FIRST DRAFT – THE FINAL PLEA.
HOW DID WE CREATE THE FILM POSTER?
WHAT INDEPENDENT FILM COMPANY TO DISTRIBUTE OUR FILM ?
Due to the fact our film is a British Independent film with unknown actors and directors, we would have fewer companies that we could approach about producing and distributing it. We would have to appeal to Independent British Film Companies for example Momentum pictures or Film 4. This is because, our locations, props and equipment are all of a low budget standard compared to that used by big blockbuster films.
An example of a film that film 4 distributed is Chalet Girl. In just one screen in the USA it made $192 in the USA. Its weekend Gross on 27 March 2011 in the UK was £339,947 in 380 Screens and on the 20th Mark 2011 in the UK it made £677,716 in its weekend gross, showing in 381 screens. This means that is ensured a great success for the tim.
Another example of a company that might potentially be interested in distributing our film is Momentum pictures.
This is also due to the film having an unknown cast and director, with a low budget to produce the film, and so therefore we have a low budget filming and would not be a large Blockbuster Hollywood film. Momentum pictures would therefore be perfect to distribute our film as it distributes numerous independent films. However, being part of an independent film company like momentum pictures may be problematic, due to the fact that we are using school equipment like a camera and tripod, the use of our own mise-en-scene and local location communicates that our film is of a low budget. seeing as we have a low budget we our unable to distribute our product , and have to rely on different sources to advertise and distribute our product, this could be very costly. Nevertheless Momentum pictures would be brilliant to distribute our film, as it aims to helps the growth of films rather than achieving big gross revenue such as large film distributors, for example Warner Brothers. The research and the promotion of the film is key, with these elements it would be a success.
Props and Costume
The Protagonist Charlotte-To challenge the idea that the protagonist tends to wear an item of red clothing to suggest something dangerous is going to happen, we have decided we want to steer clear from this prospect. This is due to the fact we want our film to include original elements. Instead, we will dress the protagonist in everyday normal clothing. This is effective as we want to fool the audience into thinking she is just a typical innocent girl and that she had nothing to do with the kidnap. This is why will choose for her to wear basic items such as a cardigan and jeans. It will also allow her to be able to conform to the age group of young teenage girls. This is demonstrated n the image below. It helps to represent her character as vulnerable as the pale neutral colours that she is wearing are associated with innocence.
However, towards the end of the film, we will have Charlotte in a change of clothing to show the negative transition of her character. This time, we will have her wearing darker coloured clothing as it will highlight her internal evil emotions. Moreover, it shows how she has allowed her inner character to come out to this unknown man she is seen with.
Masked kidnapper- We have come to the conclusion that we want to dress the character of the kidnapper in all black clothing. We feel that by doing this he will come across as a sinister and threatening character. It would also heighten the idea of the unknown as it will be unclear who this person is. It will give no clues as to who might be behind this dreadful kidnap. Moreover, black is usually associated with darkness which is a concept that conforms to most horror genres. By having this character it all black, it will almost suggest the idea that he has no conscience and therefore has an inability to experience remorse for his actions. Furthermore, it will put great emphasise on the mask that he is wearing, allowing him to come across as creepy looking.
The mother/ father/ sister- We want to have the family dressed in basic typical clothing such as jeans and tops. This way we feel it will help create the image of a stereotypical family all living what they think to be an ordinary everyday life. It will also allow our audience members to be able to relate with them as we know that a lot of our target audience could be from all ages.
Sight and sound – magazine inspiration
Sight and Sound magazine was also another favourite of ours to promote the final plea, as its main content is based on present films, and appeals to a international market, which will overall enable us to heighten the excitement for this film to a large consumer market as it becomes well known by all subscribers. As well as this to further increasing the recognition of our film , sight and sound magazine is published by a well known, excellent reputation company known as the bfl, which will hopefully increase the popularity of the final plea. This magazine is also further advertised and promoted through the internet of social media websites like Facebook and twitter. Regular updates and posts are made on this about every magazine cover meaning once again that our cover will be further promoted by a large number of people ( for example the 64.7 k followers on twitter)which will get them interested and encourage all audiences in watching our small independent film the final plea.
Moreover, the majority of the magazine covers have males on the front and the actor we have chosen to place at the front of our magazine is in fact a male. This would be effective, as it would link in well with the previous ‘sight and sound’ magazines, which will hopefully appeal to the market of the other independent films the magazine has previously advertised.
The colours used on the this magazine are all very distinct colours of bright yellow, making it stand out amongst other competing independent film magazines, with a profile shot of the male actor. we liked this as we felt that it shows importance to the male actor as he is place in the middle but also draws audiences attention to the actors face. The font used is also clear. making ‘sight and Sound’ effective as it gives hints as to what the specified genre might be also.
