This document analyzes conventions used in film magazine covers and posters. It examines three magazine covers and three film posters, identifying common elements such as bold titles, prominent images of characters or scenes, release dates, and awards or accolades. Overall, the document finds that the magazines and posters follow standard conventions like simplicity in design, use of primary colors, and including key information to promote the films.

1. 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

2. MAGAZINE COVER 1: TOTAL FILM
The 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 conventio
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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. FILM POSTER 2: CASINO ROYALE
This 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.

7. 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.