Empires 51st Issue September 1994

This magazine cover is from when Empre was attempting to build a brand name for itself and to do this it needed to attract an audience, it did this by getting famous stars to agree to be in the main image of the magazines next issue. In this magazine for example they have used Sharon Stone as the main image. Sharon Stone was quite famous arround 1994 and 1995 as she was playing a main role in "Casino". In the main image she is posed showing the top her chest, this according to feminists would be the media using her to attract a male audience in order to sell magazine this also relates to Richard Dyers star theory, in which people are more likely to purchase this magazine due to the actor in it rather than the actual contents of the magazine. Sexual quotes are referenced on the front cover, "Since becoming famous. I get to torture a better class of man..." this makes men more likely to find purchase the magazine to find out what is said due to the actress who has said it, this can relate to Dyers star theory as it entises men to purchase the magazine due to what the actoress has said. 

The general layout is quite typical of the early versions of empire magazine. With the plain background it makes the text and main image stand out more due to the colours used, this draws more attention to the magazine and attracts more cutomers.  Small puffs are used to inform the reader of the other articles such as the gold coin with the text inside.

This magazine has the barcode and price in an unusual position it is positioned quite high towards the center of the image compared to moder magazines where it is typically in the bottom right corners.

Transformers Magazine Cover

These two magazine covers are from Transformers (2007), and Transformers - Revenge of the fallen (2009). These two magazine covers have destinctive similarities, such as the colour schemes, the background colours match those of the robot (Optimus Prime) in the main image, showing semniotics throughout the film and the magazine. On both covers the Empire masthead is covered by the main image this shows that the magazines brand name is quite famous and easily recognisable due to it's house style.

Large ancorage texts are used to break up large image and explain some of the contents ofthe magazine. The Transformers (2007) magazine is a special this type of magazine is often more popular creating higher levels of sales due to it being more focused on one film. The sell lines are used on both magazines and are typical of empires magzines. These are used to promote the other articles in the magazine.

The Transformers - Revenge of the fallen cover uses pictures rather than text to advertise its other articles. The text line at the top saying "Transformers 2 THE WORLD'S FIRST LOOK!" entises the audience to purchase the magazine.

Empire magazine has a wide target audience when it comes to there magazine covers, I think that this type of magazine cover is targeting a male audience due to the action film that is being advertised in the main article.

Feminists could argue that the Transformers - Revenge of the fallen magazine cover is aimed only at men due to the main four images used on the cover only containing men. Another theory which can be applied to this is Richard Dyers star theory, In which three of the male actors in the image are well known, this is used by empire to draw attention to their magazine so that more potental customers purchase their magazine.

Shrooms Poster

In the Shrooms poster it tries to achieve the effect similar to that of trailer in which it: Identifies the genre, gives idea's into what the film is about, shows the actors, director and film Production Company.

In this poster it is easily identified as a horror film by the main image. The skull which is made up from the mushrooms (which links to the story of the film) being in the moonlight make the image of a skull. This allows the viewer to establish that the film is of the horror genre.

The colours used in the image are black, white and dark blue, these colours incite fear into the viewer they are also used to allow for the viewer to gather an impression that the film is of the horror genre.

The two most famous actors name's are used which relates to Richard Dyers star theory, in which the actors are used to draw people to watch the film.

The type of storyline is one which some people might possibly be able to relate to, this entices people to go and see the film, typically this type of film will be aimed at an audience of late teen's early twenty's.

Other information such as the director and Film Company is included at the bottom which is common through many different film posters and I will be incorporating that idea into my own work.

This poster is very successful in how it achieves what most posters set out to achieve when targeting the target audience, it doesn’t give to much away like the trailer but does give small hints into what the film includes.

Shrooms Trailer

Shrooms (2007) is drug based horror/thriller film of a teenaged drug fuelled trip to Ireland, in which the teenagers become intoxicated from taking mushrooms they found in a forest. By the dark lighting used in the trailer it conforms to the norms used within the horror genre. The fast passed atmosphere of the trailer also fits with the genre as it represents shock/fear and this is a way of emphasising it to the viewer.

Handy cam is used to give the effect to the viewer of being in the film as one of the characters. It is used a lot through out the trailer to keep the atmosphere, and give more feeling to film.

The mise en scene in the main scenes establishes the location, and what the characters are doing there. It does this by using a worm shot establishing the characters travelling into a forest. By doing this it gives the viewer an idea of the atmosphere the film will be trying to create.

The objective of a trailer is to spark interest in the viewers mind, influencing them to go and see the film, it is meant to give small insights into the film enticing the viewer. In the Shrooms trailer i feel by then end it has given too much of the storyline away which would make the viewer less likely to go and see the film. So I believe that this trailer fails to meet the specific objectives of a trailer is supposed to do.