However, as sight and sound promotes to international markets it doesn’t seem to advertise many independent horror films, and as our film is a small independent British film, audiences within other countries for example America may not be interested in this and would prefer to read about block buster film produced by large film making companies. Therefore feel that we need to use a more niche magazine. However, this magazine does look at all angles of the film, for example surveys on what is the best film of the month therefore being able to get the viewers opinions as well which is good as we want the magazine to look at all areas of our film so our audience viewers will have increased amounts of excitement within getting involved and wanting to watch our film.
Indie Slate- Magazine cover inspiration
Filmmaker- magazine analysis
We were inspired by the Magazine ‘Filmmaker’ as it covers issues relating to independent film, like ours. For the front of our magazine cover, we plan to use have a photo of our male actor who is playing the role of the masked man, Filmmaker magazine would be perfect as this magazine is usually more male dominated on its front cover, this would therefore mean our magazine would fit in well with the brand of ‘Filmmaker’.The magazine is published by IFP (Independent Feature Project), which acts in the independent film community. More than 60,000 read the Filmmaker magazine, meaning it is capable of reaching a large target audience. The magazine includes interviews, case studies, financing and distribution information, festival reports, technical and production updates, legal pointers, and filmmakers.
An element that we like about this magazine is the actors are the main focus. As you can see from the above images, the shots used on the actors are usually close ups or mid shots (profile shots), this is something that we would want to incorporate within our Magazine. Another aspect of this film that i think is superb is the lighting and colouring of each shot. In particular, i like the black and white cover and after looking at this, we are now very interested in making our cover black and white, to emphasis shadowing. Also by doing this we will stress the fact our independent film fits under the horror genre, making a clear link between the magazine and our film. In addition, as you can see with the ‘Filmmaker’ magazines above, the text is a different colour, this is a big advantage to as this means we can pick what colour we would want to use. In this case we would use the colour red as once again this connotes to the horror genre as red is symbolic of danger and blood, to conform to the horror genre. We will therefore attempt to recreate the text of the magazine by choosing our own colour scheme.
Another aspect that we like is the fact that this magazine covers all types of film genres, for example indie films, horrors romance ect, and even cover topics that help independent writers and directors make there production big. For example how to find a producer, outlining the difficulties and overcoming them, they also express how we should pitch our film. This would particularly help us during the process of distributing our film.
After considerable amount of research I have found out that this film magazine is only available in the US and is no longer distributed in London and hasn’t been on sale since 2009. This would pose a problem to us as we would not be would not be able to reach a larger mass of target audience within London, and therefore this would need to be taken into consideration when picking a magazine cover.
Electric Sheep- Magazine cover analysis
This magazine is one we are very interested in basing our magazine on. This is for the following reasons:
We feel that it will clearly highlight the fact that our actor is from a horror film. This is for reason that the chosen colours on the ‘Electric Sheep’ magazine are black and red. These are typical colours involved within a horror film as they heighten feelings of fear and dread. Red is especially associated with danger, which is a theme that runs throughout the narrative of our horror film and trailer. We feel that if we chose to use the basis of this magazine, it would show a clear link to our chosen genre and also to our film. Moreover, the wording ‘electric sheep’ is in white, which similarly the title on our poster is which once again makes a clear recognisable link. It also allows the title to stand out. Furthermore, the font of the ‘electric sheep’ is clean and clear to read.
A similar link between all of the ‘electric sheep’ magazines is that lots of dark colours are involved, and the actor is always doing something other than statically stare directly at the camera. This allows the magazine to appear more interesting and be distinct from other magazines. This would be something we would benefit from as our film is an independent film, so having a contrasting magazine to other ones, would intrigue more audience members to want to go and watch our film. It also gives the idea that the image is one from the film itself, making the audience curious to know what the narrative behind it is. Moreover, the images all look as if they have been edited in some way to make them appear slightly sinister looking.
We also like the fact that the text is positioned both above and below on the magazine as it allows the image to be focused on. It also allows the text not to go into too much detail which is effective for the front of a magazine cover, as it shouldn’t give too much away.
‘Electric Sheep’ has had various critiques comment on it and say things such as:
‘Electric Sheep is a refreshing and original magazine that explores the world of film from myriad angles with wit and imagination.’
Jennifer Higgie, Frieze
‘Electric Sheep writes about film for people who like film: a classic approach.’
Norman Lebrecht, The New Statesman
‘The coolest magazine in town.’
Suzanne Ballantyne, Raindance Film Festival
These comments are all things that we are hoping for our chosen magazine to achieve, as we want it to be original and be based for a target audience of people who enjoy film itself and want to read about the film and not just about the gossip behind it. Combined with ‘Electric Sheep’ we are hoping to create a new look and improved look on independent films general and also specifically independent horror films.
Isabella Carini 8425 Media A2 Portfolio 
