Magazine Name

After looking at many examples and doing a lot of thinking I have singled my choice of name down to a shortlist of 5. They include:

• Popcorn
• Film Focus
• Film Mag
• Movie Fanatic
• Lights, camera, action

I did a focus group using a sample of people of all ages, living all around London and both genders. They rated each title out of 10. These were the results (with comments):

Popcorn - 5.4 (Was said to be too cheesy)

Film Focus - 8.2 (Direct, clear and catchy)

Film Mag - 6.4 

Movie Fanatic - 6.8

Lights, Camera, Action - 7.1 (Not catchy enough or easy to remember)

This focus group has shown me that 'Film Focus' will be the name of my magazine. This name is easy to remember, clear and is perfect for a mainstream magazine (it is similar to Total Film).

Focus Group -Tagline

I conducted a focus group on my taglines. I took a sample of 34 people, mainly those who were male aged 17-30 as this is my target audience. However, I involved women and other ages to broaden my demographic.

• 'What would you do if you were part of their plan?' - 5

• 'Time to go off plan' - 3 (Was said to be too action like)

• 'What if you were part of something bigger?' - 5

• 'Run while you still can' - 4.3

• 'The crime is just the beginning' - 2 (was said to be the wrong type of thriller)

• 'They will control you' - 6.3

• 'We are all targets' - 6.8

• 'Don't be part of their plan' - 7.3

• 'Take control of your destiny' - 4.5

The top 3 taglines that were chosen were 'They will control you' (6.3), 'We are all targets' (6.8), 'Don't be part of their plan' (7.3). I will consider the results when making my final decision in the next coming days.

Creating a tagline

I now have to create my own tagline. These are some of the ideas I have had:

• 'What would you do if you were part of their plan?' - It is directly addressing the audience, a rhetorical question and links to the title of the film implying there is a big plan.

• 'Time to go off plan' - Use of the word 'time' and 'plan', references the title. It is short and punchy,

• 'What if you were part of something bigger?' - Directly addressing the audience, a rhetorical question and references the title.

• 'Run while you still can' - Uses 'run', it is directly addressing the audience and implies a threat with a time limit.

• 'The crime is just the beginning' - It is mysterious and references the genre with the use of 'crime'

• 'They will control you' - Directly addresses the audience, and references the title with the use of 'control'. It also makes it seem like there is no hope.

• 'We are all targets' - Use of 'target' references genre. The use of 'We' implies it is inevitable, creating fear.

• 'Don't be part of their plan' - Shows there is a threat, but there is a solution. Use of the word 'plan' references genre, and it directly addresses the audience.

• 'Take control of your destiny' - Use of 'control' references genre.

I will conduct a focus group to help me work out what tagline to use.

Tagline Research

To help me create my tagline I had to research different thrillers and their taglines.

• Inception: Your mind is the scene of the crime

• Minority Report: Everybody Runs

• The Bourne Identity: He was the perfect weapon until he became the target

• XXX: A new breed of secret agent

• 2 Fast 2 Furious: How fast do you like it?

• Doppleganger: Sometimes love can be a killer

• Phone Booth: Your life is on the line

• Taken: Time is running out

• The Adjustment Bureau: Fight for your fate.

• Unknown: Take back your life

• Inside Man: It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can't judge a crime by its cover.

• The Manchurian Candidate: Everything is under control

• Hostage: Would you sacrifice another family to save your own?

• Assault on Precinct 13: Unite and fight

• The Ghost Writer: Read between the lines

• Lord of War: Where there's a will. There's a weapon.

• The Da Vinci Code: Seek the truth

• Shooter: Yesterday was about honour. Today is about Justice.

• Valkyrie: Many saw evil. Thy dared to stop it.

• Knowing: What happens when the numbers run out?

• Angels & Demons: Tell the world the truth.

Words such as 'Time', 'Fight', 'Crime', 'Run' and 'Target' reflect the genre most. Most of the taglines are direct and create a feeling of unease. I will take all of this analysis into account when creating my own tagline.

