- The poster portrays the two main characters, a boy and girl, on opposite sides of an umbrella in sunny and rainy settings, representing their differing luck. - The girl is depicted in sunny New York with an intact umbrella, symbolizing her good fortune, while the boy is in rainy New York with a broken umbrella, showing his bad luck. - This contrast establishes the romantic comedy premise of the girl being the boy's good luck charm who can change his fortunes for the better.

1. Research and
planning film
poster and
magazine review
page
By Fahmi Zaman

5. • Silver lining poster portrays its message in a very successful way. This can be evident
through the use of images of the character and how the overall texts are placed in a messy
and spreading all over inside the horizontal box. In terms of the use of image, the image has
been laid out quite effectively because it shows two characters in one space but with similar
hobbies such as the use of football lexis written in the font of a grey handwritten style.
Football is incredibly important to the main character therefore a playbook is "a compilation
of strategies the team would like to use during games". This usage is reinforced by the
playbook graphics on the film's promotional materials.
• The poster uses quotes from each character as explanations for their "plays", which could
symbolize that it is equivalent to their outlook on life and strategies. The title could
represent hope and comfort in a gloomy situation as that also signifies that it’s a romance
story, maybe of them trying to work their similarities and differences in their life as a
friend/couple. The use of black and white demonstrates the differences between these
characters and how they view life.
• The close up shot and their smile could indicate their complexity towards their life as it’s in
black and white giving the image a different interpretation of them as an individual. The
lighting within the poster is bright which makes it easier to read the title. The yellow colour
of the title is quite eye catching and appealing to read as yellow is something associated
with something uplifting, offering happiness, inquisitiveness so therefore this colour
matches with the poster because it implies the idea of enthuastic within each character and
the yellow colour gives an impression of this film as an enriching story with 2 inquisitiveness
characters with a different life story.
• What makes this poster more attractive is due to the use of written texts of the little notes
and the use of directions gives an impression as if there’s something quite childish about
this movie. The circle around the main title attracts the audience since the title stands out
and contradicts with the facial expression of the characters. The layout is unique in this
poster as we don’t see much of the character’s view but the smile gives an effect of an
affectionate romance soft feeling to the poster.
The character’s name is written above which means it’s trying to highlight the characters before
showing the title hence we see close up of the characters face then their names which
makes a reader to find out more as Bradley Cooper is famously known for his acting in
Hangover and so is Jennifer for her acting in hunger game. The combination of all the texts
is quite disordered suggesting the unorganised life of these characters. The date of the film
of releasing is highlighted in yellow which makes it simpler for audience to remember when
to watch the film.

7. • This poster is one of the most different posters I have ever seen. This poster doesn’t follow
the typical codes and conventions. The first idea I get by looking at the film is that it’s about
someone with a lonely life. The image of Forrest looking away suggests some kind of
mystery or miracle that he’s waiting for. The fact that Forrest is siting on a bench could
illustrate the journey he’s waiting for and his bag supports this as metaphorically everything
relating with his past could be inside the suitcase.
• The bench could portray a timeline of Forrest and where he is at the moment with his life
hence the movie title is Forrest Gump as maybe the bench signifies his life story of where it
started and ended with him sitting at the bench. His cream plain formal suits connote his
gentility, naivety and simplicity of him towards his life. Along with that the bright white
background depicts that there’s more than one story in his life but his shadow can illustrates
his loneliness in life which is interesting because it suggests that either he’s.
• The main text is in blue which could connote that it’s the story of a man who doesn’t like to
draw attention but at the same time someone who’s confident and loyal as the title itself
describes someone who ‘s always eager to help and friend in need. Blue generally means
someone with a spiritual and unique perspective with life and therefore we can argue that
it’s a story of someone with extraordinary view on life.
• The font is simple and is separated from all the other texts except above we have the actor
name. But the actor name is in different colour highlighting the actor giving more
importance within the poster than the other texts. As the actor name is in red it could mean
him being a famous actor and it’s worth watching the film since he’s portraying a different
character within the film as the film only represents him ,leaving a question mark as what’s
the story is really about.
• The poster starts with a caption of “the world will never be the same…”this quote makes it
more exciting to read further down of the poster. Because in the poster we see him siting
alone, the above quote matches with the title as it’s trying to depict a story of someone
who’s siting alone at the bench but is looking at the left (looking at the brightest side of his
life.)

