The Message Ancillary tasks: Draft Poster and Magazine Cover

This is a post for the ancillary tasks for the Message: A magazine Front Cover and Poster.

1. Text 'UK Directors Special' gives magazine a feature to advertise, and relates to cover film as it would be a  British Film.
2.SPOTLIGHT!: Magazine Name and is related to films, implying type of magazine without specifying.
3.Date, Price and Web Information. Magazines are normally a month ahead (March issue released in February etc.)
4. Alex looking at document sets films tone and while similar is not the same image as the poster, implying it was taken specifically for the magazine. On a darker background, also setting films tone.
5.Other film stories relating to recent or upcoming films: Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers/Avengers Assemble (the latter is the new UK name), James Bond: Skyfall, The Muppets, Star Trek 2 and The Hobbit
6. Word Exclusive helps sell copies as the readers can't get the information elsewhere. Also ties in with the cover photo (shot for magazine) and message underneath
7. 'The only magazine on set' ties in to the word Exclusive
8.Small box with interviews, all relating to top banner (1.) and features British Actors and Directors from New and Upcoming films: Edgar Wright, Noel Clarke, Chris Nolan, Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Craig and more.
9. Publisher name and barcode, found on all retail copies but not necessarily subscriber ones.

1. Actor's name's appear at the top of the poster
2. Grey background to set tone of the film (also background of the magazine cover)
3. Alex stood facing the camera. Expression is curious to show mystery.
4. Shots of the five victims to show wider implications of the conspiracy
5. TITLE: The Message. 'Message' is a larger font than 'the', showing that it is the main part of the title. In a report style font.
6.COMING SOON: No release date but posters aim to raise film awareness
7.Studio Logos, most likely revise 'BlackJack Films', fictional production studio from AS coursework

The Message Storyboard

These are the original storyboards for 'The Message'. Note footage may change.

1.Studio Logos
2.Pan Across the reports and certificates Alex has earned, showing she is a top reporter.
3. Mid-shot of Alex, looking through report
4. Close-up of Alex, answering the phone
5. Close-up of the source, but we do not see his face
6. Shots of how the four victims died, in quick succession over a voice-over of their names from the source.
7. Long Shot of Alex looking for the fifth victim
8.Close-up of the fifth victim
9. Mid-shot of Alex looking through files again
10. Director Title Card
11. Two Shot of Alex and another Journalist speaking
12. Close-up of Journalist speaking

13. Mid-shot of victim 6, the Prime Minister, on a News Channel
14. Cut back to Alex at the table
15. Cut to Insert/Extreme Close-up of wallet/ID being picked up
16. Two shot of Police Officers knocking on a door
17.Shot Reverse Shot conversation between Alex and Police Officers
18. Actor Name Title Card
19. Two Shot of Alex fighting Assassin
20. Close-up of Assassin speaking
21.The Message Title Card
22.Release Date Title Card

The Message Script

This is the script for my coursework piece. Names may change, and I have decided on naming the protagonist Alex as it could represent either gender. This is due to only having cast a few parts at time of writing.

THE MESSAGE TRAILER SCRIPT. PLEASE NOTE NAMES AND LOCATIONS MAY CHANGE

INT. OFFICE. NIGHT
Pan across wall, where we see several certificates and news covers.

Cut to ALEX sitting on a desk, looking over sources. The main light source is a lamp in shot.

CLOSE-UP of Alex talking to THE SOURCE. Cross-cutting is used in the conversation.

ALEX

Hello.

SOURCE
I have some information for you. You remember the deaths of Jacob West, Robin McCarthy, Angela Smith and Robert King?

As the names are spoken we see a flash of each person, clearly dead, in various locations.

SOURCE (CONTD.)

Well I have information on a fifth.

EXT.ALLEYWAY DAY

As the source is talking of the fifth victim we cut to Alex searching for something. We see Alex’s reaction and then cut to a close-up of the fifth victim.

