Magazine Front Cover - Aiden Clark

My Magazine front cover for fictional Apocalyptic media magazine, RIVET CITY

Poster - Aiden Clark

My final poster - Aiden

Magazine Analysis (Empire and Total Film)

Total Film

This magazine features Megan Fox as the main image wearing a cheerleader costume as part of the film ‘Jennifer’s body’. This main image will catch the eyes of the male audience as she is also pulling a suggestive pose. This will perhaps relate to the target audience of the film, which putting Megan fox in this way on the front cover will attract men to the film and magazine. Also, her hand has blood dripping from it, which instantly changes the image, bringing it back to a typical horror film, with the female being the one who is either the one who gets killed, or is the killer. This brings all of the typical features of a teen horror film together. The colours in the image also contrast well together, with the background being white, the blood red and the mast head red. This means the mast head and blood stand out on the white background, and catching the viewer’s eye. Also the cover lines, or plugs to the right of Megan Fox showing the page features are all the same colour, black and grey. But the one referring to Megan Fox and the page she appears on is in complete red, again following the house style of this particular issue. This is also labelled as model credit, as it gives credit to the model appearing as the main image, Megan Fox.

Empire

This magazine features Daniel Craig as the main image, as James Bond. This front cover takes a style relative to James Bond, as the font looks like something from a spy film in sans serif style with slight italics. This appeals the film to the audience of James Bond well, as it maintains the theme and house style of James Bond in general. The front cover’s house style follows the colour scheme of red, white, gold and blue. The red picking out key words such as ‘ULTIMATE’, ‘ESSENTIAL GUIDE’, ‘WINTER’ and ‘BEYOND’. These are puffs as they are short one-word or two-words that will work to engage the audience instantly. Gold only highlights ‘Skyfall’, which makes this stand out from everything else, as gold seems important, and nothing else seems more appropriate for the title of the film. The plugs going along the front cover of the magazine, feature films which at the time were either unreleased or very new. This is done to attract people to read further into the magazine as they can find out more about the films; Jack Reacher, Django Unchained, Iron Man and Elysium, which are very intriguing to an audience who seek to know more about the latest films.

Initial Poster ideas - Drafts (scanned)

These are my initial poster designs. My posters mostly feature the main character in a prominent position, however the bottom two focus more on the post apocalypse side of it than the character. I prefer the poster idea of the burned union flag as it is a more striking image than all the others.

I feel like I could improve the tagline to be a lot more dramatic rather than the cheesy sound it has at the moment.

From research of movie posters, it appears that titles are torn between going at the top and at the bottom of a poster. I decided to put my title at the top of my posters as the title will then be the first thing they see and draw attention to the movie’s name.

Developed poster idea (Scanned)

Initial poster ideas (Scanned)

Poster Analysis (The Road and SOTD)

 

The Road

The main image shows the view from behind two characters, a boy and a man. They seem to be walking through what appears to be a wasteland. The simplistic, bare layout relates possibly to the idea that everything is now just a vast wasteland. They seem to also be walking on what looks like an endless road, which links to the title of ‘The Road’, depicting the idea that this film is about a journey for the man and the young boy, meaning that possibly they have an objective they need to get to in the film. The background shows a completely flattened landscape with dusty terrain. The image also looks dark and gloomy, as the sky shows dark clouds hang above the young boy and adult.

Shaun of the Dead

The main image shows a set of double doors, which if we look through the windows shows the main, character, who is not a zombie, pressed up to the glass by the surrounding zombies. This is funny as it shows him out of place and the expression upon his face makes it look like he is confused by what is happening. This humorous image relates to humorous nature of the film, and will push this upon the audience. The colour in the poster also relates to the themes depicted within the film, as the red door in the foreground relates to the idea of death, blood and zombies. The colouring of the characters behind the doors also puts a big effect on the poster, as the only human is shown as bright and vibrant in colour, whereas the zombies are shown as dull and colourless, which shows how they are lifeless and moving corpses.

Comparison

Both posters are completely different, as they both are of different genres. The Road being a survivor-apocalypse, and Shaun of the Dead being a comedy-zombie film. For these reasons they are both different, as the Shaun of the Dead poster intends to make the audience laugh and entices them by this. The Road is different as it attempts to show the audience that these two people are some of the only survivors left in the world, and does it in a more emotional manner showing the link of what looks to be father and son wandering the wastelands.

developed poster ideas (scanned)

This is my chosen draft of my for initial ideas I have chosen this because it establishes its a post apocalyptic film. The mast Head is large and easy to see. The sun tends to pop up alot with zombie/infected  posters/covers so I believe it is a nice touch to have and gives a sense of calmness, and the single figure on the hill establishes the main character.  

