Feedback from a film review

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Analysis of my own film review

The colour scheme of my film review is mainly red, black and white. I did these colours specifically so that my poster, film review and short film could all link up together. This is because when doing my horror film poster research (which is shown in my research and planning in my film poster work), I discovered that red, white and black are common colours within the posters. As stated before, the colour scheme is common because all three colours represent and signify something that links up with horror themes, for example, red has connotations of danger, black has connotations of death and darkness whilst white has connotations of innocence. Linking up to that, within my short film, the colours red, white and black were mainly used in my mise-en-scene (my main character's dressing gown was red and the antagonist's costume was white), therefore, I wanted to carry on this colour scheme within the actual article so that all three of my media texts linked up and it was an extremely accurate representation of all my work, which links to the purpose of film reviews as they are meant to give an overall representation and summary of the film. 

Before doing my short film review, I did a lot of research into the codes and conventions of film reviews, so because of this, I tried to demonstrate and show my research within my short film review, by trying to include as many film review conventions as I could. For example, I included quotations from the article. When doing the quotations, I made sure to specifically pick out parts of the article which I believed were the highlights of the article or something interesting from it. This is because - from research - I knew that when journalists use quotations it is not random, it tends to be something specific and something they want the audience to know, thus, coming from a very important or interesting section of the article. I also implemented more film review conventions such as the information section, overall verdict, screengrabs from the film, tagline and also the rating system. I believe me including all of these features gave my media text a sense of verisimilitude and replicated what a real film review would typically look like.

Although at this point I thought I had achieved creating a film poster with all the conventions and felt content with that, I wanted to make my film review more authentic and different, thus, decided to include small creative features just to give my article a type of theme. This is because, when looking at film reviews, each one have a different theme and layout depending on the brand and company the film review is featured in. Linking up to my foundation portfolio, I created a film company called 'MMD productions' which my film opening was produced under. So I decided to stick to that company and call the magazine that my film review is in 'MMD productions', and the film review section specifically 'La Revue', this being the french wording for 'review'. To add on to that, I created a logo seen in the first place on the top right hand corner and also a fake website to subscribe to on the second page on the bottom right hand corner. 

Final film review

Production process of film review

To start off the production of my film review, I started off by creating a blank, new document on Adobe Photoshop. The original document was portrait, and as I wanted to represent my film review as being a two page review, I had to change the document into a landscape. Because I was referring to to both my paper and computer draft, I knew the first layer on photoshop I had to include was the screengrab from my short film, this is because the main image used in film reviews is always a screengrab and not a proffesional picture. I chose this specific screengrab as it linked up to the code and conventions of short films. This is due to the fact that screengrabs in film review usually come from the most interesting part off the film and it is meant to be an overall representation of the film. I felt this screengrab fit into that because it is a reaction shot from when the victim finally came face to face with the antagonist, which I believe was the most interesting part because that one scene activated the upcoming events, which I believe really set off and started the action in my film. To add on that, the actual image is eye catching due to her facial expressions, this being effective as it lures the reader in. 

After that, I added on including the text to start off my article. I had previously already wrote what I wanted to include in my article on word so I simply copy and pasted the entire text box, and all I had to do was readjust it to make sure it fit symmetrically and was aesthetically pleasing. This actually made the process of creating my short film much more easier and quicker as I did not use the text box feature and write out the text on word, but instead copy and pasted from word. In the image below, you can see a snippet off me readjusting the text box in order to make it symmetrical and in line with the red 'S' on my article.

As my aim for my short film was for it to represent two different pages - so for there to be a page one and a page two. This was also a simple process as Photoshop had a pre-designed feature which allowed my work to be completely uniform due to the page having lines (which would be invisible when the actual review was published), this showing me things such as the exact middle of the page allowing me to do a clear split page.

Target audience of film reviews

Target audience of film reviews from magrethx

Analysis of horror poster two

The main, focal image is off the antagonist/victim child smearing blood against the wall, creating the face of the antagonist. This is extremely effective as it is very eye catching due to its very dramatic and hair rising image. This is because the blood is smeared in a very graphic, messy way, this automatically being eye catching, and to add on to that, the fact that it makes a face creates a very spooky, uncomfortable tone. To add on to that, the mise-en-scene of blood automatically links up to horror as red has connotations of blood, death and danger - these all being horror themes. The character/face made within the smeared blood also gives off hints to the audience on what the film could involve, this meaning that from looking at the face in the poster, it could suggest that the face plays a big part in the film.

