achieve on a normal digital recorder, such as a pulled focus. For these few shots we used my Nikorr f/1.8 50mm lens - the high aperture meant that we could capture a very shallow focus. 

One of the main shots that we'd like to use is that of a record playing. Here are a few shots that we got;

This shot was taken of the record of the 'Blade Runner' film soundtrack, produced by Vangelis. This is just atmospheric music, and the fact that it is on vinyl gives it a crackled effect (best viewed in 720p HD). I took this video handheld, which is clear as the video is slightly shaky.The next few videos are shots of the record 'Tubular Bells' by Mike Oldfield. This song is from one of the most famous horror films of all time 'The Exorcist'. Clearly, this record, being associated with such a well known horror film gives off an eerie feel to it. I took these videos with the camera on a tripod, and they are visibly smoother.

These clips were just experimental, however, I like the effect this produces - after looking at the results of our questionnaire, cinematography was an important component in making a successful and interesting trailer, so we will consider other interesting cinematography features to include. 

Film distribution

From our research, I think our film would be an independent film instead of a blockbuster release. I wanted to do some research into the distribution of films, as it is an important part of the post production of films. I looked at some research as to how films are distributed and who they are distributed by. 

Distribution is arguably one of the most important parts of the film industry. The process of distribution involves the releasing and sustaining of films in the market place. In 'blockbuster' Hollywood films, distribution, production and exhibition can operate effectively when 'vertically integrated', however, in the UK, distribution is more focused on marketing globally across local markets. In the independent sector however, this vertical integration does not occur as often. The producers of independent films tend not to have the long-term economic links with distributors that Hollywood producers would have. In this sector, distribution can be divided into 3 stages - licensing, marketing and logistics. 

Final decision on trailer title

We decided to go with the title 'Lullaby'. We thought that this reflected the atmosphere that we want to capture quite well and also fits in with the theme of the child ghost. Below is the video for the song by The Cure, and as you can see, it could fit in the horror genre with its creepy, strange and almost disturbing theme. 

We may even use this as the sound track for our trailer, however, we will need to do more research into possible sound tracks before we decide.

Film Title Ideas

Trying to decide on the title of our film was quite difficult, however, we came up with three names;

Apartment 12

We liked this name as it was simple, and linked directly to the trailer. The room number of the apartment in Paris is number 12, and it is direct to the point, and doesn't give away too much about the plot.

Lullaby

We derived this name from the title of the song by the Gothic/ alternative rock group The Cure. The Gothic connotations linked to the group would fit in with the dark feel to the atmosphere that we want to create. 

La File Fantome 

Because our trailer is set in Paris, we considered naming the film a French name. The phrase 'La File Fantome' is literally translated as the the ghost girl, which clearly fits very well with the plot.

We will later decide on the final name.

Prop List

Within our film trailer, we will need to use several props in order to make it interesting and life like. One of the props that we would like to use is my Crosley portable record player (which you can see in the photograph below). This will provide sound effects and will also play a role in the story of the trailer.

Obviously, to accompany the record player, we will use a vinyl record from my collection. We are still unsure of whether the actual audio from the record will be used, or whether we will edit over the sound with a tune or song of our own choice (if I do not own that record). 

Another important prop that we may need is a clock. I'm not sure what type of clock will look best - a vintage clock? A modern clock? I know that I would like it to be an analogue clock with a second hand, as it will be used to show the passing of time and to build up tension within the trailer. It may also be used for sound effects. A passport will also be a necessary prop which will add to the narrative of the story. 

The mise en scene and set dressings will also need to be considered. Things such as the items of clothing that the characters will wear, certain make up that they will have to wear, and also features of the actual set will be considered, and will be used to portray the certain atmosphere that we want within the trailer. 

Location Ideas

Before we begin shooting, we have decided to look at possible locations for filming our trailer. Due to the synopsis of our film, obviously there needs to be shots of Paris. In the summer, I visited the city and got several establishing shots. I think that the view from the apartment that I was staying in provided the right atmosphere for the film, and shots I managed to get of the Eiffel Tower would allow the viewer to instantly recognise the location. Below are some photographs that I took while in Paris, where I filmed several shots that we will use.

