Film Review

This is my film review.



I wanted to act as a journalist, who is mother to young children, so I had a more positive perspective on the film. It is no good me writing a negative review of the film I have just made. There could be some improvements, and I may produce another review, which amends this one. As a first attempt, I think this is quite good; it could have gone a lot worse, however, I will seek out more reviews from viewers of my film to see if there is another persona I can write from. I wanted a colloquial tone running throughout this review, as the audience to this type of review are more likely to go and see the film, rather than if I wrote an educational review that could feature in 'The Guardian' , this is more colloquial, and is a humorous review more likely to be featured in 'The Sun'.

Finished Film

We have now finished our film and now have to just concentrate on our final Ancillary Tasks. The film will need to be uploaded to YouTube so we can put them on our blogs, and this will take ages. YouTube has decided not to work today, so I will have to upload it another time. I am very glad the film is finally finished, it's a huge relief to know this! It also gives us a more stress-free time and MORE time to make sure everything is up to date and everything is finished.

Software

I realised I have mentioned little software used throughout my project, so thought I would list them and give evidence as to where I used it.

- Adobe Premier Pro - to edit my film sequences, and add visual and sound effects to create a final film.
- Adobe Photoshop - to edit the images on my film posters.
- Paint - also editing my film posters.
- Microsoft Office Publisher - to piece my film posters together.
- muvee - to make small videos to put sound effects onto my blog.
- Wavepad Sound Editor - to edit the 'Peter and the Wolf' music.

There are other computer programmes I have used, but these are the main and more frequent programmes that have helped me develop my coursework project to this stage.

This is my third attempt at a film poster;



This actually features a shot from the film, an ultimate link between the 3 pieces of work I am completing. This seems more bland in terms of colour and information, yet has the image from the film. I may have to mix all three film posters together in a fourth poster to create the best possible poster, as each seem to have different strengths.

Film Poster 2

This is my second attempt at a film poster;



There are lots more snakes here, and so there is more happening in the poster - it is more interesting for audiences. I have also added a slogan 'ONE BOY. TOO MANY SNAKES.' This makes the poster seem more alive, and gives a bigger incentive for audiences to watch the film.

Ancillary Task

I have finally finished Ancillary Task number one - The Film Poster. Here it is;



I think this is a good first attempt at a film poster, as I have studied children's film posters previously. The credits at the bottom are in a similar font, the bright colours attract attention instantly, especially a child's attention. The large image allows audiences to be interested, as there is an animated element to the picture, the title font is very similar to that in the film too - everything links. This creates a sense of continuity for the audience and they recognise the whole film and posters surrounding it, they can make the link between it all.

Special Effects

We have had lots of experiments with special effects on 'Adobe Premier Pro', but have decided to keep the dream sequence a little more simple than first anticipated. As we have quite fast shots in the dream sequence, a few jump cuts and lots of quick edits, we decided to keep one theme throughout the dream sequence. We have made the dream sequence 'Posterized' and this adds a slightly animated feel to the sequence, making it more child-friendly. By posterizing the sequence, the colours are brighter and more vivid, impersonating a dream and making it come to life.

Sound Effects

This is the 'Wilhelm Scream' we intend to use in our film. We realise it is quick and there is a little feedback, but this is the only copyright version we could find online. I think it will work quite well if we time it right.



This is a preview of an edited version of Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf'. This is the theme tune for our film. These are two very well-known sounds, something all audiences can relate to.



This is the sound we will use to show audiences Alfie is falling asleep. We are yet to decide on an effect, but I am hoping for some kind of shimmer/ripple where the scenes can dissolve into one another.

Editing

We have now completely finished the editing - everything is all in sequence and in chronological order! We now have to put special effects on the dream sequence and add sound. We best get experimenting! I have previously looked through some effects we could use in the dream sequence to make it surreal, and I quite liked the 'Solarize' and 'Posterize' effects used on 'Adobe Premier Pro'. As for sound, I emailed a list of sound effects to Curtis, to see if he could get hold of any, which he has! Time to put them on the film!

Editing

We are near the end of our editing process, and are finishing the last few sequences. We are yet to enter the post-production stage, such as adding sound and special effects to our film, but this is the fun part where we get to experiment! Hopefully, by the end of next week, we can have our film completely finished - hopefully!

Children's Film Posters

I have looked at these film posters and decided on similar fonts, compositions and techniques to use for my own poster. I may take a characteristic from each poster to use in my own, so I cover all posts to a certain level - I want audiences to know this is an advertisement for my film.



This is a film poster advertising the children's film 'Charlotte's Web'. This is a very simplistic layout, even though it seems as there is lots going on in the poster. I like the central large image of the main character. I also like how the font of the title is the same as in the film. There is also a slogan that represents the film, another characteristic I would like to use.



'Finding Nemo' is the next film poster I analysed, as this is a well-known, much-loved children's film. The same technique is used here; the large central image, of a key character; the title font is the same as in the film. There is a slightly different technique used here, where no-one is named, just a simple release date and creator of the film.



'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' is the third film poster I looked at. This is very dark and mysterious, which will appeal to an older audience. I wanted to look at a 'Harry Potter' poster, as this is featured in our film. This shows a lot more information, in a certain font at the bottom of the poster than the other two posters. This poster is a lot more complicated than I want mine to be, but this is an example of how I don't want my film poster to look like. The only similarity I would like, is the font of the title to be the same as featured in my film.

Looking at these posters has helped me to design my own, and made me realise how simple my poster will need to be, to appeal to the right audience.