COMING OF AGE GENRE TRAILER ANALYSIS - THE DUFF

The duff follows a coming of age genre as it tells the story of a frumpy high school senior named ‘Bianca’, who has a rude awakening when she learns that her classmates secretly know her as the ‘duff’ (designated ugly fat friend). She is desperate to reinvent herself and restore social order within the school by overcoming a judgemental mean girl ‘Madison’. A potential unique selling point for the film could be the comedy aspect, suited for both teenage and adult humour. Another potential unique selling point was the chosen actors who weren't necessarily well known but they were up and coming, ‘Bella Thorne’ for example who played ‘Madison’ was highly involved with disney channels films and tv series such as ‘Shake it up’. Since the release of the duff ‘Bella Thorne’ has been given many more acting roles within successful films or tv shows.

The trailer opens with a bird's eye view establishing shot, overlooking a conventional neighbourhood combined with a upbeat non - diegetic backing track. This is followed by four quick executive medium close up shots, labeling 4 different stereotypical characters seen in coming of age films. Each of the shots are combined with a voiceover from the main character ‘Bianca’ illustrating what the typical labels are within the school. The first shot has lowered the angle to reveal a “jock” throwing an american football. The angle used indicates his superiority in the hierarchy of popularity within the school as well as showing his athletic and manly side. The second medium shot reveals a “geek” who is sitting down looking around in confusion, eating a sandwich. Her unusual behaviour and old fashioned clothing supports the representation of her outsider character. The third medium shot reveals a “Rocker” who is shown sitting on his motorbike, whipping of his helmet and flicking his hair. The use of the motorbike, black clothing and long hair support the representation of this rebellious goth like character. The final shot is a long to medium tracking shot which reveals the “mean girl” to be purposely pushing past someone and knocking their stuff out their hands. Her fashionable clothing, attitude and sarcastic response supports her representation as a popular, selfish and horrible character.

The trailer follows the components of ‘Todorov’s theory’ but in a different order. It opens with a realisation/ recognition, as the main character ‘Bianca’ is informed that she has her own label ‘the duff’. This discovery is shown through a number of alternate over the shoulder shots showing ‘Bianca’ and a jock character having a conversation at a party. The chosen setting of a party is stereotypically used in coming of age films as it is a relatable event which may occur in the target audience of teenagers and young adults lives. Another reason could be that lots of characters can be used to witness what happens or a climax moment. An example would be at the end of ‘Bianca’s’ conversation, a medium shot shows her throwing her drink over the male jock character. The shot also reveals the background characters facial expressions and reactions to this happening. As the trailer continues ‘Bianca’ befriends the male jock character to reverse the way she is seen by others. Alternate over the shoulder shots reveal these two characters to be shopping in a female's lingerie store, they are shown discussing ‘Bianca’s’ fashion disasters and what she needs to change. This montage of clips is combined with a non diegetic soundtrack called ‘Come get it bae’ by ‘Pharrell Williams’, this upbeat track may have been used to coincide with the positive attempt to represent ‘Bianca’s’ character. Throughout the trailer comedic moments are shown to target a wider audience as well as attempting to attract and entertain more people.  

A brief section of the trailer reveals a disruption as ‘Bianca’ has to defeat not only her label but the mean girl character ‘Madison’. A number of medium to long shots show ‘Madison’ strutting down the corridor, the audience are able to capture her stern facial expressions. She walks down the corridor centrally and is shown to be the main focus of the camera with additional characters in the background. These shots are combined with a non diegetic soundtrack called ‘Problem’ by ‘Natalia kills’, this song has been chosen as the lyrics correspond with ‘Madison’s’ mean girl persona.

The closing section of the trailer follows an equilibrium, where ‘Bianca’ is shown accepting and embracing the fact she is different as well as confronting ‘Madison’. One particular tracking shot has been slowed down to reveal ‘Bianca’ walking into prom wearing a fancy dress and looking rather attractive. This chosen shot is similar to the previous ones introducing the character ‘Madison’, this may have been chosen as it shows ‘Bianca’ to be equal as ‘Madison’.  