Intial poster idea drafts (Scanned)

These are my four initial poster ideas two of them (3 and 4) establishes the main character and focuses in them. one poster shows a skull (number 1) which shows death and evilness. the other poster ( number 2) shows people turning on other people which establishes desperate times in this world  

Screenplay

24 Hours

MONTAGE OF SHOTS INCLUDING

·        WOODS - Zombie MS

·        SCHOOL - Military ELS

·        WOODS - Forest overland ELS

·        WOODS - Military shooting person LS

As a series of shots show scenic areas of the post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by zombies and ruthless soldiers, Steve performs a voice over explaining the backstory of the film.

STEVE (V.O.)

2 years ago, a chemical attack destroyed a once great nation and turned hard working individuals into mindless flesh eating monsters. | I’ve had to kill to survive and made allies along the way. These… These things, they’re not human. Not anymore. |The army, they don’t care. Living, dead or undead; we’re all infected to them.| For 2 years, I have survived by any means necessary, with one goal in mind; to find my sister.

EXT. WOODS CAMP – NIGHT

As the group sit around and eat and drink, a mobile phone rings. Steve answers the phone and is met by Allan on the other end of the line.

Close ups, lots of dramatic shots.

STEVE

(On the phone)

Hello?

ALLAN

(Through the phone)

Steve, it’s your sister.

CUE SUSPENSE MUSIC

INT. ALLAN’S BASE – DAY

STEVE walks through a wrecked front room, his gun in his hands. In a short sequence he arrives at the corpse of Allan, shot dead and slumped against the wall with a recording device in his hands.

ALLAN

(On the recording and between pained grunts)

STEVE, the military, they’ve taken your sister!

As STEVE takes a second to dramatically process this new information in his head, ALLAN grabs his arm and bites him. A quick flashy jump cut shows STEVE shooting ALLAN in the head. He then looks at his arm and begins to panic.

STEVE

(Panicking)

No… no no no no!

MONTAGE OF SHOTS

·        EXT. WOODS - ARMY SHOOTING MORE INFECTED

·        EXT. WOODS – CONVERSATION WITH GROUP

EXT. ROAD – DAY

JOE turns against STEVE and raises his gun at him.

JOE

I’m not dying to save your sister!

STEVE

Nobody is dying to save my sister!

JOE

How do we know we can trust you, after all, you are infected!?

CUE blackout and gunshot.

MONTAGE OF DRAMATIC SHOTS

·        SCHOOL – Running ducking bullets – ELS/TRACKING – SLO MO

·        SCHOOL – JOSH fist fight with important looking soldier – LS/STATIC

·        WOODS – Running – ELS/PANNING – SLO MO

STEVE (V.O.)

I’m not saying it will be easy. | Some of us may be forced to kill people. | But I have to do this. I have to save my sister!

DRAMATIC MUSIC CLIMAXES

MONTAGE OF MEGA DRAMATIC SHOTS

·        SCHOOL – More dramatic punch outs – close ups and fast shaky mid shots

·        WOODS – Running and shooting – shaky close ups and mid shots/LS slo mo

·        ALLAN’S BASE – Ducking from strong light in the window – Low angle LS

BLACKOUT

TITLE FADE UP – 24 HOURS – TIMER UNDERNEATH COUNTING DOWN FROM 24

FADE UP – COMING SOON 2014 – FADE TO BLACK

Front Cover analysis - Fangoria and Empire

 

Fangoria magazine is a magazine that dedicates itself to the horror genre, something never really seen in mainstream magazines such as EMPIRE who are more likely to do big films such as Prometheus. The comparisons between both posters are small obvious things such as the colour of the magazine title. To tie in with the blue technological colour of Prometheus, EMPIRE is in light blue and the magazine front cover is themed with the colour light blue. Likewise, Fangoria adopts a sepia toned red to match the main image. The red is a more appealing colour and has a stronger contrast to the image, making Fangoria’s colour scheme the more logical one to choose.

