RESEARCH INTO FILM MAGAZINES AND POSTERS

Research of film magazines and film posters which may influence may film trailer, The

Diary of a BIGGER Kid.

By Toby Hawkins

MAGAZINE COVER 1: TOTAL FILMThe title of the magazine is very bold in its font and its colour. This can help it stand out on the shelves and clearly indicates which magazine this is.

The use of a large and high resolute image clearly shows what the film is along with its name underneath it. The reader may also consider the theme of the film just by looking at the image.

Simply designed but looks complex in the way that it has been constructed together.

The use of primary colour also reinforces the magazine’s simplicity.

The use of smaller headlines is another key conventions of film magazines.

A small special bubble is used to indicate a particular news story or film which may be a big release and is another convention which is used.

A bar code is also used and is another convention which is used in film magazines. A banner is another convention which is commonly used and shows any extra content which is inside the magazine.

MAGAZINE COVER 2: EMPIRE Same convention as before with a bold title and the use of primary colour throughout.

Another convention is used again in the form of a circle indicating something special inside this magazine and not any others.

The use of the American flag helps the reader understand the character in this film and really makes the magazine stand out from the rest. Bold image of the character which is

overlaid on the American flag and helps the reader understand the character more before watching the film. Banner at the bottom of the magazine is another convention which is commonly used in film magazines. This one in particular is much bolder than the previous magazine.

Using an award to promote the magazine much more is a good feature to use.

Another convention is the use of small subtitles to promote other exclusives and articles within the magazine.

On some magazine covers, there is possibly a summary of the film in one sentence/ one line. In this one the convention is used but commonly the summary is extremely brief.

The use of a bar code again is another convention which is common on all magazine covers.

MAGAZINE COVER 3: ENTERTAINMENT

The title of the magazine is very bold however, because the image overlaps the title it is very difficult to identify what the magazine is called. Very bold and resolute image which is eye catching to the reader and is another convention which is very common in film magazines. An extremely bold and simply designed cover which is eye catching and contains enough detail without ruining anything for the reader inside the magazine.

No bar code is used on the front of this film magazine cover so therefore, this cover is missing one major convention.

An exclusive banner is used here in the shape of a circle and contains the exclusives of the magazine. Another major convention of film magazine covers. The sub banner is at the top of the cover on this example however, it is only saying that this magazine is a 2013 Preview Edition.

There is no sub banner indicating any of the exclusives and any other additional features that the magazine may feature inside. This is a major convention of film magazine covers which is missing. This example is reinforcing the

convention which all film magazine use in the idea of using simplicity in its design and the use of primary colours to promote the magazine and its features.

FILM POSTER 1: THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID

This poster is creatively designed. The use of a person and a drawing reflected on to the wall illustrates the character within the film.

The poster is simply designed similar to the film magazines however, the poster is used to simply promote the film in a visually impressive way rather than filling the reader with information about the film. The poster is incredibly plain in the use of its colours. The use of black and white is striking but a little bland. The only major colour on the poster is the name of the film which is in orange to make it stand out on the poster.

The lighting used for the image is very high key and helps illustrate the drawing of the character much better than if it was to be a low key lighting set up. The main font for the text on the poster is very bold and striking so it is catching the reader’s attention almost instantly and is a major convention of all film posters.

The date of the release of the film is always, on all film posters, at the bottom of the poster and is very bold but quite small in its size.

The arrow is indicating where the small font of the poster is situated. The majority of the time, this small text is often in the same coloured font of the background to the image so it is difficult to see but it outlines the major cast who is in the film. It is again another convention of film posters.

FILM POSTER 2: CASINO ROYALEThis poster is using the monochrome to full effect. The black and white naturally compliment each other very well. The text is also in a white font to make it stand out against the character’s trousers and the steps. The fading of the background on this poster is very well created. The main character is very visible on the poster and clearly indicates which film the character is in, especially the icon which James Bond is throughout each and every film it has made. The poster uses iconography to full effect. The use of James Bond and the gun represented by the number 7 is very true of the film itself and is a great convention to use when designing a film poster or magazine cover.

The text is fairly bold but not striking enough to immediately catch the attention of the reader in my opinion, The text is too small to clearly show the film’s title and the small text is far too small to read even if the text has no relevance to the plot or summary of the film. Once again the major conventions of the film poster are all there including the film’s title, the small print, the date of the film’s release and its simplicity in the way that it has been designed. In my opinion, the poster has been designed extremely well and simplicity is incredible to indicate the film and the intensity that it provides. Therefore, the film poster ticks all of the boxes for the amount of conventions that it follows.

FILM POSTER 3: THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

The poster’s title is very bold and against the background which is the sky at night, it stands out incredibly well. The font style and the colour is very good and compliments each others very well and benefits the poster more. I like the use of a quote from someone to promote the film even more on the film poster. You do see these quite a bit on film poster’s but even more on film’s magazines. There is a lot of text on this poster, however, the poster is so big it means it can get away without looking clustered and cramped together. It is a good use of the text using quotes and a bold font to help promote the film.

The background is the sky at night as it is part of the film where the two kiss under the sky. Along with the use of equations to indicate the presence which Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne’s character) has helped to world understand time helps the poster promote the film visually impressively. This is a fantastic film poster and is visually impressive. The image is blurred to make the characters stand out as much as possible to show the story of Jane and Stephen Hawking. This is a great convention and is very common is a lot of film posters. The use of colour on the poster is also very

good. There are only 3 main colours with white text and the dark blue of the sky along with the blue-pink colour at the bottom of the poster which is very good and reflects the story of the film very well.