Ancillary Research: Magazine Review Analysis: St.Trinian's (EMPIRE)

Film Information:
St Trinian's follows the narrative of a group of troublesome school girls who stage a robbery in order to save their bankrupt school. The film falls into the genre of a teen comedy, and has a rating of PG-13. The film had a small budget of $13 million and was released in the UK on the 21st of December 2007 by Ealing Studios. The particular review page I have found is from Empire magazine. Empire magazine is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain and thus must adhere to a primarily British audience.

Key Image:
The key image of this poster is a long shot of the main characters of the film. The image covers the majority of the double page spread and thus is the first thing the audiences eyes are drawn to. From the image the audience may decipher that the film belongs to a teen genre due to the young ages of the protagonists. The characters also appear quirky and unusual in their fashion sense, thus suggesting that they are misfits or outcasts. Their positioning and stances also connote determination and and confidence. Thus, along with their mismatch school uniforms, this may connote to the audience the theme of rebellion; which is prominent within this film.

The main image also provides an insight into the location of the film as big ben and nelson's tower are clear in the back ground of the image. Thus the audience may easily identify the location of the film as London. This also relates to the readers of Empire Magazine (a predominantly British magazine), as they are likely to identify with the location and thus may have more interest in the film.

Mis En Scene:
The costuming of the characters in the main image effectively conveys to the audience the theme of rebellion that is prominent within the film. Each character has a personalised version of the school uniform, thus revolting against the purpose of a uniform and asserting their individuality. A school uniform also suggests youth, and therefore allows the review to appeal to the correct audience for a teen film. The setting of the main image is also conventional of a coming of age film. It is clear to the viewer that the location of the image is London, and thus the film is set in an urban, city environment. This therefore provides an insight into the narrative of the film. Also, the use of such a familiar location may intrigue the audience as they can identify with the setting of the movie.

Use of Colour:
Blue is the most prominent colour on this review page. It has been used for the key quotation across the top of the review, along with blue ink-like splotches around the perimeter of the page. The blue markings along with the graffiti font of the quote, connotes a sense of carelessness and rebellion. The similarity of the blue markings to ink spots also connotes a school environment. Thus coinciding with the narrative and successfully advertising the film.

A strong use of colour has also been used for the heading of the page. A yellow text box has been used for the text 'first look: St.Trinian's'. The use of yellow successfully draws the eyes of the viewer as it contrasts the cool toned colour scheme used for the majority of the page, thus causing the title of the movie to stand out in the reader's mind.

Orthography and Graphology:
For the majority of the text, a plain Times font has been used. This clearly displays important information for the reader and thus makes the review plain and easy-to-read. In order to highlight specific information within the review, orthography has been used. By capitalising a portion of the first sentence of the review, the reader's eyes are drawn to the words. This is a common convention within magazine reviews and thus shows that this review conforms to a typical magazine layout. Capitalisation has also been used for the large quote across the top of the page. Again, this draws the attention of the reader and makes the quote more demanding to look at.

Text:
The most prominent text on the page is the quote, 'hogwarts for pikeys!'. This quote is rather explicit and thus draws the readers attention. It also hints towards the tone of the narrative and introduces an element of dark humour; thus conforming to the comedy genre of the film. The narrative follows the schemes and adventures of a group of rebellious teens. Therefore this quote coincides with the attitudes and characters displayed in the plot. Two further quotes from film critics are displayed on the page. This therefore intrigues the reader as the films appears to have been praised by professionals.

The review itself has been written in a  largely colloquial tone. This coincides with the narrative of rebellion and youth, as the informal tone connotes a sense of immaturity. This therefore successfully advertises the film and depicts the narrative as fun and interesting.

How Does the Review Advertise the Film?:
This review page has created a strong marketing campaign as each element of the page links to the rebellious, humorous nature of the narrative. By reading this review the audience may decipher whether or not they are within the target audience of this film and whether the genre would be appealing to them. Once the target audience had been distinguished, the review presents the film in a colloquial, explicit and easy-going manner. Thus suggesting that the film will be entertaining and fun for the viewer.

Ancillary Research: Magazine Review

Conventions:

• The tag line often sums up important details about the film and provides an insight into the narrative/ genre of the film. 
• The critic will provide a rating for the film, usually in the form of stars, to suggest how entertaining the film is to the reader. 
• A synopsis or summary will generally be provided for the reader in the first paragraph. This will establish the genre and tone of the film. 
• A large image will typically be displayed and will often display a dramatic scene in the film, in order to create a sense of intrigue for the reader. 
• The film name and year will be displayed. Sometimes with additional information such as genre, credits, cast and director.
• The review may begin with a quote in order to catch the reader's attention.
• Reviews may focus on the protagonist of the film and provide a brief insight to their personality. 
• Increased size of the first letter of the paragraph. 

Purpose:
The primary purpose of a film review is to advertise that particular movie. Often, if the review is positive, it can create consumer interest and thus generate more money for the film. Reviews also commonly include a brief synopsis and insight into the narrative of the film. This allows the magazine to directly locate the target audience, and thus create a review that appeals to the correct readers. 

