Institutions Research

Homework - Sweeney Todd

Ancillary task magazine 2



Typography - Throughout the front cover they use mainly the same font they just tend to make it bolder or smaller than the other text. The masthead 'TOTAL FILM' is the main thing that stands out on the front cover as it is the largest of all of the fonts. Then the cover story is the next part that stands out and it grabs the readers attention so if someone is interested in the film they may buy the magazine to read what it is about. Most of the cover lines are the same sort of size which are all smaller than the cover story and masthead.

Layout - This layout is conventional as it as the masthead at the top of the front page and then the main cover story in the middle underneath the image. By then putting coverlines at the bottom you don't get confused to what is the main story. By only having one cover line to the left hand side it doesn't give much information but still gives the reader an insight to what is in the magazine.

Colour - By sticking to three or four main colours it doesn't make the magazine confusing to the eye of the reader. By using red and white as the main text colours and then by having the blue background it makes the image stand out. For the one cover line to the side they have used the yellow to grab the readers attention because it makes it stand out from other things on the cover. The colours they have used for the suit and dress also tie in with the main colours used as the dress is read and the suit is blue.

Camerawork - By using a long shot for the people but then using a wide shot for the background it gives a nice effect as you can see all the buildings but then the actors stand out as they are at the fore front of the image.

Mise - en - scene - The red dress shows the woman's femininity and as it is a low cut dress it may connote that she is the damsel in distress as they always wear seductive clothing. By using the suit this shows that he may be the hero of the film as he is dressed quite smart. 

Ancillary task - magazine

Ancillary task 1 - Poster

Research Part 3 - Conventions - Zombieland

Zombieland is a horror- comedy movie, its is about a group of people surviving an attack by zombies. They decide to take a road trip across America in an attempt to escape the zombies. Eventually they end up in an amusement park. It was originally written in 2005 for a television pilot. It was then developed by the director into a script for a film.

The trailer is conventional of some horror comedy movie trailers. At the start of the trailer it gives you information about what is happening as it tells you the worlds population and how it is being threatened. This is also done in the Shaun of the Dead trailer as there is a newsreader saying what is happening. This shows a continuity between horror comedy movies as the same things are used in two trailers.

In some trailers of this genre they use onscreen writing that is edited in. This is used in Zombieland to give information about what the zombies are invading. Although it doesnt look like the writing is edited in, when you watch the trailer it moves. The writing is short so you have time to read what it says as the trailer has to fit in as much information and scenes as possible so this makes it very effective. By having the two people beside it, one being a zombie and the other being an ordinary person it shows that they are effecting the people that live on their land which ties in with the writing. The use of the drink flying out of her hand makes it very effective which shows how scared sh is. As it is pink it fits in with what a typical image of a girl would be as you usually associate pink with girls and pink also conntes love which in this case isnt true as she isnt in love she is running away.

There is quite a lot of fast paced editing used and cutting from scene to scene as the audience is shown as much as what they need to grab the audiences attention to watch the actual film when it is released. A lot of film trailers make sure they have a lot of scenes from the film but this can then ruin a film as the audience may feel that they have been shown all of the most important things in the film so they don't need to see the film.

In most trailers the main shots are of the main characters or there is a mid shot or close up of them singularly so you can see who the main characters are. This establishes who the actors are that play them as well so if the audience are interested in these actors then they may watch the film just to see them in it. This is conventional as most trailers show who the main characters and actors are. The four images below show this and they are consecutive so the audience can see who the main characters are.

 In this shot you can see that his clothes are very ordinary so you can see that he is just a normal person and not a zombie. In the background you can see lots of crashed cars so it may make you want to watch the film to know what is going on and why there are so many crashed cars.

In this shot there is low key lighting used which gives an atmosphere to what is going on. From the emotion given from his face something may be about to happen as he looks scared. He also has a weapon in his hand and because of he lighting it shows that he may be going there for a purpose.

