Final magazine front cover

This is my final magazine front cover feature advertising the horror film 'Flat 39' as part of my promotion package:



I decided to follow typical conventions of a magazine front cover featuring a film such as a dominant mid shot image partly placed over the mast head 'total film', dark colours, the dominance of the colour red, similar to on the poster so a sense of branding is created. Also, I included advertisements for different features in the magazine such as 'previews and reviews' and 'top 100 horror movies' This is to entice the audience and it follows conventions of a magazine front cover. I also included conventions such as a barcode, a sense of informality suggested through the exclamation marks and a unique selling point 'on set with the cast and crew of Flat 39!' I also created a sense of branding through having the same font 'Flat 39' as I did on the poster so this is recognisable to the audience and again, creates a sense of branding. I also decided to include a convention of 'total film' magazine by including top line typography of films that are to be released at a similar time to this edition of the 'total film' magazine, so advertising is constant on this magazine front cover, not only my film 'Flat 39' but others also, so that the audience are attracted by the abundance of films.

Audience feedback and other drafts of magazine front cover

I allowed 5 people of ages 17-18 to view the first draft of my magazine front cover:


I wanted to get audience feedback so that I could consider their comments and make the changes as appropriate as this group of people will be the target audience for my teaser trailer, poster and magazine front cover feature.
Some of the comments that I got back were:
'the colour scheme is effective, it's the same on the poster so you know it's the same film' - male, 18
'the image of the girl is good because you know the film is about her and that the magazine is including a special feature about her' - male, 18
'you have advertised different things in the magazine well because the audience will want to know what is in there, so the reviews is good and so is the section about horror films' - female, 17
'the section 'top 100 horror movies of all time' could be made smaller as it slightly covers the image of the girl too much - male, 17
'the font could be made simpler because that's what other magazines have - simple font' - male, 18
'the circle with on set with the cast of flat 39!' is a good feature but you could get rid of the circle because it looks a bit random and not to do with the images below' - female, 17

I will take these comments into consideration when I am constructing the final draft of my magazine front cover feature.

This is my second draft with the changes that my target audience suggested to me:


I decided to make some changes and decided to change the text 'on set action with the cast and crew of Flat 39!' to 'Inside: on set with the cast and crew of Flat 39' as this successfully advertises directly, what is inside the magazine. Due to furthur audience feedback I have decided to make the title of the film 'Flat 39' bigger as I want this to be the main feature of the magazine so the audience's eyes are drawn towards this. This is the third draft of my magazine front cover feature:


I had to make some final changes for my final magazine front cover, I manipulated the 'total' on the total film mast head to have the same font as 'Flat 39' so a sense of branding is created and it is as if the film is so established that it takes over the magazine design. I changed the colour of 'total' to black as it fits in with the colour scheme of my magazine front cover and looks effective as it also connotes the genre of the film: horror. I also decided to change the price '£2.99' to '£2.90' as this is the actual price of a total film magazine and I decided to add the website 'totalfilm.com' as this is a convention of total film magazine front covers. This is my final draft for my magazine front cover feature:

The construction of the magazine front cover

For my magazine front cover feature I used the programme 'paint.net' to manipulate the photograph, add a title 'total film' and manipulate fonts, images and shapes in accordance to what I was aiming to achieve with the layout.

This is the photograph that I am going to use for my magazine front cover feature, as I need to ensure that there is a sense of branding across the ancillary products and the teaser trailer the image is of the young female protagonist (which is also evident on the poster and within the teaser trailer) and accompanied with the title 'flat 39' the film is constantly advertised and the genre reinforced. The only thing I had to ensure with this photograph was that it had higher key lighting so that the audience could easily recognise this female character.



These are some of the photographs I am going to include on my magazine front cover so that the audience is enticed by behind the scene action and interviews and 'never before seen footage' of set and location:







Looking back at my mock up of the magazine front cover feature I must ensure that I place the appropriate graphology/typography in the right place so that it appears as though it is a genuine magazine front cover feature with the appropriate conventions of a horror genre poster including an element of darkness, set/location indicators and traditional conventions such as other features in the magazine '100 greatest horror movies' and a barcode. A magazine front cover feature must include an element of informality such as colloquial language/ideas 'See what's inside!' so that the audience are enticed by this slight familiarity.


