Analysis of Film Magazines

I have decided to look closely at ‘Total Film’ magazine as from all the film magazines this one is my favorite. I will look at the common conventions and follow some of them to create a successful magazine cover. I won’t follow all of the forms and conventions as I don’t want my magazine cover to look just the same as others on the market.

• Full image with background.
• Medium close up of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
• Title goes across the head.
• Red ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
• Strap line ‘must-see’ draws readers in.
• 4 different colours used.
• 3 different fonts used.
• Text justified down both sides of the page.
• Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.

• Full image with background.
• Medium shot of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
• Title goes behind the head showing that it is a well knowing magazine as they don’t need to see the full name without recognizing it is a ‘Total Film’ magazine.
• Cut out ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
• ‘World exclusive’ draws readers in as it sounds as though they will be the first to know the information.
• Quotations are effective as it shows other thoughts on the films.
• 3 different colours used.
• 3 different fonts used.
• Text justified down both sides of the page.
• Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.

Analysis of another horror trailer

The next trailer i decided to analyse was 'Orphan'

Mise-en-scene

It started off with a big white house and it was snowing, the colour red seemed to have been drained out taking the warmth out of the shot. The white could suggest vulnerability as it is the victims house. The shot of the school looks happy, it creates an equilibrium. Then when Esther is sitting in the class room alone it suggests she is lonely. When Esther joins the new class all the pupils are staring at her. Again showing she is lonely. When Esther is in the toilet cubicle it is a small enclosed space shows connotations of the character being trapped. This links well with the storyline as she is trapped in a child's body. Esther seems to wear a lot of dark clothing which represents that she is a dark character. The rooms are all dark and the weather is raining and dull and gloomy, this helps create an atmosphere.

Sound

It starts with quiet strings with some piano chords added in. It is slow at first but builds up and is happy during the start to go with the equilibrium. The keys become lower when Esther gets angry. We also hear the children laughing at her. The bangs have been edited to make them sound louder and scarier and give the audience a fright. There is a sound that sounds like wind blowing when the location changes. The music builds up to a big bang then goes quiet and we here Esther scream very loud. The music dims down to let us here the voice over. after hearing 'i think there's something wrong with Esther' we here the swings creaking. This gives a creepy effect to the trailer. The music starts to get faster once bad events start occurring. There is fast banging to go with the fast cuts. It ends with Esther singing which creates a scary tone.

Camera shots/ movements and angles

Establishing shots are used a lot to show the location of the scene. There are also a lot of close up shots used when people are talking to each other. This helps to show the emotions. There is a extreme close up of Esther and the Mother first holding hands when the voice over says 'connection'. There is a shot of the family in the car. The camera is directly above the car. This could show vulnerability. The camera is also above Esther when she is going crazy in the toilet cubicle. This could show us as viewers peering over to watch her. The camera is at a low angle looking up at Esther to make her look powerful. It pans up to a very high angle when on the mother to show she is vulnerable. Another way Esther is mad to look scary is by using a close up of her staring straight into the camera.

Editing

There are a lot of quick cuts used. This makes it look more exciting. Fades are used a lot to indicate change in location and also to fade to white to allow the writing on the screen visible. The screen goes all black when the voice over is on. There is slow motion running used to give a sympathetic view on the mother. A jump cut from a long shot to a mid shot of Ester is also used.

Analysis of horror films

I have decided to analyse some horror films as this is the genre my trailer will be. By doing this it will help me to find out what are common conventions of horror films. It will also help broaden my ideas.

The first trailer i have analysed is Wolfman which is due to release in February 2010. Here is the trailer;

'Wolfman' Theatrical Trailer en Yahoo! Video

The trailer starts in a dark and gloomy forest with a man that is walking with a lantern. The mise-en-scene looks threatening and makes the character look vulnerable the sound starts off as slow strings that gradually builds up. You then here a slash off the wolves claw and you see a close up of his reaction. One of the characters voices is used as a narrative voice over which helps explain the story. His voice is deep and croaky which gives a more scary effect. The music gets faster and louder as more action takes place and the action gets scarier and scarier building up to a big scare at the end. The use of elliptical editing also helps to create the scary effect as it is only showing short snaps of events which helps create suspense. As the narrator says full moon the universal logo turns into the moon in the scene. A lot of the editing fades to black then fades back up again which is a common convention in horror trailers. The mise-en-scene of every shot is mainly dark and gloomy and the costumes fit into the setting of the past which makes the film believable. The use of a bridge suggests the community is isolated. Like many horror films a lot of things are emerging from shadows which makes the audience scared. Like all trailers it is a common convention to keep the beast/monster hiding so in this trailer we always seem to get close ups or extreme close ups of the wolf as they don't want to show too much and spoil the film for the viewers, we also see the wolf in the flare of the gun but it is only for a split second. They use a match edit with the girl in bed to the boy in bed which shows the two characters could be related. The girl lights the candle which in some movies connotate that she could be the light in the story, the heroine type of girl. The editing is always moving there is a quick cut, then the camera is moving towards a character then another cut then the camera is moving away from a character which makes the film seem exciting, like there is always something happening. The quick snappy editing stops the audience seeing too much. By using the point of view shot of the wolf running through the forest it helps make us feel sympathetic towards him. Iconic lines are used in the trailer 'Darkness comes for you' which the audience will remember. The quote 'let me help you' suggests he isn't evil he has been taken over. Quotes like these are normally shown in a different place to what it is in the original film. At the end it is all quiet with a girl in the forest the music isn't there any more and you can here the girl heavy breathing. She looks very vulnerable alone in the forest and we can see the wolf looking for her in the background which creates suspense. Then the last big scare is the wolf growling.