Film Review- Construction

Here is the Review that I have been working on. I was told that the page needs to be A3 for a double page spread and therefore have decided to change it into a single page review. This is because my review can fit on an A4 page and we think that it will generally look better on an A4 page.
Within the next few blog posts, you will see the construction of the film review.

Film Review Construction3

This is the almost finished film poster. I have changed the extras box into a verdict box. I will make a few changes to the final version which will be uploaded in the next post. 

Film Review Construction2

Above the adding to the review can be seen. I have now successfully added the journalism and have started to add colours and borders. I will also include an extras box

Film Review Construction

I have changed the page layout to portrait. I chose to stick to the same colour scheme of red, black, and grey with a white background. So far I have added the still, and have written up a small box about the film.
Billie was in charge of the writing of the plot, she emailed me with the plot and I added that into the review.
The email can be seen below :

Journalism - Completed Version

Film Review: 

This incredible and gritty short film follows the lives of two teenagers trapped in an urban surrounding with a whole world unknown to them. With a life full of drugs, does Jason (Aaron Adikwu) take on his brother’s advice? This is a question you will consistently be asking yourself when you go to watch this film. The co-producers, Billie Casmir and Zaneb Mahmood both said that ‘this was a real challenge for us, but coming from such a background we were able to tie everything in as we had first-hand experience’ having lived in East London for most of their lives, they had a true feel of what life was like there. They were successfully able to incorporate this within their film which is known to be a success in the UK and it is proven to be a hit over the pond in the US where it is set to be released.

Many urban themes have been included into this film and it really connects with the audience. The visual style of this film is very similar to that of Ill Manors and Kidulthood. The extreme close ups and upper body shots expose us to the inner turmoil some of these actors face. I think that they have done well with this project as they have highlighted the main points of living in a rural area with that involving drugs. There is a plot twist which will astonish every viewer and the shocking conclusion will guarantee to make your heart quiver.

As a reviewer of this film I think that the relationship of the two brothers (Nathan Adikwu and Aaron Adiwku) has been shown in an interesting way. There was also an impressive performance by Ama Adikwu which will be sure to have every mother in tears. I applaud the cast, directors and producers for their brilliant effort with this project. The time an effort put in is clearly evident within this film. The strong points are definitely the actors and how they have portrayed life in a calm yet teeth clenching way. The only point I will pick at is the lighting in certain scenes. These could have been lighter in order to understand the surrounding and what was going on.

This film is a must see!

Journalism - Draft

I started writing up a draft of the Journalism that will go into the Film Review. I then sent it to my team members:

Journalism- making a start

So far this is what I have come up with:

Todays Lesson

Today we have made the final changes to the film poster by adding stars which Billie has done and we decided that the film poster needs a bit of colour so we have changed the release date and 'imax' to red so it stands out a bit. Also, we have said that we will add different adverts at the bottom.
Nathan is working on the film review.
I have come up with a slogan for the film poster which will be 'Caught in a world of the unknown'.
In the following posts I will upload images of the review and poster.

Film Poster, complete

This is the complete version of the film review. We decided that it would look better if we added a splash of colour, so we chose to stick to the colour scheme of grey, black and red with a white background. Billie also added star ratings, and the sponsors at the bottom of the billing box. 

Film Poster - Almost done

This is the film poster with the white banner. I think that it does work for us, however we may make a few changes to colour scheme and positioning of the quotes etc.

Film Poster- Points to consider.

As our colour scheme is blacks and greys, it was difficult for us to add the writing on to the image as it all blends in into the background. Therefore, it was suggested that we research other film posters to help us with our own.

We then looked at three different film posters that all had banners.

Above is the film poster for the film 'The Eye' this film poster looks good combined with a banner as the banner blends into the white background. The small print is easier to read and it generally fits in well with the poster. We could add a white banner to our poster or a black banner to our poster.

The second poster that I looked at was the 'Gravity' film poster: 

This poster works well with a black banner but once again it blends in with the background of the poster. For us it will be a little harder as our photography is done on location. So it will be a little difficult to add a banner that isn't the same colour as our background. 

