Software for Poster Design

We will be using Adobe InDesign to create our poster because of the many advantages that it brings us like; text settings, complex script rendering, the availability to create posters, flyers and brochures. 

Development of the Tag Line

We have come up with a number of tag lines that we think could be suitable for our poster, these being:

'Lust Suffers Love' which we liked because of its alliteration and direct approach.
'His Lie is her Pain' we felt encapsulated everything we wanted to say.
'Her Betrayal Will Be His End' is interesting and frightening. 

What we decided to go with is; 'Your Desire Will Betray You' because of the intricate wording and the foreshadowing effect that it gives onto our movie's narrative and genre. We think this will be the best choice as it will draw in our audience from it's mysterious nature.

Possible Fonts

We think Birth of a Hero will be great for the poster along with Master Plan. We also came up with Requiem and Bebas Neue which we like because of its stylish, bold aesthetic.

The American Marketing

http://www.moviemarketingmadness.com/blog/2010/08/movie-marketing-madness-the-american/


The American utilises it's narrative power and produced a campiagn that wasn't overtly intricate or extravagant like most these days. They created one poster and one trailer that elegantly displays the movie's unique selling point and highlights all of its interesting aspects.

The Three Next Days Marketing

http://www.moviemarketingmadness.com/blog/2010/11/movie-marketing-madness-the-next-three-days/

The Three Next Days uses a very simple marketing strategy. The plan revolves around informing the audience about the movie's simplistic nature and draws them in with promises of drama and action. A lot of promotional press has been used to generate a demand for the movie. Techniques such as releasing a website that hols 20 stills from the movie, 3 posters, contests and a trailer. They also created a Facebook page and a YouTube channel where they released Television spots and extended clips. The advertising sets out to present the movie as a heart pounding thriller that will not necessarily challenge the audience intellectually but will keep them on the edge of their seats.

Poster Planning Equipment List

Props: Fake Knife, Red Rose

Camera: Toni
Clothing: Gemma

Lighting - key
             - low key and high key

Composition -> Formal + E. C. U

• Tripod
• Pictorial style -> Colour
• Medium close up

Story Boards

The Treatment

A one line summary of our movie :

Serial killer meets woman, falls in love with her, she finds out he killed one of her friends, she dates him while secretly plotting against him, ends with attempted murder.

The Idea : 

Obsessions can turn deadly

Target Audience :

We will be targeting those ages from 17-20 and will mostly be Caucasian and of middle class. The audience will directly target those young adults with a special interest in exciting and thrilling movies. They will also have an enthusiasm in music as our film will feature an original soundtrack, that will be available for purchase.

Audience Appeals :

This movie will appeal to our target audience because it has a violent love story with intricate twists and unexpected plot turns. It will challenge their intelligence in their journey of trying to figure out the resolution of the movie.

Marketing Strategy :
Release Slate (Timing) - It will be released in the summer which will be advantageous because our target audience will be out of school and will have more down time to spend on leisure.

Type of Cinema and Why - The movie will be released in all Multiplexes to assure major coverage.

U.S.P - Our unique selling point will reside around the scripts entertaining and unforeseeable events.

How the Teaser Trailer will Generate Interest - The teaser trailer will leave out certain details and will purposely show a particular kind of plot so as to stray them in a different direction. This will result in maximum satisfaction and surprise once the twist is revealed.

Exhibition Strategy :

We will go wide with the movie, so as to gain as many viewers as possible on the opening night.

Poster Concept :

The poster will show our characters, helping our audience to identify with the main protagonists. The weapon will also be an important element in the poster to give a foreshadowing effect on the climax without revealing the resolution.

Magazine Concept :

An interview will be held about the film and it will have an exclusive view of our poster.

Developed Teaser Analysis 3

The teaser opens with a sound bridge, the characters name is used to help the audience identify with the protagonist. The editing has been intertwined with the music to create a rhythmic pace, where each mini climax is joined with a fast dissolve till it reaches its crescendo with the Keanu Reeves's arms slamming together. The lighting is particularily dark and soombre which emphasizes the narrative of the film.

