Magazine Cover

I used Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 to create my magazine cover, I used Photoshop because it makes the product look professional and after a while the software became easy to use.

 

First stages of production:

 

This is a screen shot of the first stages of production, so far I had added the photo and used the "quick selection tool", this allowed me to remove the background quickly which is effective. I then added the images of hands I had taken and used the same tool and placing a few hands around the border of the page to look like they're reaching out for the boy. I used the "clone stamp tool" to erase the iris of the eye, this made the character on the cover look "possessed" and lifeless. After all of that I went round the edges of the person and the hands with the eraser to tidy them up.

 

Final stages of production:

 This is the product in its final stages of production, an effect, Conte Crayon, has been added to the image to link to possession as it made the image look ghostly and the black and white brings out the eyes, acting as a focal point. I followed the conventional layout expected on a Empire Magazine cover including the Masthead, imperatives/ puffs etc. To link my cover personally to my theme of horror, I used the eraser to gently rub the edges of the Masthead, Imperative and "cross" to create a distressed and grungy look. 

This is the Final look of the Magazine front cover:

I will explain my final product in more detail in my Evaluation.

Story Board for Trailer

I created a story board to make filming easier. It will make filming easier because I will know what clips are shot when and all the details needed. Therefore making filming my trailer quicker and more organised. Some shots have been changed to improve the "flow" of the trailer and make it easier to understand.

Shot 1- Establishing long shot of the street to show the audience where the action is taking place. Lighting source from the street lamps.
Shot 2-Shot of car appearing from the background. The car will be out of focus. Radio can be heard faintly.
Shot 3- Side mid shot of the side of the car, You can see the first character (Mum) driving and possibly the second character (Little Boy). Radio can be heard more clearly, music starts to tune out.
Shot 4- Close up of car radio. Music tuning in and out so is turned off.

Shot 5- The car runs over something, mid shot of car but so wheels cannot be seen. Shocked expressions on characters faces.
Shot 6-Long shot of car indicating and pulling over to the side.
Shot 7- Shot of mum getting out of the car, you can only see the characters legs as it adds a tense atmosphere because you cannot see the characters face or the environment around the character.
Shot 8- "From the creators of Saw and Insidious".

Shot 9-Shot of character looking under the car to see what she hit.
Shot 10-Shot of character getting up from looking under.
Shot 11-High angle shot of character (mum) looking around after noticing little boy isn't in the car.
Shot 12-"Based on true events".

Shot 13-Close up of mobile phone dialing "999"
Shot 14- "The following phone call was recorded...(Ringing tone heard)" Panning shot of car whilst characters speech is heard calling the police.
Shot 15-Long shot of car, villain is seen for the first time. Villain stands there and turns head towards camera then muffled phone noise is heard.
Shot 16-"9 months later"

Shot 17-Tracking shot of houses.
Shot 18-Tracking shot / medium shot of tree which shows a Missing Poster (Little boy).
Shot 19-Door bell noise is heard as 3rd character (main character) is seen for first time.
Shot 20- Mid shot of hall way "you can have Lucifer's room...".

Shot 21-Mid shot of stairs leading up to Lucifer's room, "it's straight upstairs".
Shot 22-Long shot of girl peering out from blinds, Bang noise is heard.
Shot 23-shot of wardrobe where bang came from. Eye line shot.
Shot 24-closeup of light switch then low angle of girl looking around. Light switches off.

Shot 25- Mid shot of mum and girl eating at table. Girl asks "What happened to Lucifer?" Mum replies "I don't know...".
Shot 26- "One minute he was here..." shot of little boy and mum in car driving.
Shot 27-"The next minute he's gone"  high angle shot of mum calling for Lucifer but her speech isn't heard over voice over.
Shot 28-blank screen while "disappeared is heard.

Shot 29-Low angle shot of girl looking into the attic.
Shot 30- girl asks "Who lived in this house before?", Mum replies "I'm not sure, why?" Close up of content in box.
Shot 31-Girl says "I found this box", Mum says "What's this sign?" Close up of sign.
Shot 32- "search devils symbol" Close up of search engine typing in sign, Search engine won't be Google.

Shot 33- Search results shown from shot of computer screen.
Shot 34-Close up of image of devils symbol "That's it! That's the symbol".
Shot 35- Devil appears from the background when characters are looking at the computer, bang noise is heard.
Shot 36-"When the angel leaves"

Shot 37-Mid shot/ high angle shot of girl on her phone at night, light source from phone shining on her face.
Shot 38-clicking noise is heard from the wardrobe, girl ignores it and lies down.
Shot 39-"The devil arrives"
Shot 40- either she looks back at wardrobe, nothing is there but when she turns back the villain is standing in the corner. 2nd option is the villain appears from the wardrobe. Heartbeat is faintly heard.