Ancillary Research: Target Audience Feedback

 Poster 1:

Poster 2:

Questionnaire Results:

1. Which poster draws you eye more?

Poster 1: ||
Poster 2: |||

2. Which design looks the most professional?

Poster 1: |
Poster 2: ||||

What improvements would you suggest for both posters?

Poster 1:
1. 'A lighter font for the quotes'.
2. 'A clearer font for the credits'.
3. 'The tagline could be bolder'.

Poster 2:
1. 'You could include an age rating and release date'.
2. 'It needs credits and an age rating'.
3. 'You could add some more colours as it is quite monotone'.

Conclusion:
From the feedback I have received, I can conclude that my second poster is my most successful design. Therefore this is the poster I will be improving upon and adding further details to. Feedback from my target audience has suggested that I could make the design more eye-catching as only 60% of my focus group believed that this design drew their attention the most. To achieve this I will be using the feedback I received and adding more colour to my poster. I will also be including credits, a release date and age rating.

Posters: First Drafts

After having researched numerous film posters within the coming of age genre, I have decided to create two initial drafts for my own ancillary product. I will then show both of my ideas to a focus group made up of my target audience, and will ask them to tell me which one they prefer and then ask of any further improvements they could suggest to their preferred design.


Poster 1:

For my first design I drew inspiration from my analysis of the poster for 'King Jack'. This is a largely conventional poster that features the two key protagonists of the film. Their proxemics and stance connote themes of friendship; a key element of our narrative. The image also suggests youthfulness as the characters are leaping in the air in a care free way. Along with this the sunset lighting connotes tones of warmth and happiness. For this design I followed a typical poster format, with the key image at the centre and the title above it; thus conforming to the rule of thirds as the image is the first thing the audiences eyes are drawn to. The poster also features conventional elements such as critical acclaim, awards and a tagline. I decided to use a white font for the majority of my text as it stands out against the background. I also used a handwritten font for the title as this suggests immaturity and thus marries well with the title 'Growing Up'.



Poster 2:

For my second poster I have drawn inspiration from my analysis of the 'Palo Alto' poster. I have primarily taken inspiration from the strong use of colour in that poster. For my own design I have used a muted pink colour overlay, thus connoting themes of femininity and youthfulness. This design also subverts many of the common conventions of a coming of age poster. The landscape format is not a typical design within the genre and thus stands out as a unique poster layout. Again, in this design I have used a white font for all of the text, therefore making it stand out more to the audience. I have also used a font for the title that resembles water colour painting. This suggests a handwritten quality which connotes youthful creativity to the audience.  

Ancillary Products: Research - Magazine Review: Mood Board

For my second ancillary product I have decided to create a double page magazine review for my film. Therefore I have created a mood board, that will allow me to develop initial ideas for my own project. 

I have created a mood board featuring a variety of double page magazine film reviews. I have included reviews from a variety of different magazines and a range of different film genres, in order to decipher conventions that are used most commonly within magazine reviews. One feature that has been made apparent to me through this mood board is the use of a screen grab from the movie as the main image of the review. Along with this, the colours and fonts used have generally been chosen to coincide with the colours and tones of the main image. From this I can therefore determine that the key image is central to the the review page. This image provides an isight into the film as it displays the main protagonists and often provides an insight into the location of the film.

Ancillary Research: Poster - Consolidation of What I Found

The most significant feature I found during my poster research was that each design used a strong colour scheme. The most notable use of this can be seen in the 'Palo Alto' poster. The pink colour wash over the main image made the entire poster more visually striking, thus creating a strong marketing campaign. This is something I will be considering using in MY own product, as the colour can also reflect aspects of the narrative. For example, the pink colour scheme of Palo Alto reflects the themes of femininity and relationships that are prominent within the film.

During the filming process of our own short film, we shot a scene of our character in front of a sunset. From my analysis of the 'King Jack', I have found that sunset lighting can connote themes of happiness and suggest a pleasant atmosphere. As we are trying to convey a positive perspective of youth and growing up, I may consider using footage from this filming day in my poster.

Another prominent feature within coming of age posters is their use of the colour green. Green typically connotes growth, and thus is a fitting colour to promote a coming of age film. Therefore, this may be something I should include in my own poster as there are clear references to growth in our title, 'Growing Up'.

Critical acclaim is also present on almost all of the posters. This has the effect of enticing the audience as they see that the film has been well received and therefore it is likely that they will enjoy it too. Positive reviews may also be used to provide an insight into the narrative of the film. For example in the 'King Jack' poster, one of the reviews references it being a 'rite-of-passage movie'. Thus allowing the audience to identify the genre of the film immediately.

It is also clear that the key image of most of the posters is the protagonist of the film (often with their friends or partners alongside them). This is something I am very likely to include in my product as it introduces the main character immediately to the audience and displays them as a younger person. Often the character will be using their facial expressions to suggest the tone of the film. For example, in the 'Palo Alto' poster the main character looks vulnerable thus suggesting a darker element to the narrative.

Ancillary Product: Poster Analysis - King Jack