The last poster that I looked at was the 'Ferris Bueller's day off' this poster uses a white banner but it sticks to the colour scheme of white, black and red. I think that in order for ours to work, we need to add a little bit of colour so that the banner fits in well with the poster. 

In the next post i will upload the updated version of the film poster, changes may be made. 

Film Poster - Construction

Below are a few screenshots of the construction of our film poster which has been done by Billie:


Above we have chosen the release date and Billie has positioned it into the poster. She also converted the font from Adobe Illustrator into Photoshop where the poster will be produced.

She then began to add the small print. Writing it up in Illustrator and copying it into Photoshop. Inspiration was taken from the inception film poster:




Below is the small print positioned into place with the heading and release date



Below is the completed version. I came up with the quotes to add to the poster. Billie positioned it all into Photoshop. We just need to add the star rating and may need to work on colours. We also need to add the image.

Call Sheet

Above is the call sheet that I created for Photography on Location.

What we did today- Planning

Today we all got on with out individual tasks. Nathan was researching different reviews to help with journalism. I made a start on the review and then completed the photography call sheet which will be uploaded in the next post. Billie made a start on the different fonts in Illustrator. 

We will all be continuing with these. 

Print Products- Roles

We have decided that for the print products (film review and poster) we will all contribute to each of the stages.

While Billie will be focusing on Photoshop making sure that the layout and conventions are correct, Nathan will be doing the same on Illustrator/InDesign. I will also be contributing to that.

I will be focusing on the Journalism for both of the print products but Nathan and Billie will be also be contributing to that.

We will all work collaboratively to ensure that the deadline is reached.

We have also booked the camera for stills for Friday 9th January.

Pitch for Film Poster and Film Review - Video

Pitch for print products

Link to Presentation : http://app.emaze.com/@AQWIWRC/research--planning

Film Review 3 - Case Study

Having looked at this poster, I like the layout as it is simple and straight to the point. I have read the journalism and it does not bore me. I think that it creates questions in the readers mind from the start and then lets you in to the way that it was creating, using quotes from the makers of the film. I think that in order for a film review to be successful, we should add this into our review. I think that by using quotes directly from us, the people who came up with the story, will make the journalism stronger. I will incorporate this into my own work. The journalism is snappy and straight to the point. In order for our film review to flow it needs to follow similar codes and conventions. 

A feature that I will take from this review to add into my own work is the page numbering where beside that is the magazines website. This also keeps the review professional and is a promotional method. Whilst reading the review when turning the page the reader will automatically see the website and may want to go on it for further information. 

Film Review 2 - Case Study

Case Study 2 - Sightseers  |Create infographics

What I have gathered from this case study is that the journalism can become quite confusing. There are many references in this case study to different films which is a good feature to have and I will be adding this into my own review, but at times this film review becomes quite confusing. It is full of  remarks made by the viewer which is what is expected but personally I think that too many remarks can make the review harder to understand and also harder to understand what is going on in the film and what it is about. 

The elements that I could use in my own work is the splashes that are used on the review where a key feature is highlighted. For example, on this review you can see that the splash used to highlight 'we could have it in the gift shop' is in a black circle. Also on the review there is another shape on the left hand sand top corner that says 'review'. In order to stay within the professional feel and the realer look, by having this in my film review will make the reviews overall appearance look better. 

Film Review 1 - Case Study

Having looked at this case study, I have been inspired by a few of the features used and I would like to use them in my own work. 

I like that the heading of the review is bold and it is overlaid upon the picture. I think that this makes both the picture and the heading stand out. As our short film is a drama, this fits in well with the overall theme. 

I also like the colours that have been used. Once again, as it is a drama the colours cannot be too overpowering. It would be better for us to stick to darker colours and maybe one colour that is a little stronger. In the poster above you can see that the colours used are white, blue and black. The background is also white.For our film review, I believe that in order for it to stay professional, the background should remain white. We should also keep the writing black and add colour elsewhere such as the star rating and the image should also be in colour. 

I also think that the first information box giving further details about the film is useful and makes it look like a real film review. I will definitely incorporate this into my film review.