Construction

'The Bonsai Tree' Film Poster Ideas

'The Bonsai Tree' is a stylised British Japanese gangster film so to enhance my insight, I also looked at Japanese Yakuza film posters. 

Our main protagonist is a young woman who possesses a strong sense of self-determination so I looked at existing films that featured a strong female main character. Angelina Jolie has starred in many action films as a character who embodies similar beliefs and traits to our protagonist. I looked at the poster for 'Salt' to help stimulate ideas. 

 

One thing these posters have in common is the weapon the character is holding; the weapon helps establish power and authority as well as strength ang the genre. My initial poster is character based with only the main character in it. 

For my first idea, I intend to have the model's side profile as my focal image while holding a gun. The actors' names will be placed at the top and the tagline will overlay the model to show that this is possibly what she is thinking "How deep are your roots?" I have decided to make the font dark red because it is a deep colour and will resemble blood. The billing block will be placed at the bottom like in the majority of movie posters.

For my second idea, I wanted to showcase the bonsai tree icon so I drew smoke arising in the shape of a tree and the model wearing a bonsai tree necklace. I subverted conventions here because I placed the billing block at the top of the poster and below it is where I will put the main actress' name. 

Here are some Japanese/Oriental looking fonts that I may consider using from dafont.com

Out of my two ideas I think the first one will do a better job of communicating the genre because of the prop gun and trying to do the smoke effect on Photoshop for the second poster may be time consuming. I have come to the conclusion that the first idea will entice the audience because it is more visually and mentally engaging.

Magazine Front Cover: Ideas and Planning

TYPOGRAPHY
I had three ideas for the name of my magazine: 1) 'Impression' 2) 'Climax' 3) 'Footage'. Out of the three I liked 'Impression' the most. I loosely based the house style of Impression on 'Little White Lies'. It comprises of impartial reviews that give the audience a thorough insight of the writer's film experience. The magazine consists of honest, personal and objective reviews that clearly communicates the writer's impression of the film. 


On the left are the different styles of typography I picked out from www.dafont.com that appealed to me. From the magazine case studies I carried out, I noticed that two out of the three mastheads were sans-serif typeface.

Although all six of them stood out to me, I  thought fonts 2, 4 and 6 were the most appropriate for my magazine cover. I liked the second font aka 'Kenteken' most because some of the letters have pieces missing as if a slice was cut out which I linked to editing because a lot of material gets cut during production. 

PHOTOGRAPHY 
The concept of my front cover revolves around the theme of power and status. I wanted to explore different physical levels to show the different levels in status whilst the film plot remained ambiguous. This image from the Godfather franchise inspired me to use the chair as a prop because the arm rests and the stance of Michael Corleone resemble a king sitting on his throne. I particularly liked the lighting of this image because it illuminates the model; his surroundings are quite dark and there are little props therefore all the focus remains on him. Michael Corleone has his hair slicked back with gel, a full black suit and has a stern yet melancholy expression on his face. In terms of body language, his hands are relaxed on the armrest to suggest comfort and ownership whilst his legs are crossed over each other portraying confidence and skepticism. 

I need to include a renowned symbol of a gangster film i.e. a weapon so that the audience can establish the genre of our film. The person holding a gun to the male model's head creates ambiguity because their identity is hidden. It also creates tension because it looks as if he is about to be executed; a common theme in gangster films is dying with dignity. 

To create juxtaposition and to increase tension, I want a female model to sit on a chair and look responsible for arranging the execution.This will attract more customers to view the magazine as they will want to know who the attacker is and the significance of the characters. Although the male model is standing behind the chair and appears to have some authority, evidently the female model sitting on the chair looks more powerful because she dominates the front cover in the foreground. The costume adheres to the typical gangster costume: tailored black suit, white shirt to emphasise his wealth. The female model is wearing a kimono which links in to our cultural theme and is symbolic of her wealth because kimonos are quite expensive. The background will be kept minimalistic but it will appear lavish and adorned in oriental style furniture. 

Applying Repertoire of Elements to Gangster Film

Institutional Context

According to 'eBaum's WORLD', the top grossing gangster movie was 'The Godfather' trilogy, the total domestic gross is $335.44 million, this is the average per film.

The second grossing gangster movie according to 'eBaum's WORLD' is the movie 'The Untouchables', the total domestic gross is $144.47 million.

The third grossing gangster movie according to 'eBaum's WORLD' is the movie 'The Departed, the total domestic gross is $142.97 million.

Companies with high box office rating and movies with high grossing movies:

• 'The Godfather' movie was made by the company 'Paramount'
• 'The Untouchables' movie was made by the company 'Paramount'
• 'The Departed' movie was made by the company 'Warner Bros.'