ACTION GENRE TRAILER ANALYSIS - G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA

G.I. Joe trailer: The rise of Cobra analysis

G.I. Joe follows an action genre as it tells the story of an elite group of people, armed with the latest military and spy technology nicknamed G.I. Joe. They travel the world to wherever their services are needed. In this particular film they take on ‘Destro’ a  corrupt arms dealer, and fight the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organisation. The audience attraction towards the film could be down to the well experienced and popular cast of ‘Channing Tatum’ who has been in other action films such as ‘White house down’ and ‘Jupiter ascending’ or ‘Dwayne Johnson’ who has been in other action films such as the ‘Fast and furious’ franchise. Another unique selling point is that it is filmed in recognisable city’s eg. Paris and features landmarks such as the ‘Eiffel tower’. This most likely helped the film to come across more realistic and be more relatable to viewers.

The trailer opens with an establishing shot of a large underwater ship transformed into a mysterious headquarters, surrounded by approaching submarines. This is followed by a medium shot of a man dressed in a suit with his arms crossed holding an aggressive stance, in the background the audience see two men dressed in all black armour and holding guns. This gives of the sense that this man is highly important or is well protected. These shots are combined with non diegetic intense background music alongside the male characters diegetic dialogue instructing a rule. This male figure could be perceived as a villain in this action film due to his body language, dominance in the shots and his accent. Often villains in action films are often presented in similar ways and are most likely to be foreign. Propp’s theory suggests that every film has eight characters, one of which is a ‘villain’. I believe this man follows similar traits to a villain character and in some way will have conflict with the ‘hero’s’ in this case the G.I. Joe team.

As the trailer continues there is a number of short paced cuts, they include a medium shot which reveals a Hi tech operative lab, a close up shot of missiles and large machinery being launched, a second medium shot of people assembled in a line receiving their uniform and a final long shot showing the launch of a rocket taking place heading towards another rocket. Throughout this short montage of clips showing the preparation from the villain and his team there is a repetition of 3 black screens which appear to break up the trailer potentially to build up tension. This instantaneously sets the scene of an action film as the trailer is packed with codes and conventions of fight scenes, explosions, Hi- tech/ big machinery, fights and mass destruction.

G.I. Joe follows Todorov’s theory but the order is shuffled as the trailer opens with a disruption. The disruption is shown through a number of close up, medium and long shots of the Eiffel Tower being struck by a missile and causing a green mist explosion. This green mist spreads amongst the Eiffel Tower and causes it to rust and begin to fall down. One particular shot reveals a low angle used, which reveals in the foreground people are running towards the camera whilst in the background the Eiffel Tower is falling towards the citizens. This is combined with diegetic sounds of the panels falling apart and crashing to the ground alongside screams of the innocent citizens. This creates a number of enigma codes for the audience as they question “Who has done this?”, “Why have they done this?”, “Will there be other attacks?” and “What is this green mist which caused the disruption?”. At this moment the audience are probably feeling slightly nerved as they don’t exactly know what is going on.

This leads the trailer to show the realisation where they begin to reveal the G.I. Joe team and how they are going to try and stop the threat of ‘Destro’. A medium shot shows General ‘Hawk’ sitting with his hands folded leaning towards the camera, combined with his  diegetic dialogue describing how they have never faced a threat like this. Seven to Eight shots follow, including medium shots of the assembled team arriving from different forms of transportation. These characters are all dressed in army cadets uniforms or super suits to indicate they are the ‘hero’s’. This is then followed by an attempt to repair the disruption through a number of short paced cuts showing explosions, fight scenes and unlikely qualities of an ordinary human identifying how special these recruits are. As the clips heighten in tension so does the combination of the upbeat non diegetic music. The closing of the trailer supports the codes and conventions of a action genre massively and encourages adrenaline junkies to go watch this action packed film.   

HORROR GENRE TRAILER ANALYSIS - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4

Paranormal activity 4 trailer analysis

The trailer opens with reference to the previous film within the paranormal activity franchise chain. This is important as it is a brief reminder of what happened previously and helps to establish potential viewers who have watched the original films before.  Paranormal activity 4 adheres to a number of horror codes and conventions, this is clear within the trailer through the mise-en-scene used. For example the setting is predominately shown through dark lighting and some long shots. The props used, for example the victim's clothing is an everyday attire compared to the villain who is seen dressed in black and stands out, also linking to the horror genre. Finally codes and conventions are shown through the diegetic sounds within the trailer of screams/ doors slamming combined with non- diegetic sounds of the tense and eerie music over the top.