8. • The layout of this poster is different as it has less texts
and only one person taking all the space suggesting the
story mainly revolves around him and his life journey
due to the suitcase. The image is in long shot –
indicating that there’s more to the life than looking at
from one perspective but at the same time he’s looking
away especially the bright background could connotes
his joyfulness point of view of his life even though
he’s alone: could be implying how he maintains a
positive attitude, manages all obstacles and despite
how society sees him, he excels in everything he does ,
which is what makes his unique as the poster reinforces
this with his name “Forest Gump”; as if his life is full
more than what everyone does as maybe his past has a
big lasting impact in his life. So the theme could be
about destiny and death since he’s alone in the poster.

10. • This poster implies a contrast between having a lucky and unlucky day. It has the girl on one side in
a sunny new York and the boy in a rainy stormy New York-this depicts how the girl has all the luck
and the boy has no luck what so ever, it shows how split they are by having them shown in the
same place but with different luck, they are supposedly sharing an umbrella where hers is all
perfect and his is broken and ruined when he is the one who needs it.
This film is a romantic comedy genre. From this poster the first idea we can get is that it’s a
romantic genre as the use of prop umbrella shows the bond between these couples, binding them
together even if one has a “bad luck magnet”. This is the main theatrical poster and we can see this
as there is information about the characters, the production and the film opinion overall.
Image of the key setting and the main characters: The title my luck surprisingly mixes well to the
characters facial expression within the film poster because the expressions from both of the
characters gives an hint to the audience that’s how their luck is as one side its bright sunny and the
other side its total opposite. The characters name is written at the top of the poster to portray that
this film is done by famous actors and actress which increases the popularity of the audience to
read more about the film as it shows newly young lively love birds.
• On the left side we see New York top buildings and the sun shining upon depicts the idea of wealth
and luck as it could be implying how the girl’s life in the story is much comfortable (probably of her
having a better job with better career prospects than him) compare to the boy as it shows her
wearing formal stylish new clothes (black ring could show how much she tries to control her luck as
black connotes power). The fact that the umbrella isn’t broken in her side tells the audience how
much good luck charm she carries for the boy as her charm can change his life forever. The umbrella
also highlights that she’s someone who’s always positive about life, hoping for better things and
never giving up since her smile highlights her positive attitude towards her life. This is something a
girl can relates (female audience) especially from 20+ onwards as it reinforces that girls should
never stop hoping for the good and having positive attitude towards their life even if they are
having ups and downs in their life such as those who just had breakups from their relation. This
poster could boost and cheer up those girls who had a bad luck as Lindsey trying to show the
opposite that she’s the good charm rather than the boy.

11. • The bright blue sky and the sun correlates with her as a magic charm since the blue sky could connote
her innocence and her passion towards her dream as she’s in New York city which is city where everyone
comes to earn success as well as the sun connotes her strength and her positive vibe towards her life.
But in a way we could also argue that the umbrella protects her from all bad luck even though the sun is
shows to be her strength. As an audience the facial expression of her represents her attitude towards
her life and how she’s ready to deal with all the issues in her life through optimistic approach. Her facial
expression gives a warm feeling to the poster illustrating the theme of hope, love and comedy. This is
because on the right side her expression contradicts with the boy’s life as he’s life is worse than her since
she doesn’t need an umbrella he does mainly. Hence her smile gives a warm cheerful mood towards the
poster as it shows that the boy needs her in his life as she can change his life forever and that’s where
romance and hope blooms within the poster.
• On the right side the boy’s life is totally the opposite as he’s bad luck magnet. He’s confused and
hopeless facial expression highlights that no matter how much he’s trying to move on with his life it
always gets ruined since the they are supposedly sharing an umbrella where hers is all perfect and his is
broken and ruined when he is the one who needs it. The fact that he’s getting wet and he can’t do
anything tells us how hopeless he is without her as he needs her in his life .However although they are
both in the same city, the rain depicts his unluckiness which he carries with himself and the idea that he
will be always having trouble no matter how much he tries to block out and his broken umbrella
supports this. The dark colour (blue and black) on his side shows his misery and rough life he has since
he’s just wearing a casual dress but the sky blue contrasts with his characteristic because the sky blue
also demonstrates his innocence and pure heart towards other since he’s holding the umbrella for her.
The sun and the rain contradicts their personality at the end of the day as he’s more pessimistic with his
life and she’s more positive with her life-thus they both see different things in a different way due to
their luck. Black colours of the building could illustrate his unemployment and loss in his job as the lights
are dark throughout all the building; hence his luck to a better career and life is uncertain since the
thunder of the rain shows how much unlucky he is for anyone.