As well as this, we also need to get shots of Ellie in the airport, on methods of transport and even a shot of a plane in flight. I think that either Liverpool John Lennon airport or Manchester airport will allow us to get the shots that we need - both airports have areas where you can view planes taking off where filming could take place.    

Also, filming in the Parisian apartment for all of the shots was not possible, so we had to try to scout a location to use. We have looked at several houses that we could use, however, Ellie lives in a large Victorian house in Crosby, complete with wooden floors, high ceilings and a very large attic. I think this would be a good location for filming, as the aesthetics of her old house would be similar to that of a Parisian apartment. 

Cast List

In our trailer, we have asked my friend Ellie Bray (17) to play the main protagonist. Ellie and we have been friends since we were very young and so she feels confident in portraying a character for the film. Although she has never seriously took part in acting roles before, she is a very confident person, and her interest in fashion (she studies a fashion course at college) means that she has participated in several runway shows. I trust her as I know that she will take the role seriously. Although she is only 17, she looks old enough to play a character who is a couple of years older than herself, and I think she will fit the role accordingly. 

For the role of the ghost girl, we have asked my younger sister, Holly (14), to take on the part. Again, she is a very confident person, and I know that she will take it seriously. I think that Holly will represent the character well, as when dressed in the right clothing, she will look convincing as the character. 

Initial storyboards

These are pictures of some of the storyboards that we drew up for our trailer. These will help us when filming and give us an idea of what to shoot, and how to put together the clips when editing. The storyboards, however, are not definite, and during the filming and editing process, certain features of the trailer may change and more may be added in.

Final Production Company Name

After considering all of the previous options, me and Ashleigh decided on the name 'Spectre House Productions'. As I mentioned, 'Spectre' is the French spelling of the word 'Spector', which is another word for ghost. We wish to use the location of Paris for some of our filming, so the French spelling of the title gives off a subtle French feel. As our trailer is based around the story of the ghost of a young girl, it links well to the connotations that we want to portray. We have not yet decided on how we want our ident to look, but we will develop some ideas and finalise one that we will use in our trailer.

Film Trailer Idea Synopsis

As I have previously mentioned, the trailer will be within the horror genre. After discussing possible plot ideas for our film trailer, we came up with a simple log line to sum up the story line. 

A girl moves to Paris, however the apartment she moves into is haunted by the previous owners young daughter who was killed - the girl has to figure out why she is haunting her and over come it.

We will later develop this idea, and will try to come up with ways of how to portray the main features of the plot within the trailer, in order for the story to completely make sense, from just 2 and a half minutes of film.

Product Company Name

After creating a mindmap, I have managed to narrow it down to a few names. I quite liked a few of the words on the mindmap, and I strung some together to come up with possible Production Company names;

Spectre House Productions/ Studios

The connotations of the word 'Specter' produce an image of a ghost like figure, ghosts being common features of horror films. I think that this would fit in well with the film genre that I hope to portray through my trailer. I also used the spelling 'Spectre', as this is the French spelling - we have had several ideas of shots in Paris, and so this could be relevant here.   

Locked Door Productions/ Studios 

I liked this name, as it produces connotations of mystery, as well as horror. Questions could be asked, such as what is behind the door? This could create an eerie feel to the name, as it could be something frightening (which would be appropriate, due to the fact that our trailer would be a horror).

Fatal Fear Productions/ Studios

This name came about as I linked the two words together through alliteration. The connotations of the words both fit in with the horror genre, and due to the fact that they both begin with an F, the name flows quite well. 'Fatal Fear' suggests that something is so frightening that it is deadly, which definitely links to horror.

Heartbeat Productions

I quite liked this name, as it is a bit more suggestive in the fact that it may not just link to the horror genre. The word 'heartbeat' may have connotations of love, but in more depth, it could link to the actual heart, which could link to blood (which is obviously linked to the horror genre). Another word for heartbeat is also pulse, and when frightened, the pulse (or heartbeat) is raised and made quicker. When analysed, the meaning behind this name is subtle, yet suggestive of the horror genre.