Final Font

After a a lengthy focus group, I have decided to use the 'Dislexia' font. It scored an average of 8.7 out of 10 when rated by a group of people many in the age bracket and demographic of my target audience. The '1942 Type Writer' (7.6) and 'Telegrapham' (7.4) fonts were the nearest to it in rating but 'Dislexia' was the clear winner (and my personal favourite). The main comments from the focus group were that it was 'mysterious' and 'unnerving'. You can see the font below:

Font Research

I looked at previous thriller films and font websites to research what type of font I will use for my poster and trailer. I will use the same font for the two media platforms that the distribution company would control to create a sense of continuity and branding to help market my film. After hours of research, these are the fonts I narrowed down to be most likely to be used in my film. I will be doing a focus group to help me decide on my final decision.

 

Fonts for my Poster and Teaser Trailer

 Here are the websites I used to find the fonts that I wanted for my teaser, poster and magazine cover.
www.fontyukle.net
www.dafont.com
www.linotype.com
www.1001freefonts.com
www.urbanfonts.com
www.fontspace.com

Film Title

To decide what the title to the film will be, I decided to have a focus group between 10 people. I had 12 suggestions of which I got the people in the focus group to rate the name out of 10 (1 being worst and 10 being best). I then took the average number out of 10 for each suggestion.

These were the raw results from the survey:

Title	Average Rating
Surveillance	5.7
The Tail	3.3
Shadows	6.7
The Scheme	6
The Shadow Enterprise	6
The Enterprise	6.7
The Arrangement	5.3
The Operation	4.5
The Scheme	6.2
The Architect	6
Blueprint	8
Pursuit	6

From the results you can see that 'Blueprint' is the most favored idea for the title of the film.

This bar chart makes it clear what the result of the focus group was:

The focus group has been a good process as it has helped me in deciding what my title should be. When deciding on the title of my film I will take into account market research (focus group), and research into the genre. I will update the blog on my decision in the coming days over what the title of the film will be.

List of Thriller Poster Conventions

Having looked at a selection of Thriller posters, I have compiled a list of conventions found in a thriller poster.

• Side Lighting on characters. This can be used to suggest two sides to someone's personality.

• Muted colour scheme.

• Characters usually chasing / running.

• Tagline directly addressing the audience often implying threat.

• Setting in an urban environment

• Mise-en-scene associated with the genre. e.g. use of guns

• The tagline is sometimes a red colour

• Characters often have an indirect mode of address.

• Canted framing is often used, to create a sense of unease.

• Actors that are associated with the genre are used.

• There is often formal attire.

• Bold font is used for the title and tagline.

• High angles to show vulnerability and weakness on certain characters.

This list will help me when creating my poster as I will refer back to it throughout my project.

Thriller Poster Conventions

The final poster I looked at representing genre is "Unknown". This uses many conventions that the other posters have used and is very useful to me as I can refer back to this research when making my own poster.

Thriller Poster Conventions

'Phone Booth' and 'The Town' are two more thrillers that I looked at and more similarities appear when looking at them. The canted framing appears again, along with red font and mise-en-scene used to reflect genre.

Thriller Poster Conventions

The next poster I have looked at that is a thriller is 'The Next Three Days'. I can already see many similarities in the poster related to genre such as the canted angle.

Thriller Poster Conventions

Having decided that the genre of my film would be a thriller, my next task is to looks the conventions of thriller's posters. The first one i have looked at is the Adjustment Bureau

Magazine Actual Layout Sketches

Next I drew up actual potential magazine covers with representation of images and actual text on the page. These are my ideas:

Questionnaire (Pre-Film)

This questionnaire is to gain a real idea of what people expect from teaser trailers in terms of genre, conventions and existing media texts.

A sample of people of all ages (over 15 of course) and genders were asked questions. These were their responses.

1. What sort of mise-en-scene to you associate with thrillers?

Weapons (mainly guns)

Suits - especially worn by the antagonist

Normal clothes (e.g. sweaters, t-shirts) - these worn to represent the normal people who are involved in thrillers.

