Film poster/magazine cover research

As a group, we chose to base our film trailer on the theme of paranormal/thriller. I have analysed a range of magazine covers/film posters related to this genre so that they will give me some inspiration and ideas for my own work. I discovered that many magazine covers/posters of this genre used a central image of the ‘villian’ in the film and also many close-ups were used. This gives me the idea that a central image would be useful to use on my own magazine cover/film poster. I also discovered that common colours used on magazine covers/ posters of the thriller genre are greens, reds, blacks and whites, which gave me the idea that using these colours would portray the theme successfully as they all represent fear and danger. My research also showed that effects such as shadowing related to the theme of thriller, giving photos or text a 'scary' feel. I also analysed some posters and magazine covers from a different genre to compare to those of our chosen genre. I analysed the following magazine covers/posters:

Film Poster Analysis

The Orphan

The poster for the film Orphan uses the ‘villian like’ character as the central image and uses a medium-close up which is often used in many posters of the horror genre. This enhances the audience’s fear of the character. The use of colour is also common in the horror genre, for example, dark greys, whites and reds are often used as they are colours associated with horror. The font for the title of the film is also in a hand-written, scribbled type font, which also relates to the theme of horror as you often see writing in horror films hand written in blood, for example. I like this film poster, as it focuses on the main aspect of the film, which is the young girl, and the use of central image makes her seem intimidating. However, because she is a young girl, it may make her appear innocent which tricks the audience. The effect on her eyes also supports the theme of horror as they make her look abnormal and quite scary.

Insidious

The film poster for Insidious is similar to the Orphan as it uses a central image to show the scary character of the play. The colours are also similar – quite dark, such as greys, blacks  and reds, which again relate to the genre of horror. The sky is also shown in the background, showing  cloudy, stormy weather which relates to the theme of horror as most horror films take place during dark weather or during the night. A shadowing effect is used on the central image of the boy which makes him appear intimidating and also makes him stand out from the rest of the poster. The title Insidious is vertical, which gives the illusion of disoreination which supports the theme of the film.

The Strangers

This film poster for The Strangers uses a font which gives the illusion of lights coming from the letters and also makes the words looked smudged and shadowy. This relates to the theme of horror/thriller as it looks mysterious. The main image is a mid shot of five people – two victims and three ‘villians’. The victims are shown from behind which makes the appear vulnerable and in danger, while the three ‘villians’ are shown from the front, wearing scary masks. This is effective as it portrays danger to the audience. A slogan is also used at the top of the poster: Because you were home. This is short and succint which is effective because it is so blunt and to the point. This relates to the theme of horror/thriller as many films of this genre have short, blunt slogans on their posters which make the audience think. The colours on the poster are, again, quite dark, which a lot of black, and grey used. Also, a shadowing effect has been used which creates a scary atmosphere and portrays the film’s horror genre.

The Grudge

The poster for the film The Grudge uses stereotypical horror/thriller colours such as black and red. A mirror is also used to show the reflection of a scary character in the background and a victim’s worried face looking into it. This is similar to my film poster for my Priliminary Task. I think this is effective because the use of reflection gives the illusion that someone is behind you and this relates to the theme of horror/thriller. The font used for the film title is in red, which stands out against the dark colours of the poster, and also relates to the theme as red is related to blood. The font is also quite smudged and disorientated which again, relates to the horror/thriller theme. I think this poster is effective because it shows to images from the film, the first the mirror scene and the second, the setting of the film which is an old, decrepid looking house – this relates to the theme as many horrors/thrillers are set in places like this as they give the illusion of fear and danger.

The Notebook

The film poster for the film The Notebook uses natural, pastel colours such are pale blue and white, which you could say represent a more female audience, which is often the audience for romantic films. The central image of Noah and Ally kissing also portrays the theme of romance and gives the audience an idea of the plot in the film. The tag line for the film Behind every great love is a great story also gives the audience an insight into the romantic plot of the film, which obviously portrays the romantic genre. The font used for the title of the film has a long underlining curve coming from the end of the 'K' which looks elegant and soft, also emphasising the romantic genre of the film. Also, the fact that it is raining in the photo supports the romantic genre as many people associate 'kissing in the rain' as being romantic. The film comes out in summer, which again is said to be a romantic time. Unlike the previous four posters I analsyed which all relate to my chosen genre, the film poster for The Notebook uses much lighter, paler colours which emphasise the romantic feel whereas the previous thriller themed film posters all tended to use dark colours such as blacks and greys, which portrayed the dark thriller theme.