Shot 41- "There was something here, something was stood here" mid shot of girl and mum looking at wardrobe.
Shot 42-"we'll set up some video cameras, but I'm telling you nothing's here" close up shot of mum setting of video camera. CCTV effect. Static cut shot possibly.
Shot 43- Changed. Girl walks into bathroom to see devils symbol painted on the mirror.
Shot 44-"When he arrives"

Shot 45-Girl wonders where mother character is, Close up shot of girl. "Where are you?".
Shot 46- shot of kitchen door, extreme close up of door handle as girl twists it.
Shot 47-"Oh my God!" close up of girls face as she covers her mouth with her hands.
Shot 48-"You can't escape" Tense music starts followed by series of quick shots.

Shot 49- Girl tied to chair.
Shot 50- Tracking Shot of girl running through the street.
Shot 51-CCTV footage of bedroom door slamming shut.
Shot 52- Changed.

Shot 53- Shot of girl on the floor crawling with villain with knife following behind.
Shot 54- Close up f girls face and series of flashes from a light.
Shot 55-Title "Lucifer"
Shot 56-Final shot of villains face close up.
Shot 57- Release date and any other information.

My Film Magazine- Planning and Research

There are many film magazines to choose from, the most popular British film magazines are Total Film and Empire. I have decided to go with Empire Magazine because I like the layout of the front cover and I think that the Masthead, which is coloured red, will suit my theme of horror as it relates to blood, death and gore. 3 different Empire Magazine front covers:

Below are three drafts of my magazine front cover, I decided to make three because it shows a range of compositions that I have thought about. All my layouts have to be similar to Empire Magazines as that is the magazine I am choosing to advertise my film and it shows synergy, allowing their audience to feel familiar with the magazine.

Layouts
The layouts below are my rough guides of my ideas for my film magazine front cover. 

1.

This is my favourite layout out of the three because I like the composition of the page and there is no negative space. I may have the central image behind the masthead rather than over it as the magazine is well known and will have a larger target audience than my film. The background of the magazine will be a dark colour to match the theme of horror. I would like the central image to be a mid-shot as this is common among Empire magazines and shows the body language of the character. The film name will be placed clearly over the top of the central image with some small information about the film, for example "You think you know your family...think again", just something to make the audience want to know more and read on. I have included, beside my image, small images and a small amount of information about other popular films that may increase the audience to buy the film along with text at the bottom of the page. I may change the text at the bottom to what things are featured inside the magazine.

2.

I am not so keen on this layout as I don't like the 3 boxes on the left hand side as they look as if they would stand out for the wrong reasons on a horror film magazines cover. I also am not keen on the negative space between the 3 smaller images and the central image. I do however like how there isn't too much information so the viewers can focus on the central image.

3.

I think this layout looks a bit too boring and bland because there's not much interesting text and only one image on the page which may not appeal to a younger audience where images catch their attention over text. This would make the central image stand out more but the magazine may not be seen if it was put up next to competitor magazines because it looks less exciting.

I have decided to go with layout 1 because I feel it is the most attractive out of the three layouts.

Below are three drafts with the same composition as layout one but contain different images and texts.

Layout 1

This is my favourite layout as I think it looks a lot more interesting than the other two and is more innovative in its design. The hands pointing towards the character draw the viewers attention towards the center. I also like how the cross links into my trailer and how it has been adapted.
The layout doesn't look to over done or too plain.

Layout 2

I wasn't sure on this design layout and there isn't a focus point n the image to catch viewers eyes. Everything looks a bit out of place especially the films title as it looks as if it doesn't fit in with the page. The bottom of the page looks pretty empty and the cover lacks some content.












Layout 3

I am not a big fan of this layout because it looks boring as there is not much text surrounding the image and the image itself isn't reasonably eye catching. However i do feel that the image of just the face covered by the villains mask creates a sense of mystery and vulnerability linking to my chosen theme of horror












I have chosen to go with layout 1.
I have recieved feedback from 2 peers on my chosen layout. They talked about what they liked and disliked about my magazine cover draft. (Natasha Bowman and Lauren Melchor)
They said they found the image quite busy and intereseting to looks at, especially the hands that they found to be eye-catching, but they did say they found the hands a bit confusing. They said the magazine cover follows horror conventions like the use of the colour red. They liked how the 666 number on the plus bar linked to my film. They stated that the hands are like an enigma code for the audience wanting to know more. They also said how they thought the composition of the magazine was good and central.