2. When watching a teaser trailer what do you think the conventions are?

Production/Distribution Company Logos - for example Warner Brothers or Universal. This usually comes at the beginning.
Website (usually always at the end)
Voiceover man

Music - make sure that it reflects the genre but also that it works with images
Tagline

Images from the film
Title of the film
Release dates (for a teaser this is likely to be 'Coming Soon' or something vague like this, rather than a specific date.
Indication of genre - the intended audience should be clear (this is done through the music, voiceover and mise-en-scene)

Sound effects
Eye candy

Editing - transitions often include flashes, quick fades and dissolves alongside more conventional cuts
Possibly cast, crew, director credits
Possibly reference to other films (that this is similar to) or other films that have been directed/produced by the same people.
Stars / names of the stars
Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated for (these may refer to other films).

3. When watching a teaser trailer what do you think are the conventions of a thriller teaser trailer?

Protagonist and girlfriend on the run together
Mise en scene - The protagonists are wearing suits
Impact sounds - Quick, high pitched

Montages
Fight scenes
Slow temp music at the beginning, then fast music starts as it builds up to the end.
Taglines
Release Date

Focus on guns

Running
Canted angles
Doors being closed and opened
Voiceover

Black screen with white writing (e.g. credits, title etc)
Eye candy
Extreme close ups
Match on actions
Credits/Billing
Sound logos
Logos of companies making films

4. Which films do you think best represents the sub genre of political, on the run or conspiracy thriller?

The Bourne Identity

Unknown

The Adjustment Bureau

The Next Three Days

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Ides Of March

Flight Plan

The Manchurian Candidate

The Interpreter

Vantage Point

I plan on using these answers in my research and planning into making a conventional thriller. I will use this as help for my own research into each of these questions on my blog. I will also create a questionnaire for the final copy of the film to see if I have matched these answers.

Poster Layout Sketches

Before I could start creating my poster. I had to sketch some ideas of the layout I would like. These are some sketches I drew:

Magazine Layout Sketches

Before I could create the actual magazine front cover I drew up some skecthes of what it may look like. Here they are:

Poster Questionnaire (pre-release)

Before creating my poster, I feel it is neccesary to do market research and find out what conventions the audience find in posters. Hres how the questionnaire turned out:

1. In all film posters, what things do you expect to always see?

Images (Stars/Characters, Scenes from the film)
Quotations from magazines/newspapers reviews (showing target audience)
Taglines
Release Date (Sometimes vague e.g. ‘Coming Next Summer’)
The title (always the biggest text on poster)
Logos of companies involved in making the film
Website
Images of stars
Eye Candy (Male or Female/Explosions/Action)
Star Ratings
Certificate
Credits / Billing
Sound Logos
Mise-en-scene (referencing genre)

2. In terms of the thriller genre. what things do you always expect to see on a poster?

Tagline - directly addressing the audience
Urban setting - e.g. City of London
Mise-en-scene associated with the genre. e.g. use of guns
The tagline is sometimes a red colour
Characters often have an indirect mode of address.
Side Lighting on characters.
Canted framing
Actors that are associated with the genre are used.
Muted colour scheme.
Formal clothes
Bold font is used for the title and tagline.
Characters chasing / running.
High angles


I will use these results along with my research to create a conventional poster both in terms of the genre, and all film posters.

Magazine Questionnaire

To get an insight into what ordinary people see in magazines, I created a questionnaire. A sample of people ranging from different ages and genders took the survey. This is how it turned out.

1. What content do you expect to find in a film magazine?

Features - discussions, pictures etc.

Interviews

Reviews

Previews

Poster/Adverts

2. What sort of things do you expect to see on a front cover of a film magazine?

Images of the stars

Images of characters

Large banner(s)

Names of the films in the magazine

Website

Barcode / Issue / Price

References to stars, directors or films

References to posters or competitions

The Masthead

3. In What way does the design of the magazine persuade you to buy the publication?

Big, bold title of magazine (masthead)

Big, often colourful banners

Big stars as the central image

Eye Candy

Exclusives referred to obviously on the front

Good colour scheme

Competitions

4. In what way does the layout persuade you to buy the publication?

Clear structure

Not cluttered

Masthead the biggest text

The taglines in line with each other

No overlapping

Potential Taglines on Magazine

I have come up with a list of potential taglines to use on the front of my magazine. They have to be appropriate for type of publication (mainstream). These are what I have come up with.