The main image for both these front covers is something crucial to the plotline of the film. For Fangoria, the film featured on the front cover is a zombie film, as evidenced by the zombie on the front cover. Likewise, the front cover image for Empire is of Dr Shaw, the main character in Prometheus. Using something or someone crucial to the film as a main image is a safe idea to draw in a large audience as well as our target audience.

Poster Analysis (DOTD and The Dead)

The Features within this poster establishes it to be a film about zombies. The main image of the poster is a shadow of a group of zombies which tells the audience the context of the film. This poster is very basic it has very little to show. The colour has a resemblance to the title has it has the colours of the sun rise (Dawn) there are shadows of the zombies which establishes that they are rising. In This poster there is no sign of the living which establishes to the audience that the place is over run and
they may be no survivors and shows it’s a struggle. The font is just basic (Bold) The main head stands out so the audience can easily see the name.  

The feature in the poster once again shows that it is a zombie apocalypse.In this poster there is alot going on and looks like everything is out of control. The image that catches the audience eyes is the dead man on the floor and the two men walking away which establishes they are survivors. the rising of the sun gives the impression that they are heroes and the main characters. The colours are really dark and show a sense of evil and bad. the title is big and bold and shouts out to the audience.

Comparison 

the colours within the two poster are very similar dark with the glare of the sun which shows that bad things are happening. both of them also show infected to establish its a zombie apocalypse. the titles are also very similar they are bold and basic and they stand out to the audience. 

Poster Comparison/Analysis (ZOMBIELAND/WWZ)

The poster for World War Z features numerous features to attract an audience, where as the poster for ZOMBIELAND features a lot of the main images in the background, placing the characters in the foreground. From looking at both posters side by side, it is easy to see that ZOMBIELAND will be more about the characters involved and World War Z will be more centred on the disaster going on in the film.

As we read from top to bottom, the first thing we notice is the name at the top of the posters. ‘Brad Pitt’ the name of the successful movie star is at the top of the World War Z poster, telling the audience one of the actors in the film and attracting their fan base straight away. Similarly, ZOMBIELAND features the actors and actresses names at the top of the poster, just above the movies title. However, ZOMBIELAND also has a tagline underneath it “NUT UP OR SHUT UP”. This is a quote directly from the film and has become the catchphrase of one of the characters, making it instantly recognisable to audiences. Films that cast big budget movie stars like Brad Pitt are also seen as being trusted by the publisher to bring in a big budget, and this makes the audience want to see the film even more. The actors in ZOMBIELAND are comparatively, lesser known than Bradd Pitt, but are still recognisable to audiences.

The main image in the World War Z poster is a tower of infected climbing up each other to jump at a helicopter. The ferocity and determination of the infected to reach the helicopter is determined unnervingly by the outstretched limbs and desperate clinging to any part of the helicopter they can find. This makes the audience imagine a ferocious animal trying to catch its prey, and links to an animalistic, almost predatory instinct to feed. This carnivorous attitude displayed by humanoid creatures links to the reckless feeding characterised by zombies and infected in most horror media. In strong contrast to World War Z’s dramatic approach, ZOMBIELAND focuses directly on the characters with a trail of carnage and fire behind them. Each character is also armed with weapons, famous in pop culture for their zombie killing prowess in films. The double barrelled shotgun carried by the two males is synonymous with the zombie franchise, whilst the chainsaw and baseball bat carried by the two girls are more popular with “ultimate badass” character types in the zombie genre. The props and the type of images used in this poster indicate that the film is a lot less serious and a lot more ‘gun and run’ style compared to the serious World War Z poster.

The colours used in both posters are edited heavily to present the dark, grainy effect. World War Z’s poster is coloured black and white, showing a bleak wash of bodies in the bottom with no distinctive people in it, suggesting that they operate like a swarm of ants. The only real colour on the poster is the Z in the title which is coloured red. The reason for this is that the colour red is synonymous with blood and death and the letter Z is at the start of the word Zombie. The effect of the red Z suggests to the audience that zombies are the main monster in the film and, when coupled with the gruesome image in the background makes the audience interested. ZOMBIELAND uses red for the title, and keywords in the small text with a dark grainy effect applied to the main image. This makes it look more defined and dirty than it would have at first.