The look on the girls faces are as if they are suspcious or scared of what may happen in the film this suggests that the film is of a horror convention but they are contrasted with the face of the older man (top left) and the young boy (top right) as the young boys faces shows a scared but comic look which gives the comedy element to the trailer.

This shot is a medium close up as you can see her face very clearly but the rest of her body apart from her shoulders aren't in the shot. This portrays the emotion she wants you to feel better than if they took a long shot because you wouldn't be able to see her face clearly enough for the viewers to recognise what she was feeling.

My survey

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Wall Wisher for comments on genre

What i have found out

Research Part 2 - DeadHeads trailer

Reserach of Trailers Part 1 - Shaun of the dead

                              Trailer - Shaun of the dead 

 

Mise-en-scene

Mise - en - scene is used in this image as you can see that he has no arm and blood all down the front of him leading from his mouth. This is done through make up and is conventional of what zombies would look like if they have bitten people as they like human flesh so in this case it shows that he would have bitten someone. The blood that is used is a conventional colour,red which connotes that something is evil has happened. Red also stands out as a colour so it makes an impact on the viewers and it makes them think what has happened, which in effect could make them watch the film as it is only the trailer.
This shot shows that he is just an ordinary person through what he is wearing and holding. He is wearing normal everyday clothing and has a name badge on which signifies that he has a normal job. By using the flowers it shows that he may be affectionate towards someone. Yellow connotes that he is a cheerful person but also grabs peoples attention. 

Camerawork

This medium close up of just the hands up against the door shows the actions of the zombies and that they want human flesh. When the hands slide and bang against the glass it connotates that they may not be happy or want something. By only using hands it makes a bigger impact as you don't know who the people are. By using dark colours like black and grey it connotes that they have power and they are evil. As there are many hands that are used it shows the impact of how many people/zombies are  trying to attack them. 

This two shot is a close up as you can mainly see their faces. the look on their faces are of shock which shows that something bad may be about to happen or something has already happened. They are both wearing ordinary clothing which shows that they may not be ready for what is going to happen as they have never come across it before.

 

Editing 

This shows the editing used in the trailer as they have edited the writing in and by using a font that looks old and is being trashed shows the scary effect that zombies have. The actual text 'A Hero Must Rise' shows what might happen within the film. This is used many times throughout the trailer which gives hints to what is going to happen in the film itself. There are a few other edited on screen writing that is used. By sticking to a black and grey colour on all of the screens, it connotes that there is something evil but also something gloomy as grey connotes something bland and gloomy. As you can see they both use the same font/text style and the same colours which shows that they keep with the same style throughout the trailer. By using the faded background it looks like there is smoke which gives a beter effect to the trailer.

Sound

Throughout the trailer there are many sounds used. It could be dialogue but also sound effects that are used for the zombie noises like 'aaaaaarrrr'. The sound shows that they are zombies as they arent talking a specific language that people would recognise. There is also dialogue used by Shaun as he says 'I'm Coming' and 'Here we go' and these both relate to the editing point above where he might be the hero as he seems to be the one trying to help from the dialogue. There are a few everyday sounds that are used throughout the trailer these make you think that you can relate to trailer/film as sunds like car and bus effects are used.

Conventions 

There are conventions of a Zombie comedy film used in the trailer. At the start it sounds like a zombie noise but in fact it is just Shaun yawning, which brings a comdedy element to the trailer as it is something you didnt expect. Other conventions are the way weapons are used, Shaun uses a cricket bat to try and defend himself and his friend uses an old record to fling at people. This also gives a comedy element to the trailer as the records arent usually something you would defend yourself with. The amount of blood that is used in the trailer shows that it is maybe slightly exaggerated giving it comedy. Also the noises and the way the zombies walk is very conventional of what they are perceived to be like. The way they make the zombies look conventional is using lots of blood around their mouths or on their face. By also using contacts in their eyes to make their pupils look white is very effective. So overall the way the make up is used on the actors is very effective as it makes them look like what peoples perceptions of zombies are.