• Sneak Peak at Avengers
• Top 100 action films of all time
• The Complete Cameron! From Piranha 2 to Avatar 
• Exclusive Scorsese interview! Whats next fro the legend?
• The real Iron Man
• Superhero Smackdown! Batman Spidey and The Avengers Fight it Out
• Alex Dawson's exclusive interviews
• Alex Dawson tells us his Blueprint for success
• The Dark Knight: First preview
• Brad Pitt v. Jonny Depp
• Eye Candy in films! - A history of.
• Brad Pitt: Bookending the summer with killing them softly and 8

Conventions of a thriller teaser trailer

Now I have found conventions of a teaser trailer, I have to find the conventions of a thriller trailer so I can make the most conventional trailer possible.

• Protagonist and girlfriend on the run together
• Mise en scene - The protagonists are wearing suits
• Impact sounds - Quick, high pitched
• Running
• Canted angles
• Doors being closed and opened
• Focus on guns
• Voiceover
• Black screen with white writing (e.g. credits, title etc)
• Eye candy
• Extreme close ups
• Match on actions
• Montages
• Fight scenes
• Slow temp music at the beginning, then fast music starts as it builds up to the end.
• Taglines
• Release Date
• Credits/Billing
• Sound logos
• Logos of companies making films

Types of Thrillers

Types Of Thrillers

• The thriller of murderous passions... organized around the triangular grouping of husband/wife/lover. The central scene is generally the murder of one member of the triangle by one or both of the other members. The emphasis is clearly on the criminal protagonist. The criminal motive is generally passion or greed.

• The political thriller... organized around a plot to assassinate a political figure or a revelation of the essential conspiratorial nature of governments and their crimes against the people. these films generally document and dramatize the acts of assassins, conspirators, or criminal governments, as well as the oppositional acts of victim-societies, counter cultures, or martyrs.

• The thriller of acquired identity... organized around a protagonist's acquisitions of an unaccustomed identity, his or her behaviour in coming to terms with the metaphysical and physical consequences of this identity, and the relationship of this acquisition to a murderous plot.

• The psychosomatic thriller... organized around the psychotic effects of a trauma on a protagonist's current involvement in a love affair and a crime or intrigue. The protagonist is always a victim - generally of some past trauma and often of real villains who take advantage of his or her masochistic guilt.

• The thriller or moral confrontation... organized around an overt antithetical confrontation between a character representing good or innocence and a character representing evil. These films are often constructed in terms of elaborate dualities which emphasize the parallels between the victim and the criminal.

• The innocent-on-the-run thriller... organized around an innocent victim's coincidental entry into the midst of global intrigue. The victim often finds himself running from both the villains as well as the police.

Thriller Research

Narrative

Narrative is defined as "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occuring in time".


Diegesis

The internal world created by the story that the characters themselves expereicne and encounter.


Story and Plot

Story - The stroy is all events referenced both explicitly in a narrative and inferred (including back story as well as those projected beyond the action.)

Plot - The plot is the events directly incorporated into the action of the text and the order in which they are presented.


Narrative Range

Unrestricted narration - This is when a narrative which has no limits to the information that is presented i.e. a news bulletin

Restricted narration - This is when only a minimal amount of information regarding the narrative i.e. thrillers.

Narrative depth

Subjective character identification - This is when the viewer is given unique access to what a range of characters see and do.

Objective Character Identification - This is when the viewer is given unique access to a character's point of view such as seeing things from the character's mind, dreams, fantasies or memories.

Themes of a thriller (Brainstorm)

Some general themes that thrillers are usually based on:

• Stalkers
• Ex or escaped convicts
• Innocent victims
• Family breakdown
• Government
• Political conspiracy
• Terrorism
• Love (twisted relationships)

Choice of Genre

I have decided to do a marketing campaign for a thriller. So now I know the conventions of posters, I will look at the conventions of posters of the Thriller genre to see how the genre is reflected in those posters.

Mainstream Magazine Analysis

Now I have chosen what type of publication my magazine will be, I will analyse hte layout and content of examples of this type of publication.

