The Amazing Spider-Man Advertisement Comparisons

The Amazing Spider Man uses different ways to advertise the film before it is released in cinemas, the two ways that are typically used are trailers before it is released, posters, but this film is also advertised in Empire Magazine, which advertises big films such as The Dark Night Rises, which further boost sales. There are effects that are used to advertise the film in the different ways which attracts the audience, and they all have similaritites and differences between them.
For these different advertisements, the way that they are different from each other is by the way that they each look into different audiences that this will attract. For Empire magazine, it could be displayed to look as if they are trying to attract the younger teenage audience because this shows the picture of actor Andrew Garfields face. Teenage boys would place themselves as the heroic figure on this magazine covered in scars like used as mise-en-scene on his make-up, it makes him appear more effective and it adds more influence to the costume that he wears, the signiture of Spiderman. Teenage girls would be attracted to this film because of the use of actor Andrew Garfield that has been used to attract them to the more emotional side of Spiderman as well as heroic.
The trailer is effective as it shows Andrew Garfield as himself as well as showing glimpes of Spider Man in different situations. It attracts the audience and will increase sales of the film as they will want to go see why he is involved in these seperate situations.


The poster is effective seperatly from the trailer and the magazine as it shows Spiderman in full on the page. The use of mise-en-scene is effective as Spidermans costume is instantly noticable and it will attract Spiderman audiences to the new remake. Editing has been used to make the poster stand out and be more effective to the audience when seen, changing the lighting creates the mood of danger in the background with the dark sky, but it is effective in making Spiderman appear as if he is coming out of the poster in the pose that he is known for. The titles have been put underneath in the font that has been used for the past films, this gives continuity. It is effective in attracting action audiences because it contrasts against the bold background of the character.

I decided to briefly analyse these as it gives me an understanding of how the same film can be advertised differently, and how it keeps the audience interested for when the film is released in cinemas. I will refer to this for when I create my poster and magazine cover, because I now know that they can have a variation to their advertisements.

Horror Genre Ideas - Prezi with Jasmine Bridger

http://prezi.com/zbxpezu0xalo/trailer-mood-board/

 

Me and Jasmine Bridger created a prezi of ideas that we could use for our horror genre, we created a brief mind map of ideas that we created spontaneously that we could use in order to create our trailer. We have decided to work together as we are both interested in the horror genre, and working together allows us to create more interesting ideas that can be adapted to a style that would allow us both to be largely involved in the final outcome. This prezi is our starting ideas that we are going to research into further to see what are the best to use.

We decided that one of our ideas should be adapted from our past animatic that we had created together to experiment how well we worked as a team, and we both feel that our first idea was strong. However, we feel that it needs to be worked on more to be more effective and we also have to take into account what is more realistic to produce. We have decided to look into other genres as well to see if there is any that we would like to adapt for our trailer. Working together, I think our end result will be more successful.

Famous horror film directors

Certain directors are known for a particular genre that they are better at. Here I have found some directors that are well known for their contribution to horror. I have been interested in studying horror as it allows for a number of special effects to be used which I can contribute to my trailer. I have been interested in the costumes and the make-up which make the characters scary. However, the special effects and use of shots is what adds tension and keeps the viewer on edge. Here I have decided to look at directors who have accomplished making a name for themselves as a vital addition to a successful horror film.

The directors I have decided to briefly look at are Brian De Palma, John Carpenter and Alfred Hitchcock.

Brian De Palma

Brian De Palma is known for horror as well as other contributions to films. One of the films he has made which has been rememberable is 'Phantom of the Paradise' in 1974, which was a romance film. William Finley played Winslow Leach, which is the Phamtom.The plot to this film is a disfigured musician sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. This wasn't as popular as Scarface, the film which he ended his career on with actor Al Pacino (1983).
Scarface may have been Brian's most successful movie, but it wasn't as horror centered as some of his other works, it would be considered more mainstream.
It was more the cliche of typical action films, Men and their guns, attracted women.
However, horror would still be considered the more centered genre for Brian, creating films such as 'Carrie' in 1976 and 'The Fury' in 1978.
Carrie was based around a Stephen King Novel. The plot is about actor Sissy Spacek who plays Carrie White, who is meant to be a nice girl with a crazy mother. She is meant to become something else than just a nice, sad girl at prom.
Brian De Palma enjoyed working with novelists, as 'The Fury' was based on the John Farris novel.
This horror film is about government agent, his son and kidnapers with powerful psychic abilities.
He has many different tastes to creating his films whilst still focusing on the plots, and this is interesting to me. I like the idea of connecting another genre to my trailer or having a plot to my film, which I can take as inspiration from Brian. 