12. • The layout of the film is quite interesting and distinctive because it portrays the idea of
romance between these 2 characters and how they will end up meeting as the umbrella
shows their support for another. Having both their name above them shows their
personality within the poster and the title matches to the overall poster message about
luck since white connotes purity and kindness-they both want to have better life with a
luck charm but its unfortunate that only one of them have it. The font is pretty simple
and formal indicating their simplicity as a characteristic towards their life and the white
colour of the font makes it look like a magic charm that the luck has for both of them,
indicating that the boy needs the girl in his life (white adds to the idea of romance that
both need in their life as both of them have different luck and they should pair up
together).The subheadings “good luck charm and bad luck magnet” are in different
colour this makes the poster look more effective since the black subheading predicts
her strength in believing her luck with a positive look and the white challenges this as it
shows even though some people aim to achieve successful life they will always end up
having bad luck.
• All the other information about the film is written at the bottom which makes it easier
to read and understand every key detail. The other texts are plain and easy to see.
Overall the use of white colour has been effective on the film poster because it
indicates the perfection one wants to bring in his life and the other already has it but it
also highlights their means to move forwards and looking forwards in their life since
both characters are meant to collide with each other. It matches with the idea of luck
as well because your luck can have anything for you and so white has variety of
meanings as a colour. The target audience for this film I would say is 15+ onwards as the
idea of having luck and unlucky day can link to young people as young people suffer a
period of hardships struggling with their identity through their teen years. It’s definitely
for 20 and onwards readers as it can link to with couples having relationships and the
idea of having struggling to have better career and life.

13. IDEAS for
my FILM
POSTER

14. • Overall 3 of the film poster are effective in selling to the audience for the film
for instance the idea of blank space in Forrest Gump makes it more appealing to
read and the close up facial expression of silver lining makes it more attractive
to look at it especially for someone who doesn’t know these 2 actors and
actress. The idea I could subvert in my own film poster is the use of bench and
the close up expression of the characters: within my film it’s about a girl having
bad luck and her ending up in the park finding the money in the bench.
• Hence I would use black and white as the main colours of the poster and the
title colour would be red and green as in the film we show a cherry over the
letter. I would use the idea of having close up facial expression and the bench:
my actress could be siting down at the bench but at the same time I would have
her one side smiling and the other side with a shock expression. I like the idea of
silver lining of having the title in the middle of the poster but I would like to have
at the bottom as well as my film genre is comedy drama I want to portray
comedy as well along with drama, this could sketches of a bright sun or a
banana on her shoe to demonstrates the comedy aspects within the poster. But
I want the cherry picture underneath the title to connote the drama genre as
well.
• My partner idea of the poster is totally different from mine however from our
pitch, from the audience feedback we will then decide whose idea to put on for
our poster. One of the similarities I have seen in all of these posters is the use
of bright colours to signify the meaning and expressions of the character which
could subvert into my poster, Colours such as pink, white, orange. Plus they
have the characters name above the title which I’m certainly using it although
depending on the image size when placing the picture in the poster I will try to
play around with the title and the name of the actress to see where it would be
suited.

16. • To start off with this film review magazine is different from all the other film
review magazines. The title “old fashioned hero” is in large white font colour
which is purposely designed to be bold and stand out against other texts. The
fact that the font is Calibri and it’s in white colour directly attracts readers as
the background image is from one the shooting images (we can see camera
rolling down for example). Therefore due to the use of image on the
background and the way the title has been placed within the page it makes the
title successful in its purpose to attract the audience as the word “old
fashioned hero” could make an audience think of the opposite of it due its
white colour as it contrasts with old fashioned hero view. The tagline is
underneath the title as usual . The tagline is simple and is in black font. Then
the rest of text starts by introducing the new film “captain America”. The rest
of the texts are on the page which I don’t have it but however I have decided
to analysis this page due to its style of using the codes and conventions. For
instance the use of circles for pull quote is quite interesting as it minimizes the
information's in the page which makes it easier for an audience to keep their
interest in reading further. And small headlines which gives extra information
about the film with quotes from the film. The whole layout of the film has
been laid out in an unique way because the background image covers the
overall page and less amounts of texts engages the audience to read further
and thus turn the next page.
• I infer that this magazine review page didn’t follow typical codes and
conventions but there are some codes and conventions being used such as
small pull quotes, taglines, main images etc. What I really liked about this
magazine review page is the use of images so for example for my magazine
review page I would use an image that would cover up the whole background
at one side of the magazine (left side) and most of the synopsis, verdict,
reviews will be on the right. And the use of circle shape has inspired to use a
different types of shape for my pull quotes rather than just stating the pull
quotes in a large texts.

