Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (2)

My second poster is 'The Haunting In Connecticut'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (1)

This is the poster for 'Apartment 1303'.

Horror Film Posters

Now that I have chosen my genre, I have gathered a selection of posters to annotate and find any patterns in terms of genre. I have chosen 11 posters from horrors from the past few years with as much detail on as possible. After analysing these posters, I will have a greater understanding of the conventions found and can put these findings to my own poster.

Here are my posters:

My Genre - Horror (2)

From more research, I have found that there are lots of different sub genres in the over all horror category.

Here is my list of sub genres from Sub-Genres

Supernatural

Can include anything weird and creepy that cannot be found in the world, for instance - ghosts, monsters and zombies.

Dark Fantasy

Fantasy elements with a horror feel, often with a fantastical setting.

Sci-Fi Horror

A mix of horror and science fiction, usually including aliens, robots and space travel. For example the movie 'Alien' - the name gives it away.

Psychological Horror

Driven by a characters point of view, like their fear. Focusing on the psychological dread - like a murder.

Gothic

Has terror in romantic settings, including mysteries, castles, ghosts, madness and death.

Splatter-punk Horror

More of a horror extreme, has gory and graphic scenes intended to creep you out. For example the film 'Hostel'.

Satanic/Religious/Occult

Horror from certain beliefs and systems, normally involving demon positions and the darker side of pagan religions.

Erotic/Paranormal Romance

Horrifying situations with plenty of erotica and the supernatural/paranormal romance.

Suspense/Thriller

No supernatural aspects, just real life situations generating horror through serial killers

Weird Fiction

Fiction and blended the supernatural, mythical, and even scientific into stories that were ultimately strange, uncanny, or unreal in nature.

Speculative Fiction

 No a subgenre but an umbrella term encompassing science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, utopian/dystopian fiction, apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history literature

My Genre - Horror

I have now decided to use the Horror genre for my teaser trailer and magazine front cover. Before starting my campaign I need to do some in-depth research into the genre, this will make me have a complete understanding and will benefit the realism of my campaign.

I have look at a website called filmsite.org to find some key information.

Film Site

According to filmsite the Horror genre make audiences feel:

- Unsettled
- Frightened
- Panicked
- Cause alarm
- Invoke our hidden fears (often terrifying & shocking)

Horror films tend to enter a dark side of life - the forbidden and the unknown. Dealing with our fears, nightmares, vulnerability, alienation, death and the fear of the unknown.

Sketched Magazine Covers

Looking at many magazine front covers, I have sketched out 5 covers from different magazines to help me when it comes to creating my own, making sure audiences are able to tell which film  is being advertised.

Sketched Posters (4)

Sketched Posters (3)

Sketched Posters (2)

Sketched Posters (1)

As I have not yet decided on a genre for my project, I have had a look at different posters and sketched out the different layouts of each. This will give me an idea of what goes where depending on the genre of the film and it will give me a template when I design my own.

This is my first sketch:

Magazine Front Cover Overveiw

Looking at all the magazines I have annotated, I collated all the conventions found on each, this is the list I have gathered:

- Masthead, biggest font on the page ( top 1/3 or 3/4 of cover )
- Cover lines
- Main Cover line, linked to image
- Image of star / character
- Barcode
- Date
- Price
- Issue number
- Banners
- Free gifts / posters
- Web address
- Slogan
- Other images

From all the covers I have looked out, the same conventions are found, although the cover may look different. For example 'Empire' has an A - List star in character dominating the page, whereas on 'Filmmaker' the central image is of a director who dominates. In mainstream magazines the cover is normally glossy, clustered and eye-catching and the font stands out. Whereas the less mainstream magazines are less busy - more basic. Most of the same conventions are found on each cover, but the differences are found on the images, cover lines, banners and font. This is party due to audience and genre.

Fim Magazine Front Cover Analysis (5)

My final magazine cover is of Filmmaker. This still follows the same conventions of all my previous magazines, but the central image is of a less known star.

