Evaluation: How does our Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Refer to your planning and research of similar texts.

Evaluation: How effective is the combination of your Film, Poster and Magazine?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

All the work we've completed has looked at the conventions within the media industry. The posters and magazines in particular were solely focused on the standard conventions of horror film posters and magazines and how they were created, represented and portrayed to the audience.

For our poster, we looked at many well-known movies to create our poster on. We looked at the different magazines for Texas Chainsaw Massacre to show how they have changed over time. We compared the 1974 film poster to the modern day posters for the film franchise. This helped us to judge what the modern features and conventions of magazines are and what we should include to make sure it looks sleek and up-to-date with modern times. We also studied Friday the 13^th’s poster so we could compare another large film franchise and their styles of posters. By comparing the two sets of posters, we saw the common themes. For example, dark colours as background, lots of red as the blood, not too much text (but any text to be white or red) and a large main central image to grab the attention of the audience.

Right at the beginning of our work, we instantly looked at two movie posters to create initial ideas of how ours would look. We analysed ‘The Thing’ and ‘The Amityville Horror’ film posters, which were slightly different from common conventions. They both used the same text colours of either red or white, whilst not having too much text. However, ‘The Thing’ used the masthead to show the main central image in the font. This was interesting, but it wasn’t very typical of the industry and so we didn’t use many of its features. ‘The Amityville Horror’ poster also went against the common themes by using some different colours. The lighting on the building in the background makes it stand out, but the green tint isn’t common for horror posters. On top of this, the masthead was quite a thin font, which was different to the other posters we have looked at because it doesn’t stand out as much and so doesn’t attract the audience as much as a larger font. We used these posters to create our own poster right at the start, where we tried to use the common conventions from these posters.

By the time we were creating our final posters, our idea of the conventions had been fine-tuned and so our posters could be more conventional to the industry. A conventional poster is beneficial to smaller media companies as it helps the audience associate the poster with the industry. A bizarre, unconventional poster may be more difficult for the audience to know the genre just from looking at the poster, and so may not help the film get viewed.

For our magazines, we studied ‘SCREAM’ in great detail, as we wanted to look at a magazine that works with our genre. Scream class themselves as the number 1 horror magazine and so we wanted to use the conventions they had to create our own horror magazine. ‘SCREAM’ used a large main central image with puffs neatly down one side with a standout border. We wanted to create similar effects for our own magazine front cover, and so we created a sleek front cover with text down the right hand side, neatly boarded off from the main central image. We had the title along the top with the pricing and the website, and the barcode in the bottom corner.

We also looked at some other magazine front covers such as Empire and Match Of The Day. We used our analysis of Match Of The Day to look at how they displayed puffs to advertise the rest of the magazine. They placed puffs randomly around the front cover in different shapes to fill the empty spaces. They made sure the front cover was full of colour and was very eye-catching. However this didn’t particularly help with our magazine front cover due to the largely different target audiences (kids vs adults) and genres (sport vs horror). Empire magazine was more relevant to use. They used a large central image that spans the whole page and goes behind the text, with headings down the side to display the content of the magazine. We used the ideas of Empire to help with the layout of our magazine to make sure it looks sleek and professional.

For our film, we looked at a few short films, some stop-start animations, YouTube videos, film segments and many film trailers. Each of these helped our production in different ways, so we could collect the common conventions and then create our work with these conventions in mind.

The trailers were useful as it focuses on the editing in great detail, helping us because a short film needs to be like a long trailer so it can keep the audiences attention. We also looked at a few YouTube videos to look at editing techniques so we could utilise FinalCutPro better. By looking at the editing in detail, we were able to improve our work and make it far more professional.

We looked at stop-start animations so we could get some ideas as to how we would incorporate elements into our film smoothly. Once we decided on the conventions of the stop-start animations, we studied the key ideas as to how to film it. Then we were able to begin our plan of what to film, where to have the camera and golliwog, and how to keep the golliwog in position whilst filming.

We used segments from other films such as 'Kingsman' to focus on music. We needed to ensure we had correct music to the scene, but also considered the use of contrapuntal music in our production. We know that music plays a big role in a film to engage the audience and create a specific mind-set for the audience. The soundtracks need to be engaging to make the film more gripping for the audience. The conventions of music were that the edits were timed with the beats, and the music is load but fades at the end.

Overall, our film, poster and magazines interlink nicely to create a strong, initial brand image for ‘Oblivion Productions’ because we used the same colour schemes and similar styles throughout all our work. On top of that, our work should appeal to lots of favourites of horror films as our work looks professional and so appeal strongly to the audience. The posters and magazines hopefully will attract the audiences to watch our film and boost the overall views of our production.

Evaluation: What have you Learned from your Audience Feedback?

What have you Learned from your Audience Feedback?

From the audience feedback, we received both positives and negatives, which will allow us to improve our work in the future if we had time to do them again. We had three people in the focus group, Charlie, Chloe and Abbie. We asked numerous questions such as there opinions on the poster, magazine and short film; whether they noticed a colour scheme throughout our pieces, and how we could improve our short film, magazines and posters.

The three girls noticed the colour scheme of black, red and white in our posters and magazines, which helps to portray the horror genre of our work. They said that they instantly knew that our work was of a horror genre and that it would be very hard to mistake it for another such as comedy or romance. Abbie said that the black and white symbolises the good and bad of the plot, with the red connoting blood, which makes it clear that the posters are of a horror genre. This is a positive to us and we can use this to ensure all future work we do uses strict colour schemes of a few colours and so it looks professional and not just a random assertion of colours.

