I have chosen the magazine of 'Empire' to deconstruct because it is similiar to the genre of magazine that we plan to create (action) and it I have taken a lot of inspiration from it because of the quality and quantity that has been incorporated in it to make it a successful cover and persuade people to find out more about 'Watchmen'.
The whole of the magazine cover is aimed at trying to make the viewers read on and find out more about the films and watch them when they are released. The title may seem like it is just to introduce the magazine, but if made correctly, can have a lot of significance towards attracting the audience. For this magazine, the title is very big, bold and bright which attracts the audience straight away. It relates to the picture and the rest of the page well because the colour represents danger and action which is also what the picture shows. It also mixes well with the colour of the sub-titles as it is so much stronger and brighter than them so it stands out more and that representation of danger is important to get across straight away to the audience. The mixture of the two subtitles also helps when the red mixes with the red over the 'm' of 'watchmen' to represent blood which makes the audience know what kind of film it is.
As it is a magazine, pictures are always a main part of one to draw the reader in. As it is an action film, the characters are made to look very dangerous and scary in order to make the audience want to find out more about them. If the characters did not have the outfits that they had on, the audience wouldn't find it as interesting as they are not extreme or different in any way and they wouldn't want to know why they are dressed as that.
At the top of the magazine, there is a caption that reads 'The Year's Most Essential Exclusive!'. This is a big feature of a magazine cover as it makes the reader want to find out why it is so good. Even if it is over-hyping the particular subject, it makes the reader think this is an extremely good magazine and that this magazine has the biggest and best features in it.
At the bottom of the cover, there is a small section of films recently out as well as the main film shown. This is an effective part of a cover as it gives an idea of other information inside the main magazine and the reader will want to know of other films apart from the one broadcast mainly on the front cover.
All throughout the magazine, a range of different colours is used. This is used very well as it catches the audiences attention straight away. The audience will want to look at all different parts of the magazine and are not drawn to one particular part of it which is what they wanted to achieve. If the magazine was bland, a lot of people would automatically not want to read it. The colours also relate to the action film genre as it is exciting and action-filled.
This magazine cover has had a huge influence on me as I have learnt a lot about what needs to be included in order to create a successful magazine cover. Through what I and the rest of my group have learned from their individual deconstructions, I am very confident of creating a creative and enticing magazine.
Our group magazine deconstruction is from the magazine 'Empire' which is a very famous magazine. It is seen officially as the most successful magazine in Britain above Total Film and we as a group felt that we had to take inspiration from a magazine that is so popular with British films. Also the fact that the front cover broadcasts action film genre, which is our chosen genre for our trailer, makes it obvious to us to want to use it as a basis and inspiration for what we want to do in our film magazine cover.
The main feature of the magazine cover which jumps out is the picture of the main protagonist Robert Downey Jr as the 'Iron Man'. The use of costume attracts the audience as it is shows off his strong physique. This is typical of a main protagonist in an action film as he is strong and fierce. Also his stance of clenching his fists and frowning shows power and this is a big feature of a magazine cover. The character also appears to have a head in his hand and a bright device on his body. This is very common of action films as the audience will want to know what the thing is on his body and what and why he is holding something in his hand. The fact that the name next to the picture (Robert Downey Jr) is so famous, this makes the audience think that it is going to be a really good film as it can attract a top film star. There is also a small phrase next to the picture which says: "Attitude? You damn betcha!." This is effective as a lot of main characters in all films have an iconic catchphrase which represents their character personalities; with this one showing his dominance and attitude.
The use of colour is also a strong part of this magazine cover. The use of red in the main magazine title represents danger and suspense, which is what an action film genre is strong at producing if successfully made. The fact that most of the other colours used in the rest of the cover are lighter or more faded than the title makes it stand out more; and therefore the audience are drawn to this along with the title. Both of these things are what the producers want. The use of a grey faded background is effective for this cover because it gives off the idea of somebody walking through it. This leaves the audience on the edge of their seats and they are wondering what is through the murky mist. The only other colour used apart from those already mentioned is white. This is an effective colour as it is the perfect colour to mix in with red and grey. It is very bright and stands out over the text which is in smaller print.