• Image of character for hollywood film
• Special 'sci-fi' feature
• Emotive taglines - "How summer's biggest superhero went to war"
• Banner - Advertising an exclusive on the 'Avenger' pictured in the Image.
• The Background picture is also an image representing to film character, not the actor.
• Reference to other parts of the magazine: All of the advertisement is for films that are of the same sort of genre - e.g. Spiderman.
• Different colour fonts
• Barcode
• Issue
• Price
• Block font - capitals
• Large fonts

• Image of character
• Exclusive of film that character is in
• Background image of film
• 'Oscars' feature - mainstream acting awards
• Taglines to do with film and magazine - 'The Worlds Biggest Movie Magazine'
• Reviews
• Barcode
• Issue
• Price
• Advertising articles of famous films - Ghostbusters 3, The Wrestler etc.
• Block fonts
• Large fonts
• Easy colour scheme

• Image of character from film
• Banner advertising a special feature on world famous director
• Special pull-out of feature film
• Feature on film
• Taglines on the feature film
• Block font
• Price
• Easy colour scheme
• Taglines - magazine and feature
• Barcode
• Issue

Conventions of Film magazines

• Image of stars
• The Masthead - title of the magazine, big, bold, at the top, the largest font on the page.
• Large banner(s)
• Images from film
• Names of films that appear in the magazine and text that references stars, directors and films.
• References to free posters and competitions.
• Bar code
• Reviews
• Issue number with price and date
• Website

Type of Publication

I will now analyse 5 different types of magazine, looking at there layout, style and content.

American Cinematographer

Filmmaker

 Sight & Sound

Empire

 Total Film

In the Magazines:

• Front Covers - front covers of mainstream, fan-friendly film magazines, such as Total Film, Empire, Hotdog and Filmstar are used to promote upcoming film releases and are an essential part of a films marketing campaign (particularly as this type of promotion is free).

These magazines mostly feature big-budget Hollywood films (which my film is meant to replicate), though they may make reference to American independent films and British films.

• Features - usually running over many pages, this is the dominant from of journalism in the publication. They include:

1. Pictures: some from the press pack including image from the film itself, plus images 'on set' and pictures of the case/crew.
2. Discussions: with cast and crew members regarding their experiences of the making of the film
3. Box-outs: which include release dates, certificate, background, information about cast and crews previous films, genre and budget.

• Interviews - most interviews will be conducted with stars or directors - the people involved in the film who are most instantly recognisable to the readers/audience. Occasionally there maybe interviews with more obscure members of the crew such has composers, producers or cinematographers (though these are more likely to appear in highbrow magazines such a Sight & Sound, or trade journals such a Screen International. 

• Reviews - reviews are central to the success of certain types of films and positive reviews create a buzz around the film which production/distribution companies hope will lead to positive word of mouth. Reviews appear in magazines just in advance pf the film's release, and positive comments of high star ratings will often be used in future promotional material.

• Previews - often found at the front of the magazines, previews offer tantalizing bits of information to the audience, well in advance of a film release (often up to a year before the film comes out, and sometimes longer). Previews are often light on information but will inform readers about cast and crew choices, and possible release dates. Previews are often dominated by images in an attempt to generate interest for the audience.

• Posters/Adverts

Magazines such as Sight & Sound, which covers the British film industry and World Cinema rather than Hollywood, is less likely to feature promotional material so obviously. The readership is much small and the audience is best described as niche. 

Other film magazines may also target a niche or specialist market - magazines such as Neon have a retrospective fell and are more likely to include articles on older 'classic' films rather than contemporary cinema. American Cinematographer is an example of this.

Taking all of this into account, it is obvious that Blueprint will be promoted by a mainstream magazine like Empire or Total Film. It is a hollywood style film, with big stars, big budgets and a big marketing campaign.

Existing Film Publications

 Empire is a film magazine that was first published in 1989, in the UK, it is aimed at an audience of 15 to 24. They mainly focus on blockbuster, hollywood films. However, it does look at independent and art-house productions. It is the biggest selling magazine in Britain, releasing publications monthly.

Total film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (every four weeks) by Future Publishing. Doing features on film, DVD, Blu-Ray, news and reviews; the magazine launched in 1997. It is the second-best selling magazine in the UK behind Empire. It caters for a 15-24 demographic, mianly focusing on mainstream, blockbuster films.