The trailer then introduces the new storyline through a home camera/ web cam shot of the young teenage girl lying down adjusting the camera combined with the diegetic crackling sounds of the camera as she attempts to set it up accordingly. Additionally the home camera has a timestamp placed at the bottom of the shot throughout, all these features coincide and work together to help create realism for the audience. This is followed by a number of speedy short cuts showing the lighting change to dark combined with the tense non-diegetic music heightening. As the shot changes they have cleverly edited in a transition which flickers, this linked with a number of other codes and conventions helps to highlight how this film couldn’t be mistaken for a chick flick or coming of age genre.

A continuous shot shows how the young girl is on a video call to her friend, whilst this is happening the background third of the screen (behind the girl) begins to show clues/ enigma codes for the audience as they prepare for something bad to happen to the vulnerable girl. For example lights begin to flicker and a tall dark figure appears. When the girl recognises the figure through her screen the trailer cuts out and ends suddenly, this cliff hanger ending surprises and draws the audience in to watch the film.

THRILLER GENRE TRAILER ANALYSIS - SINISTER

Sinister trailer analysis

Sinister follows a genre of a thriller/ mystery as it tells the story of the main male character Ellison Oswald finding himself in a 10 year slump as he fails to release any successful crime books. He later discovers an existing film showing the death of a family living in a particular home. To explore this film further and solve the mystery he moves his family into the same house, this decision may be fatal for him and his family as things begin to go wrong. I believe the target audience for this film is around the age of 25 to 35 and would attract both males and females, my reasoning is a lot of people aim to start a family between these ages and the film follows the lives of a regular family. This could potentially reflect the audience's personal lives, for example moving house, having children and pursuing their careers. The unique selling point of Sinister is it had directors working on the film such as Scott Derrickson who also worked on films such as paranormal activity and Insidious. This will also attract a number of fans who loved those films to try out this one.

The narrative is easily discovered as the trailer opens with a number of short creepy, fast paced shots, the first is a medium establishing shot of a house at night time looking misty and eerie, this is combined with a off screen diegetic voice over of a news report illustrating that a family who lived there had been brutally murdered. The second and third shots relate to the family who have been murdered, one is a still photo which has been drawn on with red pen and the second is a drawing from a child's perspective of a family being hung from a tree. These first few shots easily identify that the film follows codes and conventions of a thriller/ horror genre, especially the red pen showing markings or circling around a young girl which could have been a photograph used for the investigation or a photograph used by the murderer to target her somehow. This instantly draws the audience's attention in as they would have begun to ask enigma codes such as ‘What happened to the family who have been murdered’ or ‘Why were they chosen’. These shots are briefly followed by a title indicating it was ‘9 months later’ showing the story was travelling through a time period.

Todorov’s theory is used within the trailer of sinister, however it is ordered differently  the opening of the trailer indicates a disruption which is the death of the family. The trailer then reveals a medium establishing shot of the same house 9 months on and during the daytime, this reflects a completely different mood as the house is seen to be more stereotypical like any other American house, allowing the audience to relax. The trailer begins to enter an equilibrium as a new family is moving in, this is shown through a number of medium shots and close up shots showing the family acting out their everyday lives looking rather happy and pleased with the move. This was combined with dialogue between the main male character Ellison who plays the role of the father and either his wife or his children, indicating how he thinks things are going change for the better.

As the trailer continues, the equilibrium comes to an end and a recognition occurs. The use of a long shot shows Ellison opening the attic door to an empty room apart from one box sat in front of him. He opens the box to discover a number of tapes from the family who previously lived there, as he continues to watch them. The tape switches from a happy family to legs dangling from the tree dripping with blood. This causes Ellison to jump up and shield his eyes from the screen, which is shown through a medium wide angled shot. This indicates that the father is afraid of what he has just seen and is in shock. As the camera is slightly distorted to the left hand side due to the bright beam of light it can also reflect how Ellison is feeling after seeing the terrifying image.