Above is a mock up I constructed on 'paint' so that I can establish where typography/graphology is going to be placed. I will refer back to this when constructing my final magazine front cover feature on 'paint.net'. I have decided that I am to include a section of 'this month's movies' so that the audience are enticed and I am also to include a 'review and preview' section so that the audience are again, enticed by other features in the magazine as well as my film 'Flat 39'

Below are some screen shots of me working on paint.net to construct my magazine front cover


I used the tools on 'paint.net' to make the backrounds of the image of the young female and the 'flat 39' title invisible so that I could place them as a seperate layer of graphology on my magazine front cover feature created on microsoft word


This is a screen shot of me placing the various layers of graphology on my magazine front cover feature for desired effect. As a dominant image of somebody looking at the camera over the 'total film' mast head is a convention of a magazine front cover I had to ensure that I included this. Microsoft word allowed me to move images around with ease and create the magazine layered effect whilst paint.net allowed me to get rid of backgrounds that I did not want.


This is my first draft of my magazine front cover feature:

Final Poster

This is my final poster advertising the horror film 'Flat 39' as part of my promotion package.



I decided to follow typical conventions of a horror film poster such as a dominant image, dark colours, the dominance of the colour red, teaser typography 'who should you fear?' advertising 'In cinemas 2011' and small print of the cast and crew list.
For my final draft I also decided to have an obvious seperation between 'who should..' and 'In cinemas..' because I wanted the idea of two people: a seperation, so that the typography itself parallels the image and the narrative: two people, a seperation between the two personalities. The tag line is important 'who should you fear?' as the second person pronoun 'you' combined with the rhetorical question and the young female staring directly at the audience involves the audience directly as she appears to be challenging the audience with this rhetorical question therefore evoking a specific emotion of fear.

The construction of the poster

I am going to use 'www.picnik.com' in order to upload my photos and manipulate them effectively so that I can create my poster. This website allows me to change the colour, sharpness and size of my images so that I can create the desired effect for each product according to their individual conventions.
This is a screen shot of 'picnik' as I was working on my poster:


For my poster I must ensure that I have a significant amount of darkness connoting mystery and isolation as this fits in with the narrative of my teaser trailer. I must also include traditional conventions of a poster, including the film title and simplicity of the poster to create intrigue as well as a cast/crew list at the bottom of the poster.

For my magazine front cover feature I must include specific conventions such as a lighter image so that the film brand is recognisable (an image of the young lady) and I must also include traditional conventions such as colloquial language, various colours and fonts and different features advertised on the front cover. (USP)
I used the audience feedback for my mock ups to recognise what I must include on each ancillary product.

Whilst constructing them I must keep in mind that I am aiming to create a promotion package so I must create branding across the teaser trailer, poster and magazine front cover feature. I am going to do this by including the young lady within each product, so that the audience recognise the brand as well as establishing that the young lady is a key part of the narrative.

This is the first draft of my film poster that I constructed on www.picnik.com



During the first draft construction I tried to incorporate specific conventions of a teaser poster and for my second draft I have established that I must include a tag line for the film to create mystery surrounding the narrative which will be 'who do you fear?' the use of the verb 'fear' will ensure a particular emotion will be evident when somebody views this poster and the use of the rhetorical question on the poster will ensure audience involvement and create mystery which is what a teaser poster is supposed to do, so simplicity is key, here is my second draft:


I must ensure that I have simple information on my poster 'in cinemas 2011' This is the only form of date advertising I am going to use so that the audience is more interested in the actual poster and what the narrative may be. The darkness is very significant as it draws people in. I have decided to flip the letter 'e' in fear to suggest that what a person may fear may not be the correct thing to fear, it may be something else. This is my third draft:


For my final draft I decided to incorporate the cast and crew list as I did in my first draft, it is a convention of a film poster and I think it makes the overall product look realistic, I have still included all of the typography discussed above and believe that this draft is my most successful.


I decided to make some final changes and decided to change the verb phrase 'who do' to 'who should' because I believe that this verb phrase is more intrusive and will scare the audience as it is suggesting that this film doesn't involve obvious fears but perhaps something that you do not think you will fear. This links in with the typography I have included in my teaser trailer 'what happens when the people you trust become the people you fear.' This creates a sense of branding across the two products as part of my promotion package. I have also decided to place the tag line 'who should you fear' more central across the divide of the 'two' female characters to create an effect that the typography is depicting the narrative and paralleling the image. A sense of two people is created.



