3. MASTHEAD
The masthead on conventional media magazines is usually placed in the centre of the
upper third of the magazine.
They usually take up the width of the magazine and are positioned behind the character.
Therefore the masthead is placed in the conventional positioning in the largest font,
matched only by the font of our film title. In doing this it makes it stand out allowing
audiences to recognise the magazine.
In addition to this, we have also followed the convention of placing the masthead behind
the main protagonists of our film, highlighting their importance in relation to our film.
4. TITLE OF THE FILM
Conventional magazines feature the name of the
film to allow the readers to know what film the
issue is about, providing the film with further
promotion.
The text of the title is usually large and
represents the films genre in a sense through
the tone or colour used by the magazine.
We therefore have included our film title
'DECAY’on the magazine, conventionally in the
bottom third.
In addition to this, the font is the same as the one used in the
trailer, with a different colour palette, creating a brand in which
we could build our promotion campaign around.
The font is also large and deteriorated in places, so audiences
understand what the film is, and what its about.
5. COVER STORY LINES
Included on a magazine front cover is also other stories that are
included in the issue. They are featured in a smaller font, but
specific cover story lines are bigger than others to highlight their
significance.
Therefore we adhered to this convention and included cover story
lines on both sides of our magazine, featuring a more important
one on the left hand side as its shown in a larger font.
Both the font and colours are consistent
with those found on the magazine cover,
again creating a brand sense.
6. SKYLINE
This is featured at the top of the magazine and offers
specific information to attract a larger audience.
It is usually in a different font or a different colour to grab
a readers attention.
Our skyline on our film magazine puts forward the key
ideas of DECAY while also encouraging more audiences to
read the magazine.
We also followed the conventions of the positioning of the
skyline, placing ours at the very top and using a different
colour font and background so the audience can clearly
see what is included in this edition.
7. BARCODE
Although an unnoticed part of a magazine, it is still
regarded as a convention, and is usually located in a
corner on the edge of a magazine to attract as least
attention as possible.
Therefore we followed this convention and placed our
barcode on the edge of the right side as close as possible
to the corner without encroaching on our title, meaning
little attention is drawn to it.
8. COLOUR SCHEME
For most magazines, the colour scheme apparent on the cover is
linked to the genre of the film; here its clear to see that the red
and black of this Empire cover is clearly linked to the main
character of Hellboy 2 and the violence in it.
These colour schemes will also help to attract the films target
demographic. The colour scheme of this film will clearly attract a
young male audience due to the violence and action the film will
feature, offering escapism.
Therefore our colour scheme for our magazine clearly shows
colours that relate to the genre.
The red clearly indicates a sense of violence and threat, while the
grey highlights a sense of urban decay apparent in a post
apocalyptic world. These colours create a atmosphere of horror,
and link to what the audience may see in the film.
These colours appeal to our target demographic as they can
easily identify what the genre is and what it will include.
9. PICTUR
E Most conventional film magazines will show the key aspect of
any film in order to attract audiences – in most cases this is the
actors as they will be well known and means the audience take
a degree of interest as they recognise the subject.
This convention is clear to see in this issue from Empire,
focusing on the film I Am Legend. The picture of Will Smith
dominates the cover and allows the audience to be drawn to the
copy as they know the main character.
Therefore we followed this convention and have shown our two
main characters on the cover of our magazine. This means the
audience will acknowledge these actors and recognise them in
any other DECAY media products e.g. our film poster.
The mise-en-scene is both posters is very important and plays
a huge part in suggesting genre conventions, both Will Smith
and our actors hold weapons, clearly suggesting the themes of
violence and threat in our media pieces.
10.
11. TAGLINE
Taglines are almost always featured in film posters
and are used simply to allow the audience to
understand the main aspect of the film.
They are normally placed in the centre of the poster
so they attract the most attention.
Due to these conventions, we placed our tagline
centrally at the top of our poster in order to attract
the most attention.
In addition to this, we wanted our tagline to convey
as much meaning as possible, and therefore allowed
our audience to understand our main characters
consist of 2 brother living in a post-apocalyptic
world.
12. BILLING
BLOCK The billing block is usually placed at the bottom of the
trailer and includes information on production companies,
cast members but also provides information on the release
of the film.
Therefore, we followed this convention and placed our
billing block at the very bottom of our poster, crediting
those who had helped to create our film.
We also included information on our release date,
meaning that people will talk more about the film, creating
more promotion for the film.
13. COLOUR
SCHEME For most horror films, red plays an important part as the
audience will immediately understand that these colours
signify a theme of violence and/ or threat within our film.
A greyscale colour is also usually used in posters creating
a sense of moral and cultural decline, in a sense justifying
the twisted actions of the characters.
Due to these conventions, we included both red and a
lighter grey colour so our consumers would immediately
understand that our film would entail the themes of social
decay and violence. Therefore our target audience would
be drawn to our film and more likely to watch it.
14. FONTS
Most zombie horror film posters use typical horror fonts
such as red deteriorating fonts to convey meaning. It
immediately conveys a feeling of blood and violence and
allows the audience to associate the poster to the genre.
Therefore, we followed this convention, using a wasted
red font to link our film to the idea of zombies that
attempt to kill our protagonists.
The deteriorated nature of my font also links in to the
moral and urban decay of a post-apocalyptic wasteland,
allowing our audience to understand the setting of our film
as well.
15. PICTURE
Most zombie horror film posters feature a
main character in the film through the use of
either a mid-shot or close-up shot,
highlighting how they have survived the
apocalypse and the effect its had on them.
The poster for I Am Legend was our
inspiration for our trailer, featuring the main
character, his weapon and the scene of urban
decay behind him.
These conventions have been closely followed
when constructing our own poster, presenting
key aspects within our own film such as the
decay of society and the threat of violence.
16. CONCLUSION
When creating both my poster and magazine, we conformed to
the majority of conventions presented by existing media
products. We did this to allow our audience to connect with
the genre and the themes suggested by this genre easily and
therefore feel familiar with our product. This was important for
our target audience as they were mostly males in the age
bracket of 18-25. Due to this they were mainstreamers, and
wanted consistency between their media products, therefore we
provided this for them.