Black Raven Productions
This name could have several different meanings behind it. The word 'Raven' is associated with the bird, which has an ominous black body, and when in flight casts a dark silhouette in the sky. This connotation of darkness can be linked to the horror genre. Also, raven's are known to have powerful links with mythology across the wrold, throughout many different cultures. It's most famous reference is in Edgar Allen Poe's poem, 'The Raven', which although is not strongly linked with horror, within the poem, the raven (who is a key figure in the poem) is called a 'thing of evil', and so ravens are commonly used within horror films as symbols of death and evil.

Film Production Company Name Initial Ideas

I drew up a mind map of words associated with the horror film genre, to try to think of ideas for the name of our own film production company. 

Horror genre mood board

After looking at many horror film marketing campaigns, I decided to create a mood board of images that are typical of the horror genre. I included images that I thought may help me when creating my own trailer - stills from films such as the Swedish horror film 'Let the Right One In' (2008) and Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining'  (1980) will provide me with visual inspiration. One still from the silent film 'Nosferatu' (1922) is probably one of the most recognisable images from horror film genre. I've also included some images from films that aren't from the horror genre, such as 'Amelie' (2001) and Ridley Scott's sci-fi film 'Blade Runner' (1982). The reason I did this was because in both of these films I like the use of lighting, cinematography and editing: in Amelie, the use of green filters and cantered angles gives it an eerie atmosphere (despite the fact that it is not a horror film) and in Blade Runner, blue filters and the use of bright white lighting gives it a feel of a horror film. I added images of posters (from films such as 'The Exorcist' (1973) and 'The Woman in Black' (2012) as the artwork/ photography caught my eye. 

The Woman in Black - Researching a full marketing campaign

On the 12th of March 2012, 'The Woman in Black', a horror film starring Daniel Radcliffe, was released in the UK. Focusing on the horror genre of film, I have decided to look further into its marketing campaign to help me when creating components of my own campaign. 

The first case of marketing for this film began with the showing of the first trailer, on the 10th of April 2011 at 'Kapow!' Comic Con in London. Due to the fact that many people who go to Comic Con are interested in films, and possibly even franchises like Harry Potter (which Daniel Radcliffe starred in), this may intrigue them. Later that year, in July 2011, another trailer was advertised before showings of the final film in the Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2'. Again, with the finale of the series, 'The Woman in Black' may provide fans of Daniel Radcliffe to see him in a new film. This choice of advertisement means that a specific part of the target audience is addressed (which may result in more viewings when the film is released). One month later, on the 24th of August 2011, posters within the UK were released, and by the 14th of October the official UK trailer was released. Posters were displayed around the country from billboards to the sides of buses. The posters, with the blues and black colouring linked together with the trailers.

On the 14th of October 2012, Momentum pictures released an official International trailer, and even a new version of the already established book (which was written in 1983 by Susan Hill) was released with a brand new cover, featuring Daniel Radcliffe. Again, this attracts fans of Daniel Radcliffe and even Harry Potter fans.

Daniel Radcliffe also appeared on around 10 magazine covers during the campaign and was even invited to be on both The Jonathan Ross Show and The Graham Norton Show (which was a first within the film industry).

As well as this, a national competition was held for people to submit their own original ghost stories, from the 31st of October. A video was filmed, featuring Daniel Radcliffe again requesting the entries, for which the prize was that the winning entry would be read out by him on the special features of the DVD when it was released. This competition promoted the film virally, and the competition was unique to this films advertising campaign, setting it apart from other films of its genre. 

The fact that Daniel Radcliffe endorsed this campaign would have increased the interest in the film as his fan base is quite large. However, apart from this, the synergy throughout the campaign allows the advertisements to be viewed by many different types of people, right across the country and internationally. The website and Facebook pages also added to the advertisements across the internet, and overall, the campaign reached a lot of different demographics.

