Although, as a group, we would be capable of building a basic website from scratch with HTML, we want to be able to make the best website possible, hence we'll be using the online software at http://www.wix.com to build our website.
We have discussed the content that we would like to host on our website; we liked the way that the "Picture Me" website hosted all of the posters on the homepage, and we would like to do something similar with our poster and, if possible, our trailer too. We also liked the way that the website for "The Social Network" opened with a page of reviews, and, whilst we couldn't be quite so showy with our "reviews" as a multi-award winning and anticipated film, we would like to host a press page.
Regarding the design, we would like to combine the simplicity of the "Picture Me" website, with the flash/interactive elements of the website for "Twelve". This is because we like these elements, and also because these are websites for films which also target our demographic, hence we should be looking to learn as much as possible from them.
With these ideas in mind, we started looking through all of the templates that Wix offers, and settled on a few to decide between.
This is the first template that we looked at, called "Photo Focus". The image on the right is one of a set, which changes every few seconds as part of a flash sequence. We liked the simplicity of this template, and thought that we could use the flash slideshow to show our poster, as well as some screenshots from our film. Whilst the template has used the sidebar to show just the name of the photographer, we feel that it is long enough for us to fill with more information, such as a summary, a release date, etc. The tabs at the bottom link to other pages, on which we could host even more information, and some interactive features. We also liked the portfolio style of the website; as our target audience is interested in fashion and the arts, it could be an aesthetic which will appeal to them.
This is the third template that we looked at, called "Japanese Bar". It's quite different to the other two, using a tiled layout rather than a portfolio aesthetic, but we like that this offers us more space for information on our homepage, and the ability to differentiate between the sections of information. We also liked that it included a space to feature a video, as we could feature our trailer there.
This is the fourth, and final, template that we looked at, called "Grill & Bar". We liked that it offered all the features of "Japanese Bar", including video hosting, but in a much more organized way, which we think will be better for communicating information to our audience. There are several templates for other pages, linked via tabs at the top, which use flash and are very interactive for our audience, which we think would be good for sustaining their attention and creating more opportunities for them to consume more information.
Overall, after discussing the pros and cons of all four templates, we have decided that we will use the fourth, "Grill & Bar". Whilst we liked the portfolio aesthetics of the first two, they made it more difficult to communicate information, and the third was a little disorganized. The template that we have chosen incorporates all of the features that we had discussed using, plus, if we remove the background image and use a minimalistic color palette, is quite simple and clear.
