Initial film ideas

While first discussing our film ideas as a group we decided and came up with a few different ideas. Firstly we decided on what genre our film should be based on, within the group Emily came up with the idea of producing a drama and we all agreed on it. One of the thing we discussed was setting ideas.The while generating film ideas Emily.H suggested that we should be able to use and film in her car for our locations. Getting shots from the car will mean that we will be able to get a more varied option of shots and we can go further to get to different locations. Target Audience was another thing we discussed. As a group we decided that our target audience would be targeted more towards young adults/late teens who are females. Furthermore, my group and I also agreed that there will no swearing and no rude content within the trailer, as the trailer is being marked. We then went on to discuss narrative ideas, in which we discussed the idea of a father and daughter situation. In which the daughter has no connection with her father for 17 years but then is made to move in with him. This action along with other scenarios within in film such as the girl getting a boyfriend and then breaking up with him, bring them closer together. The trailer could show some parts of the character arguing over little things towards the beginning of the film to show there is trouble within their relationship. I then came up with the idea of during the trailer showing a shot of the daughter talking to the father about school or boys, this shot then shows that the relationship between the to of them is getting better.  We all agreed it would be a good idea as it could create a sense of affection for the viewers, as the viewer either relates to sharing special moments like that with their father or relates in not having a father figure in their life. Music was also discussed, we want the music that we created in the trailer as it shows we are using our creativity and our own ideas. In the discussion we also talked about that as a group it would be better to rely on ourselves to play some of the character, as relying on others could become time consuming. But then we discussed on who would play the father figure. We talked about if our own dads could do it but realised that we couldn't fit in all the filming as of jobs and other commitments our dads might have. This became an issues for us as we didn't know of anyone else who could play our father role. 
 Due to this problem we then came up with another film idea for us to use as our trailer. We still wanted to stick to the film being in the drama genre. We discussed the idea of our film being about two best friends. This was a good idea as we could play the two main characters with relying on anyone else. In out trailer we wanted to show that the film had a good beginning middle and end. This is also linked in with Todorov's theory of a narrative.
1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

 We decided that the beginning of the trailer would show the best friends just mucking around and doing typical girly things (this would be the state of equilibrium). We then discussed what could be the disruption of order could be. Within our group we discussed many ideas like the friends fall out over a boy or one of them moves away. We chose not to go with these ideas as they may not appeal no a mass audience as rather a lot of films targeted at our target audience have had these same ideas and the audience may find it repetitive. Then Emily.H   came up with the idea of what if one of the teenage girls gets pregnant. Within our group we thought this would be a good storyline to use as it is always a topic being discussed within society but not commonly shown in films. Lois then mentioned that the audience may associate our film to 'Juno'. Within our group we then came up with ideas in how we could make our film different to one such like 'Juno'. We came up with the idea of the friends falling out, one of them getting pregnant but then realises that she is terminally ill so she is not able to bring the baby up and because she has no other family she finds her old friend to ask if she would look after the child. We thought this narrative would appeal to a mass audience of mainly females aged between 15-25. My view of our target market would be females between the age of 15-30 who are either in education or working. They are also rather girly and are content with their life. We also discussed the niche audience of an older female market such as '30-45' as they may relate back to having a best friend that they were really close with and they would do anything for, these women may also be going to the cinema with their daughters. Another niche market may also be males who have been dragged along to the cinema by their girlfriends

Conventions of a film magazine

There are a number of conventions that can be identified on the front cover of a film magazine, for example the masthead which is commonly positioned in the centre of the magazine and is the largest and most noticeable text on the page. The style of the writing will always stay bold and prominent but may change colour to tie in with the film being advertised on the front cover. This convention is useful as it clearly informs the reader what the name of the magazine is, and if it's a popular one they may instantly recognize it. If this convention was removed from the front cover I think it would have an impact to an extent because some people may look for that specific magazine to purchase, whereas other people may identify with other elements of the cover - such as the image.   

The image is probably the most important convention of all as it’s very iconic and noticeable, and it’s usually of a famous actor/actress that stars in the film – which takes up the majority of the cover. It’s usually a full body shot of the star or a mid-shot, and the Mise-en-scene usually has elements that relate to the film that it’s advertising. The actor/actress will also be in character for the front cover as it gives the audience an idea about the film. This convention is useful as it instantly tells the viewer who's the main actor/actress starring in the film, and if it's someone they like they're more likely to purchase it. Without this convention on a the magazine would look very bland and boring and would not attract the audiences attention as much as it would with an image on the magazine.

There are usually a variety of fonts that are presented on the page for other promotional purposes; however these font types although different will all be easy to read and tie in with the theme of the main film being advertised by the magazine. They also vary in size and colour, for example some are solid and bold, whereas others are more slender and in the style of handwriting. The colour may depend on the genre of the film, like a horror/action may have red writing to represent the blood, gore and violence, whereas a comedy film may have yellow writing which is bright and creates a light mood. This convention is useful as it reflects the genre of the film and creates a mood of what shall be in the magazine.

Buzz words and plugs engage the audience further and usually consist of the words ‘free’, ‘exclusive’ and ‘only’. This convention is useful as it draws the audience in, and urges them to pick up the magazine to purchase it as they are getting something that they may not be able to get anywhere else. If these features were to be removed from film magazines, I don't think it would be as exciting and persuasive for any viewer to look at it or even buy it. 

Banners can be found on the front page of a magazine to give information about the specific content in the magazine. This convention is a massive benefit as it tells the audience a little bit about what can be found inside the magazine, before they've even opened it. Banners can also include shots from other new films coming out. This can entice the audience to buy the magazine and find out more about these films.

Anchorage Text can be a quote, these can be quotes from the person featuring on the cover of the magazine, maybe saying something about the film or saying something about there self. This convention is useful as the quote could relate to the film and the audience may want to know how the person starring in the film feels about the film. 

Barcode, date and issue number are all essential for every magazine. This convention is essential as you need a barcode to be able to scan and purchase the it, and without these no one would know how old the magazine is or when it was first released into shops.