 

Looking at the movies and their distributors, Paramount Pictures Corporation is the one of the main companies that distribute movies of the genre movies gangster crime. Three movies that Paramount Pictures Corporation distributed that reached one billion dollars was Titanic (1997), Transformers: Dark of thee Moon (2011) and Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014). Paramount has become successful by having good investments, small investments include 'BabyTV', a cable channel in USA aimed at 0-3 year old, Network Ten, commercial TV stations in Australia and Channel 2, commercial TV station in Israel. Big investments include becoming the parent of DreamWorks SKG and The CBS library.

History/Background of your genre - Gangster Crime

History/background of Gangster Crime from JET1011

New ways of reaching audiences in distribution

GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO - released 12/03/2010

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-digital-innovation-case-study-the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo.pdf

1) Who was the audience for the film?
The target demographic are predominantly female, over their 20s. The majority have enjoyed reading Stieg Larsson's trilogy; Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book. The demographic casually consumes small games and mini puzzles who often interact with others via social network such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc. Momentum Pictures, chose to use their digital innovation award on a campaign which would focus on finding and targeting these readers. Fans of the book had already gathered in clusters online, such as in Facebook groups and websites. In addition, Momentum could identify those who had bought the books online, through booksellers such as Amazon.

2) What went well with the marketing campaign? 
The online marketing campaign was successful because Momentum utilized the digital space cleverly. The ad campaign was spread across various digital platforms when Momentum decided to partner up with Facebook, Amazon and Google. These ads were aimed to recruit fans to the Facebook page and were able  to identify who liked Larsson's books; who bought the book, who searched for related terms etc. With the average Facebook user having 130 friends, this method surely received attention. An estimated amount of 6,600 fans were active and had influenced their friends to watch the film; this meant 660,000 people may have found out about the film through the digital campaign on Facebook in particular. Facebook users were invited to take part in exclusive poster competition giveaways which also helped to generate awareness. For £7000 this was a worthwhile investment because over 600k people found out about the film which is what Momentum wanted.  

7 weeks prior to the release, the trailer on Yahoo gained 65,000 views whilst the Metro featured the movie on the front page of its website causing a large spike in Google searches. This was the most effective aspect of the marketing campaign because the ads were presented to the audience; all they had to do was click it to find out more about the film. The audience were likely to have spread the word about the movie via social networks as well as by word of mouth. Overall, the digital campaign generated enough interest and ensured people were active so that their friends knew about the upcoming film release. The strong audience and critical reaction surpassed Momentum’s expectations and overall the film earned over £2m at the box office across a run of more than ten weeks. It played in 120 sites and became the highest grossing Scandinavian film of all time. 

3) What did not work? Even better if...  
The interactive task-based 'Superfan' game system was the least useful marketing tool. It only gained 150 participators because it required too much effort of the audience. Sharing the game with friends and requesting a paid pre-release screening gave the audience too much to do. When promoting something to an audience it is important not to ask too much of them. In this case, the seven-week task-based game was "too long and overly complex". The campaign would have been better if the preview was free; this would have been a better incentive because no one wants to pay for a preview when they can just wait and pay full price to watch the entire film. In terms of interacting with the fans, a series of short mini games would have been better than a 7-week long task based game. Reason being that females in their 20s were probably studying at university or working therefore the game would have been one of the last things on their agenda. A short, mini game that can be accessed on their phone and does not require much effort will be used more because they can use it to occupy their time perhaps during travel. 

Poster Analysis (in terms of audience)

The film poster for 'The Girl with the  Dragon Tattoo' is simple yet effective in grasping a specific audience because the majority of the poster is dominated by a dark colour scheme and low lighting. This suggests that the poster aims to entice people who are interested in edgy characters involved in something that needs to be concealed aka kept in the dark hence the colour scheme of dark colours i.e. black, grey, and a deep hue of violet on the character's leather jacket and hair.   

The theme of mystery and suspense resonates throughout this poster illustrated by the smoke effects to construct an eerie atmosphere. Dragons and mythical beasts are often portrayed as intimidating, scaly creatures however the dragon in this poster does not appear intimidating. Because it doesn't have a harsh outline, the dragon looks quite feminine. The colour red is synonymous with passion, anger and love; emotions felt by young adults and adults more than children which tells us about the age of the target demographic. The smoke effect softens the image of the dragon and the way it caresses the model's face supports the idea of femininity. This brings me on to the model.

In terms of mise-en-scene, the female model is a young adult, immediately, young adults and perhaps teenage girls will be able to identify with the poster because the focus is entirely on her. The fact that there are no men will intrigue the female audience who believe in women's empowerment. The photography influences the audience's interpretation of the character's persona. Getting the model to gaze directly into the camera, the poster becomes alluring because it appears as if she is acknowledging the viewer as one of her allies. Her facial expression supports this ideal because she appears strong and confident by tilting her face down, her blue eyes piercing at the viewer. Her make up is very natural and the cold tones of the light illuminating her face makes her seem like an apathetic but strong person. In addition, her short hair expresses her lack of care for her appearance because it is not a hairstyle that requires much maintenance like long silky hair. The sharp ends of her fringe almost resemble sharp fangs biting into the dragon which makes the model appear even more powerful. 

