The target audience for the horror film poster and magazine review is male, aged 15-25 from urban areas who enjoy horror films. The poster uses dark imagery and minimal text to subtly imply death and mystery. While minimal, it would work as a "teaser poster". The magazine review includes stills from the film to set the atmosphere, compares the film to others in the genre, and gives an overall positive review, aiming to attract the target audience to the independent short film. Feedback suggested the poster effectively captured horror conventions while the article could be improved with a clearer layout and more film information.

1. Who are you target audience?From research done earlier in the blog…Majority are maleUrban areas – with multiplexes and specialist cinemasEnjoy horror filmsLike using the internet and social networkingAged 15-25

2. How does your poster stand out in a crowded environment?At first glance, the poster could seem to be black and white, with NIGHT 1 in eerie text, usually that associated with tombstones. This helps define the genre, but only subtly suggests death, perhaps implying a number of things:Does the main character die?Is the faceless threat the ‘undead’? Is it a ghost?

3. How does your poster stand out in a crowded environment?The stills used would also cause people to wonder because the boy is exploring, he is exploring the dark which will appeal to horror/thriller fans.I think it is essentially the mass darkness of the poster that will appeal to fans of horror and draw their attention

4. What impression of the film does the poster give you?Not looking into camera- something is behind him- haunting? HorrorName of ‘stars’ – conventional so professional. Border suggests entrapment. Feeling trapped? Climbing into attics, associated with cold, dark, quiet- scary. Also being haunted, not alone, horror. Good enough to win awards‘Night’ – cohesive with darkness and haunting. Torch- why is he using a torch in a regular house? Why is it dark? Connotes mystery and an investigation into the dark – horror: one character against a dark, faceless threat. Font associated with tombstones = subtle connotation of death, but audience do not know if the main character dies or if the threat is ‘undead’ or a ‘ghost’Everything about the poster follows conventions of horror films, and so hopefully this is the impression that the poster gives. Film information. Conventional and so professional. Ratings and recognised names lead audience into thinking “they know about films and if they give it a good rating it must deserve it”

5. Looking at draftsAlthough my first draft was far too minimalistic to be considered for a real poster, I suppose it could be used as a ‘teaser poster’ – a poster that tells you as little as possible about the film, except the genre. The still will grab attention as it has a very conventionally horror still, but only the name. It will make people wonder what it is and when it’s going to be ‘big,’ the intention being that the anticipating audience will be watching out for the release and more information. The final draft provides much more information about the film, as it is packed with information that is conventional of feature films. This helps make the poster and film seem more professional. Looking at the final poster, I feel this will appeal to the demographic established in the audience research, as it strongly connotes horror and shows a boy their age- they will relate to this and enjoy the film more. To make it more appealing though, we could have included a website address. 0

6. How did you include all of the relevant information with cluttering the image? I knew the title was very important to the poster, and by placing imageshow I did I was able to place thetitle in a large font, in the centre, making it the main focus with assistance from framing but the introduction and the tagline, again making it the main focus but surrounded by alsoimportant areas. I was aware that having toomuch textual information posed a very real risk of causing the poster to look messy and cramped. To overcome this, I used two stills and put a feathered border around them, and placed them on a black background. This way it didn’t have a harsh, unprofessional looking line, but a clean black space to fill with information. To keep the most important parts of the stills free, when I did need to place text over them, I made sure it was the more irrelevant areas of the picture. This was so the essential information was still available to see, without taking away any of the more crucial aspects.

7. How have you created a memorable image that connects to the film? I have taken stills directly from theshort film, so when the audience watch the film, they recognise these scenes in the build up to the climax. I chose the stills I did as I felt they were simple enough to be remembered, but interesting and telling too. For example, as the target audience is so similar to myself, I feel the poster could create a stigma such as ‘the poster has a boy with a torch on it’ so by keeping the images simple, they are memorable.

8. How does your poster compare to other short film posters?Looking at existing horror and short film posters, I found these are the conventions:Darkness – adding to the mise en scene and identifying the genre. One or a number of images introducing the main character(s) and/or setting(s)An unusual image, usually distorted or unconventional in that they will be discoloured or in the distanceThe title is the main feature of the postersRatings and titles the film may have won are exaggerated to sell the film Production and cinematography information in small, usually at the bottomA tagline creates an enigma, usually accompanies the titleThe main actor’s name is usually at the top, to sell it to fans and provide more information

9. Magazine Review

10. What type of magazine were you producing the review for?Specialized film magazines, as these readers are interested in films of all different kinds and backgrounds- they will be interested in up and coming films, particularly ones that aren’t mainstream such as ours- this hopefully brings a whole new audience to our film. We could also appeal to NME readers are they are of the same demographic, and NME already have an existing film section so it could pull in a new audience. This is a particular magazine that I would like to feature my article as the music featured in the magazine is no longer just popular, but is usually independent and alternative, like short films are.

11. How did you choose the images you did? Instead of taking photographs on set, we decided to take stills from our film. This was so it captured the atmosphere and also introduced the audience to the character and story. We chose the stills we did by watching the film through and capturing stills of when the tension and narrative was at its best.

12. Did you repeat images from the poster in the article?I did repeat the image I felt was the most defining of the film, because the lighting, the character and the setting worked well in creating a memorable image. I used more images in the article than the poster because this is conventional and the main image on the article is different to the ones used in the poster, because we can see the main character’s face and so it introduces him, which isn’t necessarily as important on a poster.

13. This picture is chosen and repeated in both the article and poster because the lighting and silhouette and prop and setting all come together as mise-en-scene and define the film. At this point in the film, tension is high and it’s the build-up to the climax, in this way, the atmosphere is captured and the picture becomes a motif.

14. Did you use genre and comparative texts to make the film seem more familiar to your audience?Comparative textsIntroduction to article

15. Separate boxes for extra information

16. Primary image defining the film

17. Secondary images giving more information

18. Final verdictOther techniquesCaption on pictures