Film Products

Film Poster: Audience Feedback

Here is a pitch we did during one of our Media lessons regarding Print Products. We showed our audience a range of different ideas of what we were thinking of doing in terms of our Film Poster. We did not do the same regarding our Film Review as we did not have a range of different ideas at the time therefore we created a questionnaire afterwards in order to gain audience feedback from that. 

As a whole the audience preferred as a majority option 1 as it illustrated the short film clearer with the incorporation of the forest. However, when we discussed this as a group we decided that option 2 was most favourable to still represent the "vigilante killer" concept throughout however we made some changes by blending an image we had when doing the Reece of the forest within the black hoodie of the protagonist.


This has the led us to the creation of our first draft by using an image from Google representing the killer, which we will then change after doing the photography for the Print Products in the studio.

Film Review: Production

When producing the Film Review we took great inspiration from the Total Film Magazine by replicating the conventional layout of where the images are places and the writing. 

Here we have added a section with some films that relate to the film and if the audience have watched them and enjoyed they will also enjoy watching One by One. 

Here we have started to implement the journalistic writing as well as the title "One by One" and other conventions such as pull quotes, film rating and page numbers. We also included the fictional name for the magazine which is "Showreel".

Here we added the rest of the journalistic writing as well as a small picture taken from our photo-shoot which we decided to incorporate due to the responses in our audience feedback. 

Here are the details about the film such as the cast, director, running time and certificate rating using a mix of bold and fine font which relates to the inspiration we had from Total Film magazine and our other case studies. 

In this final version last details such as the name of the magazine at the top left hand corner to bring the piece together. Other amends such as the lining for texts and images and paragraph outlines were done in order to complete this professional media product. 

Film Poster Final Stages

As a finishing touch we decided to darken the killer's lips as having a red colour again diverges away from our concept. The we also added a crumpled paper touch using Photoshop which relates back to the evidence board D.I.Y. feel. 

Here is the final version as we just adjusted the brightness and contrast to again give an ominous and dark feel throughout our media package. 

Film Poster Further Development

During this stage the creation of the credits and lettering starts. As seen in stages 1, 2 and 3 the credits are placed at the bottom as it contrasts with the black and the blended forest nicely. 

Then in stage 4 we see how the lettering would work if placed at the middle of the poster but we then decided that placing it above the credits works best as a simple conventional horror film poster.  

Film Poster Development

Linear Stages for the completion of the |Film Poster.

We have decided to use the photography shown below for the background and the killer. This has been reached by considerations of the audience feedback as well as a discussion by our group members. The addition of the forest has also been applied given the feedback during our pitch for the Film Poster so we used a picture taken from the Recce and darkened it to blend nicely with the killer's outfit. 

Journalistic Writing: Film Review

Journalistic writing - Film review.

One by One review

We all love a good thriller. We’ve all jumped back in shock, we’ve all sat on the edge of our seat in suspense and we’ve all laughed at the utter ridiculousness. The newest film to venture into the well-trodden path is “one by one” from newbie filmmakers Lazarus productions. They’re hoping to take the world by storm a la Chronicle. This indie production team has set out to bring the old school back to the thriller genre. Unlike many Hollywood flicks of recent years such as “The House at the End of the Street”.  The trio in a recent interview with us (to hear go to www.showreelfilm.co.uk) stated, “Having grown up watching horror /thriller films ourselves, we feel its loosing its credibility as a respected genre and now has become something repetitive, with countless reboots and over used storylines. Filmmakers are also responsible, as they tend not to respect the audience in terms of their intelligence, rather than dealing with the real issues shown in the films such as murder and striping back to the psychological reasoning behind it, instead think up new ways to kill a cheerleader with a chainsaw. If we can do one thing with one by one it would be to begin the revival of the good old fashion intelligent psychological horror/thriller.”

The small budgeted short film strays away from a complicated plotline and keeps it to the bare minimum. Following the route from movies of old, One by One centres on a vigilante killer out to exact his version of justice by killing convicted criminals who were released by the failure of our justice system…sounds familiar? However, despite the predictable plotline, this cliché actually works in favour of the film. With its non-existent dialogue the main tool of storytelling lies through the artful direction. This is where the film truly shines and starts to stand on its own merit. A series of blurred shots imply sinister things in the obscure parts of a deranged mind. The last scene stole the show with a powerful yet simple shot adding another metaphorical layer to the psychotic anti-hero who does what needs to be done (hear hear). Another stand out feature is the music, a brilliant piano piece composed by the legendary pianist, Ludovico Einaudi that enriched the atmosphere to creepier levels, giving thriller lovers that much needed build-up of suspense.

Similar films

1.  Disturbia (2007) - 
   A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbour is a serial killer.
2. The call (2013) - When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realises that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.
3. Prisoners (2013) - When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
4. Law abiding citizen (2009) - A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
5. Wanted (2008) - A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities.