Ancillary task summary

Summary of poster and magazine analysis

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Conventions of posters» Main characters are usually centre of the poster with

text placed around them.» The title of the film is conventionally in bold sans serif

font so it stands out.» Characters are usually shown in the same clothes on all

promotional packages to make them easily recognisable.

» posters usually use long shots so you can see all the characater(s)

» Credits of people involved in the film are conventionally placed on the bottom third of the poster along with the release date.

» Actors name and film slogan are often used

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Conventions of magazines» The masthead is usually the largest font on the

cover and is conventionally sans serif.» Main picture taking up most of the page with

the cover story title across it.» Coverlines are often placed down both left and

right sides of the cover advertising other stories inside the issue

» Date, issue and price are often shown underneath the masthead.

» Bright colour scheme and pull quotes are conventional .

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Masthead

The masthead of the magazine is conventionally the largest font on the front cover as it’s the name of the magazine and so is well recognised. The masthead is always placed at the top of the cover. Its usually bold sans serif font to make it stand out more to the audience and tends to stay very similar across all issues of a magazine. Its also conventional for the date and price to be placed around the masthead in much smaller font (as shown on the empire masthead). There are also Coverlines placed above both mastheads advertising other stories inside the issue of the magazine. The website of the magazine is also often placed in smaller font near the masthead.

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Picture The main picture on a magazine cover conventionally takes up most of the page and coverlines are usually placed around it. Often the picture is placed over part of the masthead (Megan Fox’s head blocks the ‘I’ on the masthead). The picture is related to the cover story which is the main story covered in depth in an issue. Both long shots and close ups are used on magazine covers and the colours that the person on the front wears are usually seen in the colour scheme (the purple Megan Fox is wearing) and the red, white and blue colour scheme associated with captain America.

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Coverlines Coverlines are often placed around the main picture on magazine covers. They tend to be placed on the sides of the page (left on the Hellboy cover and right on the Thor cover). They advertise smaller stories included inside the issue. Magazines often use a + sign to advertise other coverlines which is usually at the bottom of the page (shown on the Thor cover.

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Poster The largest font on a film poster tends to be the logo of the film, it tends to be sans serif and bold to make it stand out to the audience. The logo tends to be consistent over all posters to help create a brand identity. This can be placed at the top , bottom or middle of the poster. Its often an eye catching colour to help stand out (both are red in pictures). The American pie logo stays the same through all the film franchise to help create a brand identity

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Poster pictureFilm posters tend to use mid or long shots as it shows more of the character and therefore makes them more identifiable to the audience. This also shows the clothes that the characters are wearing which makes the characters more relatable to a teen audience (more so in the Beta house poster). Credits are typically placed at the bottom of the poster along with the release date as shown in the Superbad poster. The characters on the Beta house poster also suggests that it covers typical teen comedy stories (relationships and sex).

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Poster Film posters often contain slogans from the film, as seen on the hangover 2 poster ‘ the wolfpack is back’ and ‘Bangkok has them now’. Another common convention on film posters is to list other films from the same film makers. (on the Superbad poster, ‘from the makers of the 40 year old virgin and knocked up’. Film posters also advertise the actor names (friends with benefits poster), especially if they are big stars as this will increase the popularity of the film if people are fans of the actors.

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Colour Teen comedy posters often use bright vibrant colours to attract a teen audience. Bright colours will attract the audiences eye more. They also use clothes and props that a teen audience would be able to relate to. Examples of the bright colours used can be seen in the Beta house and mean girls posters.