An attempt to repair the disruption begins to take place as Ellison researches further into the tapes and the hidden meanings of symbols and other clues. One shot which stands out is the medium close up of the father's face who is looking away from the computer screen. The computer screen shows a moving image of ‘Bagul’s’ face watching him. The lighting used is predominantly dark so the audience focus on the computer screen. This reveals dramatic irony for the audience as they want the father to discover Bagul is watching him. It can also insert fear into the audience as they feel targeted as Bagul also looks at them. This causes a further disruption as his children are threatened and possessed by Bagul. One close up shot shows the possessed face of the little boy bending backwards out of the box, he has a pale face, cloudy eyes and is an uncomfortable position. This causes the audience to feel scared and uncomfortable as they watch the little boy in pain.

As the trailer comes to an end, the non diegetic eerie music heightens and the shots are more frequent, revealing a chain of props being dragged along the floor eg. the axe which is a typical code and convention of a horror film. As it is being dragged across the floor it suggests that it may be a child carrying it as it is a heavy object. There is also a number of creepy shots revealing more possessed children and blood drawn symbols on the walls and doors. The character Bagul is presented as the villain and Ellison as the hero, they relate to Propps theory as they are in conflict with each other. Bagul is scary and powerful where as Ellison is brave and wise.

ME BEFORE YOU FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

I have chosen to analysis the main theatrical poster for the film ‘Me before you’, it was released into cinemas on the 3rd June 2016 and is an example of a film poster which effectively uses a number of codes and conventions in an appealing way.

The title of the film runs across the bottom section of the poster and has been edited so one word sits above the other connecting in some way. The typography used is similar to fancy handwriting which is often seen on other romance genre film front covers or posters. This chosen layout of the font follows a very classy and sophisticated approach.

The main image is a medium to close up shot revealing a male and female character, staring deeply into each other's eyes. The female character is slightly leaning over the man, which exposes the top half of her clothing. She is wearing what looks like a red dress, red often connotes seductiveness and sexiness. As she is an attractive female it also helps the film to appeal to a male audience. Whilst the male character is slightly leaning backwards, he is dressed in a suit. This often shows the professional side to a male character. Their facial expressions are revealed through this chosen shot, which shows them to be indulged and passionate towards each other. The chosen body composition of the proximity between them portrays a sexual interest and desire towards each other as well as the dominance of the female character. The background is particularly interesting as it looks like the two characters are floating in the clouds, this may be a symbolic code for heaven or dreams. However it may have a deeper meaning of death or uncertainty, leaving enigma codes in the audience's head.  

Below the title of the film, they have placed the credits. The credits include information around the manufacturing and production stages of the film, an example for this film poster would be the production company's name ‘New line cinema’ has been added. This may have chosen to include this piece of information as this production company was known to also be involved with the making of ‘The notebook’ which was a very popular romance film.

The unique selling point could have been the two actors names placed in the right hand corner. ‘Sam Claflin’ is a well known actor, who has played lead roles in other successful romance films such as ‘Love Rosie’, whereas ‘Emilia Clarke’ is an up and coming actress. The editor has chosen to place their names separate from the credits as a way of promoting the film. The film will most likely appeal to a female audience as they have a more emotional connection with the storylines within romance films alongside the appealing factor of the attractive male character.

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA POSTER ANALYSIS

I have chosen to analysis the dvd/ video film release poster for the film G.I. Joe: Rise of the cobra, it was released into cinemas on the 6th August 2009 and is an example of a film poster which effectively uses a number of codes and conventions in an appealing way.

The title of the film runs across the poster diagonally and is placed centrally. It divides up the images to present a good vs. evil layout. The titles typography is used effectively as the metallic colour and sharpness of the individual letters used may symbolise weaponry such as knives. This identifies the action genre alongside the main images used. The written codes, for example the slogans are placed either side of the title. Each slogan represents either the good or evil side which can be seen to be a very powerful and a unique way of laying this out. One slogan reads ‘Evil never looked so good’ this is placed underneath the imagery representing the evil section and uses a red/ dark orange font which connotes danger and uncertainty closely linked with how villains are perceived in action films. The second slogan is placed above the imagery representing the good side section and reads ‘When all else fails they don’t’. It is written in a light blue colour denoting a mysterious and ice like effect.