John Carpenter

John Carpenter is best known for his directing skills, but he is also well known as a screenwriter, producer, composer and an actor. At a young age, from 1962- 1969 he was known for a range of short horror films, some not as successful as others. Some examples were:
- Revenge of the Colossal Beasts (His first work)
- Terror from Space
- Gorgon, the Space Monster
- Gorgo Versus Godzilla
- Warrior and the Demon
- Sorceror from Out Of Space

It was after this in 1978 when he wrote a screenplay and directed it as well. His screenplay was called Halloween, known as 'his masterpiece'. The plot of this film was a psychotic murder who was institutionalised since childhood for mudering his sister. He escapes, then stalks a 'bookish' teenage girl and her fiends while his doctor chases him through the streets. Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode) and Donald Pleasence (Dr. Sam Loomis) were the lead actors.

Other successful films that John Carpenter is known for include:

- The Thing (1982) -  The plot evolves around scientists in the Antarctic that are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

- Christine (1983) - A nerdish boy buys a strange car with an evil mind of its own and his nature starts to change to reflect it.

- Prince of Darkness (1987) - A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

- They Live (1988) -  A drifter discovers a pair of sunglasses that allow him to wake up to the fact that aliens have taken over the Earth.

- In the mouth of Madness (1994) - An insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.

- Village of the Damned (1995) - A small town's women give birth to unfriendly alien children posing as humans.

- Vampires (1998) - A vengeful vampire slayer must retrieve an ancient Catholic relic that, should it be acquired by vampires, will allow them to endure sunlight.

- Ghosts of Mars (2001) - A story of human colonists on Mars who must be rescued after becoming possessed by vengeful Martian ghosts.

These different plots are inspirational to me as they give me a brief understanding on how I can branch out to different ways of looking at horror, other than just the scary character killing innocent beautiful women which is the horror cliche. I like John Carpenter as he goes against this idea of horror.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was known for using the same themes repeatedly for his films:
- Mistaken Identity
- Innocents falsely accused
- Ordinary people thrust into extraordinary peril (films such as Twilight have taken inspiration from this)
- People who are not what they seem to be
- Trust and Betrayal
- Hair-breadth escapes
- Perfect Crimes
- Double-crosses
One of the main statements Hitchcock has in his films is that every film has a central couple. They tend to be lovers who are very good for each other or the opposite. This is the horror genre personified.
Hitchcock uses the typical cliche's of of a gorgeous blonde but twists the image of a damsel in distress to be the saviour who would rescue the man from a tough spot. One example is a bad guy with the idea that he has the perfect crime, and then you have the clips of a policeman going after the wrong guy. Typical cliche of an action film.
Hitchcock had started to understand earlier on in his career that suspense is generated when the audiance can see danger his characters cannot see, or can only suspect. This is what he would include in his films to purposefully build tension, and many other directors have used it since. I am inspired to do the same in my trailer as it gives a brief shot of danger the characters are going to be in. This exites audiances who are interested in horror films.

Alfred Hitchcock once said, "There's no terror in the bang of the gun, only the anticipation of it." This had made his earlier work create vivid terror in the mind of the viewer with hardly any blood on the screen.

Alfred Hitchcock is known for 'The Birds', a horror/thriller combination that was his most successful piece. The film is about a wealthy San Francisco socialite who pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

Alfred Hitchcock use of cliche's inspired me to try and connect my trailer to include one of these as well, this would show that I have understood the horror genre. I will also try to create a moment of anticipation for the trailer in the way that Hitchcock identified earlier on in his career. This shows that I have understood the cliche.

Horror Costume Analysis

Idea 1: The pigs head and the butchers costume is scary when combined and it would shock viewers if editing was used correctly to make the character appear in a shocking way. It adds the question to how it ended up appearing this way.

