Q1) for Film Magazine

KEY:CONVENTIONAL

UNCONVENTIONAL

We also were deterred off the idea of having her in character as this is more likely to be found in mainstream magazines such as Empire. We wanted our independent film to be represented by an independent magazine as the consumers will prefer the niche elements in comparison to having it on a mainstream magazine and the concept of the film being lost due to many features and puffs.

By having no puffs and relying on simplistic but eye-catching coverlines makes our magazine be reliant on the main article rather than the various features which main stream magazines do.

We chose to have our actress on the cover rather than having her in character which is found commonly in independent film magazines. This was because the responses from our audience research preferred to have the actor/actress on the cover allowing more of a personal insight in their article. We also had the cover line ‘Kemp reveals truth..’ to ensure that it was more about the actress taking part in the film rather than her character making it interesting.

We liked the idea of a highlighting brush stroke for our main cover line to be striking as the magazine is promoting the film thus being the dominant text. Sight & Sound also done this with a faded red highlight for film ‘Inglorious Basterd’.

For the features we used brightly coloured brush stroke highlights to make our cover lines stand out rather than the use of fonts. We used the concept of colours distinguishing the writing rather than the text itself.

Making our fonts bold were to ensure that the main film title was noticeable which is largely seen in mainstream film magazines. We did not use niche hand written or stencilled fonts that are commonly used in independent magazine Sight & Sound.

The masthead is not dominating the cover by its size or colour which both Empire and Sight & Sound do which challenges the idea of selling in terms of branding. We purposely positioned the image away from the cover lines and made it in front of the masthead so that the film and its main actress is the central feature.

The colours used on the cover are very bright and appealing as they are bright and contrasting colours. We used the conventional form of bright colours to make the magazine stand out to the audience.

We chose our actress to wear the same coat from the trailer so there is a direct link made to the film. Mainstream film magazines usually have the characters on the cover such as Empire (example below of Batman on the cover and ‘Dark Knight Rises).

We merged the two ideas together by making it explicit that the actress ‘Kemp reveals the truth..’ is interviewed where as on cover she is in the character’s clothing.

The contrasting colours of orange and purple being used as highlighters of the cover lines makes the audience attracted to them although the are placed on the side. The usage of highlighters are evident on independent film magazines such as ‘Sight and Sound’.

We used a dark pink/purple highlighter for our main cover line as it made the film name stand out against the light blue back ground so that it is directly noticeable. Sight and Sound used this for ‘Inglorious Basterd’ (top right image) as the red highlight makes the white text stand out against the dark coloured background.

We kept the masthead black and the film name black as these to names are of importance to the audience. Also the link is made to both being independent .

The use of enticing adjectives to sell the magazine is conventional in all film magazines. In our cover lines the words ‘gripping’, ‘freshest’ and ‘up and coming’ allows attraction to the product.

The mid-shot is generically used in majority of film magazines. This so the character’s costume is displayed making links to the film.

Placing of the date and price is underneath the magazine’s name as this is important information therefore placed at the top.

Q1) for Film Poster

KEY:CONVENTIONAL

UNCONVENTIONAL

We used a wide shot for our poster rather than a mid shot (examples on the right) to portray the process of our character’s emotions.

The ‘evolution stages’ inspired the editing of the images as it links to the storyline as she faces these stages of emotions.

The colour scheme is of neutral and light colours which place emphasis on the plot and tone of the film. This is idea is conventional as colours are symbolic in association to a film and it’s promotional package.

The font of the title is symbolic as it is the same in both trailer and magazine cover as well.

The awards are placed to attract the audience’s attention that this film is independent and has two awards from renowned institutions.

The use of mise en scene such as clothing, colours, facial expressions and hair makes close links to the trailer as the character is in casual wear. Majority of film posters mostly ‘Action’ genre have the character in the same costume that they wear in the film.

Promotional aspects; by a placement of a website link; allowing fans of the movie to find out more information about the film.

The tagline ties in with the title. The continuity (use of ellipsis) of our tagline to link with the title allows the audience to notice the importance of the film’s name and the use of ellipsis makes it seem significant and quite serious.

A rating from a magazine shows the popularity of the film allowing more appeal amongst the consumers as it has been quoted by a film magazine

Age certificate to validate the type of audience of the film. Mostly used on horror and thriller film posters.