17. These 2 magazine review I have analyzed it
more as both this movies fall into the genre of
comedy and drama and therefore this 2 have
inspired me most for my ideas for our film.

18. Layout –simply and clearer. There are brief
overviews for the readers who don’t want to
read it and the main body of text that has
around 1000words in it for the more serious
reader. It is all geared up to let you see what
the film is like with minimal effort, there is
brief plot at the start and verdict at the end,
also if the reader wants an extremely brief
overview there is a star rating in the bottom
right hand corner. The look closer bit it very
bold on the page and catches your eye.
All the language used is targeted for
readers age of 16 and onwards . There is a
little sub title that gives the reader an idea
of the reviewer’s opinion on the film. In
the brief section at the top where the plot
it gives the release date, certificate,
directors name, main cast members,
screenwriter and the running time, this
gives the reader a very good idea of what
they are going to see already, whether it is
suitable for the people they want to take
to see it and whether it has any of their
favourite faces in. The look closer box does
what it says on the tin really, goes a bit
deeper in the film’s/director’s/cast
member’s history or future and tells you
something an audience probably don’t
know.
Fonts – the biggest font on the page is the
title of the film, this is partly because
people looking through the magazine to
find a review find it by the title, also it
makes sense to put the title of the film as
the title of article. The subtitle is a bit
smaller as you are only likely to read it if
your are interested in finding out about
the film, then all the other text is pretty
much standard size. The font come in
three different types of colour orange,
dark red and black, this is eye catching -
your eyes are drawn to the text that is in
bold or a different colour. All the fonts are
sans serif fonts not serif.
The whole image dominates the page.
All the bullet points are little arrows,
some are in different colours, some in
circles and there is the INCINEMAS bit
in the top right corner, all the graphics
are all very formal and very stylish
looking, all clean crisp edges, which is
what you expect from a serious film
magazine.
The reason I have chosen this magazine is because as our genre of the film is comedy/drama genre this film magazine
review page is effective in terms of making it look more dramatic and effective in creating its genre understanding as
this film genre is also drama. And the image is quite inspirable creating an effect of dark feeling which links directly to
its genre ideas. From this magazine review page , I have decided I will use the typical codes and conventions such as
the background information is with the main image and the taglines, summary, verdict and film detail. All these are
closely correlated and this gives a quick impression of the film and hence by using the codes and conventions ideas
from this film for instance might make my review page catchy and appealing since our target audience starts from 16
+ onwards due to our moral at the end which applies to everyone.

19. • This is magazine review page is an example of a review
page from Empire magazine. Empire is a popular and very
well established magazine for film reviews and up to date
information on the latest releases.
I chose this to use as an example of inspiration for my own
film review as the layout of the page is clear and looks
realistic for a film magazine.
• . This magazine follows the typical codes and conventions
as the key information, taglines , main title all are closely
linked together and there are less spaces for the text unlike
the Captain America magazine review page.
• Firstly the image is at the central of the page which is a
medium shot of the image. The image is probably from one
of the scene from the film as we can see the man hugging a
person which could be someone he’s close with. In the
image we have small background details about the film .
This makes it exciting to read as it gives inside information
about the film.
• The main title is in black font and is placed in white
background which makes it stand out from all the other
text in the background . This is because the text is in aerial
and its in capital letter , all these makes the font title more
simple and easier to attract readers since to keep the
audience attention and not make them feel bored the title
engages and lures the audience into understanding what
the title is trying to say and the taglines supports this as the
use of language makes it look more like something
mysterious.

