1. FILM
1.1. Colour grade:
1.1.1. During the production of our film we played around with a three point light set up using the open windows natural light as our backlight. However, the filler light and front light's warmth conflicted with the raw white light behind. We decided therefore to remove all artificial light and work only with the natural light from the window. This gave a nice effect as the light fell on the hollows of their face and often outlined them in a very neo noir style. Because the look of this looked so authentic we refrained from manipulating the colour too heavily in post production and this resulted in very raw, bleak looking footage. This colour scheme was something we did not use in either of our other products which did weaken the consistency and recognisability of our package. However, we did not feel that this colour scheme was appropriate for a contemporary product like a Little White Lies cover or a poster as the colours were not bold enough to capture and audience.
1.2. Typography:
1.2.1. We decided very early on that we were going to use a typewriter font across all three of our products in order to have a consistent element running throughout our package. This font was chosen as it seemed fitting for the time period of our film (1940's) and is a common font used throughout the war genre. By using a font that our audiences are familiar with we are able to attract our target audience as fans of the war genre can identify our film as being one.
1.3. Characters:
1.3.1. Our film focuses on two characters equally and aims to really invest the audience in their stories. In this respect we didn't want our package to revolve around one face and tired as best we could to incorporate both characters throughout our promotion.
1.4. Iconography:
1.4.1. Our film made a very conscious decision to steer away from an excessive use of war iconography as, whilst we wanted our footage to appear authentic (hence our use of original uniform) we wanted to draw away from audience expectation of battlefield effects. This is another element we deliberately tried to make consistent across all three of our products so not to mislead our audience.
1.5. Themes:
1.5.1. In all three of our products we focus on the same theme, war away from war. Whether this be represented through dialogue as it is in the film, or more visually as it is in the poster, it is clear that our entire package as a whole is trying to move away from the physicality of war and more towards the mentality.
2. POSTER
2.1. Colour:
2.1.1. We made the colour scheme of our poster black and white as this was a reflection of the time in which our film is set (1944) This was an inconsistency as our film itself is in colour. However, we thought that the purpose of a poster, as we observed through our research of real media products, is to quickly inform an audience what the genre of a film is and by making our poster black and white we would quickly be indicating the time in which the film is set.
2.2. Typography:
2.2.1. The typography we employed was as close to the font we used in the film itself in order to give all three of our products a recognisable trait. This way audiences would quickly be able to associate the font with our film and this is a form of subconscious advertisement.
2.3. Characters:
2.3.1. In our poster only Donald is shown. This is despite our efforts to ensure that both characters are portrayed as being equal despite their differing ages. Our reasoning for this was because we felt the film still was very powerful and it reflected our theme, war away from war, as no actual weaponry was used, instead just fingers. This also highlighted how our film was unique to other war films and gave it a unique selling point.
2.4. Iconography:
2.4.1. We tried to refrain from incorporating the typical war iconography that real media products did in their posters, such as flags, guns and bombs. This is because we wanted to make it clear to our audience that the film does not take place on the battlefield. The hand in the shape of a gun therefore hints at conflict without suggesting violence.
2.5. Themes:
2.5.1. The themes in our poster, such as the time period and conflict away from war are reflected in the poster as well as all of our other products. This creates the spine of our package.
3. LWL COVER AND ARTICLE
3.1. Colour scheme:
3.1.1. We made the colour scheme reflect the time era in the same way our poster did. This conforms to the classic representation of war films within real media. We used black and white to add an element of consistency between our products to make them recognisable. Consequently i feel as though our package as a whole is an example of strong branding.
3.2. Typography:
3.2.1. Our typography in the article is not the same as the font we employed within our poster or LWL front cover. It is however reflective of the font we used in our film, and the time era of the 1940's when typewriters would have been more commonly used.
3.3. Characters:
3.3.1. We do not use images of either of our characters in the article itself but instead use a piece of propaganda directly pointing at and therefore including the reader. This reminds the reader of one of the themes in our film, that anyone went to war, including people like them, during ww2 and it reminds them of the individual.
3.4. Iconography:
3.4.1. We used an extremely famous piece of propaganda to dominate our more visual page of our double page article. This explicitly links with the iconography used in both the poster and the film as we often tried to draw attention to the propaganda suffocating the men and brainwashing them into thinking that what they are doing is admirable, which is of course the view that the younger character in the film expresses. This makes the dialogue and iconography consistent, providing for a strong package.
3.5. Themes:
3.5.1. The themes we explore within the written article are concepts such as war away from war. The article comments on how we made a conscious effort to remove the soldiers from the battlefield and our creative and purposeful decision to film the entire film in one room. This should intrigue the audience and encourage them to watch the film, which is further packed full of symbolism.