2. The skyline which is shown at the top of the
magazine front cover links in with the sell lines as
they are promoting the content of the magazine.
They promote the two foreign directors ‘Dario
Argento’ and ‘Jorg Buttgereit’ it also promotes the
films that are displayed within the magazine as they
are all American films such as scream 4 and
Insidious. It is very ironic that the typography is in
yellow as typically we would associate yellow with
the sun and happiness; but the rule of three is used
‘Horror, Terror and Gore’ which we most definitely
would not connote to happiness because these are
terrifying words that would scare us and chill us to
the bone. The exclamation marks after each word
helps to emphasise the fact that the content and
films being portrayed really are scary and it also
helps to emphasises the fact the effect the films will
have on the audience.
The black background really helps the
typography stand out from the rest of the
page. It also gives a really mysterious and
scary look as the audience want to know
what is lurking in the dark; it gives the
audience chills as at any point something
could just appear or jump out at them. It is
also a typical colour used through the genre
of horror; it connotes evil and darkness
again two conventions typically used
throughout horror. The black background is
also very effective because it makes all of
the other images and colours really stand
out so the audience is able to clearly see the
content of the magazine.
The masthead sticks to the typical conventions of
magazine front covers because the masthead is
always positioned at the top of the magazine. It is big
and bold and stands out on the page, the name also
links to horror as it makes the audience think of
‘Fangs’ and ‘Gory’ both horrific words which give
horrific imagery and are also conventions of horrors.
It is also a play on words as the ‘F’ and ‘An’ on
Fangoria both look like fangs and this helps maintain
its symbiotic link. The fact that Fangoria is in white
helps keep within conventions of horror colours
which are red, white and black. But is also makes it
stand out on the page so the audience is able to go
back again and again because they know what to
associate the magazine with. The red outline also
connotes the fangs as it is almost if the blood is
dripping of, of the fangs again showing another
typical convention of horror which is blood.
The product information is placed here, this helps the audience
know more about the magazine. From this they can tell that
the magazine is distributed monthly, therefore they know
when to go back to get their horror fix. It also gives the issue
number, this way the audience will know if they had missed an
issue and can then go back and order or catch up on the ones
they have missed out on. The typography is small because it is
not the first thing that the audience looks for when buying a
magazine, as this would not typically draw them in to buying
the magazine because they are more interested in; what is
inside the magazine rather than the product information. The
white also helps it stand out from the black background. So the
audience know where to find it when they are looking. The
product information is located in the first third and the last
third of the page because the human eye scans from left to
right when they first look at something.
3. ‘Insidious’ written across the
bottom of the page is in the
exact same typography as on the
film poster and in the film. This
creates a symbiotic link between
the film and the advertisements
as the audience is automatically
able to associate this with the
film and know what they are
going to be reading about. If the
film has caught the audiences
eye, and they then see this
magazine they know that they
are able to pick up the magazine
and buy it if they would like to
find out more about this film.
The colours used are again typical
conventions of horror films as the used
of red and white is shown. But this
again also shows how they create a
symbiotic link, as they use the same
colours in the film and poster. The
colours also match the masthead as it
too is in while and red linking it back to
the magazine as it again tells the
audience that this is a horror film
within a horror magazine.
The small strip that boarders
the top of the smaller images
on the page makes the
audience know that this is a
film magazine because it is
connoted with film. It looks
like the big lights typically
seen in film on the red carpet
during the premiers of films.
But the lights could also be
associated with the negatives
from a camera or the film reel
which again gives this movie
look about the magazine. It is
as if the reel is movie along
letting the audience know the
new up and coming films.
More product
information is shown,
as the barcode is
usually placed on the
front of the magazine,
but it is either placed
in the right bottom
third or the left as this
is usually unimportant
information for the
audience, they don’t
tend to look at this.
The other smaller feature images which are placed along
the bottom of the page all link in with the magazine, as
they can all be linked to horror. Each one of the images
all contain a person or image that has blood somewhere
in the frame, from this we can tell that these films are all
predominately slasher. None of the characters in the
images seem to be looking at the camera which is
effective as it leaves the audience wondering why they
are not looking directly at us as this is uncommon for
images to do. A close-up has been used for each of the
images which give the audience more detail of the image.
Again all of the images use the predominant colours of
red, black and white. The images allow the audience to
have an idea of the type of content that they will see in
this magazine, which persuades them to buy the
magazine. Ambient lighting is used which makes it look
more natural, and real to life which gets rid of the
audiences self sense of security.
The smaller feature image of the antagonist in
scream is placed in the right hand third of the
page. It is linked with the sell line which is
advertising scream 4, this way the audience is able
to see visuals to emphasise the text which makes
the film immediately seem more appealing to
them. The image also links in with horror as it is
very scary when looking at it, the mask is a huge
convention of the sub-genre slasher, as typically
the antagonist is masked and a lot of the time the
audience does not get to see who the murderer
really is. The colours used in the image are also
again very typical of the genre of horror, again
sticking to the reds, blacks and whites which all
connote horror. The image can easily be
associated with slasher, not only because of the
mask but because of the blood splatter across the
mask; the audience are easily able to identify that
this film must be violent and gory.