At the very top of the poster reads "based on a worldwide bestseller" which informs the audience that this is a renowned book. Font style of the title links to the fact that this is the first book in the trilogy and will appeal to those who have read the book. Naturally, the title is also the largest font of the page and is positioned in the centre of the right hand side so the audience remembers the name of the film. The colour of the title is white, against a black background, it stands out more than the grey quotes and draws attention to the poster. Quotes from significant establishments like Total Film and Daily Mirror: "heart stopping" and "thrills" as well as the 5 stars will convince the audience to see the film.because they are generally good reviews and informs the viewer of the film's genre which seems to be 'Thriller'.

Survey Analysis

Survey Analysis: Gangster Films from celinalaureta

Audience Questionnaire

The purpose of the 'Audience Questionnaire' was to identify who would be a suitable target demographic for our gangster film, The Bonsai Tree. The 5 questions I asked them were: 

1) What is your favourite film genre and why?
2) How appealing is the gangster crime genre to you? Why? Why not?
3) What is your favourite gangster film?
4) What makes you want to watch a film?
5) What do you read in your spare time? (If you don't read what do you do in your spare time?
 
Each individual had a different favourite genre, these included gangster/mafia films, comedy, action and thriller. From these genres I considered the different aspects that can make or break a film for the audience. 

For instance, Filip (17) explained that the intrigue of gangster films lies in the narrative form where we see the movie in a different point of view. The life of the gangster is something the majority of people can only imagine which is why he likes watching it. In the same way Daljit (17), expressed her interest in 'The Family' because of certain events that happen to the family of gangsters. Her favourite film genre is comedy because "anyone" can go watch it. Gangster films need a specific audience because it isn't universal like comedy. Unlike comedy, the plot for gangster films is usually heavy or intense and contain violence. Most people like to laugh however not everyone enjoys viewing aggressive content. Cedric (17) enjoys action films more than gangster films because he thinks the scenes that involve physical contact are more eye-catching. He puts emphasis on the effectiveness of the visual aspect of films rather than the plot when he says he would rather watch the action "instead of just listening to what is going on". I will make sure to include action scenes in our trailer so people like Cedric will be intrigued to see our film. 

The majority of male individuals that I interviewed explained that the action within their favourite genre is what appeals to them most; the more action there is the more engaged they are with the film. Perhaps this is because the fast-paced nature involved in fights, in addition to the excessive physical contact during conflicts grabs the viewer's attention. 

The "build up of tension", (Remmy, 18), will play a significant part in our trailer because it will evoke curiosity. Remmy also touched upon cultural background and societal influence which can help determine who our target demographic should be. According to him, the appeal is the fact that "people can relate to it as well; in my area". I can only reveal that his area does have a high crime rate so he means that being able to identify with the crime involved in gangster films is one of the main reasons he finds the genre interesting.   

Cedric relayed his dissatisfaction of gangster films due to the repetitiveness in plot lines; the lack of originality in gangster films has become tiresome to watch because they are predictable and the audience cannot enjoy the film as much because they are not surprised. Whilst another person praised the "brutality" of gangster films, the female interviewee expressed her dislike for the violence and action involved. She feels that the action is "too heavy or too full on" for her. Her opinion reflects the majority of the female demographic because the action, violence and intensity of the typical gangster film plot is overwhelming for women who are traditionally known to be more interested in romance, drama and comedy films.

The main influence seems to come from the opinion of others be it in the form of word of mouth or expressed on social media. People are more likely to trust their friends' opinions than advertisements which is why word of mouth is an effective way to generate interest in films. In the same way, people who use social media can spread information about a film, those exposed to their feed will notice their opinion of the film and take an interest in it. Because our generation is more aware of marketing aims, they are somewhat reluctant to see a film unless they have been told that it was good. That being said, film trailers still play a big part in advertising the film because it gives the viewer a sneak peak of what to expect in the film. The more "gripping" the trailer is, the more they will want to see the film.

The majority of people I asked said they did not like to read and would rather socialise with friends or relax. Remmy (18) further explained that he does not like to read because he is easily distracted. As a young adult, he uses his phone a lot during his spare time; he is more inclined to read an article if there are more pictures. 

To conclude, I think our target demographic should be males because they are more likely to enjoy seeing crime in action. However, we should still include a female demographic, especially those who are confident and will be able to identify with our main character i.e. feminist. From the questionnaire, I gathered that the more action scenes there are, the more enticed the audience will be because it requires them to pay full attention to the trailer whereas a voice over would only engage their ears and not there eyes. Social networking is probably the second most effective form of generating interest so we should make sure to utilise the available platforms to promote our films.