Film Review Analysis - Shutter Island

The review I have chosen to analyse is ‘Shutter Island’ taken from ‘Empire’ magazine. The film follows the conventional layout of the magazine in term of its large stills taken from the film, colloquial language, witty photograph captions and colour scheme. Reviews from ‘Empire’ also have the basic factual details separated on the left hand side of the review and include a ‘Look Closer’ box that is inserted with the stills.
A still featuring the two main characters dominates the review: as films are a visual experience the magazine would be aware that a large photograph would engage viewer’s attention as they help to immediately shed some light on the film itself. One of the main characters shown is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as the star of the film his inclusion in the still would be a selling point. Despite this, the article is focused on the director’s role and background so featuring DiCaprio in the picture is a good way of profiling him. The shot is not one that reveals anything of the plot because it is not the aim of the review to reveal plot twists, but merely to summarise it as it does in left hand column. 
The attention is diverted away from DiCaprio in the introductory sentence to the review reading “The World’s Greatest Director takes over the asylum…” the first of many references to Martin Scorsese. The title of the film doesn’t reveal any plot details and so this has the role of subtly introducing it and connecting the director to his project. It also reiterates how it is may be the director’s attributes that the review focuses on as he is in ‘control of the asylum’ and in turn, the film.
The factual information regarding the film is distinguished from the rest of text using coloured fonts for headings in order to provide an unbiased account of the summary and the main points; it is the part of the review which is free of evaluative comments and opinions. This is replicated in the ‘Look Closer’ text inserted into the picture which appeals to the interest of the reader by providing facts that cover all aspects of the film and its making. 
References to other films and their directors are made at the beginning of the review which is assuming prior knowledge from the readers; if they are reading ‘Empire’ regularly film is something they will probably have an interest in. The author of the review is glorifying the director by suggesting that he is unique to the others that are mentioned, as well as identifying that ‘Shutter Island’ is a new venture for him also: “he has made only two movies with supernatural themes…yet there are few film-makers who have expressed the nightmarish so well.” The direct comment from the review that has been chosen to be highlighted in the blue box implying that the author of the review is regarding the director to be the most important and interesting aspect to mention.
After being mentioned under the ‘Cast’ list, DiCaprio and Ruffalo are connected with their characters by being weaved into the further in-depth plot summary of the review: “through the US Marshals played by…” The reviewer comments on a successful working partnership between DiCaprio and Scorsese in order to promote their positive reaction to the film. 
Despite this overall good reaction, most of the praise appears to lie with the director; the reviewer criticises the plot by claiming that there is “depth, but not quite enough” and “you’ll need a pen and paper to work it all out.” These negative comments however are not a reflection of the director who is described into the review as “officially the best filmmaker in the world” nor of DiCaprio’s acting capabilities who is promoted and advertised in the large still. The genre of the film is explicitly stated in the blue box containing the endorsement in order to explain to readers that it is of a differing genre than they may expect from the director, an assumption again of foreknowledge would be required in order to appreciate the statement. The reviewer uses an inter-textual reference, “Agatha Christie-style locked room” to reinforce the genre. 
The target audience inferred by the review is those who have had an interest in the director's previous works due to the number of references towards him and those who are interested in horror films as the genre is explicitly stated in the blue box.
Another convention of 'Empire' is to provide a summary of the reviewers opinion at the end in a 'verdict box' and through giving a star rating. It has allowed the author to summarise their main arguments regarding the film and explain succinctly why they have given the rating they did. It has been written using humorous phrases such as "if a pot is being boiled, at least its an intricately decorated pot on a spectacular fire."

Film Poster - Ancillary Task 1

In order to begin to produce a poster for our film, Weeks of Monday, the group had to initially take a photograph that would feature on the poster. We knew that we wanted the poster to feature just one image of Faye, the main character, with the spell book; the spell book is a symbolic indicating the nature and genre of the film. We didn't want to use any graphic images in addition to a photograph as it maintained the elements of magical realism, keeping it authentic. Examples of shots that we discarded are shown below:

We decided we didn't like the pose on this above image as you cannot see Kathryn's face clearly and the setting doesn't look 'forest-like' enough because of the housing in the background.

We anticipated that trying to make writing legible on this image could be difficult because the writing would overlap Kathryn or the trees in the shot, though the colour is preferable to the image above as it is darker and more shadowy that replicates an eerie atmosphere. We favoured one where she was sitting down to show the influence the magic has over her and how she feels powerless against it.

The final image we settled on is similar to this one, however we preferred the lighting and positioning in the photograph we decided on for our poster. 

The above is the original photograph that we took and decided on for our poster. It was the most successful shot we produced; the angle of the winding footpath appears to be ongoing which is reflective of the film's plot. It also doesn't have any interference of housing or fencing like the other photographs did. Kathryn positioned herself so that her facial expression could still be seen that the book was in view which could be intriguing to an audience. 

In order to reflect the mystical and 'dark magic' elements of the film we adjusted the brightness of the graphic on photo editing software. The colouring implies that something bad may happen to the character and the shadows on the image are representing that intimidation she will encounter.

The above is the actual image that appears on the poster, it was flipped using the photo-editing software.