20. This magazine review has a
predominately white
background with a dull picture
with blacks, white colours that
burst out at the audience and
attract their attention. However
the positioning of the screen
shot makes it easier to break up
the information and also gives
them a sense of what the movie
is going to be about especially
since jack sparrow has hit
trouble this leaves the audience
questioning the movie and
leaving them wanting to know
why he is again in trouble!
This review page is a double
page spread. It is a
combination of an image and a
page of text, each taking up
roughly an A4 page. There are
a few smaller images that are
used in the side bars of the
review page. There are three
columns of text. The columns
are in a standard and simple
grid format. The only
interruption to the standard
grid is the uses of a pull quotes
and side bars.
Thus the colour scheme of the
review page is black, red and
yellow. This has no relation to
the picture of the various films
used. This colour scheme is
part of the house style.
The feature header is “Screen”. The header is the largest and
seemingly the most important. It allows people to flick through
the magazine and still see this page easily. It is in a large bold
font that automatically catches the eyes of the readers. The
header relates to the section of the magazine. This section is
related to new films and would be considered a unique selling
point of the magazine. Customers would buy the magazine
because they would trust the reviews and opinions that this
magazine usually has. There are two other smaller feature
headers. The first one is “New Movies in Order of Merit” and the
second is the title of the film. The title of the film is the more
important of the two headers because it tells the reader what
they reading about. It is used to let to reader know what film the
article relates to and they then can therefore decide whether
they want to read it. Both of these headers have their own
kickers. These kickers are in a thinner font and therefore are seen
as less important. They are there just to provide a little extra
information about this section of the magazine and the article.
• The body text is written in three main
columns. The columns contain a mixture
of both bold and normal text, this means
that certain sections can be highlighted as
more important and are more eye-
catching. The columns are interrupted by
pull quotes and graphical l furniture. The
colour of most of the font is black. The
other colours used do not have any
specific meaning to the reader but they
follow the colour scheme of the
magazine. There is also a link to the
magazine’s website on the bottom left of
the page. This highlights the cross
promotion of the magazine.
Main image is on the page is the screen shot from the
film. The image seems to have had no effects
added to it; this suggests that its purpose is to
show what the film is like. This screen shot
might have been used to show some of the main
actors in the film. It shows how these very
famous actors look in the film. The picture also
provides an image to match what some of the
articles was relating to. The images take up one
of the A4 pages that make up this double page
review spread. The size of this image could
indicates that it is quite important to the spread.
It also means that it is very relevant to the
article. The photo has a light-hearted caption
that makes fun of the situation shown in the
screen shot. There are three smaller images on
the left of the spread. These are small and are
not directly related to the article. They provide
extra information to the reader and therefore
can be small and appear less important without
taking away anything from the article.

21. The colours and fonts used are design in the house style and in
the same colour scheme as the rest of this section of the
magazine. The side bar to the right of the picture contains a
special feature of the magazine. It gives the reader an idea of
similar films which will help them make a more informed
decision when it comes to deciding whether they would like to
watch this film or not. The logo of the magazine doesn’t feature
on this review page but the information bar at the top does
however a logo that is associated with this section of the
magazine. The logo is part of the style of the magazine and is
regularly featured in the magazine. The page numbers are place
on the bottom, outside corners of each page. There is also a logo
used to indicate the web presence of the magazine.
Tone and register of the article suggest that it is written for
people who are quite serious about film. The references to
other well regarded films suggest that it is written for an
audience that is likely to have a strong interest in film. It is
written is quite a sophisticated but quite informal way. It
presents well thought out opinions in a style that is more
attractive that might broaden their target audience. This
style means it might be targeted at a slightly older age group
but might appeal to some younger people. This would likely
be late twenties and beyond. It is for people have a good
film knowledge which is not usually associated with young
people. The review focuses on quite a combination of
aspects. It doesn’t only deal with the actors or things that
would be more popular in the main stream; it deals with
more specific things like the writing and what crucial
aspects of the film that they believe weren’t successful.
Ideas for my magazine: since this review page is from Total
Film magazine,Well the title in this magazine film review
page is quite fascination in the fact it directly catches my
attention and even though the image is on the right side , I
still want to read it due to the star /actor being used. What
really interests me about this magazine page is the use of
texts in left side usually we have images on either both side
or right side but this time the title and the taglines were
more important aspect of attraction than the main central
image. Therefore for my magazine page I have to be careful
in terms of using which and what type of image I need to
use and make sure that my title must be catchy and
attention grabber as I need to portray both comedy and
drama genre. I really liked the layout of this page however i
don’t want to use the graph idea it seems unnecessary to
me even though it makes the page look more informative.