Develpoed Teaser Analysis 2

The teaser trailer for A Clockwork Orange is highly unusual but still an intelligent and avant garde one. The entire teaser spans 58 seconds and is based around the idea of subliminal messaging which is a direct link to the film's narrative. Just like the character is exposed to images of violence the viewer is exposed to a series of images and words relating to the film and at times repeating certain things to emphasize their importance. Words like 'Witty', 'Satiric', 'Metaphorical' and 'Political' specifically are repeated a number of times. The juxtaposition of these positive words and horrifying images are jarring and leave the observers in a state of disbelief. The teaser's importance surrounds more around being stylistically original and different because of it's well known narrative. The background music to the teaser is also a direct link to the characters taste, he is known to have a special liking to Beethoven. The intelligent and high cultured style of music is oppositional with the teasers choice of jump cut editing, the aggressive way each still jumps make it seem as though the music and editing do not belong together.

Developed Teaser Analysis 1

The teaser opens with a sound that we as viewers, associate with a camera recording device which instills images of fun and memories, that is till we see the wounded face of Ryan Reynolds; removing all previous emotions and replacing them with ones of fear and curiosity. The genre is exposed immediately, not only from the alarming dialogue but also from the low key lighting, which only allows us to view the blood stained part of the protagonists face. The lighting also enhances the protagonists stated location of a coffin, we believe that he is shrouded in darkness and incapable of seeing his surroundings, giving the teaser a higher level of verisimilitude. The narrative is an age old tale of kidnap for ransom, which has been told many a time but Cortes has taken this story with its theme's of time and abandonment and produced something new and radical, that is surely an edge of your seat kind of film. What makes it different to all other teaser trailer's is its lack of sound, which is really only noticed after a number of watches. Throughout the teaser, Reynolds panting, a result of his horrifying fear, and quickened pace of words are so authentic and immersive the viewer is truly in the suspension of disbelief. This reflects on Reynolds convincing performance. The lack of sound is noticed when the hand held camera is moved away from the protagonist's face and a build of a strong ominous music, reaches a climax at the titles entrance, reminding the viewer that it is a movie.

The Title

When sitting down to come up with our title we used our individual wordle's to get inspiration and we came up with a number of titles like; 'Willing to Betray', 'Grievous Passion' or 'Deathly Decoy'. After a long debate we agreed on the title 'Deadly Obsessions' which we believed was the right combination of words that our target audience would respond to and would subsequently reveal the appropriate genre without giving away the end of our movie.

Individual Wordle

This is an individual wordle that I created which caters to my own aesthetic preferences.

Wordle

As a group we created this wordle to help us come up with a title for our movie, as we all had very different ideas for what we wanted it to be. Wordle gave us the opportunity to find something we all liked and that we thought was best for the film. The exercise was extremely beneficial tot he group.

Top Grossing Thriller Movies

1. The Dark Knight 2008 made $1,001,921,825

 

2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 $836,297,228

3. Independence  Day 1996 $817,400,891

 

4. Inception 2010 $804,183,607 

5. The Da Vinci Code 2006 $758,239,851

The Pitch

A schizophrenic murderer who chooses women as victims is on the prowl for a new victim when he meets Jessica. To his surprise he develops feelings for Jessica during their courtship. He subsequently struggles not to see her as a victim and repress his murderous desires. He then he goes about murdering other women in Jessica's place. Little does he know that Jessica is aware of his crimes and goes along with the charade in order to avenge the murder of her best friend, his most recent victim. He almost succumbs to his desire on a couple of occasions but eventually can no longer resist them and sets about murdering Jessica. As he approaches, knife in hand, Jessica turns around, ready and reveals her true intentions. she then pretends to have given up her pursuit and kisses him, during their embrace she gently thrusts the knife into his back. As he collapses he slashes her across the chest. She miraculously survives the attack but is forever marked by the scars of her murderous vengeance.