Looking at the full marketing campaign for 'The Woman in Black' has been very useful. Due to the fact that we will be creating a trailer for a film that focuses on a similar storyline (and not a slasher horror etc), the campaign for this film may provide us with some inspiration. 

Little White Lies Magazine

As well as looking at Rue Morgue magazine, I decided to look at the British film magazine 'Little White Lies'. First issued in 2005, the magazine is relatively new, releasing issues (bi-monthly) featuring illustrations, writing and photography on cinema. The covers of each issue are beautifully designed, yet simplistic, and I hope to take inspiration from this. Below are some Little White Lies magazine covers. 

 'On The Road' issue, featuring Kristen Stewart, August/ September 2012 (most recent issue)

 'Where The Wild Things Are' issue, a collaboration with 'Huck' magazine, November/ December 2009

 'This Is England' issue, April/ May 2007

'The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou' issue, March/ April 2007 (1st issue)

There are several specific covers dedicated to films from the horror genre. Below are covers from two horror films, which I particularly like. 

 'Let The Right One In' issue, March/ April 2009

'Black Swan' issue, January/ February 2011

Maintaining synergy within Marketing Campaigns

When looking at marketing campaigns for films, we can see how each advertisement is linked through synergy. Previously, I have looked at the trailers and posters for both 'The Wolverine' and 'The Conjuring' and after analysing them, it has become very clear how the synergy between them connects the components in the campaign, allowing the audience to be able to view a certain image of the film, no matter what format the advertisement is that they are looking at.

Within the marketing campaign for The Wolverine, the synergy of the advertisements can be seen across several media platforms. The traditional aspects of a marketing campaign such as posters, magazine coverage and trailers are all used effectively in order to reach the largest amount of the public as possible. All of the components add together to create one big campaign which collectively advertise the film, and hopefully entice the audience to come and see the film.

Today, technology plays a part in the marketing of films, allowing trailers to be advertised and promoted to audiences right across the internet, not just on YouTube or the film website. For example, for The Wolverine campaign, trailers were released on YouTube, as well as on TV. Teaser trailers and the International trailer were released, as well as a 'Tweaser' - due to the diversity of technology, this 6 second trailer was created to be shown on the social networking site 'Vine' where people can upload and watch short video clips of 6 seconds or less (Tweet + Teaser = Tweaser). This means that the trailer could be viewed across several other viewing platforms, increasing publicity and the viewing numbers that the trailers received.

Also, several different types of posters were created. Printing advertisements in this format means that even the people who may not use the internet as much can be exposed to the marketing campaign for this film. From this we can see that the synergy of marketing today plays a huge role in making sure that marketing campaigns reach the widest audience - they hope to draw in a bigger audience for the film from this, hopefully enticing them to go and watch it in the cinema.

You're Next - Rue Morgue magazine cover analysis

After discovering Rue Morgue magazine, I decided to analyse one of their covers (this issue is from last month) which features a new horror film 'You're Next'. I could not find a magazine which featured The Conjuring, however, I like this cover and hope to take inspiration from this, and other Rue Morgue magazine covers when creating my own. Below is the cover that I have analysed. 

You're Next is a horror film, following a family who are attacked while on holiday by a gang of mystery killers. Here is the link for my analysis of the cover on flickr;

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zoeradford/9701938765/

Rue Morgue horror magazine - background information

Rue Morgue is a Canadian magazine based in Toronto, which takes it's name from Edgar Allen Poe's story 'Murders in the Rue Morgue'. Like Total Film, it was established in 1997, however, instead of just focusing on film, it is dedicated to the horror genre within the media, looking at films as well as books, comics, music, websites etc. Below is a short clip from YouTube, outlining the beginnings and development of the magazine. 

I decided to look at Rue Morgue to see the codes and conventions of a magazine focused entirely on the horror genre. Looking through the archives of covers on the magazines website (http://www.rue-morgue.com/) you can really see the development over the years, which has made it what it is today. Artistically, it has developed quite a lot, and below are some examples of issues over the past few years. 

I really like the use of artistic techniques and components of graphic design within the covers of this magazine, and I hope to use this as inspiration for my own cover.