American Cinematographer focuses on the art and craft of conematography, going behind the scenes on domestic and international productions. The American Society of Cinematographers publish the magaizne which is released monthly. The magazine was started in 1920 and features in-depth interviews with cinematographers, directors and some of their key collaborators at every stage of production. It is aimed at a less mainstream, older demographic.

Premiere was an American, New-York based film magazine that stopped issuing copies in April 2007. The monthky magazine was first published in 1987. It has a demographic of 15-24, focusing mainly on mainstream films.

Neon was a British film magazine published monthly by Emap Consumer Media from December 1996 to February 1999. It was released monthly and mainly focussed on mainstream cinema, it was seen a a refreshing alternative to best-seller Empire.

Covering international film business, screen international is a popular UK magazine mainly aimed at a more niche market. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global movie business. The weekly magazine in its current form was founded in 1976.

 

Sight & Sound was first published in 1932. The Magazine reviews all film releases each month, including those with a limited release, as opposed to most film magazines which concentrate on those film with a general release. Sight & Sound features a full cast and crew credity list for each reviewed film.

British independent movie magazine that features writing, illustration and photography related to cinema. It is published by London-based creative agency. It is a bi-monthly magazine.

Escape was a landmark British comic strip magazine founded and edited by paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. 19 issues were published between 1983 and 1989.

Teaser Trailer Analysis

To help me make my own teaser trailer, I have to look at examples of trailers to find the conventions of teaser trailers. I looked at is Kung Fu Panda 2.

• Dreamworks Logo at the beggining of the trailer.
• Very little narrative information
• "Next Summer" release date at the beggining of the trailer. It is vague as it is very near the beggining of the marketing campaign.
• There is a voice over man, clarifying when the film is roughly going to be released and narrating.
• There are impact sounds in between scenes and when the taglines appear.
• Tagline - "Prepare for the return... Of awseomeness". This is also a reference to the last film. In my experience of film, it is sequals and big franchises that use this in trailers as they have the awareness of the film from the previous film.
• The title of the film "Kung Fu Panda 2"
• The music is 'Kung Fu Fighting', which represents the genre, as it is a film about martial arts.
• The star of the film 'Jack Black', is shown as text in the trailer and the voice over man emphasises his involvement.
• At the end of the trailer we see a more detailed relase date, 'May 2011'.
• We also see the website address - KungFuPanda.com
• On this shot we see the 'Dreamworks' and 'Paramount' logo at the bottom of the screen.
• The trailer ends with the Paramount production company logo.

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

To help me make my trailer I have to look at a number of teaser trailers in order to write a list of conventions of which I will try to use in my trailers. I looked at many trailers but these were the most significant in creating my list: 'The Dark Knight Rises', 'Hangover 2', 'Transformers 3' and 'Cowboys and Aliens'.

• Production/Distribution Company Logos - for example Warner Brothers or Universal. This usually comes at the beginning.

• Images from the film

• Title of the film

• Release dates (for a teaser this is likely to be 'Coming Soon' or something vague like this, rather than a specific date.

• Indication of genre - the intended audience should be clear (this is done through the music, voiceover and mis-en-scene)

• Website (usually always at the end)

• Voiceover man

• Editing - transitions often include flashes, quick fades and dissolves alongside more conventional cuts

• Possibly cast, crew, director credits

• Possibly reference to other films (that this is similar to) or other films that have been directed/produced by the same people.

• Stars / names of the stars

• Reference to awards that cast/crew/film may have won or been nominated for (these may refer to other films).

• Music - make sure that it reflects the genre but also that it works with images

• Tagline

• Quotes that reference other films - for example 'From the Director of...'

• Sound effects

• Eye candy

• Reference to the source material the film is based on

• Try to use a variety of camera shots / movement

• Reference to prequel

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

Casino Royale

The next teaser trailer I am looking at is Casino Royale.

• The trailer starts with the showing of the production and distribution of the film.
• There is talking over the shots at the start of the trailer.
• The underscore starts off slow, then as the trailer goes on it builds up in volume and tempo.
• The shots are quick changing, especially as the music's tempo goes up. This is because, like Inception, the change in shots is in time with the music.
• The shots are of the main aspect of James Bond (e.g. girls, guns and explosions).
• There is a release date and the production/distribution at the end of the trailer.
• The music comes to a sudden end, at the end of the trailer.