INT. OFFICE. NIGHT

Alex is sitting at the desk again, with extra/new sources. It cuts to records of the five victims, all stamped accident. The top record is the latest victim Kurt Allen.

TITLE CARD – FROM WILL DRIVER, THE DIRECTOR OF PSYCHOSIS (comma represents new line)

INT. MEETING ROOM. DAY

Alex is sat at a table with another journalist. They are talking about what the source has been saying.

JOURNALIST 2

So what you’re saying is that not only weren’t these an accident, but there’s a huge conspiracy? You need to be careful around people like these.

ALEX

I just need to find the link, maybe I can stop them before the next person is killed

J2

And do you know the name?

ALEX

Only that it’s somebody high up

Cut to PM James Johnson standing at a podium making a speech. This is seen through a news channel, with a rolling headline ‘PM to decide on controversial bill’, although we do not see the entire message in the trailer.

Cut back to Extreme close-up of a dropped wallet at the Kurt Allen scene.

EXT. HOUSE. DAY

Two POLICE OFFICERS are stood outside of a door. It opens to reveal Alex on the other side.

OFFICER 1

Excuse me, Mr/Miss Davidson, but we would like to ask you a few questions about the Kurt Allen case

Alex

I don’t know what you mean

OFFICER 2

Then why was your ID found at the scene?

TITLE CARD – Actors name(s) will appear

EXT. ABANDONED AREA. DAY

Alex is seen fighting  an unknown ASSAILANT. We then cut to a close-up of the assailant, covered in blood, as Alex grabs them, but they are almost laughing at their defeat.

ASSAILANT

You cannot win. We have been fighting this war for centuries.All manner of man has tried to stop us, and failed.

Alex punches the assailant who falls to the ground.

TITLE CARD – THE MESSAGE

TITLE CARD – COMING SOON

Planning: Initial Ideas

After Carrying out audience research I have decided on a few storyline premises to go on for the film.

1. A journalist uncovers a link between a series of stories which is leading to a further crime which only they can stop.
2. A Police Officer finds a link between a series of unsolved cases and tries to stop further attacks.
3. Man in an accident tries to figure out what happened, while avoiding a mystery gang. Events preluding the accident would be told in flashbacks.
4. A member of a secret organisation tries to overthrow their corrupt leaders after being framed for killing their fellow men.

Of these 3 of the 4 are involving a conspiracy of some kind, while the fourth (idea number 3) looks more into the mind, in a Memento style. Idea's 1, 2 and 4 could be mixed, for instance it could be a Journalist who finds the link between the unsolved cases, which leads of the secret organisation. These fit in with the findings from all aspects of my audience research, as Conspiracy Thrillers are one of the more popular sub-genre's, and often feature protagonists/characters with a hidden past (one of the things from my audience research), and would focus on the narrative. There may be hints of action, but little to no Special Effects, as this is what my audience expect from Thriller films.

Survey Results

Part of the research stage is doing audience research, meaning that you can create something they want. To do this I created a questionnaire which asked:

Do you watch films often?
Favourite genres?
Last Thriller Seen?
Favourite Thrillers?
What should be in a thriller?
Most important aspect of a film?
Protagonist associated with Thrillers?

The people I asked were part of the Audience Profile (see earlier post) and so were male (and female) between the age of 16 and 25.

The results of this went with the research I had done earlier, with everyone I asked saying they watched at least 3 films a week, and that the 3 most watched genres are Thriller, Comedy and Action. The last thriller watched varied but was either ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’ (recently released in the cinema), ‘Inception’ (one of the highest rated thrillers of the last few years) and some of the older surveyed stated the last thriller they had seen was ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ (also recently released in cinemas). Inception and the Chris Nolan Batman films were some of the most popular thrillers, along with Sherlock Holmes: aGoS and some more action orientated thrillers like Law Abiding Citizen, V For Vendetta and The Departed.