The use of the sub-title also escalates the magazine and makes the audience want to read more into the magazine. 'Meet the new action A-list!' is very cleverly included as the audience will not know who the 'a-list' are. They will then want to know and buy the magazine. The use of the exclamation mark also gives off the tone of excitement and shock which is what they want their audience to feel when reading this statement.
To the right-hand side of this magazine cover, there is the use of images from other films with famous actors which the audience will recognise. This improves the magazine as there is more for them to find out about, rather than just the film used as the main attraction in the centre of the magazine. For example, the top picture shows Shia LeBeouf, who is one of the most successful actors of recent times. The audience will want to know about his film as well, as it is similar in many ways to Iron Man.
Also the use of additional features which show what else in the magazine, shows the depth and quality of the magazine. The fact they have squeezed in the information at the bottom shows how much the magazine has to offer to its audience, and it also is of very high quality and the audience will know and want to read about them as well. Overall, they get a lot of quality for money when reading, which is what we want to do for our magazine cover.
This has proved to the group through careful and concise research why this is one of the most successful magazines out there. The features of this magazine are very strong and we will aim to use these, challenge them and develop them as best as we can. We know that if we can get it near to the standard of this magazine, we will have produced a top-notch magazine cover.
I have decided to deconstruct a poster of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ which was a film directed my Martin Brest and included famous actor Eddie Murphy. It was a famous police comedy in the 1980s and I chose this on the basis of what we wanted to base our action trailer on and the era we wanted to do.
His character in this is a reformed criminal who is a successful police detective for Detroit. This attitude of his is shown in the poster with him in a relaxed stance on the bonnet of the car. This explains a lot about his character to the audience and they want to find out more about him and why he is holding a gun. He looks really relaxed and has casual clothing which isn’t usual for a police officer. The audience therefore get the perception of him not being a model officer and something of a character. The audience will want to know why he is so casual, what happened in the past and what he is going to do. His facial expression is cleverly used as it lures the audience to find out more about him. The way in which he raises his eyebrows shows that he is confident,
There are also an abundance of cars surrounding him which excite the audience because of their high cost and quality for that era. This tells the audience that cars will be a big part of the film and car-lovers are immediately drawn to this film. The cars are also very bright and attract the audience's attention as soon as you look at the poster.
There is also a caption on top of the main picture which leaves the audience wondering more about the film and wanting to watch it to discover what it means. "He's been chased, thrown through a window and arrested. Eddie Murphy is a Detroit cop on vacation in Beverly Hils". The word 'vacation' adds a lot to the poster because it adds to the excitement of it. The audience will think that the film will be an exciting journey and have an upbeat atmosphere along with a lot of action when it is said that he has been chased, thrown through a window and arrested.
An effect used in the poster is that Eddie Murphy has his foot on top of the 'Hills' part of the title. This gives off the impression of a dominant character who is 'stamping down' on crime in Beverly Hills. The audience will want to know what he is planning to do in Beverly Hills and if he succeeds in his mission.
The poster has very distinctly mainly used the mix of black, white and red. The idea of using red gives the idea of danger which is an effective connotation, especially for the word 'cop' in the title. The way in which he is sat on top of the car gives a connotation of confidence and relaxation, but with his foot on top of the sign, it also shows the dominance and the colours therefore affect the atmosphere of the poster.
