Charlotte's A2 Media Blog: 3b: Ancillary Products

Friday, 1 May 2015

Side by Side Magazine Cover Analysis

   In my magazine cover for Francesca I followed many key aspects and conventions of a magazine cover. My masthead is featured at the top of the cover, as seen in the Entertainment Weekly magazine. I used a bigger size font to create immediate attention. This is also a convention of magazine covers for practicality with being able to notice it when stacked on a display, as the top of the magazines usually stick out at the top.
   The image on the magazine cover is of the director of Francesca; I chose to compare this to the image on the Entertainment magazine as it’s more of a sophisticated picture, rather than a weapon, villain or victim. In both my magazine and Entertainment the photograph is directly addressing the audience by looking straight to the camera. This effect is used to invite the reader in and encourage them to buy the magazine. The images also conventionally lay over the masthead, just to ensure they are the main focal point.
   The main cover line is significantly bigger than the other cover lines and also uses the font on the poster for Francesca; this is so that in advertising the film would get immediate recognition and connection to the film. The main cover line also links to the image on the cover to link the 2 together; this is seen in both the magazines. The quote from the director on my magazine also communicates to the audience through the realism it contributes.
   The other cover lines on my magazine are a simple and bold font to communicate the stories quickly, without the reader needing to take time and pick it up; this would increase the rate of sales with the easy understanding of cover lines. The cover line “Who’s next for dinner?” addresses the reader and challenges them the question, almost hinting they could be next, which threatens the reader. This effect would make them want to read it to clear up that answer.
   The colours used relate to the horror genre and represent real life media products, like the Entertainment magazine cover; as all the colours I have used are also seen on that magazine. The red connotes danger and blood but is also alarming to draw attention. The black is a statement colour which also connotes danger and darkness. The white text used is used for clear practicality of clear reading but is effective against the black.

Side by Side Poster Analysis

   In my poster for Francesca I have included many generic conventions of horror. Similar to the Hatchet poster the image is a close up shot, this is a well-known convention of horror films as it is used to build suspense and hide the audience from the full information of what’s in a shot. They can also be used to intensify emotion in a scene. Both images in my poster and the Hatchet poster are of a weapon or object which would be helpful to a killer. My image is of a wooden chair arm with rope tied around it to suggest someone has been tied up and tortured. This is also reflected in the second half of the tagline ‘Is torture ever justified?’. The Hatchet image is of an axe, which has dried up and fresh blood on it, again to suggest it has been used.
   This links to the convention of blood and body horror in the horror genre. I have incorporated this in my poster through the blood on the rope and wood, along with the blood splatters seen over the rest of the poster. This can be compared to the blood on the Hatchet poster which, has been contained on the axe. The use of blood in the 2 posters proposes there will be the subgenre of body horror in the films and that it will be a main element in the films.
   The colours used in my poster are conventional for the horror genre. This is because the colour red connotes danger and blood, which are two common themes which run through horror films. Black is another conventional colour as it connotes darkness and evil which the majority of horror films feature. The white writing used is usually used to be able to depict it from the dark backgrounds; however I used it specifically to symbolise the ruined innocence of Francesca. This is also shown through the slashed up font with the black running through to imply the innocence being taken away and over ruled by darkness. The Hatchet poster uses similar colours with the black and white but uses a darker red and introduces green to represent the text ‘stay out of the swamp’ as most swamps are seen to be green.
   Another convention of horror is low key lighting, this is displayed in both my poster for Francesca and Hatchet as the black background has an overall dark effect which uses low key lighting.