Genre Conventions of the Thriller Genre

All films of the same genre will have a unique selling point that would make their thriller different to all those others. However to create and produce a successful movie of any kind of genre, there are certain characteristics that would need to be adhered to. We call these characteristics conventions.

The thriller's conventions include:

1. The movie's main aim should be to create suspense and excitement
2. The films location has proven to be more successful when an urban or suburban location is used
3. Audiences tend to prefer a narrative when the characters have to investigate an enigma or puzzle
4. Like all genre's the hero is usually the solver of the mystery
5. A rational rather than supernatural explanation to the mystery is more preferred
6. The thriller should centre on injustices in society but will solve these wrongs
7. Violence is a pertinent charactertistic, as most consumers watch these films for this reason only
8. The hero should be an outsider, isolated, secretive but moral
9. In all good literature our hero and villian would have similar personality traits
10. As in most films the enigma of the narrative will be solved by the end of the film

Target Audience Description

Our target audience has been discovered subsequent to the collection of our questionnaire results. We now know that our movie will be directed at those people who are Caucasian, of middle class and catered to teenagers and young adults. We've deduced that, the multiplex is where our film would be most watched and that through technology like the internet, mobile phones, play stations and television is where it would receive the most coverage. Most of our efforts will go into creating buzz marketing, which would be generating excitement for our film by word of mouth. Thus we would hold events like a premier and send out press releases. Our target audience would be more likely to have disposable income to consume products of the entertainment nature, thus we may create merchandise for the film to be consumed by these teenagers/young adults which an older audience would not normally buy.

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire graph results:

Questionnaire Sample

When attempting our course work in media, we decided to go through with creating a teaser trailer. Before we could continue with creating our teaser, we had to decide on a genre and target audience. We agreed that we could not create a movie that only we liked and that we had to collect information that would give us statistics of what the public wanted. We produced a questionnaire with multiple questions both qualtitative and quantative, designed to establish the identity of our target audience and what their preferences might be. Here is a sample of a filled out questionnaire:

Teaser Conventions

 Movies along with trailers and teaser trailers will include a number of conventions. A convention is a characteristic that is established by repeated usage.

   Typical conventions of a teaser trailer would include:

1. Short 30-60 seconds
2. Slipped into gaps in the cinema or T.V
3. Going to show its niche unique selling point
4. Establishes a quick overview of the narrative
5. Content = genre, narrative and who's included
6. Purpose = tease audience and raise awareness, enticing people to watch it
7. Released long before a film's release 6 months in advance
8. Ad campaign are cryptic and challenging
9. Usually only made for big, popular, blockbuster films

Preliminary Poster Analysis 3

As though the name was not enough, the image and title font reiterate this image of a devil in the viewers mind, with the images of pitch forks and pointed tails are presented for the viewer. Even aesthetically, the choice of the sleek, red high heel is another clue to what the film will be revolving around. They almost take the place of a tag line, helping the viewer to construct this genre. With the heel as the main clue and all female actor names, the viewer will find it easier to conclude that the movie's genre will centre around some female drama and or fashion. The actors names are placed in the hot zone as statistics say that unconsciously the eye leans toward the top left corner and with Meryl Streep at the top, instant success is garaunteed.

Preliminary Poster Analysis 2

Star Trek is a popular and well known franchise that has a fan base like no other cult movie, which explains the lack of actor titles on the poster. For the name sells itself and does not need to attract our minds to the stars names, so the marketers seemed to have put most of their resources into composing a poster that is aesthetically appealing and engaging. It's font has remained faithful to it's original form and suggests entertainment without much effort. From the right hand middle corner we find this monstorous machine that creates a diagonal line through the poster, connecting itself to the other smaller machine which is better known as the Starship Enterprise, this draws our attention. For long time fans of the film, this will inform them of the new enemy Captain Kirk and friends will have to overcome and for new commers, this will give them an idea of the plot. They also help to establish the movie's genre, as viewers can recognise them as being futuristic thus belonging to the sci-fi genre. The posters tag line 'The Future Begins' suggests a new wave of Star Trek movies for a younger generation and also gives another insight to the plot, that possibly this is a movie about the beginning.

