Poster

And

Magazine

Analysis

The main feature of this poster is the use of darkness and the

contrast in brightness. This is done to suggest it’s something

unknown. Following codes and conventions, the character on

the right (alien) is most likely to be the villain due to its ugly

and aggressive features. For example, teeth showing drooling

and the fact his orientation is towards the other character

connotes he wants to fight. Both characters don’t have eyes

which reinforces the fact that they are non-human.

On the bottom of the poster contains the companies

involved in the making of the film. I have chosen this poster

because it’s a DVD poster, with the aim to let its audience

aware the DVD is being released. The message ‘Available on

DVD January 25’ has been put in the same font as the title to

link it up and made obvious by using contrasting colours, in

bold and upper case.

From the poster, suggests its sub-genre is sci-fi due to the

glowing effect used among the image. The sci-fi feel is also

reinforced through the blue tint stretched across.

I like this poster because the images are entwined together,

making connections between characters. The man looking

through the binoculars is obviously spectating the women

voyeuristically in the red tinted images (to express danger)

on the binoculars. But as you look closer it seems that there

is a black silhouette holding a knife. The poster designer has

purposely used Kuleshov's juxtaposition theory and by seeing

the black silhouette behind the women we now know she's

fearing for her life.

The tag line used at the top of the poster is very clever, 'every

killer lives next door to someone'. This implies to the viewers

that killers could be anywhere and gives an authentic feel

and almost makes it believable for the audience. This poster

also attracts the audience through its contrasting colours,

and making specific things stand out like the title and the

viewpoint in the binoculars. Another reason the viewpoint of

the binoculars sticks out because they have been placed in

the hotspots, i.e. in the centre of the image.

The darkness of the poster follows the codes and

conventions of most horror movie posters. The majority of

the poster is black and therefore connotes that the

characters can't get away from villain'

Similar to other horror posters, this poster is mainly black.

Contrasting bright colours are used to help attract the

audience such as the glowing orange upon the dark black and

white writing to stick out to the reader. In addition, the title

has been purposely put in bold, bright and upper case as it’s

the largest and needs to stick out. The title being called

‘Halloween’ tells us it is set around Halloween time.

The reason it fits with the horror genre is because of the

mysterious character wearing a mask and holding a large

knife, proposing that 'he' is the villain involved in the story.

The use of the sparkle on the end of the knife insinuates how

sharp it is and entices the reader. The tagline ‘The Night He

Came Home!’ tells us a little about the story; it seems that

this character has ‘come home’ to cause havoc. Another

thing that tells something about the character is the glowing

under the mask which suggests he has supernatural powers.

This Poster is typical of all posters as it involves a production

list, to show who the writer, producer, director etc. This is

done to reach out to more of the target audience as some

people are attracted to a film through the makers of the film.

As with all Empire magazines, there is a common trait to

cover part of the title of the magazine with the main image,

this is done to create more room and because most readers

know what the name is. Another aspect that is effective with

‘Empire’ is the electrical effect. This links in to the main

feature being ‘Iron Man 2’ it also implies that Iron man is

taking over Empire. Magazines usually have 3 main colours

for the front cover; this particular cover uses blue, red and

white. This could be an attempt from Empire to express the

British and reach out to its audience.

All magazines use language to reach out to their readers and

in this case, the mag uses words like ‘special’, ‘first look’,

‘plus’, ‘new’ and ‘more’. This helps make the reader feel

special, and makes it seem like they are getting more for

their money.

The main image is effective due to how vibrant and large it is.

This is done purposely to catch the eye of the readers.

Running across the bottom are three smaller images of

screenshots from individual movies, this cover uses the rule

of three to make the magazine more persuading and

attractive; it is also repeated in a tag line created for Iron

Man 2. This says ‘New suit. New enemies. Same attitude.’

Once again the barcode is tucked away in the bottom right-

hand corner, to create space for things of more importance.

The reason I chose and like this mag cover is because I like

how the masthead 'EMPIRE' fits the theme of the main

feature of this issue 'Hellboy 2'. Continuing with the

masthead, it's purposely bright, bold and uppercase to stand

out; although the main image is overlapping the masthead, it

is a well-known name. The main image is also a vibrant red to

stand out from the rest of the shelf.

The three main colours for this magazine are red black and

white, which are all colours that contrast and make key

elements stick out, for example 'Hellboy 2'.

This magazine uses words like 'you' to address the audience

and makes it seem more interactive. This cover also involves

an article '40 movies that will get you sex', this article is used

to draw in their target audience as it fits in with the reader.

The barcode is placed small in the left hand bottom corner

intentionally to create more room for more important

aspects.

Along the left hand side are previews of stories contained

within. This can be a selling point to some readers so it is

important to attract them. This can be done by using big

names involved in the issue for instance, 'Natalie Portman'

and 'Scarlett Johansson'. These previews are vibrant to the

reader due to the contrast in colours and upper case font.

This particular cover is filled with writing in every space. This

suggests the magazine is packed with information.

First of all, the masthead ‘Total Film’ is associated with the

main feature of the mag being ‘Inception’. This connotes that

‘Inception’ is taking over ‘Total Film’ in a way. This cover is

also using a common convention due to the main image

overlapping the masthead, because it makes the cover flow

and because most readers already know the masthead.

Language used on the cover is done to interact with the

reader such as, ‘Everything you need’, ‘First looks’ and ‘Plus’.

There is also a use of alliteration to make the text look more

persuasive, such as, ‘Mind-blowing Movies’, ‘Meet the

Master of Mind’ and ‘Comic-con’.

The bright and contrasting colours have been used to attract

its target audience. With its three main colours being read,

white and blue may suggest to being reaching out to the

British audience.

The title ‘Inception’ has been put in the hotspots of the cover

to make sure the readers see this first. To make it bolder, it

has a silver/metal look to it and upper case.

‘The Mind-Blowing issue’ is a very effective tagline placed on

the top of the cover, in a bright red, bold and upper case

font.

Finally, the barcode is purposely placed in the bottom corner

to create room for things more important.