question 1 print work
DESCRIPTION
..TRANSCRIPT
QUESTION 1
CODES AND CONVENTIONS
IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND
CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
FORMS AND
CONVENTIO
NS OF FILM
MAGAZINES AND
HORROR
POSTERS
WHY DO THEY EXIST?HOW HAVE I EMPLOYED THEM?HOW THEY COMMUNICATE TO THE AUDIENCE?HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS IT?
PART 1: FILM MAGAZINES
In the first part of this special issue I will be exploring the forms
and conventions of film magazines and comparing them
to our magazine ‘Focus’ promoting our film ‘Wiccan’. I will
show how we have employed these conventions and the intended impact of them.
They take up the whole space and is usually
positioned behind whoever is on the cover.
The masthead on mainstream film magazines is
conventionally placed in the centre of the upper third.
THE masthead
We have placed the masthead behind the subject on the cover. This reflects their importance as the main
magazine story is about this actress and the film she stars in – Wiccan.
The masthead on our magazine is shown in the largest font. Because of this, its boldness and its
positioning on the page (whole upper third) it stands out against the rest of the text allowing
audiences to recognise the magazine.
OUR masthead
The text is usually large too so it stands out to the readers. The font used often reflects the film so audiences can
understand the film’s genre or tone by the font.
Magazines often feature the name of a the film that the
main story will cover. Readers will know what the issue is mostly dedicated to before buying and gives the film
promotion.
THE TITLE OF FILM
It also takes up the whole width and is in a a large font to stand out against
the other story lines.
We have featured the title of our film ‘Wiccan’ on the magazine. This was placed in the lower third which we found to be a convention.
OUR title of film
The same font has been used in the trailer and poster to showing we have branded our
promotional scheme. Audiences will associate this medieval font with witchcraft and identify it
with our film as it is very distinctive and memorable.
They are featured in a smaller font in
comparison to the title of film and masthead
but certain cover story lines are larger
than others to suggest their importance.
These are also included on the front
cover and tell the reader about other stories inside in just
a few words.
THE COVER STORY LINES
We also feature a cover story line that is more important
than the others and therefore it is shown in a slightly larger font and placed at the top.
We follow the conventions of cover story lines by placing
them on the left and right of the cover.
Our COVER STORY LINES
The font and colours are also consistent with the style of the magazine cover.
It is placed in a font and colour to stand out and
grab the readers attention – yellow is a
common colour as it will successfully grab the
attention of whoever is reading.
The skyline is featured at the very top of the cover
and give information about special offers or something
to entice the readers.
THE SKYLINE
It is also at the very top just above the masthead and stays consistent with the
colour scheme of black, white and red and the same font has been used.
Our skyline relates ‘Wiccan’ and witchcraft seen in the film enticing audiences to purchase the
magazine.
Our skyline
This is still a convention on magazines. It is
usually placed in the corner of the cover or on the edge as it shouldn’t be drawn attention to.
THE barcode
We have followed the convention of the barcode placement and have placed it on the edge of the
magazine as this wont draw attention to it but as it is still necessary, this was the best place to insert
it.
Our barcode
In this Premiere cover, the pink and white colour
scheme will appeal to a female demographic which would be their intention as
it features Jennifer Lawrence – a possible role
model for young girls.
Usually the colour scheme is linked to the film or the actor who is on the cover. In this Total Film cover the
blue suggests isolation and coldness linked to Maleficent – a famous
villain.
THE colour scheme
The colour scheme consists of mainly red
and black. These colours creates an impression of horror suggesting to the
audience images of blood and violence may
be seen in the film.
Our colour scheme follows conventions as it relates to the genre of horror and
therefore our film ‘Wiccan’.
Our colour scheme
This will be appealing to a younger audience who love the thrill of horror films and can easily
identify the genre through various colours and styles.
The font conventionally links to the main film being promoted. The font for the masthead of this Empire
cover has been edited gold (usually red) connoting success and luxury and relates to the masculine energy of James Bond.
A certain style usually shown on a cover to appeal to a desired
audience. This Premiere cover adopts a very
feminine style with Robert Pattinson on the cover to
appeal to a female audience.
STYLES AND FONTS
Our font for the magazine ‘Market Deco’ may be
associated with blockbuster films because of its tall
appearance and suggests predominance and greatness due to the Art Deco style of
the font.
For our magazine ‘Focus’, we have adopted a very professional and conventional style that will be effective in enticing readers into buying the
issue and reading the interview with the actress.
Our STYLES AND FONTS
As mentioned previously, the font for ‘Wiccan’ has been changed to reflect the film’s theme of
witchcraft and to be associated with a main prop in the film – the Book of Shadows. This is
the same font used in the trailer and the poster (branding our products).
In these two issues from Total Film and Empire,
close up shots have been utilised on Johnny Depp
and Daniel Radcliffe allowing the audiences to
recognise these huge actors in film.
Mainstream film magazines conventionally show very
famous actors and actresses on the cover to
appeal to mass audiences. Mid-close ups are common
as the allow the audience to recognise the subject and
the films they have been in.