I have decided that my poster will be a quad poster. A quad poster is landscape in style and allows more of an image to be seen and more emphasis to be put on the size of image/images or particular typography. These are a few examples of quad posters:




I have decided to make my poster a quad poster so that there is an emphasis on the idea of 'two' people, two different sides to this vulnerable female. The line of the mirror inbetween the girl and her reflection represents the divide between her two different sides and I believe a quad poster would place effective emphasis on the idea of the two sides to this young woman and how she has been negatively affected by 'Flat 39'.

Audience feedback for ancillary product mock ups

In order to construct a successful poster and magazine front cover feature it is important to get audience feedback so that I know what they think is good and what needs improving, I allowed 10 people to see the computerised mock ups I constructed and the actual photographs that I am planning to put on them and I then got them to complete a questionnaire.
I created it on www.surveymonkey.com

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

After 10 people had completed it I then translated the results onto microsoft excel and created these pie charts to present the results so that I could use them for my improvements.



These results tell me that the thing that most people expect to find on a magazine front cover feature is a dominant, recognisable image. As it is a promotion package I must make sure that there are obvious trends between my teaser trailer, magazine front cover feature and poster. The second most popular answer was 'all of the above' people expect to see all of the features described so I must ensure that I include all of them when constructing my final ancillary product.



Most people said that my poster mock up was effective in looking like a real poster. I will try and follow the conventions of a horror film poster, such as, dark colours, a dominant image/title, simplicity to create intruige and a cast and crew list at the bottom of the poster.




Most people said that the dominant image (girl in the mirror) is the most effective thing on my film poster and the second most popular answer is the dark colours, dark colours are important as I want to portray the genre of my film is the most simple yet effective way.




For this question, the audience felt like trends between magazine front cover feature and poster were the most important feature and as I am constructing a promotion package I agree with this and will ensure that there are obvious trends: colour similarities, the female character. The least popular answer was 'other conventional features of a magazine' I think that this may have been the least popular as the features are so simple and obvious my audience didn't think they were important as they are just there. But I will ensure that even simple things like barcodes, colloquial language are evident to conform to magazine front cover conventions.




For this question my audience were given the chance to voice their opinion on what I needed to specifically improve on my film poster. Interestingly, a few had similar answers and I have generalised their actual text into three answers. The most popular was allowing the title to stand out, I will make sure I do this as this is the point of a film poster, to advertise a new film and the audience need to see clearly what it is called. 'Flat 39' will stand out in an effective manner and the colour red will help it do this.




This question is the same as the one above, yet it is about improvements for the magazine front cover feature. Interestingly, the most popular answer was regarding similar colours on magazine and poster. I think that this is important to my audience as they need continuity to establish that the two products are connected. I will make sure that in my final construction of both products there will be dark colours and red on both.




For effetiveness the most popular answer was 4 and 5 which is encouraging as my audience think that my poster is effective. I now need to make sure that I take the mock up idea and effectively manipulate it on photoshop to create the desired effect.




Finally, for effectiveness regarding the magazine front cover feature, my mock up scored 4/5 which is again, encouraging and I will ensure that I again translate my mock up ideas onto photoshop.

This audience feedback allows me to establish what I need to change for my ancillary products to make them effective and attractive to my audience. I need to make sure that there is a dominant image and title on the poster with strong colours. I need to make sure that there are similar colours on the magazine front cover feature with an effect USP (interview/behind the scenes action)

Computerised Mock-Ups/ Conventions of horror

This is a very basic mock up for the magazine front cover feature that I constructed on a word document so that I could establish where I would place individual typography/graphology. The writing in the white text box simply state what I would have in that area for example, in the middle I would have 'a mid-long shot of the female character looking straight into the camera or down'



This is a computerised mock-up for the poster I will be constructing. The white texts boxes explain what images are going to go where, for example in the middle of the poster there will be a mid shot of the female character looking into the mirror and in the background there will be very slight layers of graphology of the exterior of the flat. On my poster I must ensure that I follow the codes and conventions, for example, I will have at the bottom of the poster in small, undefined font all the members of the cast and crew (the credits)
In researching conventions of a horror movie poster I found that 'darkness' is an important element 'since horror posters inherit a lot of gothic conventions' I also found that 'if someone is shown being menaced it is usually a woman -- the persecuted maiden is often the viewpoint character in those stories.'
And finally 'There is often a picture of the setting of the tale. Not always but often.' I aim to try and incorporate some of these conventions into the construction of my own horror poster for maximum effect.

