Empire Magazine Cover

This is the photo I am using for the film magazine cover, it is of the main character, smiling:

This is my first draft of my Empire magazine cover, it is simply a rough placing of what will go on the cover and where. Fonts are needed as well as a new background:

My finished Empire magazine cover:

Description:

I have added a new background to the cover, as I felt the green wasn't quite right and the white was too plain.
There is a caption at the top saying 'The RomCom event of the year' This encourages the audience to buy the magazine as it is the event of the year. I had found that many issues of 'Empire' had a caption at the top, so I decided to do the same.
The masthead 'Empire' is in its usual place on the magazine, in its usual colouring, and there is the date of the issue and price above the'M', sticking to the style of the magazine.
'The world's biggest movie magazine' is captioned underneath, again, a lot of 'Empire' issues had a caption here, so I copied it. The fact that it is the world's biggest movie magazine, shows that it is an established magazine, and the phrase subconsciously hints to the audience that if it is the biggest magazine, it must be the best.
There is a button below this caption, saying 'First look! Heaven & Earth! The on-set exclusive'. The fact that it is in a button draws attention to it, and once the audience looks at it, 'First look!' and 'exclusive' tempt the reader in, because no one else will have this sneak preview, so they will have to buy this issue to see it first. I took this idea from an issue I have analysed.
Abby is centre-page of the magazine, as she is the main character of 'Heaven & Earth' and as this issue of 'Empire' is promoting that film, she should be featured on the front cover.
The barcode is placed just below the masthead, on the right-hand side. This was the best place for it, as it allowed me enough room to advertise the contents and was still visible enough for the cashier.
Underneath that 'Essential 2014 preview' is placed, introducing the list of films (which I have selected from a list of upcoming films in 2014) underneath it which the magazine is going to talk about. Again, the words 'Essential' and 'Preview' draw the audience in. The 'Starring Angels & humans from Heaven & Earth' links this preview into the main feature of the magazine.
In the bottom left-hand corner there is a yellow '+', which I found that most issues of 'Empire' had. It introduces 'Angelina Jolie looking devilish on the set of Malificent', another article in the issue. I selectied this film as it is a very close release. As it is both out of the way of the other previews, and introduced by a '+', it shows that it is not included in the main feature of the issue, yet still important enough to be featured on the cover. 

Background photo I used.

Poster

The photos I used for the poster: 

 

This is my first poster draft:

I am happy with the pictures and the colouring of the 'Heaven & Earth' title.
However, I feel the red line is too long, and possibly too thin, and I am not happy with the credits or any of the fonts.
Also there is no 'Coming Soon', actors names or website.

Taking this into account, I made my finished poster:

Sticking with the 'less is more' rule, I created my poster. I feel that the bright white background really accentuates the cleanliness of the poster, and because it is so simple, people walking in the street are more likely to notice the poster in contrast to the busy world around them. Also the white links in with Heaven, so it sticks with my theme.
I made the red line thicker, found better fonts, and added in what was missing.

Description:
I have put the actors names at the top of the page, with their surnames in bold, because if they were famous, it is more likely that people would notice and recognise the surnames than their first names. These are spaced out to either side of the red line, on the matching side of the actor.
There is a thick red line separating Abby and Tom, running down the middle of the page and stopping just before the credits. I felt that the use of a red line on white was more likely to draw attention, plus it is cohesive with the red font used at the bottom of the poster, and with the red of Abby's dress (although it is a different shade).
Tom is in a longing pose, trying to reach out to Abby past the line. However, because she can't see him, Abby is in a pose oblivious to Tom's. Both Abby and Tom did exactly as I wanted for the photos (although, unfortunately I did forget the wings so I have left them out of the photo), and I'm really happy with how they've turned out and how I've edited them. The photos give an insight to the narrative of the film (in which Tom is trying to get Abby, however, she can't see him but he can see her), and show the audience who is in it.
The title font for 'Heaven & Earth' is really clean and simple, and I got exactly the colours I wanted here. The 'Heaven' is on Tom's side as he's an angel, and the 'Earth' is on Abby's side, because she's just a normal person. The '&' is in the middle on the line, connecting the two words whilst the line separate the photos.
The credits are at the bottom, in the middle of the page. It took me a while to find a good way to make the credits, after looking online for a while though, I found a template that allowed me to put my names in the correct font and layout of block credits.
'Coming soon' is in red and bold font at the end of the credits. Although it is not the main part of the poster, I didn't feel that it was very important as the date would only fill up poster space and ruin the neat look.
There is a website written in small red writing at the very bottom of the poster, this allows people to look online for a quick preview of the film, and adds an interactive feature to the poster.

Doctor's Scene

A quick explanation on the stethoscope - I figured that a cheap prop like this would emphasise the bad quality of God's disguises.

