Female directors

It's a well known fact that the film industry is dominated by male directors, as last year only 5% of the most successful films were directed by women. However, female directors are renowned for sharing a different perspective on the world than male directors. Female directors often direct films containing a heroin, but their films can be just as gritty as The Lovely Bones or Inception (both directed by men).


Catherine Hardwicke:


Most recently, she directed Red Riding Hood (2011), starring Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman, and Twilight in 2008; but the most interesting of her films, in my opinion, is Thirteen (2003). It's a story about a thirteen-year-old girl's relationship with her mother that is put to the test as she discovers drugs, sex, and petty crime in the company of her cool but troubled best friend. It shows how the wrong choices, made through peer pressure, ruin your life, or leave you with nothing. It's an insight into the pressures of growing up, not even in a worst-case scenario, which is what makes this drama so frightening.


Lone Scherfig:


She is renowned for mastering the art of 'subtle characterisation', which she captures beautifully in An Education (2009). This film shows a talented, intelligent (yet niave) young girl follow her heart rather than her head and ends up heart broken. It's an insight for women not to wear their hearts on their sleeves and to be cautious of what men really want, no matter how flattering they are. Lone Scherfig tells the story in a way that makes us understand Jenny's decisions and feel exactly what Jenny feels, so we follow her 'coming-of-age' journey.

Sofia Coppola:



Arguably most famous for directing Lost In Translation (2003) she also directed The Virgin Suicides (1999) which covers a range of sensitive subjects such as; sucide, religion, upbringing and virginity. It's a dark comedy with hints of drama that 'explores the emotional underpinnings of a family starting to come apart at the seams'. She sheds a unique insight into sisterly bonds, family life and also teenage heartache.

I picked these directors and these films because they are similar to my project. They cover sensitive subjects, like my project, and also they involve teenage girls. As a first time female director, this was interesting research to do because of a women's view on film, and what should be emphasised within a film, and how that differs from male views.

Improved Film Magazine

In this mock up, I have editing the magazine and the film masthead but putting a black one in the background to give it a 3D effect. I have also put in a pug which advertises my poster. I have also edited the bottom coverlines to look more professional.
I decided to darken the background as a white background looked too bland.
I have also put in a barcode.

Improved Film Poster

In my improvements, I changed the background by making it more opaque and also by lessening the brightness. I then took out the '...' in the tagline and changed the colour of the masthead. When inserting this into a new layer, I kept the black masthead underneath, which has given it a 3D edgey effect, so I decided to keep this in.

I tried to give the background an orange/red  filter but it didn't look very good, so I decided not to use this.

Feedback for my Ancillary Products 2

Film Magazine:

What people liked:

• The long shot is good because it shows her isolation
• The synergy between the knife in HUNTED and the sharp edge on the 'F' in TOTAL FILM

Improvements:

• It's too bare
• The background colour needs to change
• Could the model look at the camera?
• Feather the image more

Feedback for my Ancillary Products

Film Poster:

What people liked:

• The masthead - effective
• the two shot - really creepy and mysterious
• the tagline is effective because of the domestic environment of the background

Improvements:

• background isn't quite right: either black and white or a red/orange filter
• lose the elipsis in the tagline
• create a darker tone
• make the knife in HUNTED red

Final Magazine mock up

Final poster mock up

I chose to use the poster mock up with the transparent background, because I think this was most effective. I made the background slightly darker though, so that it looked more professional.
I chose the tagline 'there are no safe havens' because the stalker has invaded the girls home - which should be a saf haven. This works in synergy with the image of him in her home behind her, as the poster shows his invasion of her 'safe haven'.