Below the title some credits are placed including the release date, this information would have been placed centrally as it is important.  

As the poster is cleverly split by the title, the two different halves feature two different groups of characters. The top half represent the villains, this is easily recognised through their mise-en-scene. There's one female character placed centrally, with a proximity which is much closer to the audience insinuating she is more dominant and is potentially seen to be more like a boss. Compared to the three male characters behind her who are presented like her henchmen. They are all hidden with some sort of head scarf or mask, this may have been used to conceal their true identities and leave a number of enigma codes for the audience such as ‘Who are they?’ or ‘Why are they doing this?’. All 4 characters both have individual weapons potentially connoting how menacing and threatening they are, as well as also reinforcing the action genre. Behind the four villain like characters, CGI has been cleverly used to create some sort of explosion enhancing the colour orange. CGI has also been used to produce some sort of laser flash or strike of lava across the front of the villains connoting how the film would be full of exciting fight scenes involving things blowing up massively involving fire. The bottom halve of the poster represents the heroes in the film ‘the G.I. Joe team’ they are all assembled and are equipped with identical black body suits and weaponry showing they a united force to be reckoned with. However they have chosen to place a male character with a greater proximity to the audience, possibly due to his actor being the most recognisable as ‘Channing Tatum’. Or to support stereotypical views of a male character being the main powerful and attractive protagonist. Behind the 4 main characters the background is a light blue colour connoting a sci-fi, supernatural feeling, this is supported by the CGI used to create streaks of ice/water laser beams. These contrasting background colours may reflect fire vs. ice which relates to the main narrative good vs. evil.

A potential target audience who would notice this poster would seek adrenaline from watching an action packed film like ‘G.I. Joe: Rise of the cobra’. Also anyone who recognises the main actors and is a fan of them, may want to view the film.

JURASSIC WORLD FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

I have chosen to analysis the teaser poster for the film ‘Jurassic World’, it was released into cinemas on the 11th June 2015 and is an example of a film poster which effectively uses a number of codes and conventions in an appealing way. This film is a remake of the original ‘Jurassic Park’ hence why they have used similar advertisement to promote the film.

The title of the film runs across the middle of the poster and is placed within a logo, which is easily recognisable from the original film in 1993. The typography has remained the same as they have chosen to use what looks like skeleton bones in a combination of a plain white colour to spell the title out. The editor may have chosen to do this as it links with the storyline and content of the film. The title is bold and overlaps the main image, it is a white colour. The original poster had a greater use of colour, more reds and oranges. However this poster is predominantly grey, black and white. This may have been chosen by the editor as it give it a mysterious element leaving enigma codes for a potential audience.

The main focal image is behind the title of the film, it shows a skeleton of a dinosaur on some sort of circular tomb stone. This connotes potential death of the era of dinosaurs and how the symbol may represent a historic museum informing people of this ancient time period. The background is a plain black colour but has been edited to involve an additional smoke effect which helps supports the mysterious aspect. These conventions indicate to the audience the film may fall under a adventure genre, due to the historical content insinuated by the image and title layout.

This poster doesn't feature any credits apart from the release date and a short tagline reading ‘ The park is open’, this written code creates an enigma code and unanswerable questions for an audience member. This is effective as it will encourage people to explore the film further. The release date was in June, they may have chosen this time as it was the start of the summer holidays where children are most likely to go to the cinema and watch it. Children aged 12 and above will make up a large section of their audience.

The unique selling point of the film poster is the recognisable symbol also featured on the original film poster. It helps to create an interest around the new film for anyone who viewed the original film as they may have enjoyed the original version, encouraging them to view the newer version.

THE DUFF FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

I have chosen to analysis the dvd/ video film release poster for the film ‘The duff’, it was released into cinemas on the 6th April 2015 and is an example of a film poster which effectively uses a number of codes and conventions in an appealing way.