Fast and Furious 5

The film poster for Fast and Furious 5 uses a bright red colour for it's title, which represents the theme of action as it stands out, and also because the colour red is associated with danger, which is a common factor in action films. The font is also bold and and also slightly italic, which emphasises the title of the film as the italics give the image of a car speeding along, and speed is also associated with action. The central image of the poster shows two men with guns standing in a intimidating way beside a car. The use of props, for example, the gun and the car, emphasise the action theme as guns are associated with violence which is linked to action and the car is associated with speed which again is linked to the theme of action. The photo is taken from low angle which makes the men appear heroic and influencial, which can also be linked to the theme of action. Similar to the thriller film posters I analsyed, the main colours used on the Fast and Furious 5 film poster are black and red, which, with thriller films, emphasise the fear and danger, however, in this case these colours suggest that the film is aimed at a more masculine audience as the colours are very bold and stand out. This relates to the theme of action as the majority of action films are aimed at a male audience, especially ones about cars.

Magazine Cover Analysis

Empire magazine - Hannibal

Empires magazine cover for the film Hannibal uses an extreme close up to show the scary character in the film. This is effective as it gives the illusion that the character is near and you can also see every detail such as his red eyes and the dark shadowing on his face, which relate to my chosen theme of horror/thriller. I have noticed that many magazine covers/posters related to the theme of horror/thriller use medium close ups or close-ups/extreme close ups on the main scary character’s faces. This reoccuring theme portrays the character’s intimdating personality and makes them appear scary to the audience. The image blurs out into black on the cover, which, again relates to the theme of horror. Font used on the magazine cover is also in red and white, which are colours that relate to the theme.

Empire Magazine - The Dark Knight

Empire's film magazine cover for The Dark Knight uses a close up as it's central image which is instantly intimidating and the use of make-up on the joker in the central image supports the theme of thriller/action as he looks quite scary and odd. Also, the red on his lips gives the illusion of blood because it is all smeared. This also supports the theme of thriller and action as blood is often a common factor used in action and thriller films. The use of the colour green on the outline of the Empire masthead and other plugs and pugs supports the theme of thriller/action as green is a colour often associated with fear, for example, it's often used at halloween. Also, green is a bright, stand out colour which supports the theme of action as it's exciting. Similar to the Hannibal magazine cover I analysed, black is a main colour on this magazine cover, and they both represent fear and the unknown - black is a colour which is often used in the thriller genre as it represents darkness.

Total Film Magazine - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The film poster for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on Total Film magazine uses a medium close up of Willy Wonka dressed in his costume of a maroon suit jacket, purple gloves and a green top hat. The costume used supports the fact that the film is aimed children as the colours are generally quite bright and fun and his costume is out of the ordinary and not what a typical everyday person would wear, which is exciting, relating to the theme of children's fantasy. His eyes have also been edited so they appear a purple colour, which again relates to the theme of fantasy as it is out of the ordinary. The background of the magazine cover is a bright green colour, which again, appeals to the young audience and represents the genre of the film as chidren are attracted to bright colours. Unlike the Hannibal magazine cover, this magazine cover uses a range of bright colours to attract their child audience, whereas the Hannibal cover uses dark red and black, which represent it's horror/thriller theme. However, the magazine cover for The Dark Knight uses a bright green colour similar to The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cover, but they both represent different themes - The Dark Knight uses green to portray the theme of fear and action but this magazine cover uses green to attract it's younger viewers.

Preparory Work

During my prepatory task, I made a magazine cover and a film poster, both advertising the film I had created with my group. We chose to call our film Prying Eye and the genre of the film is horror. We chose this genre as we felt we would be able to use a wide range of effects and colour schemes to portray it, for example, colours such as red, green and black all relate to the theme of horror. We thought it would be enjoyable to make and also thought that, due to the large amount of horror films, the research would be indepth and there would be a lot in this genre that we could get inspiration from. Due to my previous AS work, I knew the typical conventions to use on the magazine, such as a masthead, plugs, pugs, etc. Our choice of genre is horror, so I ensured that my colour scheme and the effects I used portrayed this genre well, for example, my masthead and the cover title are in red and black, which are typical 'horror' colours. I also used a negative image effect on my central image which also supports my horror genre. When editing my central image, I used Adobe Photoshop to make the victim appear in full colour, while the villian and the background was in negative. This gives the illusion of a horror film, as the victim is singled out and this reinforces the danger she is in. I also used the blur tool to make the background appear more warped which also supports my horror genre. When making my film poster, I used a red coloured film effect on the photo to portray the horror genre that my group and I had chosen. I also ensured used a grayscale effect because this also ties in with my horror theme. My font colour of a dark red gives the illusion of blood which relates to the theme of horror, as well as the white glow around my font which creates an 'eerie' feeling. Also, we chose to take the photo in the toilets, in the mirror, which supports our horror genre because they are quite creepy and look old, for example, the peeling paint reinforces the horror theme. Due to my previous AS work, I felt confident when using Adobe Photoshop but realised I'd forgotten may of the tools and techniques I'd learnt, but after working on the programme I learnt how to use them again. I also felt that my AS work helped me create this prepatory task because I used some of the effects and fonts I have used on my AS work and also I knew the typical conventions of a magzine and what would typically appear on a front cover, such as plugs and pugs. This helped me to ensure that the magazine looked realistic.