This is my first draft for my magazine cover. After analysing other magazine covers I decided to adhere to the typical conventions of covers in order for my own to look as professional as possible.
I am extremely happy with the picture in the centre of the page, i used photo editing software in order to 'cut out' the image of Bloody Mary. I decided to use one large image on the cover rather than a couple, as i didn't want the cover too look too busy and intimidating to people who may purchase it.
I also made sure that I included obvious features such as the barcode, date and price in order for the magazine to look realistic. (although the price had to be in dollars as the pound sign doesn't work on the key board!)
I also made use of certain features so that the cover would appeal to the target audience of teens and young adults. I did this through making sure that the actors name was large and noticeable, making use of 'famous' actors names would attract the audience.
In addition, I adhered to a particular colour scheme.I noticed that this was used on other, professional magazines. I chose to use black red and blue, the black and red work well as there is a horror film on the cover so the colours have connotations of horror.
In order to make the film name stand out on the cover I used a different type of font to the rest of the cover. This font is very similar to that i have used on my film poster, so that the two will tie in together. In addition I have also chosen to use a 'type writer' font, this works well and contrasts with the 'capital' font i have also chosen to use. In addition, its also ties with my trailer in that certain parts show this 'typewriter' font.
Further more I have written 'provocative' quotes from an interview on the cover, again as the audience is quite young this will entice them towards buying the magazine. Eg "I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD END UP LIKE THIS".
In addition to this, I have also chosen to use offers of competitions for example "WIN TICKETS TO UNIVERSAL STUDIOS".
However, I think there is too much leading on the top right hand corner. In my next draft I will change the layout out and possibly add other features to fill up this space. I also want to change the banner on the top of the page and possibly the font used as the title of the magazine. I feel that they don't look as professional and cheapen the look of the cover. I may also add a fourth colour of grey to the cover, as the colour scheme may be seen as repetitive.
To ensure that the cover looks as realistic as possible, I will ask members of my target audience what makes them want to buy the cover, and what they think should be improved.
This is the final design I have created for my poster. I have made a few changes to the previous one;
1) I have changed the date. I noticed that some films chose a release date that had connotations of horror,evil and the devil. This is why i have chosen the date 'June 6' because of the superstition around the number '6' and evil.
2) I have moved the 'bloody mary' caption further down the page, I felt as though it was distracting from the image and made it lose its effect.
3) I have changed the typeface for the Times magazine reccomendation, this was so that the font was coherant in both the poster and trailer. Adding to its over all effect and making it look more professional and 'put together'.
4) Upon comparing my own poster to that of real-life posters, I realised that they often provided information about actors, copy right and the directer at the bottom of the page in an extremely small font. I have added this so that it looks as professional as possible. Also, if the film included famous actors it would then appeal more to the audience. This resulted in me having to move the '18' certificate to the top of the page.
Overall, I feel that the movie poster I have created is effective. It include generic features used to attract the audience and create the connotations of a typical horror. I have included a coherant colour scheme which features red,black and white. This is typical of a horror poster. In addition i have chosen one large image rather than 2 smaller images, I feel that this is more effective in attracting attention and making the film seem appealing. This is supported by the brief questionaire I created that asked the target audience which of the three versions they prefered. The recomendation at the top of the page, enhances the films reputation, posters will often show a recomendation from a well known source to appeal to their target audience. The dont I have used would perhaps be seen more commonly in horror films form the 70/80's. Although this font may be percieved as 'cheesy' nowadays, I used it because the links to fonts from the 70/80's will remind older viewers of their own experiences when they were younger of this urban legend. Thus making the poster appeal and relate to a wider target audience.
After conducting a short questionnaire aimed at my target audience, I found that the poster they found most appealing was 'Version One' (60% agreed). I will now proceed to improve upon the poster so that it looks as realistic and effective as possible.
This is my Third design for my poster. I like the idea of combining two images into one. I also like the 'grain' effect I have added on the top, it reminds me of the picture quality of older horror movie (think Psycho), I think that it adds an edge to the poster. I'm disapointed that i was unable to add the red fade on the adge of the poster to the borders at the top and bottom, I think that in order for the poster to look professional, I will have to change that. Again, I have chosen to use a generic font type with a generic choice of colour, I feel that this is an extremely common feature of horror posters and it works well. However, I feel that in this case it may cheapen the look of the poster. I have also used a recommendation at the bottom of the page, which is another common feature.
Now that I have created the three versions I will edit and improve the one that works best and use this as the final design for my poster.
This is my second version for the poster for my film trailer. I'm not sure if I like it as much as the first, this is because i feel like there's something wrong with the composition. This could be due to the fact that the title 'bloody mary' is not large enough, or because there's too much leading on the left hand side. Although, I am fond of the way i have edited the photos, I used a 'vampire' effect to whiten the victims skin and create dark circles around the eyes. It took alot of effort to put the seperate photos on one page after editing the back ground out and overall i am happy that i done so. I used black and red colour scheme to conform with other posters common features, I feel this works well as the colours have conotations of danger,evil,fear ect...
This is my first attempt at creating a poster for my trailer, as part of the ansillary task to tie in with my film trailer. The image I have chosen was taken inbetween filming, I think that now it has been edited using 'picmonkey' (an online photo-editing website) the contrast and composition works well with that of traditional horror movies. I have chosen a typical horror style font and have chosen to write it in a generic colour. I think that this works in well as the font has conotations of blood and danger, although I am concered that it may look slightly 'cheesey' and cheapen the look of the poster. In order for the poster to look realistic, I made use of a '18' certificate and also a comment from a magazine at the top of the poster. Next time, to improve it, I may use a tag line, something like the ones on 'the Orphan' posters.
These are a few of the photo's I have taken, in preparation for the ansillary tasks.
I tried to gather an idea of what I wanted my poster & magazine cover to look like before I took the photos. Hopefully they will look good once I have edited them and created my pieces.
