analysis of front covers of magazines

analysis of front covers of magazines

As part of my research into the horror/thriller genre. I have comepleted textual analyses which have been released over time, those being which have become increasingly popular. I have also posted what I have learnt and gained when analysisng which will help when I produce both of these texts. From this research I have given myself a clear understanding of what makes a sucessful film poster and film magazine cover. Including the marketing campaign, the text, use of colour, positioning of charcters.When I produce my ancillary texts  I will refer back to my research when I create these.

what I have learnt from analysing film posters

What I have learnt from analysing film posters

From analysing film posters it has helped to establish many of the conventions which are used for posters for then for me to able to go on to create my own.
- The picture is always relevant to the film itself, always seems intriguing and the genre itself comes across well from the picture which is an important part. The pictures seem dark and gloomy to give off a good effect on the thriller/horror genre which suggests it's going to be full of thrill.
- There is always a tag line on a poster to generate the hype for the film which is there to catch the audiences eye and for them to be persuaded into seeing the film.
- The text on film posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include  the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, etc to bring a huge awareness to the film itself.
- A graphic/ thrilling picture for the audience to immeditately tell it will a horror film which is I will create in my film poster.

film poster analysis

film poster analysis

what i have leant from analysing existing film trailers

What I have learnt from analysing existing film trailers

From analysing existing thriller film trailers it enabled me to build upon my knowledge on what I understand will make it a good film trailer. Throughout my research I found that there were many conventions of a horror/thriller trailer that I could see in many of them such as;
- A innocent victim who are mostly in the younger generation, who is shown as unaware throughout the trailer. Whereas the villain is hardly shown in the trailer to make it more jumpy and catchy for the audience. I also noted that the character who plays the villain tends to be a male, which I saw in every trailer I watched.
- Many of the trailers follows Todorovs' theory by starting with equilibrium to set the mood/tone as 'normal' which gives the audience a thrill as they are waiting for something 'scary' or 'horrific' to happen.
- Alot of the trailers I researched on started with soft/calm music at the beginning such as everyday life conversations and then quickly made a sudden changed into dramatic and fast music- which is done to build the tension up to make the trailer electrifying.
- There are scary noises such as screams and dramatic movements such as fast running, plus glimpses of the villian by the use of shadows. There are jumpy points to the trailer to make the trailer seem frightening which attracts the target audience immediately.