The picture
Using Adobe Photoshop, we have placed her in front of the masthead to show her importance in this issue. Her facial expression is very sinister and serious suggesting
the tone of ‘Wiccan’ and the role she plays which is further backed up by the mise-en-scene of her black
costume which we can see because of the mid-close up.
We have used a mid-close up in our picture for our cover. This is to allow the readers to
acknowledge the actress and to remember her and therefore recognise her in other media.
Our picture
PART 2: HORROR FILM POSTERS
In the second part of the issue I will be exploring the forms and
conventions of horror film posters and comparing them to our magazine ‘Focus’ promoting our film ‘Wiccan’. I will show how
we have employed these conventions and the intended
impact of them.
In both these posters for Scream and Saw VI, the title is in the largest and boldest font and stands out against the other
text. The title of the film catches the eye straight
away which is what posters aim to do.
The title of the film is conventionally placed in the centre of the lower third of the poster and
positioned just above the billing block.
THE TITLE OF FILM
The title of film is in the largest font and is shown in a deep red colour so audiences can associate the poster with horror straight away (the lighting is a
big factor that helps them to do so too).
Following conventions, the title of our film ‘Wiccan’ is placed in the lower third and covers
the whole width of the poster.
OUR TITLE OF FILM
They are usually placed in centre right at the top of the poster, however
they are sometimes placed just above the
title of film as the tagline always relates to
the title.
Taglines are often featured with the title of the film. This usually allows the audience
to gain a simple understanding of the film
and the tone of it.
THE tagline
We wanted the audiences to make the link between the book reference and the Book of Shadows seen in the trailer as one of the main props. If this book was left unopened, Violet’s life would never have been
turned upside down.
We placed our tagline in the upper third of our poster to make it stand out as this is an obvious
(and conventional) place to put it.
OUR TAGLINE
Sometimes the release information is featured which is also normally at the very bottom – below the billing
block. This creates a buzz for the release.
If featured, the billing block is conventionally placed at the very
bottom of the poster and is displayed in a very small font.
This features cast and crew members that are involved in the
film, crediting them for their talent and input.
THE BILLING BLOCK AND RELEASE INFORMATION
As well as these conventions, we featured ”#Wiccan” encouraging consumers to tweet about the buzz of the film leading up to its release as social networking sites like Twitter are becoming a great way to promote any
product, especially through word of mouth.
We placed our billing block below the title in the conventional tall font used in many posters. Below this was the release information to create a buzz.
Our BILLING BLOCK AND RELEASE INFORMATION
Another typical colour used in (paranormal) horror
posters is blue. This creates a sense of isolation and is a colour that is used time and time again for paranormal posters as it links to the coldness of ancient, evil
spirits and the dead coming back to haunt innocent
people.
Especially for slasher horror films, red is a typical colour scheme along with black.
Consumers will automatically think of horror and associate these colours
with blood, violence and fear.
THE COLOUR SCHEME
Although blue is conventionally used in supernatural posters, we sightly subvert this convention by
having a colour scheme that slasher posters would normally adopt. This was due to the level of
violence, blood and gore seen in the film and we thought having red and black in the poster would give audiences a good idea what they are in for
when viewing the film.
Our colour scheme consists of red and black, again colours that consumers will straight away think of death, violence and fear all things that a
horror film conveys.
OUR colour scheme
Typical horror fonts are also used in posters, typical of
the genre. This is more of a convention for slasher
posters – they look like they have been written in blood
suggesting fear and violence for the consumers – this
allows them to associate the poster with the horror genre.
Many horror films use serif fonts perhaps indicating true events the film is
based on; this is a formal decision if the film is done
in accordance with convention. Formal fonts
like these suggest true and serious matters. In this poster the ‘D’ has been flipped to suggest not
everything is as it seems – fear of the unknown.
The FONTS
For the title, we have adopted a medieval font that audiences will associate with the medieval time
period and witchcraft (links to the Book of Shadows seen in the trailer. This is in a deep red colour to
suggest violence and fear for the costumers.
We have also adopted a serif font, following conventions of paranormal horror film posters. We wanted this to link to the ancient, evil spirit that possesses the protagonist due to the formal and
old appearance of serif fonts.
OUR fonts
The poster for Annabelle was our main inspiration. Both this and the
alternate Poltergeist poster features close up shots of the objects an
ancient demon attaches itself to. Surrounded by darkness, the objects
give off a sense of fear of the unknown and unease.
Many supernatural posters feature a significant character in the film through a close up shot. The lighting projected onto their faces leaves
shadows around them suggesting the darkness is within them – it is surrounded by them.
The PICTURE
The positioning of the camera is not central to suggest to the consumers not everything is as it
should be – Violet, the protagonist who we should side with is in fact possessed and therefore becoming evil, turning into something the
audiences would not want to side with.
We have included a close up shot of our main protagonist, Violet. We positioned the lighting to
have half of her face in complete darkness indicating to the consumers she has two sides to
her – good and evil. She is surrounded by this darkness to suggest the darkness is within her.
OUR PICTURE
conclusion
In conclusion, I believe we have followed many forms and
conventions with film magazines and horror film posters with
similar intentions for the audience to existing products. Our primary audience will be
mainstreamers who seek security and prefer for conventions to
stay consistent and not change from film to film so they are
familiar with them and recognise them in various products.