Film Magazine Front Cover Analysis (4)

My forth magazine cover is a Sky fall edition of American Cinematographer, this is another simpler looking poster but still conveys the same conventions as before.

Film Magazine Front Covers Analysis (3)

My third magazine is Sight And Sound.

This front cover has many of the same conventions as the previous few, although it is much simpler and we are able to tell it is not for a mainstream audience, for example the main image is of a director - rather than an A - List star.

Film Magazine Front Covers Analysis (2)

My second magazine is Total Film

This magazine follows most, if not all the same conventions of the previous magazine.

Film Magazine Front Covers Analysis (1)

As I have not yet decided on a genre to base my film on, I would not be able to think about my imaginary magazine front cover. Therefore I will be analysing different posters in terms of layout, style and content. 

The first cover is Empire magazine.

Coventions Found In Trailers

Throughout the trailers I have looked at, I have recorded all the recurring conventions that are portrayed in both teaser, and theatrical trailers. The findings will further help me when creating my own trailer.

These are the main conventions I have spotted:

- Production company logo
- Voice over clips
- Shows central protagonist
- Gives a potential clue to the cause of the storyline
- Impact sounds
- Small / big clips of action scenes
- Builds up tension by music
- Not a specific release date ( sometimes )
- Cuts to black
- Tag lines separate
- Advertisement for previous films ( sometimes )
- Star names
- Release date
- CGI effects ( depending in genre )
- Credits
- Film name

Teaser Trailer Comparison (Continued)

For further research into trailers, I have chosen three teaser trailers analysing and pointing out the conventions of each.

The first teaser trailer I had chosen to analyse is 'World War Z'



This teaser trailer had the following conventions:

- Production company logo
- Voice over clips
- Shows central protagonist
- Gives a clue to the cause of the storyline
- Impact sounds
- Small clips of action scenes
- Builds up tension by music (slow to fast)
- Not a specific release date
- Only one cut to black

My second teaser trailer is 'Startrek Into Darkness' :



The conventions found in these are:

- Voiceover
- Clips from main parts
- Music over the top
- Lots of cuts to black
- Impact sounds
- Tag lines separated
- Explosions
- Advertisement for previous films
- Production company logo's
- Star names
- Release date
- CGI effects

The third teaser trailer is 'Transformers Dark Of The Moon'



The conventions of this trailer are:

- Production company logo
- Release date
- Cuts to black
- CGI
- Slow pace gradually getting faster along with impact sounds
- Shows main 'protagonist'
- Tag lines
- Credits
- Film name
- Certificate

Teaser Trailers - Comparison

Part of my project is to create a teaser trailer for an imaginary film, as I have not yet decided on a genre to create my film. I will look at a few different films that have teaser and theatrical trailers, and compare the similarities and differences to help me find the conventions that are specific to teaser trailers.

The first film I am looking at is 'Fast & Furious 6'.





In the first trailer I managed to pick out some key conventions:
- The voice of characters overlaps a scene which grab the audience attention
- The editing is fast pace Hollywood stunts which wow the audience
- There are rememberable quotes which specific main characters say
- Throughout the trailer is full of Hollywood stunts and action
- The production company pops up
- A-List stars are shown (eye candy)
- Release date
- Comical lines
- Tag line in separate stages
- Social media links and the films certificate is shown
- Cuts to black

For the second, longer trailer there are some clear similarities and differences:
- The trailer is much slower rather than fast pace
- There are more quotes from characters
- Much more action scenes and money put into equation
- There are more scenes shown, gibing the film a talking point
- There are more credits
- Extended storyline, more characters are shown
- We get a bigger understanding of characters
- Cuts to black

The clear differences of the two trailers are the length, pace and stunts of the film.
Whereas the similarities are the action scenes shown, quotes and credits in a much shorter version.