Photographs for poster and magazine front cover feature

These are the original photographs that I took that were then to be manipulated for effect on 'picnik.com' and paint.net On set I decided to experiment with various styles of shots and here are a few of my favourites for my poster:


This photograph would be effective as the dominant image on my poster for 'Flat 39' because it portrays the core of the narrative: The female protagonist possessed by an evil force within the flat. The darkness of the image is effective as it connotes the horror genre perfectly and the use of the mirror as a prop in the image is significant because it is presenting two sides to the female's personality. The facial expression of the female portrays a sinister personality and on photoshop I will be able to manipulate the eyes of the female in the reflection to present a change in persona to the viewer.


For my magazine front cover feature I am going to use a long low angle shot of the female character as she is now recognisable to the audience therefore they will be able to establish what film is being advertised on the 'Total Film' magazine front cover. Also, I have established due to my magazine front cover research that there is usually a mid shot of the main character of the film in a higher key lightig than the poster (if it's horror) as the audience need to easily recognise the character, thus, the film itself. These were my favourite images:


I had to do a re-shoot of the images for my magazine front cover as I needed to ensure that I had suitable photographs to include in the 'usp' section of my magazine of the female character on set and never before seen set and location shots. I also needed to ensure that the image of the female was mid shot and relatively high key lighting so this is the new image that I now plan to use:

'Total Film' titles

Here are a few examples of diverse 'total film' titles adapting to the genre of the film they are featuring on the cover. When I construct my film magazine cover feature I am going to ensure that my 'Total Film' title or the title of my magazine will effectively portray the horror genre evident in my film.

Inception - Analysis

For my coursework as well as producing a teaser trailer of 1-2 minutes, I must also produce two ancillary products: a magazine cover featuring the film and a poster.
I am going to analyse the magazine cover and poster for Inception to establish common trends and conventions that I will stick to when I construct my ancillary products.



The title of the magazine 'total film' has effectively adapted to the genre of the film it is advertising: thriller. Through the images of the tops of building which appear to look technological, the audience can establish that this film is of the thriller genre and the title of 'total film' suggests that the film is complex.
Leonardo DiCaprio is the dominant image on the cover suggesting that he plays a huge role in the film and that he is the main character. Through his facial expression the audience can establish that his character is a complex one and the audience can also make an intelligent judgement that DiCaprio is the main protagonist in the film.
The title of the film 'inception' is layered across DiCaprio letting the audience know that he has a dominant role in the film and the typography 'inside the ultimate head trip' is the magazines USP as the audience wish to read about this 'ultimate head trip' as the magazine is suggesting that they have information about it. The magazine also has other sections such as 'Tron, everything you need to know' and 'the 27 most mind-blowing movies ever!' This gives the audience another reason to purchase the magazine as the issue contains other attractions. The text 'Mind-blowing' is repeated twice on the cover to reiterate to the audience that Inception is a film revolving around the mind.



There are common features between the magazine cover feature and the poster. Both include the central image of DiCaprio. Both include the title of the film 'Inception' across Dicaprio's character. Both have similar colours, dark blues and blacks and red. These colours indicate to the audience the genre of the film. They connote a psychological thriller with sci-fi elements and the red colour stands out on both products suggesting that the film includes elements of danger. Interestingly, on the poster DiCaprio as the main character appears vulnerable and overpowered by his surroundings, this potrays more of the narrative of the film whereas on the magazine front cover feature DiCaprio appears very much in control and not vulnerable but quite the opposite, this suggests that film magazine features revolve around the main character and the idea of having a recognisable face/person so that the audience can be drawn to it.
In my opinion, this is very effective of ancillary products as the magazine cover feature attracts the audience through the character as the audience have prior knowledge of the film so know that he represents the film whereas posters are more complex and reveal more of the narrative which attracts the audience as the poster effectively 'speaks more' than a film magazine cover feature.

I will be using this idea for my ancillary products by concentrating more on potraying the narrative on the poster and having a recognisable face/image on the magazine front cover to allow the audience to familiarise themselves. I will also use similar colours on both products so that the genre is constantly reinforced. I will also make the title of the magazine cover reflect the genre of the film, perhaps through colour of style of typography of images within the title of the magazine.