Storyboards

initial ideas (scanned)

Trailers analysis and comparison (28 days later and Dawn Of The Dead)

28 days later Analysis
http://youtu.be/eunaclr-WgU

           

•  In 28 days later there is a count down towards the guy waking up this is establishing that the apocalypse has happened 
• The text throughout the trailer establishes the stage of the apocalypse,
• The trailer  starts of at a fast intense pace to get the audiences heart beating  and than it slows down and becomes calm and relaxing,
• It than goes to flashes of the government taking action on the outbreak.
•  It all slows down and focus on the main character waking up and this establish he is the leader
•  In the trailer there is the stereo typical large scaled location that is abandoned in this case London.
• Towards the of the trailer it is calming music building the tension up to the zombie scare at the end.                                                

                                            Dawn Of The Dead:

http://youtu.be/iZGLRIOQHOY

• Throughout the trailer there is a sign of struggle which makes the audience feel sorry for these people.
• The trailer establishes that the location they are at is overrun.
• The trailer also establishes the breakdown of society and this gets the audience wonder why. Which you find out layer in the trailer.   
• It also shows that there is no such thing has safe in an apocalypse has everywhere is overrun and there's no where to hide out.   
• The music keeps cutting out and makes it hard to understand which sort of shows a sign of struggle. 
•  It starts of really slow paced but picks up toward the end.

Comparison

There are plenty of differences and similarities between both trailers. One major thing is the perspective of the zombies in the walking dead they are slow and stupid but in 28 days later they are fast and smart but they are classed has infected not zombies.

One thing is 28 days later is focused on the reason why its happening unlike Dawn of the dead which  focus on the survival and looking for the best location to hide

28 days later music levels change at some points it’s intense and fast than it drops and becomes calming in way the same apply to to dawn  of the dead but it starts of calm and becomes all weird and starts cutting out 

Both trailers also have a different perspective on how an apocalypse would look like throughout the 28 days later trailer it shows military taking action a nuking cities and streets been empty unlike dawn of the dead trailer where you can see there is no military action and the streets are flooded with  zombies

.

Plot

Plot

Beginning

·         Steve separated from sister in initial outbreak

·         Looking for her since, in group with Josh, Joe, Rob and MP#1

·         Steve gets a call from Alan, who puts  Steve’s sister on phone

·         She sounds worried and phone line goes dead

·         Steve arrives at Alan’s to find place shot up and Alan dead with recording device on him

·         Steve plays recording which says Alan saw military take his sister and was shot trying to fight them off

Middle

·         Alan pops up as a zombie and bites Steve

·         Steve kills Alan zombie but is now infected

·         Talks to group about it

·         Josh and Rob decide to go with him, Joe tags along for safety in numbers

·         Joe pulls gun on Steve

·         Rob shoots Joe

·         Rob has a moral conundrum

End

·         Find military base

·         Steve finds sister – allegedly immune and being tested on

·         Frees sister

·         Running out of facility – Josh is shot, collapses

·         Steve kicks Rob and sister out, tells Rob to look after her

·         Releases chemical weapon in complex

·         Has last stand with Josh

Setting, Props and Costume

Setting, Props and Costume

Setting

As it is set in post-apocalyptic England, a lot of the film will take place in the remote woods where few people lived to become infected. However, most of the crucial story points will happen in the urban landscapes such as the cities and the makeshift scientist complex out of the school.

Full list of locations:

·         The woods - Armthorpe

·         Pit Top – Armthorpe

·         House or an Abandoned Building - Armthorpe

·         Abandoned school - Armthorpe Academy

·         Streets – Armthorpe

The film will mostly be shot in Armthorpe, where a lot of the village is close to small woods and has a pit top which looks perfect for a post-apocalyptic setting. The houses will be needed for the scenes where Steven finds Alan and the school will be perfect for a makeshift science complex and final scene of the film.

Props

As there is a constant threat of death and the element of survival throughout the film, a range of props will be needed to portray the idea that the group are trying to stay alive. This ranges from guns to water bottles and phones.

Full list of the props needed:

·         5-6 guns. 2 assault rifles and a few pistols.

·         First aid kits for the group members (COSMETIC)

·         Recording device

·         Two survivor class phones or a weathered two way radio.

·         Numerous water bottles for the group members to drink from (COSMETIC)

·         Food rations and other edible goods.

·         Science equipment for the scientists to experiment on Steven’s sister with.

We can easily acquire all of these props through airsoft weapons and cheap equipment off of the internet.

Characters Details

Steven- Age 18 

·        Steven’s parents died while the outbreak was going down and lost his younger sister.

·        Before the apocalypse Steven was in his last year of education and had a weekend job at Primark.  