The producer of not only the film but also the poster has used a child as their victim, this is effective because children tend to gain much more sympathy from the audience because of their innocence and vulnerability. Because we know that children tend to be more naive and unaware of particular situations, we (as a society) have a bigger desire to protect them. Therefore, including the child within the poster creates this emotion for the audience (the emotion being the desire to protect/empathy), thus, increasing the chances of the audience wanting to watch the film as they want to see if the child get's rescued/protected. This fulfilling the purpose of film posters as it promotes the film and helps it get more coverage.

Linking up to the child and now the colour scheme. Despite the red in the blood, the rest of the colours within the poster is light colours including grey and white. These light colours have connotations of innocence and purity. This is effective because it represents the theme and plot line of the media product. It links in the sense that the white represents the children who are victims to the antagonist represented within the red in the blood and evidently in the face, this meaning that the red within the image juxtoposes with the white in the image. The fact that the blood is smeared can represent the damage caused to these children because of this villian and the fact their innocence was taken away so carelessly and wrecklessly.

The poster also includes typical conventions of posters such as the list of actors/actresses and the title. Just like in my previous analysis, there is also references to other films that the director/producer have done: "From the producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious", this for the same reason as before. That reason being that because both films are very popular, well known films the audience will not only have an understanding/idea of how the style of the film would be due to having reference to films by the same producer.

Another thing featured within this film poster is a tagline underneath 'Once you see him, there's nothing you can do'. A tagline within this specific example is used in order to give a snippet/teaser of what the film could provide, this creating the emotion of anticapation as it creates enigma codes/questions going through the audience's head such as :"What does that mean?" and "Who is he?". This tagline is memorable and dramatic which summarizes the mood of the film.

The title 'Sinister', has a smudged effect, which makes the text and actual image link up as it has a very sinister feel to it. Likewise, looking at the mise-en-scene, there are cracks in the walls and creepy shadows near the bottom left hand corner, this all symbolizing and suggesting violence or a corrupt household.

Analysis of horror film poster

The lighting and colour choice within this film poster is very lowkey and dark, the main colour being black as the focal image is a shadow. This automatically links up with the horror genre as black has connotations of darkness, evil and mystery - themes which are heavily associated with the horror genre. Likewise, the colour red is also used for the title, this also being associated with the horror genre as red has connotations of blood, death and danger, these also being themes of the horror genre. However, the darkness juxtoposes with the light colour of white within the text stating the names of all the actors and actresses. The reason for including white text can be seen from two different pragmatics. From one perspective, this can be seen as a pragmatic decision of the producer to use white for text as it acts as a false sense of security, as white has connotations of innocence and protection, thus, can form as an act of safety, this playing with the readers emotion and increasing the tension. On the other hand, the use for white can be seen as being used simply because it contrasts with the black and would make the text stand out.

The poster has typical conventions of film posters such as evidently the title of the film, the age certificate, the lists of actors and the date of the first screening. On the top of the film poster, it states :"From the director of the hills have eyes.". The reference to another film would help the audience develop a better understanding of the kind of film they would be watching, especially if they were a fan of the film mentioned. To add on to that, referencing to another film which is popular would help get the film more attention as the audience would want to watch a film that is similar to the popular/likeable one, hence why that text was in large, bold text as the producer wanted the text to stand out.

In half of the title of the film "Mirrors", it is written in the opposite direction, so it resembles the title mirroring each other. This is simply a very effective technique artistically and draws the audience in as it unusual and different to typical ways of writing titles.

The main image is that draws the instant attention of the audience appears to a woman's blurred screaming face with her gasping mouth merging into the black outer image/colour. This draws attention and is effective as her facial expression (including the widened eyes and open gasped mouth), this represented her as being very frightened and vulnerable, linking up to the horror genre and also possibly giving away her identify as within horror films the vulnerable, weak character is usually the antagonist or victim. The fact that she is a female also links to the horror genre as females are usually the victim within this genre and represented as weak and vulnerable.