Analysis of Empire Magazine Front Covers

Empire Magazine 1

 These posters here are both very similar in the fact that they are both about the same people and also the fact that it is the same magazine. However they are both very different in their own way and here I am going to explain this.

First of all 'Empire Magazine 1' would have been published around the time when the last film had not yet hit the cinema and the anticipation and excitement was still in the air. This is because any prior fans would be eager to read any additional information about the film before it had been released. Another feature about the first magazine would be the fact that they are sticking to their house style that they use for the majority of their magazine's and that is the red masthead. The white background used on this magazine would help to point out the characters due to the contrast between the background being spotless and the characters.

Empire Magazine 2

The second poster here is completely different in terms of the style, and also the way the actors and actress are portrayed. In contrast to the first poster they are shown to be as they are outside of the films, which is something the audience would not be used to seeing, giving the sheer amount of films they have all worked together in. The fact that the 'Empire' masthead is now in gold, gives the impression that this edition of the magazine is rare and is not a frequent occurrence. This magazine would have been put on the shelves after the last movie had been shown in the cinema, and their fans would be eager to find out what they have planned in their careers for the future.

In Both of these magazine front covers, they both have similar shot set ups in terms of the positioning of the actors and actress and also the masthead. Something different would be the fact that the second magazine has not used any pugs or puffs, or any other type of promotional segment for another type of article or interview within the magazine. This is not the case due to the fact that the second magazine is only there to showcase the actors and actress. Even though there may be other articles inside, putting adverts for them on the front cover would be taking the focus away from the three featured cast members.

Recap on Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs. The term sign refers to something that stands for something else, such as an  object. When talking about signs there are 3 different ways of categorising them, these are as follows;


Index
This refers to the sign where it directly relates to the thing that it is signifying.
Icons
These resemble the thing that it is signifying in some sort of relevance.
Symbols
These show no logical relevance to the thing that it is signifying.


Semiotics applies to film posters due to the fact of what they are intending to do to whoever looks at the poster. I say this because all of the signs used in the poster will have been put there for an intended reason by whoever made the poster. This is shown in this picture below,

Poster 1

In 'Poster 1' you can see that there is a lot of things in direction to the reader of the poster, for example the green bolt coming from the characters weapon. There is also a snake in the shot which some people may see as being a scary feature to accompany the menacing villain. The rubble also suggests a unsafe surrounding and danger in the area.

Poster 2

In 'Poster 2' there is a lot of fire in the background which is the main source of light in the shot. The fire gives the impression that the character in the shot is in a sheer amount of danger, yet he is still concentrated on something other than the fire which suggests a greater evil. This shot in general has a lot of action in it which could give the general style of the film is it trying to get people aware of.

In general these both have minimal text on them due to the fact that they are trying to focus on what the have included in the shots to give subliminal hints to the reader. Also you can tell which characters are intended to look evil and which ones are meant to look defensive. This is shown by the contrast in body language. I say this because in 'Poster 1' the character is clearly intended to look evil as he is positioned in a way which makes him look aggressive and intimidating due to the low angle shot being used. Whereas in 'Poster 2' the character has his body turned away from the camera as though he is not as confident and in more of a defensive position.

Conventions of Film Trailers (Horror Films)

In this post here I am going to talk about the conventions of two trailers. Because I am doing a horror film trailer I have chosen to look at two horror trailers, this will help give ideas and techniques when filming and editing my trailer.

The two films trailers are as follows;
Sinister (2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgYxydrVlDk
The Possession (2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gBeG31fX40&feature=related

When first watching these trailers, the first thing that you will see is the ident. These are important in film trailers because it initially tells you who the film is made by and in some cases it can give you a hint as to what the film is going to be like. For example they could give it a horror film style to it, to tailor it to this specific film.

To start off with, in the Sinister trailer, they use a voice over to set the initial storyline of the overall film. In this particular case the voice seems to be coming from a television, to get the feeling of a news report. Voice overs in trailers tend to give the viewer only what they need to know, this means that they will have to watch the film to get the full theme of the story.
Another feature in the Sinister film trailer would be how it says "From the producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious". This is already gathering a fan base of those who are fans of those already existing films, and will gain a hype in the horror genre. The downside to this is that the people who are fans of those films will expect this new film to live up to those two other films.
Because this film is in the horror genre, the people who edit these films into trailers tend to use a lot of jump cuts to make the film seem more fast pace even though it probably isn't for the most part of the film.
Another thing that is in this trailer that is important in horror films is the text that appears in-between scenes. This provides the viewer with short bits of information to add to what is being spoken about in the trailer. This makes it so that even if you're not particularly listening to what the trailer is talking about, you may still read what it says and get some sort of information about the trailer, which could be enough to make you go and see it.
At the end of the Sinister trailer, they give you a website to visit to get more information about the film and they also provide the means of social networking sites such as Facebook to give people the chance to follow the film and stay updated as to when it is out and reviews etc.

As for The Possession trailer, they also use a voice over to tell the viewer what the general storyline is and what they need to know before they watch the film. Another returning feature in this trailer would be the use of jump cuts to transition scenes. This again gives the illusion it has a fast pace nature when the reality is the most part of the film will not use jump cuts.
Another feature which is present in both trailers is that of showing focus on the main object which is causing the controversy in the films. For example in Sinister they are video tapes that the man character finds, and in The Possession it is a box that the child acquires from a household sale.
Again in this film they also use the technique of texts in-between scenes to provide a link other that another scene or a voice over the picture.

The main thing that I have found in these trailers would be the music tends to set the whole mood of the trailer. The music in both is creepy and slow, this will provide the atmospheric mood that is needed in horror films for the viewer. Also, the jump cuts tend to fit in with the music so when there is a loud noise, that is usually when something 'jumpy' will happen or it will swap scenes. This is a technique used in almost all trailers in the modern day, but is seemingly important when it comes to horror films.

Film Trailers From Different Decades

Psycho (1960) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG3-GlvKPcg
The Godfather (1972) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DO-nDW43Ik
Back to the Future (1985) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-xObLeUqp4
Fight Club (1999) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8PRC3HbWqo
The Dark Knight (2008) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ5U8suTUw0

These film trailers clearly show the progression in the technology used when making these trailers. Some features that have stayed throughout them all would be the narrative over the short clips of the film, and also the fact that they only show small selections of the film. One thing that is recent when it comes to trailers is the indent at the beginning. This is something you now see on every trailer that gets put out. Film trailers recently tend to have more dramatic orchestral music to make the film seem 'epic'. Overall the production quality has greatly improved over time and should result in the trailers becoming more successful.

Trailers have change significantly over the past 50 years. An example in which they have changed would be the ways in which they are showcased to the general public. This is because they never used to show trailers in the cinema, and there is also special awards for the best trailers, these are called the 'Golden Trailer Awards'. Another change would be the fact that they are now in colour. This was not apparent in the 50's and 60's, this is shown in the 'Psycho' trailer. Lastly, another feature that changed about trailers would be the technology used in editing them. This has changed by the trailer making companies over time acquiring better technology and more efficient software to make an overall better trailer.  

Intoduction

In this blog I will be documenting and showing the progress that I have made in my coursework. The initial task that I will be creating a film trailer, which is professional and would function as a real film trailer. I will also need to create a film poster to go with the trailer and a front cover for a magazine featuring the film I have created the trailer for.