Those surveyed all felt that the main parts of a thriller are twists, suspense and thrills. They also feel that story and character are the most important aspects of a film, which is what a trailer needs to communicate successfully. The characters in a thriller could be a number of things, but lots of people felt that there needs to be a conspiracy, and that the hero should be a professional, a soldier or police officer etc. The characters also need to be mysterious and to a point relate-able.


From this I know what type of story I could do for my target audience, and what elements to include for it to be seen by my target audience. 

Audience Profile

After doing some research into audiences for Thriller films, I have come up with an audience profile. This was done after looking at the BBFC guidelines, and ratings of similar films on websites like IMDb. 

The majority of thrillers do not go into graphic detail in any violent scenes or themes, and so are unlikely to be rated higher than a 15 by the BBFC. As well as this, mainly popular thrillers are rated at 12. By being 12 rated a film:

Must not be endorse discrimination
Can have infrequent drug use, which must not endorse the drug
Can have moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained.
Strong language must be infrequent.
Mature themes must be suitable for young teenagers
Violence cannot dwell on details.

Full details on the BBFC guidelines for 12/12A films can be found here
Meanwhile, 15 films will be more lenient (language, theme, horror) if given in context and deemed 'acceptable' for 15 year olds.
The full BBFC guidelines for 15 films can be found here

From the trailer alone it is often difficult to judge the tone, as scenes are edited to be suitable for more audiences.

A typical audience for a thriller does depend on the age of the film, but the 12/15 ratings often get the highest views, possibly because the teenage/ young adult market spends the most time at the cinema.

Some genre's are simple to create an audience profile when it comes to gender. For instance, men are more likely to watch action films, while women tend to prefer rom-com's. Some genre's like Drama and Thriller can appeal to both sexes, especially modern examples. Take Salt, for instance. Men would watch for the action and because it starred Angelina Jolie, while women would watch because the main character is female, and so it appeals to the 'feminist' viewpoint.

While my main character is also female, I feel that the story would also appeal to males, therefore my typical audience member would be a male aged between 16 and 25 or a female in the same age range. They would see a film for the story and character rather than the actor's and don't mind if the film they see is a major blockbuster or not. This is not far off what I had originally said when beginning to research Target Audience

Target Audience

The target audience is one of the most important elements to a film. Get it right and it will be a massive success. Market to the wrong audience, however, and the film will make very little money. Certain genre's cater more obviously to target audiences, for instance a female audience is more likely to watch Rom-Com's than a male audience, while more men watch more action films than women.

Thriller films are different. While many genres are easy to cater for, different sub-genre's within the thriller genre are targeted at different ages and genres. Many thrillers are rated at a 16-25 age range while others are aimed at an older audience. It is less the gender than the cultural capital and education levels which also dictate the Target Audience of a thriller. For instance, the middle class or better educated are more likely to watch films with complex stories, like Thrillers.
The classification of films can help determine the target audience in terms of Thrillers. Se7en, an 18, is aimed at a more mature audience while the 12 rated Inception and 15 rated Donnie Darko are aimed at older teenagers/young adults. The content in the film also allows gives an idea of this. Films with lots of violence are often aimed at men, such as Se7en, while adaptations of books, are aimed at fans of the book. Classics in this case, may be aiming for new audiences, such as the recent Sherlock Holmes films, while others are catering to their source materials target audience, the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo containing a lot of the books content, thus getting it rated as an 18 in the UK, in keeping with its adult themes

However, some studios pride themselves on multiple target audiences. Pixar, for instance, appears to be aimed at a younger audience, but will contain themes and jokes for adults as well, catering to all ages. This is extremely difficult to do, however, and if you miss both target audiences, then your film cannot be a success.

I feel that from looking at similar films at other stages, my target audience would be male's between 18 and 24, and would likely be rated at either a 12 or 15 by the BBFC. This is because this market makes up most 'cinema-goer's' and many existing thrillers aimed at this age are rated 12 or 15 (Inception, Memento, the Dark Knight) with only a few, more action orientated thrillers getting 18's (Die Hard, Aliens, Taken). A full Audience Profile can be found here