Using a Voice Over

In the trailer for the 2011 romcom 'Chalet Girl', there is a voice over from the protagonist at the beginning which outlines the plot of the film and leaves the rest of the time to hook the audience with some of the best clips from the film. This has inspired me to do the same in my trailer, so that the plot is outlined but there is still sufficient amount of time for the audience to get a feel for what the film is like.

How is it all going?

First Film Magazine Cover

This is my first magazine cover. I am pleased with the way it has turned out. I feel it has been successful in it's style, with the background being a simple colour. The background colour is a darker shade of the clothes the protagonist is wearing, which not only makes her stand out, it brings her in sync with the entire piece.

The title of the film in blue writing is effective because it manages to be bold and stand out against everything else, drawing the eye to it but not "hogging" the attention from the rest of the cover.

I think that if I were to do anything differently, I would have the protagonist wearing darker clothes, maybe grey, which is usually what Sight and Sound does. However, in this piece, the pinks and reds used are all appropriate for the theme of love and romance within the film that is being promoted. As I wanted it to be, the cover is modest and the magazine is promoting the film's "exploration of using the internet to find a spouse". This is typical of Sight and Sound - they will quite often look at various meanings and topics within films and discuss them - such as its in-depth look at Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank". In conclusion, I am pleased with what I have achieved here, and feel that the cover is simple yet effective.

Film Magazine Analysis

Due to the nature of the genre of my film, a popular independent film magazine would be likely to host the promotion on its front cover.

After looking at "Little White Lies", I realised that this was not the magazine that would work well with my film due to its bizarre house style - little in the way of words and one distorted or manipulated image giving limited information away. (Example above).

Instead of using "Little White Lies", I will be using "Sight and Sound". After doing some research, S&S proved to be the right magazine audience-wise and also because they use simple images (of one person usually) on their covers, something which I plan on doing with my protagonist.

I see the above copy of S&S as a style model, I like the way Wes Anderson (in this case) is almost blending into the background - giving him a sense of modesty. I would like to do something similar to reinforce the fact that my film isn't trying to be something it's not, like a multi million pound production. This sense of modesty will also reinforce the fact it is supposed to be a film from the UK, and I would like that to come across without having to blatantly say the film is set and filmed in England. I believe this will be effective in its aim.

What to do next...

I completed all the filming in February and I am pleased with what I have. All that is left to do is:

• Edit the footage
• Arrange a soundtrack
• Complete the magazine cover
• Complete the poster for the film

I plan to get the poster and the magazine completed by Monday 28th March.

This is achievable because I already have the images I wish to use on my poster and front cover.