Friday the 13th This trailer emphasises clearly what is needed in a trailer of a horror film and how to persuade the people who are interested in films of this nature to watch the whole movie. During the start of the trailer, there is a background voice immediately giving a warning to the audience about what had already happened at the the lake "Did you know a young boy drowned here? He was my son...and today, is his birthday". This immediately leaves the audience in suspense, until the loud sound of the truck strikes the audience out of their slumber. It then continues with different angles of different locations which could give clues about where the main action of the movie is going to take place. The shots then fade which indicates a peaceful opening. This is a good tactic for a start of a horror film because the audience will not know when something will spring out and surprise them. There are then a series of mid-shots which show some of the characters in the car on the way to their location. It shows a relaxed attitude from the characters and they have no idea of what is going to happen to them in the future, unlike the audience who are keenly and patiently waiting for when the change of emotion and reaction would eventually happen. After the woman on the board falls off her board when being pulled by the boat, there is a huge pause with a black screen for about three seconds which immediately symbolises to the audience that something is wrong and that this is where the trailer shows the start of the 'horror' element. The music up to this point symbolises peace and enjoyment. As soon as the woman falls off the board, the music grinds to a halt and the audience immediately sit up and take notice of this. The low angle shot of the woman in the water is extremely effective because the camera looks like something is in the water and because of the sudden stop of background music, the audience will find this quite mysterious. There is a lot of low key beats after this point which puts the audience on the edge of their seat, which is where they see the man on the side of the lake, which the audience will know is one of the 'badder characters' by the character's expression of 'oh my god!'. For the rest of the trailer, they mostly use sound effects to create tension and fear for the watching audience. After this sudden hairrasing moment, the trailer continues by going more in-depth and explaining to the audience what just happened. The characters go around after the woman is reported missing and are told that she is dead. After this, there is another big pause. These moments symbolise the most important and key moments in the film trailer and they are supposed to affect the audience. The trailer hasn't really properly exploded into life until after the pause, where it shows people screaming which is definitely the catalyst for the main sections of horror throughout the film. There are then a lot of successive close-up angle shots which are effective expecially from now on because the characters are now showing that they are scared and afraid of what is going on around them. The pace of the trailer suddendly picks up as well after this point with an average of two seconds per shot and this builds up the tension as well as the music's pitch going higher and higher with the audience getting more on the edge of their seats and waiting for the moment that something is going to suddendly break out and scare them. The moment that this happens is when one of the characters opens a curtain and the bad character is seen lurking behind her. After this, they use sound effects and the character's voices to create the tension and fear. They then use the title in a very offensive way to help to capture strong emotion out of the characters. For every number, something terrifying happens and the use of special effects with the numbers helped to bring an extra dimension. The pace of it then increases even further with pictures and actions that jump out of the screen one after another until the very end where the screams and shouting suddendly comes to an abrupt halt. The line that was said at the start is then repeated at the end as the narrator says '"Did you know a young boy drowned here? He was my son...and today, is his birthday".
For our group deconstruction we chose the starsky and hutch 2004 remake. We chose this film because it is an action film and includes some themes and ideas we may include in our trailer. In the beginning of the trailer we see the green notification message. This shows the audience that the film will be appropriate for all ages. The trailer opens on an establishing shot of the Bay City police station. This shows the audience the genre of the film before they even know the title. The scene then takes the audience inside the building to the office of one of the senior officers, two people come in, they are not wearing official uniforms so the audience can tell that they are either part of a separate unit e.g. detectives or that they are criminals however the way in which they come in with smiling jokey looks tells the audience that they are not criminals. This helps to set a time for the film as now all police have to wear uniforms. They sit down and start talking. One of the two men asks the other to touch his hair. This tells the audience that they are friends and makes them think they are partners. The senior officer talks to them with a sharp tone and the two other men stop playing about and sit up straight. The Warner brother’s logo then zooms in in many different boxes which then merge into one. This helps with the setting and time of the film as this is typical of films of this