Idea 2: A more realistic view by creating a mouth that is connected to a body plate gives the illusion of a horror film. difficult to make, scary with the appropriate use of editing and special effects.
 

Idea 3: The face of this character is well known by the film 'The Scream' which would immediatly inform the audience of the genre. It is constantly copied to add tension, it can be copied for my trailer to follow the theme of the horror cliche.

 

Idea 4: Costumes such as this are easy to make as it involves the use of rags that have been stained to support the idea of an undead villian. Fake blood and a mask supports the creepy vibe that is meant to come across in the trailer. The use of fake blood on a saw is scary to the viewer as it shows that this character has already commited murder. Is the main character next?

Idea 5: The costumes above and below are designed specifically to appear more attractive instead of scary, which wouldn't appear in a horror film unless linked with another genre or is related to the plot. For example, the opening set up could be a horror themed party which is what these costumes would be bmade for.


 

Comparisons of three action trailers

These three films are based around the action genre, and all present significant ways in which they have unique selling points. They are all very different in plot but are similar in ways that revolve around how the trailers are advertised, which brings up viewing sales in cinema's. These include a variety of different ways, including the pace of the trailers, which for the dark knight rises and Avatar the trailers start off the same with the pace running slowly to build up tension and building up to the final moments in which the plot of the film is announced. This attracts the older audiences as it leaves the enigma on what will happen at the end, especially as the tension keeps you attracted to these plot idea. For Dark Night Rises it is to understand whether Batman is going to survive at the end, and what happens with the female in the slow pace dancing in between different scenes. What is her involvement in the plot? For Avatar, it is to find out whether the love interest will survive at the end, which is highly played as the most important clip at the end to attract females. This connects a wider audience. It is also the same as Dark Night Rises as a clip is left at the end that follows after the faster pace of the rest of the clip, showing a different story connected in between. Kung Fu Panda doesn't connect similarly to these other two films because the target audience is for younger ages, which means that the pace had to be quicker from the start. The pace had to be quicker because younger target audiences have a short attention span, so action is used at the beginning in fast paces to attract audiences quickly and effectively. Unlike the others, there is no love interest because the younger audiences arent interested in the intamicy, so it has no need to be included.

The hero's and Villians are determined in the trailers which is effective as the audience then know who it is to follow and who the film is going to be based around. For the Dark Night Rises it is Batman which is the films unique selling point, as audiences can instantly recognise the costume. This use of mise-en-scene is effective in making this film different from the others that I am comparing to, as it isn't a necessity in those films. Batman is a main focus for the film, but the Villian Bane has more screen time in this trailer, and is followed by an array of camera shots that disguise him from being seen completely on the screen. This adds effect to the audience as it suggests he doesn't want to be seen, and the use of his mask further proves this idea. Seeing the trailer from the villians point of view is effective in understanding why he is against Batman, and the audience becomes eager to understand his role in the film. For Avatar, the Hero is shown as one of the blue characters which is seen in seperate moments of the trailer, and is unique to other films because of the use of special effects to make the character more realistic.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdaMGcOyfjM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1_JBMrrYw8



Teen Wolf Trailer

Teen Wolf is a film with Michael J Foxx. which is its unique selling point. The plot is about a teenage boy who is unpopular at school to start becoming more popular once he has turned into a wolf.
The clip starts off slow with the special effects of the logo appearing slowly on the screen, followed by the name of the company who is releasing this film. The small font isn't as effective as it could have been presented more bolder and effective to the audience, making it stand out to other trailers. What is effective however is the way the noise of a wolf in the background makes the audience think that this trailer is more dramatic, maybe the genre is a horror film. By doing this the audience are engaged to watch the trailer to see how effective it is going to be.
The idea that this trailer is going to be a horror changes instantly when the music changes to a more upbeat comedy instead. The first clip we see is a low angle shot of Michael J Foxx. for a split second on screen before it turns into a high angle of the basketball being thrown on the court, we know he is on a court because of the use of mise-en-scene with the costumes. Even though at the beginning the low angle shot is used he still appears more vulnerable with his terrified expression and the sweat on his face. The first number of seconds makes us feel connected to the character he is in this film, engaging the audience.
Connecting with the character helps the audience in wanting to watch this film in cinema's because they will want to find out how he interacts with the environment and what eventually ends and whether he becomes popular then.