Friday Trailer

In the Friday film trailer it depicts an image of lower class, African Carribean society in the American 'Gheto's'. Large emphasis is placed upon drugs in their comunity, this follows a typical sterotype of African Carribean working class, saying that they are typically involved in drugs. Drugs are seem to be a casual part of this society showing that it is a norm in this area. This trailer highly sexualises women showing them to be objects of desire from the two main characters. This trailer shows a male dominace over women, there are mainly men in, it also showns that men treat women as less than equals for example towards the end of trailer Chris Tucker is ordering a woman never to come to a certain location. This trailer uses quick short montages of clips from the film emphasising the drugs, women, jokes, and casual life style of the two main characters. One quote from Chris Tucker in the trailer, "I know you don't smoke weed, I know this; but I'm gonna get you high today, 'cause it's Friday; you ain't got no job... and you ain't got shit to do." This shows an escape from the problems that one character has.  28 seconds into the trialer there is a man hanging out of an ice cream vans looking down towards a character which makes it look like he is a figure of authority, this can be related to gangs or a drug dealer. Violence is also a big part of this trailer, 47 seconds in it shows a large man, punch another man into the air although comical this shows that he is powerful because people are scared of him.
Both maternal and paternal parenting is shown in the trailer as both Craig Jones(Ice Cube's) parents offer different types of advice.
A cheesy voice over is played during the trailer promoting the actors within the trailer, a song is also played in the packground which is typicaly stereotyped to the lower class African Carribean society.
This trailer shows the typical life style that some people can experince when they take drugs, e.g. they a threatend by a man that if they don't pay him his money that he will kill them.
The star theory can be applied to this trailer with actors such as, Ice Cube & Chris Tucker playing leading roles this entises an already large fan base to go and see the film because those famous stars are in the film.

Scarface

Our group is looking at doing a trailer about a film which involves the role of drugs so as part of my research i have watched a few films to give me some inspiration and ideas as to what to include in the trailer.

Scarface is a 1983 crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana. Based on Howard Hawks' original 1932 film Scarface, the film tells the story of a fictional Cuban refugee who comes to Florida in 1980 to try and make a better life in America. Tony Montana becomes a gangster against the backdrop of the 1980s cocaine boom. The film shows his rise to the top of Miami's criminal underworld and subsequent downfall. I think this film shows many forms of addiction such as power, violence and drugs.

In the film you see Tony Montana rise to power, doing this the film shows a life of luxury that is achieved through violence, drug dealing, and drug taking. I think this glorifies the image of drugs as it shows that power can be achieved through drugs etc. The film also shows his subsequant fall from power that ends up [Spoiler Alert...] in his death.  This image shows Tony Montana sitting alone in his mansion after pushing away his friends and family, in pile of "Yayo", [Cocaine]. This image represents his what drugs can do to a person it can cause them to push away there family and friends, showing a typical image that is shown throughout media productions for example, 'Requiem for a dream' in which drugs cause people to lose sight of whats more important. Another way in which this image shows drugs in a negative way is that Tony Montana had power, money, nice home, nice cars etc, this shows that although drugs can give people a good life, they can also take it away from them just as easily.

Here is a link to view the scarface tailer on youtube that i have uploaded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9S5YoNj1vE

Film Trailer Questionnaire

The Book of Eli

The Book of Eli Film Trailer

In the trailer it shows similar paterns to thoose used in the poster, it depicts a dark, and dangerous landscape in which a man fights for survival to complete his journey. It achieves this depiction through the use of mise en scene, camera angles and lighting. The majority of the trailer is filmed in dark settings, this allows for the type of film to established to the viewer. Mise en scene shows the user a glimps of the storyline and sparks an interest in the viewers mind which could potentially drive them to go and see the film. This trailer expands on the main fatures of film elaborating more of the story line to entise viewers to come and see the film. It does this by identifying the story line through a series of lcips taken from the film, showing how the world arround Eli looks. The voice over on the trailer identifies more of the story by telling a background basis of what happend and small clues to what is going to happen.

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The Book of Eli

Poster

 

The book of Eli is a recently released film showing a post-apocalyptic America.

The large main picture used in this poster sets the main background of the film. By showing an aged man, with a dirty beard, wearing old dirty clothes, and carrying a worn out gun it allows the user to establish that he comes from a time where he has to fight for survival, and where material goods are hard to come by.

By using a large dark clouded background we can establish from this that the film shows that his surroundings are from a dark, evil, or corrupt place and gives the effect of fear.

The angle used on this image shows us looking up towards the man in the picture, this gives the impression that we are looking up at someone who is strong, and important.

The large title stands out as it uses a font which fits to the story line of the movie, it uses a damaged look to represent a world that has been damaged, and this font is used on smaller pieces of text as well showing consistency throughout the product.

By displaying the most famous actors in the poster it draws more attention to the film and can entice more people to potentially go to the cinema to watch the film.

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Welcome

Introduction

Hi, and welcome to my A2 Media Blog.

Throughout this blog i will be documenting my progress as i move through the different stages of completing my Media A2 coursework.

I have been asked to design a promotion campaign for a new film, this will consist of:

• 2 x 60 Second teaser trailers or one 2 minute feature length trailer
• A magazine front cover, e.g. Empire magazine
• A promotional poster

Keep your eyes out for regular updates to my blog and please leave feed back on any of my posts!