genre from the 1970's. This effect is used again in the next shot where the audience can see an old red ford gran Torino; this is an iconic image of the early 70's TV show of starsky and hutch. The car is shown from different angles doing different stunts; this is symbolic of a police car chase. The dimension films logo then swings on in front of a black background, this swing effect mirrors the car as it swings around into a U-turn. This is followed by a short clip of starsky and hutch chasing down a street on foot this is also shot with the same multi screen shot towards the end of the clip. This is followed by another quick shot of the car followed by a shot of starsky showing some karate down an empty corridor, this helps determine the genre of the film. The scene then changes to a shot of an interrogation room with starsky throwing a chair at a wall and then pulling a cigarette out of the suspect’s mouth and crushing it in his hands. This shows the audience the film is set in the time when police violence was allowed. This is followed by a scene with both starsky and hutch outside starsky seems to be getting worked up and angry whereas hutch seems calmer. This tells the audience tat the two characters are very different. It also helps to create an idea of the relationship between the two of them. The next shot is of hutch in a strip club. This helps the audience to get a better understanding of his character. This scene quickly changes to them in the office. Whilst starsky is typing up his paperwork hutch is talking to him. This shows hutch as being less responsible and as not doing his paperwork. This is followed by a couple of shots of starsky running on a rooftop and jumping off, landing on another rooftop and rolling along it. This is followed by a short close up shot of the police captain who tells them they deserve each other in a sarcastic, mocking tone. This shows the audience that the captain does not like them very much. This is followed by a clip of the famous car crashing out of a wooden fence and zooming down the street, sliding round and stopping just next to hutch, which still seems calm. This tells the audience about both characters. This is followed by a slow motion scene of starsky and hutch walking away from the car towards the camera. This is quickly followed by the appearance of a man walking through a purple bead curtain. The audience who have previously seen starsky and hutch will automatically recognise him as huggy bear by the clothes he is wearing. The members of the audience who do not recognise him may think he is the main antagonist due to the way he walks in and the low camera angle. This view will be changed by the sight of hutch hugging huggy. The scene then changes again to the main antagonist sitting in a deck chair, the large sunglasses and odd moustache will identify this to the audience. The next shot is of money in a suitcase being opened the shot is taken as a point of view shot but it is unclear as to whose view this is. This shot helps the audience to identify the plot of the movie. This is quickly followed by another scene of the main antagonist, on a boat, holding a man up on the side of the boat at gun point. He shoots him and we see a panic stricken woman duck to the floor. This shows the audience that he is an evil uncaring man and makes the audience happy to know that he will be brought to justice This scene fades to black and the next one fades in, starsky and hutch are talking to huggy outside, by their cars. They ask him some questions and he answers them, the scene then changes again to their car flying through the air and the titles of other movies made by the same company slide on to the screen. As the first one hits the car the image behind the red writing changes to sepia. The next title is already behind the car and the camera has zoomed round to the back of the car as it lands. The scene then shrinks into the centre of the next one as starsky and hutch are now on motorbikes and are driving together down a dusty highway. Starsky is applying a moustache as they go and they are both disguised as bikers. The scene then quickly changes to a fight in a bar with starsky and hutch taking on all the other people in the bar. This shows the audience that they are both able to fight which may insinuate that their will be a fight later on in the film. The next shot is of starsky running towards the camera on a street and like with the car titles his name is shown in big red letters telling the audience who the actor is and who the character is. The shot then changes to a group of cheerleaders practicing on a football field, starsky and hutch are their talking. Then the scene changes again to them both in a small kitchen drying dishes and still talking this shows that they are more than partners in the police team and helps the audience to better understand the relationship between them. The camera flicks to a shot of their girlfriends talking in the other room and then back. The next shot is of hutch holding his badge up and looking angry as he turns on the spot the red letters then come over his face and state the actors name and the characters name. The next scene shows both of them sitting in the talking room of a prison holding phones up to talk to a criminal. he comes out wearing a blue shirt with two symmetrical dragons embroided on the back and a hair net on this shows that he is working in the kitchens and he does not have to wear a prison outfit, they talk to him and he makes hutch show hi belly to him this shows the audience that he is a comic character and helps to back up the idea of this film being an action comedy. The next shot