4. The image of Parker itself is
extremely scary as they have
used an image straight from
the film which the audience
are easily able to link to the
film. Instead of using the
protagonist as the main
image they have used the
antagonist to create fear and
tension for the audience. The
audience then want to know
what will happen next and
why is this character the way
they are. This would
persuade them more to buy
the magazine as they hope by
buying it they are able to
read more of what the
narrative of the film will be.
Because of costume used in
this image the audience
would first think that the
character is female when
really the character is a male
creating even more mystery
for the audience to solve. The
veil Parker seems to be
wearing could lead the
audience to thinking the
reasoning behind this
mystery is because of a
wedding there are many
different ideas behind the
narrative but the audience
will never really know until
that have watched the film or
bought the magazine.
The image is a close up as close ups are typically
used in horror to show the emotions of
characters and the detail. The close up of Parker
allows the audience to see his real appearance
and it has been used to create more fear for the
audience as the image becomes scarier when
they are able to see the antagonist in more
detail. It also makes the audience feel close to
the antagonist as if he is right there in front of
them, making them lose their self sense of
security.
This magazine does not
follow typical conventions
of magazines; as most tend
to position the mast head
across the top of the page
going from the left to right
thirds. The main image
then tends to cover part of
the typography, but the
audience is still able to
recognise the magazine
from the common features
that crop up again and
again. Whereas this
masthead is overlapping
the main image which
brings more attention to
the actual magazine and
sell lines rather than the
image itself. The fact that
‘GOR’ is placed right above
the main images reminds
the audience of ‘gore’ and
their first thoughts would
be that the image is quite
ugly and gory, but also
links to the narrative of the
film being quite gory. It
also matches the smaller
images as most of the
images show quite horrific
and gory settings such as
the blood and chopped up
bodies and scratched eyes
and faces that are shown
in these smaller images.
The image of Parker (The spirit from insidious) is holding a candle in this image and many things can
connote with the candle. The positioning of it on the bottom of the image under the face could be done to
highlight the image and make it seem more terrifying to scare the audience and it draws the attention of
the audience to the face. Also when telling ghost stories typically you would shine a torch underneath
your face to make yourself seem more scary which is kind of how this image has been presented; it could
also link to the fact that Parker is a ghost and he is from the past. This also links to the social background
of the candle as the candle used to be the only way of lighting up the room which again shows that Parker
is from the past. A candle is supposed to be a symbol of light, and light is supposed to be happy and bright
and help people in darkness but this candle seems to be doing the complete opposite as it is leading them
into evil and instead of helping them it is about to harm them.
5. The sell lines to the left hand third of
the page, stand out because of the
typical white and red colours used;
which stand out against the dark black
background and really stand out in the
audiences eyes. They are able to clearly
see and read what will be in the
content of the magazine. The font that
the typography is written in matches
that of which the, ‘Insidious’ is written
in and shows a symbiotic link across the
magazine front cover, also allows the
audience to see a correlation between
the magazine and the content inside it.
The sell lines that are positioned on the right hand third of the page
again follow the same colours as to the ones on the left, and each
sell line then links to either another image or other typography on
the page. Such as, ‘Dario Argento’ is an Italian director and links to
the skyline when is says ‘Italian Horror’. Also ‘Jorg buttgeriet’ is also
a director who is German and this then links to ‘German Gore’, and
other things such as Hobo with a shotgun links to the image of the
man whose face is covered in blood. Then scream 4 which match
the images of the mask which from the collection of slasher films,
and is also a American horror movie which could be linked to the
skyline ‘American Terror’. They both don’t cover the main image
which is good as the audience can see the image clearly and
everything is laid out on the page in a suitable place.
The puff that is in the left third of the page links to
the type of magazine. This is because the red is a
typical horror colour that is predominantly used
throughout the genre of horror. The darker shade
of red also makes the puff look like splats or spots
of blood which would lead the audience to think
of horror and blood and gore. The magazine itself
is very horrific and gory as the predominant use of
red, white and black and the gruesome pictures
used give the magazine a very gory feel and look
to it. The puff looks as if someone has been shot
and these are the splats of blood that have been
left behind, therefore leads the audience to
thinking that this magazine is predominantly a
slasher based horror magazine.
The use of the colour yellow for the typography
brings more attention to the puff and therefore
brings more attention to the giant posters that
the audience will receive inside when buying the
magazine. This also draws the audience into
buying the magazine as they will want these free
giant posters to stick around their rooms
especially for those who are huge horror/slasher
fans. It is a good way to boost sales of the
magazine; otherwise the audience would be
bored if they were only able to purchase the
magazine with no freebie element, audiences
love having some type of freebie as they then
know they are getting more for their money and
that it is a good purchase.