The second film I am looking at is 'The Dictator'




In the shorter teaser trailer the conventions I have picked out are:

- Tag lines
- Cuts to images
- Comical clips
- Credits
- More comical clips in a row
- Slow pace
- Name of star
- Website & Social media links

In the longer theatrical trailer the conventions are slightly different:

- Certificate
- Build up of character
- Understanding of storyline
- Website
- Name of star
- Cuts to black
- Longer comical clips
- Audience will be clear

Poster Conventions (Continued)

Having looked and analysed different posters, these are the conventions I have picked out:

- Dominant Central Images
-Suggestions Of Genre From Mise-en-scene
- Taglines
- Font Reflecting Genre
- Names Of Actors / A-List Stars
- Images Of Stars
- Figure Behaviour Suggesting Genre
- Props Suggesting Genre
- Credits
- Social Media Links / Web
- Certificate
- Website
- Release Date
- Production Company Logo
-  Some Sound Company Logo's / Merchandise

Poster Analysis

Following the posters I had chosen, I looked in detail at the different conventions of each to see if there are any recurring patterns. This will benefit me when deciding what poster I will be making. 

Poster Conventions

I have not yet decided on a genre to base my poster on, therefore to get an understanding of the different conventions posters have I will be looking at several genres and annotating the conventions on each.

These are the posters I am going to annotate, which are of different genres:

' Ender's Game' ( Sci-Fi )

' Star Trek Into Darkness' ( Sci-Fi )

' Texas Chainsaw 3D ' ( Horror )

' Knocked up ' ( Comedy )

' Friends With Benefits ' ( Romantic Comedy )

Magazine Front Covers - Existing Film Publications

As part of my research into creating my own film magazine publication, it is vital that I look and analyse the content and style to find the audience the magazine is for. I will list existing film publications referencing audience and other content found. The list below are of 20 existing film publications, to help decide on a genre for my own.

Empire - This is a British film magazine, and the biggest selling - published monthly by Bauer Consumer. Starting July 1989 and currently published in leader countries such as: USA, Turkey, Russia, Australia and Portugal and features both mainstream and art films.

Hotdog - Hotdog was first published in the UK in 2000, focusing on cynical views of Hollywood, but avoiding Blockbusters. However, over the past couple of years the magazine moved more towards mainstream film.

Total Film - This magazine is another UK - based film publication, however only gets published 13 times a year ( Once a month) Offering cinema, DVD and Blue-Ray films. The magazine is available in print and web.

Sight & Sound - This magazine focuses on all types of film, whereas other leading magazines focus on one or more specific genres. The magazine gets released monthly and is targeting a niche audience.

Uncut - Specifically targeting men aged 25-45, focusing on music and film. Produced monthly in London has now got a separate DVD magazine published quarterly. Covering mainstream movies but tends to focus on cult films.

Film Maker - Another British independent film magazine, which has not been published in the UK since 2009 and focuses on Indie film issues - such as case studies and finance.

Universal - This magazine features news and reviews on film festivals. This would target a very niche audience who are directly interested in film festivals and reviews on film.

Gorilla - Distributed in London, has a round up of the newest and latest film-related events over the next few weeks.

Filmink - Australia's film magazine with news, reviews and interviews. This would also be for a niche audience.

Cinema Scope - Marketed by 20th Century Fox, purely for film reviews, criticism news and comments.

Starburst - Offers news & reviews, but main audience is for British Sci-Fi film lovers.

Neon - Another British magazine, another alternative to 'Empire' including actor profiles, and contemporary movie profiles with a charismatic sense of humour.

Shivers magazine - A Horror magazine, from British horror films to TV along with the full heritage of horror.

Premiere - An American mainstream Hollywood movie magazine, this cover is for France and a French audience.

Cinema Retro - Specifically based on films from the 1960's & 70's celebrating their success.

Little White Lies - British independent magazine, showing illustration and photography relating to cinema.

American Cinematographer - Produced by the American Society or Cinematographers focusing on art craft of Cinematography. Covering foreign feature films, TV and short films.

Screen International - Is more of an information book for the industry, showing production figures, marketing and how successful they are rather than a mainstream magazine that focuses on stars and Hollywood.