is of huggy bear and the titles slide in telling the audience the actors name and the characters name. The next scene is huggy dressed as a golfer walking on to the green to play golf with Reece feldman (the main antagonist) the camera then zooms up to a satellite dish on top of a nearby house. The shot then changes to starsky and hutch listening to what huggy and Reece are saying as huggy is bugged. This shows the audience that huggy is good and that starsky and hutch have thought up a plan. The next scene is of them both driving at night in the car with the cherry on this shows they are going to arrest someone. This quickly changes to them in a club dancing and then to a close up of hutch laughing. This is followed by starsky crashing through a door and rolling to the ground which is quickly followed by a shot of Reece getting away on his boat. The audience think he has gotten away but then the car is seen to be driving off of an open bridge into the boat. The title of the film then flashes up behind lots of the clips already seen playing out through different coloured filters behind the words as they spin round. The next scene is of starsky and hutch dressed as mimes at a party, starsky shoots through a garage door thinking he has just shot into an empty garage. Hutch has Reece in handcuffs and the guests at the part are all running away. The garage door is then opened to reveal that starsky has actually just shot a horse. This makes the audience see starsky as a bit headstrong, building his character. All the guests look at him and scream as the horse dies; he asks the pony if it is ok and then the titles flick up again. This is followed by the release date in red on a black background to make sure the audience know who this is aimed at. This is followed by a quick flicker of the credits and website for the movie.
As we have now decided to do an action film genre, we feel that through research of other films of this genre that the target audience that we should aim to reach would be teenagers and young adults. As it is 'action', the younger generation would mostly be more interested in a higher octane and action filled sort of film, but not too young as there are violent scenes throughout with shooting scenes and drug exchanges. This is why we feel that this target audience is definitely right for us. We are planning to interview some of our target audience to see if we were right in aiming at this audience. We are confident when asking the average teenager, they will want to watch our trailer and even though we feel we can possibly reach other audiences, we feel that teenagers and young adults will be the strongest majority for us.
In terms of gender, we are aiming towards the male category because of certain scenes we are aiming to create. Explosions, chases and a strong male presence is to be included in our film trailer and we feel that these elements will respond to a male audience instead of female. The fast pace and suspense that we aim to create will also attract a male orientated audience over a female one. We imagine our target audience in particular to be between the ages of 14-21. This type of age group is what we feel would enjoy this type of film genre as it action-filled, exciting and tense, which is what this age group through research and questioning, enjoys to see in a film.
-Our target audience would enjoy tv and films consisting of: Starsky and Hutch, Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes
-Our target audience would be between the ages of 15-25.
- Our target audience would like fast-paced, action-filled films with a gripping storyline.
-Our target audience would enjoy music from both an older era and a modern era as well (80s- now)
-Our target audience would wear very casual clothing and have a typical teenager/young adult look like our example audience member.
This is an image of a person we would consider to be part of our target audience. He aged 17, therefore fitting into the bracket of a teenger, who we are aiming this product at. This is what we based our product on as we are aiming our product at what he wants and what he will enjoy. He is an average teenager and through what he enjoys and likes, the action film genre links to him and we hope when completing our trailer and ancillary texts, that he will enjoy watching and so will others in the same age bracket.
We chose to change our editing software this year to some software that a member of our group had previous knowledge of using and we were keen to change from last year as the '' that we used then was very frustrating for our group as it didn't work well and we had to use it in school. Whereas with Sony Vegas, although we had to purchase it, could be used out of school and through research of the program before filming, we knew that it had a lot of the features and software that we needed to make a good action film. In our research of the software, we looked at clips of Sony Vegas on Youtube and purposefully looked for clips of what to do for people who haven't used the software. This then enabled us to learn the simple parts and then when we mastered this, we looked at more difficult parts of the software until we filmed our piece. We then knew exactly what we wanted to do with our film on the software as we knew exactly how to use it. Below is the software and a clip we used to get used to the software:
This step by step construction of what scenes we will produce is a big help for us as we can abide by this so when we go out and film, we know exactly what we will be doing, therefore we are able to concentrate fully on filming with everybody in the cast knowing their roles in each scene.