The title of the film runs across the bottom of the poster. The typography used is particularly fascinating as they have chosen to place the word ‘The’ in a smaller font compared to the word ‘Duff’, which is much larger taking up most of the bottom section. The editor may have chosen to do this as it gives a massive emphasis on the word ‘Duff’, which may link to the banners which contain anchoring text  placed above the characters heads, reflecting some sort of narrative. The title is a bright pink colour has been used as it is conventionally seen to be a fun and girly colour, this may also reflect a coming of age genre. The previously mentioned banners with anchoring text have cleverly been positioned above different characters heads, reflecting which type of character they are. This begins to unravel some sort of character identification as well as potential enigma codes linking to how they are portrayed.

5 characters have been chosen to feature on the film poster, this is uncommon as often it is seen as if there is too much going on. However the editor has intelligently placed them in 3 different groups corresponding to their description from the anchoring text. A medium to long shot has been chosen to reveal the differences amongst the mise-en-scene of the 5 characters in terms of their costumes and body posture. I also believe the editor may have chosen to place the characters in a particular order reflecting their hierarchy of popularity within the school. Starting with the left hand side to the right hand side, this may be portrayed through the isolation of the last character.

The first two characters are placed on the far left, one female and one male. The female is leaning to one side with an aggressive stance, portraying a moody facial expression. The audience may portray her to be the ‘It girl’, typical mean/ popular girl seen in many coming of age films. The male character placed alongside her may represent her boyfriend or the typical jock character seen in coming of age films. His stance is also seen to be aggressive through the folding of his arms across his body, as well as his cocky smirk. The middle two female characters may represent the middle people in the school hierarchy of popularity. They may come across like this from their body posture. Their costumes are stereotypical girly outfits and involve bold, bright colours. The final character may represent the lower tier hierarchy in popularity. Her costume is dungarees which are normally shown to be quite quirky and out there. Her body language suggests she doesn't know that she is different from the others.   

    

Below the title of the film, they have placed the credits. The credits include information around the manufacturing and production stages of the film, for example the director's name ‘Ari Sandel’, who is a up and coming director. This is also where they place any information involving social media links or hashtags, this is massively important when helping to promote the film as it starts a trend that the audience may follow. This is a method of viral marketing and is often aimed at a younger audience as they are most likely to get involved.

The unique selling point of this poster may be the critical review which has been placed at the top of the poster it reads “Mean girls meets bridesmaids… Hilarious!”. This critic's quote would have been chosen as it links to previous successful films when comparing it to ‘the duff’. The adjective “Hilarious!” has also been chosen as it guarantees the audience to have a laugh when watching the film.   

SINISTER FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

Sinister poster analysis

The Sinister poster is a great example of how an audience can be drawn into viewing the film. There is always seven or eight key elements which must feature on an film poster, the first includes the title of the film. For the Sinister poster the title is placed centrally using bold, black capital letters which is presented in a very prominent and clear way, this simply tells the audience the title of the film. The font used is slightly blurry and smudged/ faded giving of a supernatural vibe, which coincides with the events in the film and helps to reveal a thriller/ horror genre. The second element would be an image, this is used to give the audience some sort of understanding to what the film will include.

The main image used features in the foreground of the poster and shows a young girl dressed in white pajamas, this could stereotypically symbolise that she is pure and innocent. Her head is turned away from the camera as she is presented to be walking away dragging her hand behind her along the wall. I believe that she looks entranced and that she has no real control over what she is doing. If you look at the whole image the young girl takes up a small frame and isn't necessarily that important. Behind her is a drawing which was illustrated with dripping blood to present some sort of disfigured face. The blood used resembles potential codes and conventions within a thriller/ horror genre. This is also hugely important as it reveals that the drawing of the face is overpowering as it takes up a massive chunk of the image and possibly reflects some sort of similar dominance over the little girl in the film. The image helps to reveal clues about the storyline and justifies the genre.

The third element is every poster will need to include some sort of catchy tagline. The tagline in sinister is ‘Once you see him, nothing can save you’. This is used to scare the audience and seek adrenaline, it follows the deathly tone of the whole poster.

The fourth, fifth and sixth elements are the name of the studio/production company, the name of the director and the actors names. In the sinister poster some of these feature along the bottom in the credits as they take up a large space of unnecessary information, however they have chosen to select previous films that the producers have made and place them at the top of the poster. This will encourage the audience to watch Sinister if they enjoyed the other films the producers have made of a similar genre.

