Certification

In creating my teaser trailer I will have to take certification into account. If the teaser trailer would be shown in a cinema screening of a 12A film the teaser trailer itself would have to comply to the standard of 12A, therefore even if the film itself would be rated 15 which would allow for much more graphic content within the film, the trailer could not feature that. As stated by the BBFC guidelines this would prohibit the use of violence in the trailer that places "emphasis on injuries, or blood" and no use of strong language even though a 15 film would allow gory violence providing it was not sexualised and use of frequent bad language. To this end in order to catch the widest possible audience, I personally would consider that the best possible action would be to try and ensure the trailer is suitable for a 12A audience, in order to ensure it has as wider possible audience that it can reach.

Production Logo

The two mock up choices for my production logo.

Teaser Trailer research

Typical features of a teaser trailer consist of using footage not necessarily from the film and would demonstrate things that would draw an audience in, for example a demonstrations of the graphic’s the film will use or titles which feature famous actors or producers.

An example of this is the teaser trailer for the film Tron: Legacy.

The teaser trailer demonstrates the impressive graphics of the film with the intent to draw in a young audience and to allow those who viewed the original film to feel a sense of nostalgia, it also uses the most iconic seen of the original “Tron” film, the “light bike” scene and immediately would establish the film for an older generation. The scene also asked several unanswered questions “who are the drivers”, “why is there a conflict”, “what was the game and why is it not one anymore” and “who is the man overseeing it”. This enigma cultivates anticipation in the audience and generates intrigue, which is the purpose of a teaser trailer. The Teaser Trailer allows the audience to also get a taste of the style of the film, establishing that while linked to the previous "Tron" film it is far more modern, the colour scheme and graphics in particular connote this to the audience.

Second draft of mock magazine cover

As can be seen by the second draft, three of the four suggestions were taken into account. The "S"was enlarged and moved closure to the remainder of the masthead, the cover stories were compressed to a block of text and the puff was given a stroke. I decided not to add a stroke around the head and shoulders of the image because after attempting to do it, it seemed un-proffessional and seemed over done.

Mock Magazine cover

After giving my magazine cover to a focus group of peers, they had several suggestions, the first was that the "S" should be enlargened and moved closure to the main body of the masthead. Secondly they suggested the cover stories should be grouped together. They also suggested that more could be done with the puff at the bottom of the page as well as also suggesting a stroke could be placed around the head and shoulders of the image.

Magazine research

After doing research the following examples are things I have found common among film magazine covers. As “ Empire” is the leading title within this field it is the main title I have centred my research around.





A common feature among feature among magazines, in particular well-known titles, is to allow the top of the image to overlap onto the masthead. This is something I would attempt to emulate; as it would give the magazine I produce a more professional feel.



A “Z pattern” is followed in many titles, as it is the natural way in which someone would view a magazine cover on a shelf. This is demonstrated by the purple line, which starts at the beginning of the masthead, goes down through the image and then through the text at the bottom of the page. Also the predominant text mass is kept to the left of the page as demonstrated by the green box, with less placed on the right.



Puffs are a common feature on magazines, although not always present and is usually present at one side of the magazine cover. This is something again that I would attempt to put on my magazine.

Other things I have noticed is that a magazine cover includes a price and an issue number/ date, a website, a bar code (usually place in a place which is not too noticeable) and usually a solid colour background.