Visual Elements in Editorial Design

Thursday 8th October

 Visual Elements

L/O: Explore the use of visual elements in Editorial Design

Headline - A heading used to grab the attention of the reader in a newspaper or magazine

Kicker - Definition 1: An introduction for a lead, usually a few words or sentences leading into the main piece.

Kicker - Definition 2: A kicker can be the paragraph that finishes up an article, summing the piece up. 

By-line - The by-line gives the author's name on a newspaper or magazine, it is often located below the headline but above the article

Subheads - These are subheadings used to break up the article and make it easier to read, they often divulge information about the next paragraph

Analyse

It uses a very big Header which grabs the readers attention. There is a by-line for the photos which credits the photographer. There's a kicker under the headline. They use a pull quote from the article to encourage readers to read the entire article. The layout has the header take up the majority of the actual page size where as the article only takes up a small amount of it. They also use Drop Caps at the beginning of new paragraphs to help emphasise it's a new paragraph.

Masthead

Thursday 22nd October 2020

L/O: Explore the use of Adobe Illustrator to create a magazine masthead

Masthead - Also called a nameplate. A line of type on the front cover of a newspaper or magazine giving the name of the publication

In this lesson we have learned about creating mastheads. I used the Type tool, and offset path tool to create a letter sized background for the masthead.

Movie Marketing

L/O: to develop an effective film marketing strategy

Key methods of marketing

Identify audience of the film

Market in ways friendly towards the audience 

Film Posters

You normally see film posters in cinemas, on the walls of homes if people have bought them and sometimes in shops.

A distributor is trying to reach the most amount of the audience possible

Title, Actors, Images showing characters or action, a tagline

Disaster Film Posters

The font is often bold.

Colour palette is often bland.

Often has the main character standing in front of the disaster

Has a tagline to do with the disaster.

It is an action movie, they have chosen to include the more dramatic scenes to make it a lot more appealing. The trailer is weird like the poster.

I would organise interviews with the cast so they could provide some insight into their own thoughts of the movie, I would also organise a press conference.

They have made backpacks, T-shirts, face masks and duffle bags. The face masks would be creative if we weren't in the situation we're in right now.

My Disaster Movie

L/O: to effectively develop an idea for a disaster movie

The film is set in 2021, in the city of London.

The mood is serious and as such will be set on a cloudy day because genre conventions.

Grounded, never a high camera angle.

You have no control over the end of the world

I am using the trope of male protagonist and an earthquake as the disaster.

I am not crossing over to another genre

Todorov

Equilibrium - Jack works at McDonald's he's not happy but not depressed either. His mum and dad are constantly harassing him to apply for University. Lucy is his best friend from when they were kids.

Disruption - On the way home from work the ground starts to shake, a train is moving fast nearby so Jack doesn't think much of it. 

Recognition - He walks into his home and his parents are panicking while packing up their bags. Jack asks what's wrong and they tell him an Earthquake is about to hit. Jack phones Lucy, she picks up the phone and tells Jack to just run. The last thing he hears is Lucy's screams. 

Solution - The majority of the film, they keep on running towards the evacuation point to escape. In the brief quiet moments, Jack admits that it's the most exciting thing that has ever happened to him and he doesn't really care about Lucy's death. His parents look on in shame. At this revelation his mother, (Molly)

decides to disown him when his father, (Larry) challenges her she decides to leave the group.

New Equilibrium - Jack and Larry get out of the city and there is a time cut. Larry stands over Molly and Jack's graves as the audience realises that Jack is dead which is confusing. There is later a monologue from Larry which says that while Jack and him were being held for questioning about the disaster, Jack committed suicide and left a note which explained that he couldn't become a normal person and reintegrate into society after he realised he didn't care about anyone whatsoever including himself. The camera pans up to a cloudy sky and the film cuts to the credits.

Propp

The Hero - While Jack is the main protagonist, Larry takes charge in multiple instances during the film, especially after Jack's realisation.

The Villain - The earthquake as it disrupts everything and makes Jack realise that he has serious issues.

The Donor - N/A

The Helper - N/A

The Princess - The evacuation point from the city

The Princess' Father - Lucy as she tells Jack and his family to get out.

The False Hero - The audience is made to believe that Jack is the hero for most of the film until the twist at the end.

Plenary

I decided on the name Quake because it represents multiple things, the disaster and the shake up in the family throughout the film and how the tension rises as the film progresses.

L/O: to effectively develop an idea for a disaster movie

Synopsis

Jack was a normal guy, until the day the earth shattered underneath London and every second became a fight for survival. Secrets will be held and lives will be lost in this epic disaster movie.

Visual Story Telling

Jack: [is walking home from work, looking at his phone, it's raining] God I hate this weather [pulls his coat hood up, keeps looking at his phone, suddenly a train rushes by overhead and the ground shakes] Really fast train... that's weird.... [continues walking, he walks into his parent's driveway as a suitcase is thrown out of the window]

{END OF SCENE}

Disaster Movies

L/O: to explore the disaster movie genre

Disaster Movie Genre Conventions

Chosen films

Independence Day

2012 

Shaun of the Dead (It's a disaster movie and if you have a problem with that, no)

The characters are typically male

All of them involve a plotline of getting a family member to safety

Shaun of The Dead is an Epidemic film, Independence Day is an alien attack film and 2012 is a Natural Disaster film

All of them end with the main character either overcoming or surviving the event.