The above is our completed film poster. We used sans-serif fonts that reflected the fantasy genre. We created a title and a tagline that would imply the 'time-loop' element of the film. 

Film Poster Analysis - Alice in Wonderland (2010)

I decided to analyse one of the posters from "Alice in Wonderland" as it is a film that I feels depicts the fantasy genre well and could provide inspiration for the poster my group will make for our film. The colours of the poster are varied and are brighter in the foreground of the poster than the background in order to promote "the unknown" comply with the mystical aspects of the fantasy genre. The characters of Alice and the Mad Hatter appear to be brighter than the others in order to show their relevance and importance to the film. The poster uses the fact that the film is an adaptation of a well-known story to its advantage as many of the symbols included do not require a lot of audience foreknowledge, for example, the costumes can depict who the characters are by staying true to the original ones described in the novel, especially in the case of Alice who will always be recognisable by a blue dress and blonde hair. The use of the Cheshire Cat and the White Rabbit are symbolic of the "Wonderland" described in the title as they are characters that wouldn't have human qualities in reality and therefore promote the fantasy genre; the audience would not need to know their roles but could understand how they are adding to the mystery. It is the characters that appear at the foreground of the poster and are positioned in order to reflect their importance to the audience such as in the way that Alice appears in the centre. The background is portrayed graphically and so shows the unconventional nature of the setting as it has been generated and doesn't replicate any ordinary setting. In addition to this, the flowers have graphically imposed faces on them showing the combination of the humans and nature which is reflected in the characters as humans like Alice are pictured with animals like the White Rabbit. The audience's perspective of the poster means that the forest setting of the background appears to continue inferring the magic and unanswered questions that may surface in the film itself.
                The object of the poster is present verbal and visual messages to the audience that they are too included on this "journey" with the other characters. The characters appear to look directly at the audience themselves while the tag line reads; "We are all mad here" both including the audience. The tag line itself is intended to be humorous to contrast against the sinister darkly coloured background it is covering up and as it is coloured in white it is inferring that the "madness" is innocent. It is placed away from the characters it describes as though the characters want to distance themselves from the statement it makes. Despite the tag line, the messages are primarily visual and it is the images that show the fantasy genre conventions. The flamboyant costumes reflect the way in which fantasy plot lines are not restricted by reality and the font face used varies in size to show this also. The word "Wonderland" from the title itself connotes mystery and magic while Alice who through a "normal" appearance would appear the most relatable to the audience stands out against the other characters.
                The poster promises the audience a story they may have grown up with which means it has a greater scope for a target audience and the plot can be effectively communicated solely through the title. Alternative readings may derive from this however as it may be thought that the plot will take a completely different direction to the one from the novel in order to be more diverse and surprising. The solemn facial expressions of the characters too may not comply with the conventional children's stories: the poster here may infer that it could be a more sinister take on the plot.
                The intended audience would be those familiar with the plot and fans of Disney and Tim Burton. Tim Burton as a recognisable fantasy film director is used as a persuasive selling point because the audience may be aware of his style. He used as more of a USP than the big name actors like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter because they are not the main characters of the plot and the target audience may be aware of the working relationship that Burton has with these two actors. The poster doesn't threaten anything offensive as it is a Disney film and Disney have a reputation for producing family friendly films. There are no critics quoted on the poster, but Disney may safely assume that the stars and the familiar plot may be enough to pull audiences. The production company is associated with high quality animation which is demonstrated through the poster itself and is one of many that were a part of the marketing campaign. The poster above shows all of the significant characters together, but posters were also released of singular characters as well in order to advertise the fact that a particular star had a role in the film; these were brought out in intervals in the same that teaser trailers were released before the full trailer was. This poster was not the one that was used for the cover of the DVD and the Video Games that related to the film, the one that was used was of The Mad Hatter played by Johnny Depp, implying that he was seen to be the biggest USP of the film, although he is not the main focus here. 

Props, Actors & Locations

We needed to consider and collect our props before we began filming, our props list was as follows:


Props List (provided by group members):
Coats 
Shoes
Book
Wrapping paper
Alarm Clock
Belongings: Purse, Bag, Wallet, Lip Balm, House Key


We also felt that using some members of the group in the film would mean we would be able to convey our message better as we all knew how we anticipated the film may turn out. The

Actors:
Kathryn Davis - Faye
Cara Gresly - Faye's Friend
Alisha Hans - Faye's Room-mate


We considered the genre when choosing our location as we wanted them to appear 'ordinary' to contrast with the elements of magic; the sub genre of magical realism is about how magic can appear within everyday life. To help create intrigue however, we thought the forest would serve as a good place to fit both that criteria while still being 'ordinary.' We ensured before filming that the setting in the forest would be secluded enough for the character to appear isolated.



Locations:
Salcey Forest
Home (Bedroom and Living Room)

Shooting Schedule

We decided to film all of the external scenes on one day and all of the internal scenes on another because of their different locations:


Saturday 3rd December
Ext - Salcey Forest
Cast: Kathryn Davies - The Girl
          Cara Gresly - The Girl's Friend


Thursday 8th December
Int - House Setting
Cast: Kathryn Davies - The Girl
          Alisha Hans - The Girl's Roommate