The seventh element is the industrial information at the bottom, this is important because it is the legal aspect and reflects the things i have listed above featuring eg. production companies. It also utilises the opportunity to use social media with web links to facebook and twitter pages as well as the films own website which is shown in bold text. The industrial information also includes the final element which is the release date.

The sinister poster was a very successful way of advertising the film because it causes the potential audience to ask questions as it leaves a number of enigma codes, such as ‘ Who is the face smeared all up the walls’, ‘Is the little girl possessed’ or ‘What are the objects along the for’. These unanswered questions draw the audience in further and encourage them to visit websites and to view the film. It also helps the poster is very eye catching and would stand out anywhere it would be places.   

MAGAZINE COVER COMPARISON

Below I will compare the similarities and differences between ‘Total films’ edition featuring the film ‘The amazing Spider- Man’ released in 2012 and ‘Empires’ edition featuring the film ‘Bourne Legacy’ also released in 2012.

Both covers have a number of similarities, one example would be the layouts. This can be seen through the visual codes such as the masthead, this is placed along the top of both covers, in bold capital letters. Both covers follow a traditional pattern of placing the main focal image in the middle of the cover and slightly overlapping the masthead. The focal image of both characters reveals their whole identities eg. their costumes or props (weaponry) through a medium close up shot. Both magazine covers feature conventional coverlines, puffs and skylines. The placement of the coverlines are similar, in both magazines they choose to place the main coverline below the focal image which reads the name of the film. Any other coverlines are placed centrally and around the main focal image using a similar typography of bold, capital letters. The secondary coverlines from both magazines offer some sort of exclusive reading and is used as an extra incentive to pick the magazine up and read it.

The placement of the skyline on both covers is on the top, above the masthead. This piece of information could call out to a particular group of people offering additional exclusive reading or be promotional text or image to draw a reader in. The puffs used in both magazines are a circular shape, and interestingly are a similar red colour. This is attention grabbing as the colour red can correspond with danger and excitement, giving a sense of adrenaline when a customer is potentially reading the magazine. The colour scheme used in both magazines have similar resemblances, the background and main focal images are predominantly darker colours reflecting the action genre, however both magazine editors have chosen to use bright colours such as red or yellow for any text. This is because it contradicts the darker background colours and is more likely to stand out.   

On the other hand there are differences between the layouts of the magazine covers, for example one would be that ‘Total film’ have chosen the character ‘Spiderman’ to have his body position facing away from the reader. Compared to ‘Empire’ who have chosen to face the character ‘Jason Bourne’ towards the reader. A reader may identify this because the characters have different personalities to portray, ‘Spiderman’ could be facing away as he is more mysterious compared to ‘Jason Bourne’ who may come across in a more intimidating and aggressive way. Another difference is to the side of ‘Total films’ skyline they have chosen to place a small image reflecting the exclusive being offered, they may have chosen to place this image here as the characters shown could come across more recognisable than just the title of the film. Interestingly ‘Empire’ mainly offer exclusives on other action films amongst their secondary coverlines compared to ‘Total film’ who choose to offer exclusives from a wider range of genres.

ANALYSIS OF THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE COVER

I have chosen to analyse a film magazine cover from ‘Empire’s’ edition featuring the film ‘Wonder Woman’ which was released in 2017. The cover features a number of conventions which are often repeatedly seen on other magazine covers. The features often relate to the film itself aiding promotion of the product.

The masthead is placed at the top of the page slightly behind the main focal photo which shows the character ‘Diana Prince’ who is played by ‘Gal Gadot’ in the film. This layout is repeatedly used and is easily recognisable by regular readers.

The main focal photo has been placed centrally, her body is positioned towards the reader but she is looking elsewhere. Her hands are held out in front of her forming an x shape which symbolises she is a powerful, independent female who isn’t afraid of anything. The editor may have chosen to use a medium, close up shot to reveal her focused and serious facial expression. Alongside revealing her unusual costume, the colours in particular stand out as they represent the american flag. She is also wearing other pieces of armour on her arms and forehead, this supports the idea that she is a superhero. Interestingly her legs aren’t covered and she isn’t holding any weapon, this could be used to connote how she is not phased or hurt by anything. The editor may have chosen for the character to be wearing minimal clothing as it appeals more to any male audience watching the film. The background is similar to the costume on the main character, one half is a orange/ red and the other is a solid blue. The use of colours may symbolise her movement from a peaceful, sheltered island to fighting in a explosive war.