Preliminary Poster Analysis 1

The posters title 'Feast of Love' is all we need to guess the genre of the movie, that being a romance. We may say that it is not a RomCom from the images being displayed, the characters do seem to be in a state of bliss but with no hint of comdeic tendancies and from the title in which the word 'Feast' ellicits a deep emotion. Thus we can come to the conclusion that this will be a dramatic representation of different levels of love. This we can say from the layout of the poster, as each character and couple are on a different level in a horizontal way and from the tag line 'A story for anyone with an appetite for love' highlighting, this idea of different love stories. In the last image of the characters, we can see that they are in a coffee shop, this is accentutated with the tiny cup of coffee placed at the bottom of the poster next to the title. This tells the audience that coffee may be a central theme or device to the story. The casts is not lacking in stars, for Morgan Freeman's picture takes the centre stage at the top of the poster however their names are found in a rather small font right under their pictures. This leads me to believe that cast stars is not how the marketing team wants to sell their movie.

Preliminary Teaser Analysis 5

The opening music is typical of any super hero movie. The audience will assume that this is just another teaser for another movie about a man that has powers and wants to save the world, that is till the presumed protagonist takes the swan dive and does not survive. Now the audience is intrigued. The movie is a new, fresh take on super heroes, selling itself based on it's narrative. The voice over, explains to the audience how this movie will work and what our character is thinking, giving them an exclusive look into the protagonists mind. The teaser ends with a very young girl, threatening her opponent with as much cockiness as we would expect a man to have. This is very untypical to see in such a genre of action, crime and thriller.

Preliminary Teaser Analysis 4

Within such a small space of time this teaser trailer gives us so much information and ellicits so much emotion from the viewer. The decision to open up with such a close inspection of the protagonists damaged body, lets the viewer know that he is not only a central character to the plot but also the genre of the movie. As our suspicions of the characters impending doom are confirmed, we can safely say that this movie will be a heart wrenching drama. The soft, tear jerking music enhances this emotion by ten folds. The teaser has no stars to excite audiences and not even a well known production company. It's unique selling point surrounds that of the narrative, the teaser allows us a sneak peek into the complication and leaves us hungry for more.

Preliminary Teaser Analysis 3

A well loved movie by both adults and children, Toy Story 3 does not need to come up with a teaser trailer that is exaggerated or over the top. The simplicity in the teaser is what makes it so refreshing. The children that grew up with Toy Story, along with the parents that had to take them to watch it, will be excited and intrigued all by the idea of a continuation of the narrative about Woody and his friends. This is why the sketch works so well, it bring a promise of comedy, friendship and wonderful graphics. The teaser ends with all the information we need and want, a date of release.

Preliminary Teaser Analysis 2

The Sci-Fi fans of the world will be pleased with this teaser for the sequel of Tron and will gladly go watch it, if not because of curiosity then because of the graphics that new technology has allowed the film to have. The teaser opens with very eerie and mysterious music with lightening in the background that makes the viewer uneasy but also interested. With only the sound of the computer game vehicles to hear, the viewer finds themselves wanting to know more. The teaser doesn't give any information about actors or release date besides the year which adds to the element of mystery, which I believe is what the Unique Selling Point is: Mystery and Curiosity.

Preliminary Teaser Analysis 1

Megamind's teaser trailer opens with a cliched deep voice over. As the teaser continues, the viewer is surprised as this deep macho voice transforms into that of a high pitched, excited voice that is easily recognisable as Will Ferrel, this is further proved when he's name flashes across the screen. The trailer's length is only that of 47 seconds long but still manages to entice and control the audience with their comic moments and lively music. The film will sell to children solely on the adorable and affable character of Will Ferrel but it will gain the interest of teens and adults with the movie's comedic stars. These being Tina Fey, Jonah Hill and Will Ferrel and then an actor just as well known but less for his comedic skills, Brad Pitt.