Conventions of Teaser Trailers

Inception

The first trailer I am looking at is Inception. This is a teaser trailer, so by analyzing it I will be doing research on what my trailer may have in it, in terms of conventions of trailers.

• The underscore starts off slow with one droning sound. As the trailers goes on, more sounds are heard, the music gets louder and a higher tempo. It ends with the same slow sound from the beginning.
• There is no diegetic sound.
• There are images of the production and distribution at the beginning of the trailer. (They are being zoomed in on)
• There is also a mention of the director as he is well-known.
• There is mainly close-ups shots of characters, showing reaction.
• The shots are quick and in time with the music (e.g. when the music speeds up, so does the frequency of shots).
• A lot of text appears on the screen, coming towards the audience. This is text that are slogans to do with the film.
• Athe end of the trailer, the release date and the billing is shown.

Comparing Teaser and Theatrical Trailers

Thor

This is the teaser trailer.

This is the theatrical trailer.

Battle LA

Teaser trailer.

Theatrical trailer

As seen from both Thor and the Battle LA, on the theatrical trailer there is more narrative information. We find out about who the characters are, the background information such as why they are doing what they are doing, how they got there and what they have to do. 

The technical aspect also differs. Theatrical trailers, those found in cinemas, are generally much longer than teaser trailers - often up to two-and-a-half minutes in length. Theatrical trailers often appear quite late in the film's marketing campaign - in the last few weeks in the run-up to the film's release.

Teaser trailers often reach the public a considerable time before the film's release - often many months, sometimes over a yea, before the film is due to hit cinemas. They reveal little about the plot, for example, withholding information from the audience in order to create anticipation and a desire to want more, thus generating greater long term interest in the film. Teaser trailers might be shown in cinemas but usually are found online on official and unofficial websites.

However there are some similarities between theatrical and teaser trailers.

• Both of them have fades.
• There are often taglines in both.
• Impact sounds used to create a mood.
• Production/distribution company logos
• Often they do have release dates, however the teaser trailer, in general, is more vague due to where in the marketing campaign the trailer is released.
• A website for the film is often shown in both.

Poster Design Ideas

Part of the marketing campaign is to create a poster, so I sketched five possible layouts. Here they are:

 

List of Poster Conventions

The research and planning I have been doing about the conventions of a poster have shown me a lot about what a poster should have on it. From the exercise I have compiled a list of conventions, not all of which I will use in my poster, but they will act as a guideline when creating my poster.

Having researched these and other posters, the following conventions appear frequently and I will make sure I will use them in my poster.

• Images (Stars/Characters, Scenes from the film)
• Quotations from magazines/newspapers reviews (showing target audience)
• Taglines
• Release Date (Sometimes vague e.g. ‘Coming Next Summer’)
• The title (always the biggest text on poster)
• Logos of companies involved in making the film
• Website
• Reference to source material
• Images of stars
• Eye Candy (Male or Female/Explosions/Action)
• Star Ratings
• Certificate
• Merchandise (e.g. soundtrack)
• Awards and nominations
• Reference to other films
• Credits / Billing
• Sound Logos
• Director
• Mise-en-scene (referencing genre)

When creating my poster I will always refer back to this list of conventions.

Poster Conventions

The last poster I have analysed is 'The Kings Speech'. This poster, and the rest of the posters I looked at helped me to figure out how I will present my poster, as there are many conventions that nearly all posters of a variety of genres have.

Poster Conventions

I decided to look at another poster from a different genre and I found that it shares the same conventions as the other posters I have looked at. 'Inglourious Basterds' is a war film.

Poster Conventions

I decided to analyse and annotate a poster from a different genre, to see if the conventions were the same regardless of genre - the film is 'No Strings Attached'. It is a Romantic Comedy.

At this stage I just want to see the conventions of posters from a variety of genres, rather than the conventions of genre.

Many of the conventions from this poster, are similar to those found on the Tintin poster, despite the fact that they are from different genres.

Poster Conventions

Posters are an integral part of a film's marketing campaign, and like any media text they have conventions that crop up time and time again. For my first task I took the poster for Tintin and analysed the conventions of a poster.