The chosen typography amongst the masthead, skyline, coverlines and any other information switches between two prominent colours. One being wit and the other being black, this combination may have been used to simplify the already pervasive and dominant cover. The main coverline is the title of the film which has been placed to the left hand side of the main focal image. Slightly above is a secondary coveline which reads ‘World exclusive’ this written code excites the reader as they feel like they are reading something that another person won’t. Any other secondary coverlines are placed around the main focal image, due to them being easily accessible. A speech bubble is placed to the side of the main focal image and reads ‘I got this’, this clever direct address connotes her authority. The skyline runs across the top of the magazine cover and usen written codes such as ‘Secrets’ and ‘Biggest’ which boost the chances of the reader buying the magazine.    

The puff is a circular shape and has been positioned on the right hand side of the main focal image. It offers an exclusive read on ‘Guardians of the galaxy’, this is an additional reason why a potential reader may buy the magazine.

The target audience may vary from film fanatics to lovers of action films. Men may particularly be interested in it as they have used an attractive women on the front cover. Potentially women also as it shows a dominant female.  

ANALYSIS OF THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF A FILM MAGAZINE COVER

I have chosen to analyse a film magazine cover from ‘Total film’s’ edition featuring the film ‘Fast and furious 8’ which was released in 2017. The cover features a number of conventions which are often repeatedly seen on other magazine covers. The features often relate to the film itself aiding promotion of the product.

The masthead is placed at the top of the page slightly behind the main focal photo which shows the character ‘Dominic Toretto’ who is played by ‘Vin Diesel’ in the film. The masthead is cleverly designed as it places one word from the magazine's title within the other, this layout is more interesting and unique compared to a plain masthead seen on some ‘Empire’ magazine covers. This layout is repeatedly used and is easily recognisable by regular readers.

The main focal image has been placed centrally, his body is positioned away from the camera but his head is tilted back to reveal his stern facial expression. The editor may have chosen this medium, close up shot as it unravels both his costume and his facial expression. His costume is all black and he is wearing a tightly fitted vest, highlighting his muscular figure. The reader may confuse ‘Dominic Toretto’ for a villain because of the way he is presented. The background is massively important as it adds to the simple main focal image massively and begins to indicate some sort of narrative. It shows 5 racing cars escaping from cracking ice as something is bursting out. This is a great way of getting the reader to ask certain enigma codes such as ‘What is breaking out of the water’. The fast cars also help to indicate a action genre.  

The chosen typography amongst the masthead, skyline, coverlines and any other information switches between 2 prominent colours. One being white and the other being red, this combination has been carefully thought out and may be a symbolic code for a safety warning. So by reading this magazine the reader may feel like they are breaking some sort of rule, influencing them to read on and explore further. All main information is written in capital letters so it stands out on the page, it is large because the film is already a successful franchise, so anyone walking past would instantly know what it's about.. The main coverline is the title of the film which is placed overlapping the main focal image. Secondary coverlines have also been cautiously placed around the outside of the main focal image, most likely due to it being easily accessible. One secondary coverline stood out the most for me, it was placed below the main coverline. It used a language code to entice the reader, it read ‘Cooler cars crazier stunts’. This alliteration has been used to draw the reader’s attention to this particular line as it creates a certain exciting mood. The magazine cover also features a coverline which links cleverly to the puff, by using written codes such as the word ‘preview’, it will make the reader feel like they are reading something exclusive to them personally.

The puff is placed to the left hand side of the main focal image, it is in a circular shape and follows the red pattern. The puff reads ‘65 new movies reviewed’ this written code reveals a interesting and unique offer only a reader would receive.

The target audience may vary from film fanatics to adrenaline junkies who love action films or even regular viewers who have seen the other films within the franchise. It may attract boys mainly due to the cars and strong male protagonist featuring on the front cover.