They all involve travel in at least one form or another.

The films are different in tone, but they have similar plot points as at least one character dies to each one.

Creative Task: Questions

The main character is a guy who works at McDonalds.

An earthquake hits the city while the guy is walking home and he is kicked into the river by it.

The characters parents, and his female friend who dies in like 3 seconds flat, so yeah it's kinda just him and his parents.

Female friend dies after they all meet up from falling into an opened up sewer, and then they start running as buildings collapse around them, for extra tension his mum dies after a building crushes cause yes.

They don't overcome the disaster but they escape by nicking a helicopter from the military.

The closing scene is the character's Dad being put into jail over the theft of the helicopter.

 

Mise-en-scene

L/O: to explore the use of mise-en-scene in films

I think that this character is lazy as their room is a mess. They are most likely into music as they have 2 guitars on the wall and music posters on the wall as well.

Settings and props

1. I would expect a space setting with high tech props that don't make sense in our normal world.

2. In a romantic comedy I would expect everyday objects and a nice bright setting.

3. I would expect a dark setting with everyday objects OR high tech objects depending on what type of Horror film it is.

Costume, Hair & Make Up

Based on his attire, Indiana Jones without knowing who he is looks like an explorer

Whoever the second one is, she looks like a normal teenage girl

Arthur Fleck looks like he is from a disadvantaged background based on his hand me down clothes.

Facial Expressions & Body Language

The first image their expressions are dull

In the second image their posture is high and they have serious expressions on their faces which indicates that they have power in this situation.

Lighting and Colour

The lighting and colour in this scene is low key which indicates the scene isn't positive. The light only shines on the characters faces.

Positioning of people/objects

In the first image the characters are apart on the same sofa which indicates that they are not currently getting along, possibly an arguing couple.

The men in the second image a positioned together which indicates that they are partners in a team.

TASK: Explain in detail what information the MES in the following scene tells us

The setting is a posh place which indicates that the middle character is being held prisoner and is being delivered to someone important. The two men holding the middle man are wearing a uniform which indicates that they are guards, the middle character is wearing a pirate hat and slashed up clothes which shows that he is a pirate. (Yes I know who Jack Sparrow is I'm just analysing this like I don't know who he is or it's cheating). The props are posh which further indicates the setting. The guards have a more serious expression where as the pirate has a less serious expression shows that the pirate does not care. The pirate is positioned in the centre of the scene which means that he is the one to focus on. 

Sound in Films

L/O: to explore the use of sound in film

Music

1. Music in a horror film would be low pitched and slow

2. Music in an action film would be fast

3. Music in a thriller would be fast and jumpy

4. Music in a comedy would sound joyful

5. Music in a science-fiction film would sound epic

Diegetic V Non-Diegetic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXbFP2V_zSA

Almost all of the sounds in this scene are diegetic

The action

Weapons

The music

Dialogue

Characters

Foley

All of the sounds in "The Present" would have been recorded for the animation

Choose a scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXbFP2V_zSA

The music in the scene is "Come a little bit closer"

The music makes the scene have a happier tone than it actually does while Yondu, Rocket and Baby Groot murder most of the crew.

The music doesn't change but gets quieter when characters speak

The music doesn't change

You can kind of tell what is happening based on dialogue and sound effects

No moments of silence

The characters speak, they sound like their actors 

I don't know about my own voiceover

Some sounds like gunshots and Yondu's whistling seem louder than real life. This is probably so they can illustrate the noise of the scene better.

Setting & Colour

L/O: To explore the use of setting and colour in films

Setting

Why might a director choose the following settings?

1. A rural house may be chosen for a horror film to create a feeling of isolation from society
2. A big city to create a sense of scale in an action film
3. A small seaside town makes it so you focus on the characters rather than the setting in a romantic comedy
4. A range of countries for an action adventure allows for the "adventure" part of the film
5. A large modern science lab for a science fiction film allows for many cool concepts from a "x technology is being developed/almost done" perspective.

Colour

Why might a director choose the following colours?

1. Blue and red for a new superhero costume because of heroes like Superman, it immediately grabs the audiences attention towards a hero.

2. A black suit may give the connotation that that character is a corporate baddy.

3. Bright colours for a comedy to represent the tone of the film

Questions about the film

The action takes place across different worlds and spaceships

The story is set in these different places to show that the story is set in space and not just on Earth

The setting changes a lot because for most of the film the characters are split up

On Ego's planet, the Guardians seem to feel uncomfortable. On the ravager ship, Rocket constantly makes jokes while he is held prisoner where as Yondu is a lot more serious.

Visuals and dialogue help to show where the story is taking place

The same story could not have happened in a different place as the setting is so integral to the plot

You can't really tell when the story is taking place from the setting alone

There are flashbacks which implies the story is set now

Bright colours are used on Ego's planet to disguise the dark truth behind it

N/A

The colours are important to create subconscious feelings during the film

The film would have been less interesting in black and white

Get Creative

I would probably set it in a high tech laboratory with boring colours to represent the tone of the film being serious.