Photo shoot

For my photos I want:
-A medium close-up of Abby for the magazine. She will be smiling, in a red spotty dress against a plain white background, or blossom tree.
-Full body shots of Tom and Abby for the poster. Abby will be standing with her hands neatly placed in front/ behind her, unaware of Tom who will be either trying to push down the wall between them, or reaching out towards her. Abby will be wearing a red spotty dress, and Tom will be wearing a grey suit. The pictures will be taken against a white background.

Photos taken:

 This was taken against a white wall. However, the wall was dirty and it made Abby look whitewashed. Also her hair is a bit messy at the top.

 I used a green background here, so Abby is more contrasted. This will make the photo easier to edit, as the background can easily be replaced.

We noticed the messy bit of hair here, so her hair looks neater.

I tried a portrait photo here. However, I feel that the landscape photos look better, as Abby appears to fill it more. However, it doesn't really matter about the background, as it is being replaced anyway.

I am going to use the 3rd photo here for the magazine cover. I feel it is the best of the 4 photos and the background will be easy to edit.

 

The lighting for the photos I took in this area turned out really well. I think this is due to the roof windows here, and the nice sunny weather:

 



I don't think the pose works in this photo, it will also be difficult to edit in a wall.

The lighting for this photo is slightly darker, and as I wanted him to look slightly angelic I will use better lightling.
However, the pose in this one is much better than the last.

The lighting for this photo is perfect, and he has a good pose.

 

I am going to use the 3rd photo here, as it has the best lighting and pose.

 

The next photos were taken in the same place as the last, so the lighting is just as good.

 



Abby's left eye looks like it's closed in this photo, so I don't think I'll use this one.
However, the pose is exactly what I want.

The pose is right for this photo; the hands folded neatly in front of her poses innocence, this is what I want (posing as if she doesn't know about Tom in the other photo).

I don't think this pose is good, as having her hands behind her back signifies that she is up to something. As I want an innocent-looking pose I don't think this photo is right.

I will use the 2nd photo, as this is the best version of the best pose.

Magazine rough draft

My magazine rough draft. I have chosen to make it the front cover of Empire magazine.

I have taken inspiration from other Empire magazines, to ensure the layout fits in with the other issues of Empire. However, after looking at Empire front covers, I have found that the layout differs from issue to issue, so I was free to design the layout of my front cover how I wanted it to be.



Description: There is a caption at the top of the page saying 'The RomCom event of the year', to describe the exclusive preview of 'Heaven & Earth'; my film.
'Empire' is placed at the top of the magazine, in its usual place. The price and date of the magazine is placed on top of the 'M'.
The caption underneath the title says 'The world's biggest film magazine', which I have copied from another issue. However, I still feel it fits in with this issue, because it is only describing the magazine.
The barcode is underneath 'Empire', still visible but only important for the selling of the magazine in shops. I may move this when making my magazine.
There is a portrait picture of my main female role in the middle of the page, smiling and looking at the camera. This creates a connection with the reader, and if she were played by a well-known actor then people would recognise her and be more likely to pick up the magazine. The fact that she fills a lot of the page also helps to make the page look fuller, thus making the magazine look like it has more to offer.
The title of the film, 'Heaven & Earth', is written in bold at the bottom middle of the page, advertising the film's preview in the magazine.

A button advertising the 'first look' at 'Heaven & Earth' is in the top left hand corner. I took this idea from an issue of Empire I had researched.
There is a plus sign on the left hand side showing a preview for an article with Angelina Jolie for her new film 'Malificent'. As 'Empire' is a big magazine, it will have many articles on lots of different films, hence my 'plus' section which lists upcoming films that the magazine will talk about, 'and 101 more'.

Block Credits

At the bottom of my poster I will need credits to make it look realistic.
This template shows what's needed.

Now obviously all the roles (minus the actors) have been done by me. However, I cannot simply write 'Charlotte Smith' for every role on the credits, so some made up names are needed. I will include my name for a couple of roles.
My first attempt, with no template or font:

As you can see the font is wrong, and the placings for some titles are wrong. However, all the names are there and everything is vaguely in the right place.

Finished credits:

Using the template I found online, I added in names for each role, and changed the colours around (white for background, black for writing) as my poster has a white background. 

I will put the credits on the bottom of my poster. 

Poster Rough Draft

First draft of poster:

 

Description: There is a line between the Heaven and Earth sides with Heaven written on the left on the top, and Earth written on the right side at the top. The line represents the separation between the main characters. The angel has wings, and is reaching out to Earth to get the girl, the girl can't see this so she is just stood looking at the camera. Summer 2014 is written at the bottom, it is the approximate release date. The credits bit with all the names on is at the bottom.

I am considering doing this in a coloured sketchy style, but I will decide on this when I take the pictures. Also the girl should be wearing a dress.

There is some inspiration taken from this poster:

 

 

Except the people won't be leaning on the line (their poses will be different), the line will be red and reach from top to bottom of the page.