Ancillary product planning

As part of the promotion package I am going to be making, I have to create a film magazine front cover featuring the film and a film poster. The ancillary products will advertise my film just as effectively as the teaser trailer.

Initial poster ideas
For my poster I am planning to use a dominant image of the flat. I have decided that it would be interesting to use a few layers of graphology on the poster to portray that the narrative of my film has many layers and is not just a simple plot. For one of the layers I am planning to have the flat number '39' somewhere on the poster to draw the audiences attention to that specific flat number and it's significance. As well as the exterior of the flat and the number '39' I am planning to use a close up image of the female protagonist/victim who will be featured throughout the trailer. By using a close up image of her, a particular emotion can be conveyed through her worried facial expression and with the effect of the layer onto the flat it will show that something inside the flat or perhaps the flat itself is making her troubled. I have decided to use very dark colours on the film poster, similar to that on the shutter island poster. I am going to use a lot of black surrounding the flat and the girl, perhaps to convey that the flat itself is part of a bigger 'evil' than first percieved. I have decided to use the bold colour red on my film poster as red has connotations of danger which is what I wish to convey on my film poster so that the genre can be easily established. I think that the composition of images on my poster is going to be one of the most important things as my main aim is to convey a complex plot and to attract my target audience by allowing them to realize that there is a lot to the narrative which makes it appear interesting and intruiging.

Initial magazine cover feature ideas
As I want to establish a sense of branding across the trailer, the poster and the magazine front cover feature I must decide on a dominant idea/image to work with and alter for both the poster and the magazine cover feature. I must do this so that when my target audience views the promotion package they will be able to establish what film it is and it's genre. I plan to have a dominant image of the exterior of the flat as well as the iconic image of '39' and the close up image of the female character as my dominant idea/image. I have decided to be experimental and maybe for the magazine front cover feature, or the poster (I am yet to decide) have an extreme close up of an eye with the faded number '39' inside the pupil.
The use of these layered images will be recognisable for my target audience who would have seen the poster and it's similar style. As the poster can effectively 'speak for itself' because it just features the notion of the film and nothing else, I must establish a unique selling point when constructing my magazine front cover feature. As researched, both the 'Empire' and 'Total Film' magazine front cover features for The Dark Knight have USP's, Empire's being the interview with the character 'the joker' and Total Film's being the use of graffiti to attract the already established target audience for The Dark Knight. For my USP I am going to include 'on set' images and commentaries from characters and the director so that the target audience are intruiged by what is happening behind the scenes of this new horror film.

As well as using my creativity to construct a poster and magazine cover feature, I will also be including conventional text captions on my magazine cover feauture - "coming soon", "most anticipated film of the year", "5 ***** - Empire", "Thrilling - Total Film" are some examples I may use.



Here are some practice 'mock ups' of my initial poster and magazine front cover feature ideas.

Ancillary product research/planning

As well as constructing a teaser trailer for my film, I am also going to be creating a film magazine cover (featuring the film) and a film poster. In order to be able to do this well, I need to ensure that I understand how a promotion package works in advertising a film successfully.
The Dark Knight.


This is a poster promoting the film.


This is an Empire magazine cover featturing the film.


This is a Total Film magazine cover advertising the film.

A sense of branding is established through the two magazine cover features and the poster. The joker is the main element within all three attracting the audience and making them feel farmiliar with the film advertisements. I aim to achieve a sense of branding when i construct my trailer, magazine cover feature and poster, for example, particular images or phrares evident in the trailer will be evident on the magazine cover feature and poster. 'The joker' is a common trend evident in all three products here, this is to establish that the joker is very important to the narrative of 'the dark knight'. For my ancillary products the common trend will be an image of the flat accompnied with a close up of the female character's face to show the connection and to portray that the flat itself is very important within the narrative of my trailer.


This is the teaser trailer for the dark knight

Similar to the poster and the two magazine cover features, the joker is a very important element within the teaser trailer also. The teaser trailer begins with the voice of the batman but then accompnied with the batman symbol being demolished, the joker's voice takes over followed by a quick CU of a joker playing card. This allows the audience to establish that the joker is one of the main characters and the main antagonist within the film. Overall branding is established through the recognition of the joker as the antagonist.
In my promotion package I aim to achieve a sense of branding through including certain images in the teaser trailer, the poster and the magazine cover feature. This will allow my target audience to become familiar with the narrative and be intruiged to see more.