·        Before the apocalypse Steven always dreamed of an apocalypse happening

·        While the outbreak was going on Steven got excited until a few months in than he has a realization of what’s happening.

·        In an attempt of reaching his sister he gets bitten and only as 24 hours left.

·        Steven has a nice personality but can become really selfish if he needs too.

·        When he is running out of time he starts to become desperate and make some stupid choices.

·        Steven his well educated (not a genus or stupid)

Joe- Age 17

·    Joe is the immature member of the group if anything he would fit into Propp of the evil character type.

·    Steven is the main character of the group and would fit into Propp hero

·    While growing up Joe got beat by his father and his mum lost the battle of cancer.

·    His father always blamed him for his mum’s death so he blames himself too.

·    Because of is up bringing he his uneducated. 

·    Does not care about the group only there for protection (strength in numbers).

·    In the film things get heated and He gets shot.

·    He is seen has a danger to the group

·    Joe has a nasty and selfish personality he could breakdown at any time and go on a rampage.

Rob- Age 15

·        Saved by Josh four days after the outbreak of the apocalypse.

·         Parents got infected and tried to kill him

·        Josh shot Robs parents in front of him

·        Never finished education 

·        Was the smartest in his class

·        Hallucinations of his parents

·        Josh his like a father figure to Rob

·        Rob is really mature for his age

·        Rob is week and submissive

·        Rob would fit into the propp of helper 

Josh- Age 17

·        Josh would fit into the propp of the anti hero

·        His dad is in the army and fighting infected hordes

·        His mum  is a scientist and in some secret location working on a cure

·        He has an average intelligence

·        His dad brought up to help those in need

·        Never really saw his mum

·         Josh is selfless

·        He his also a father figure to rob

Detailed Narrative Overview

Detailed Narrative Overview

Setting

As it is set in post-apocalyptic England, a lot of the film will take place in the remote woods where few people lived to become infected. However, most of the crucial story points will happen in the urban landscapes such as the cities and the makeshift scientist complex out of the school.

Full list of locations:

·         The woods - Armthorpe

·         Pit Top – Armthorpe

·         House or an Abandoned Building - Armthorpe

·         Abandoned school - Armthorpe Academy

·         Streets – Armthorpe

The film will mostly be shot in Armthorpe, where a lot of the village is close to small woods and has a pit top which looks perfect for a post-apocalyptic setting. The houses will be needed for the scenes where Steven finds Alan and the school will be perfect for a makeshift science complex and final scene of the film.

Time Period

The time period of the film is around the year 2017, one year after a destructive chemical bombing that caused the outbreak of a rabid virus that infected the majority of England’s population, turning them into infected man eating monsters. Survivors hid out in shelters across the country and emerged only to find death and destruction everywhere they looked.

Significant Plot Moments

·         Steven gets a call from Allan who tells him his sister is there and then the phone goes dead

·         Steven finds Allan dead and his sister missing

·         Finds out his sister was abducted by the army

·         Steven is bit by zombie Allan

·         Steven tells the group about being bit and goes to look for his sister with the groups help

·         Joe turns on the group

·         Robb shoots Joe for turning on the group

·         Robb questions his morality

·         The group raid the science facility

·         They free his sister

·         Josh gets shot

·         Josh and Steven fight the guards in a final stand and Robb and Steven’s sister escape

·         Josh and Steven die

Style/Genre Characteristics

Stereotypically a zombie apocalypse film has 6 different types of survivor in a group.

·         6 – The Betrayer. The betrayer is a key part of every zombie film where a group dynamic is central. In our film, Joe is the betrayer and acts as this role in the film.

·         5 – The Dictator. The dictator is the military character and symbol for the ‘Real Monster’ in more deep meaning zombie apocalypse films.

·         4 – The Sacrifice. The sacrifice is often the quiet “good guy” character in the film who sacrifices his/herself to buy the group some time. Both Steven and Josh act as this at the end of the film.

·         3 – The Expert. The expert is a sort of zombie killing know-it-all. He/She never fails to kill a zombie and can do everything a normal badass can do but with zombies. Josh fits this stereotype.

·         2 – The Innocent. The innocent almost always survives a zombie film. They are too innocent to ever fight or kill someone and so are annoyingly escorted all over the place. Robb fits this stereotype.

·         1 – The average character. The average character represents all the average movie goers in film. He/she is a typically average character and is normal in almost every respect.