Chloe said that our magazines and posters looked very professional, but could do with being more 'busy' like the one we recreated from Scream. Charlie agreed and went on to say that they were plain and didn't give enough information, as they would've liked. All three of them preferred our third magazine, which was our recreation of Scream. Abbie particularly liked the blood splatters we used to border the puffs and how it looked full. This tells us that in the future, we want to make sure the magazines have a very busy front cover with lots of text and images to help draw the audience’s attention and keep their interest. Charlie mentions how the non-busy magazines might fail to attract the audience as much, which could be an issue for future productions if the magazine doesn't turn heads.

On the posters, Abbie liked how the eyes contrasted with the black background and the effect that it gives to the audience. She liked how they pierced out, staring at the audience who look at the posters. Chloe liked how the posters created a moody atmosphere, which helped to represent the genre and show what the film could be about. As an improvement, we were told that we should have used different elements for the different posters to show more elements of the short film, rather than just focusing on the protagonists and golliwog. For our next production, we would make our posters more varied from each other, hopefully showing more cast members and more elements of the short film.

For our short film, the girls liked our utilisation of the drone and the different camera angles it provided for our short film. Abbie and Chloe both really liked the stop-start animation in our production. They thought that it wasn't too overpowering as it was in short bursts, helping to ensure it wasn't boring for the audience, and changes the dynamic of the film. This feedback will encourage us to use more camera angles in our future productions to keep bringing new perspectives of scenes for the audience. It has also told us that the combination of stop-start animation with normal footage worked well together, with Abbie even suggesting we used more. However, Charlie mentioned how we need to ensure the camera stays perfectly in place for all of the shots to ensure that there isn't too much movement of the camera which makes some of the photos look out of place.

Overall, we will use this audience feedback to improve any future work we complete. We understand how important the audience is to the media industry because if the production does not get seen, the company will not make any revenue. For a small company like ourselves, we want out work to get to the wider audience so it needs to appeal to them and meet their needs. By taking onboard the criticisms and advice, we can hopefully improve our work so that the audience enjoy our work more and so we get more views, but also improve our brand image as to making good films.

Evaluation: Media Technologies in the Construction, Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

Golliwog - Final Cut

Poster 2

We have kept the poster quite empty of text and made sure it is very visually appealing so that it can attract the audiences attention. This poster we have used the same colour scheme once again, but have included more red along the bottom next to the golliwog. The red along the bottom gradually fades into the black so it looks smooth and thus professional.

The main central image is of the golliwog, with the body being half on the left of the poster and the arm coming in towards the middle. The golliwog is a brighter red than the red at the bottom so that it stands out above the background. The blacks of the golliwog are harder to see, which connotes that the doll is hiding and could be right infront of you hiding in the darkness and you can't see it.

The masthead is a patchy and frail font that looks similar to blood. The red text of course connotes blood and danger, but the font also suggests blood as it isn't a solid bit of colour, with parts in each letter missing. Below the masthead is our production name and the names of the two actors. They are also red, matching the colour scheme. At the bottom of the poster is 'Out Now'. This text is black and contrasts the red background. The font used is again thin and frail, having lots of sharp points and corners, even on the letter 'o'. 

On the right hand side of the poster we have included a film review from scream magazine. We have five white stars with the small piece of text. We included a review as it is quite common for films to show the certain reviews that rated the film well in the hope that it would increase sales. We have used the five stars to make our film seem really good to the audience with the hope it sparks interest about our work.

Poster 1

This is our poster for our short film. The main central image is of the two protagonists standing back to back. Above the two actors is a very dark image of a golliwog, with lighting around the eyes and mouth to create an eery effect. We also used an inner shadow to make the eyes and mouth fade better into the background from the bright colours. 

This poster we decided to put the masthead near to the bottom. Although this is slightly unconventional, it makes the audiences key focus be of the golliwog and the two protagonists. The title is in a blood red colour. The font creates a sense of danger as the lines around the letters are not perfectly straight, but rather wobbly and scruffy. The long thin lines that the font creates at the end of letters could hint at the end of the road for the two characters. Below the masthead are the names of the two actors, Rory and Peter. We used the same font as we did the masthead as well as the same colour.  Their names are below each of them in the bottom corners,away from the middle as we want the attention to be more towards the 'OUT NOW' and our production name to hope we can create a brand for ourselves and increase our sales.

Creating Our Own Poster: Design 3

This is a third design we have for a poster. We have kept this design much more basic to have the key focus on the two protagonists and the golliwog. The white text is a contrast to the black backgrounds.

Along the bottom is key information such as the actors and our production name, informing people who is in the film and that we created it, helping to build our brand image. The two actors are stood behind their names with the golliwog face above their heads. The only facial features on the poster is the bright red smile and the two white eyes, making them stand out on the poster.

Along the top of the page is the title with 'out now' beneath it, telling audience members that the film is out and ready to watch.

Creating Our Own Poster: Design 2

Our second poster design goes into more detail than the last poster, showing the release date, the BBFC age rating and a rating from the Daily Birinus. It also mentions the Golliwog as a possessed doll, giving the audience a very brief explanation of what the film is about. This gives the audience a better understanding as to what the film might be about, which could help increase ticket sales.

Along the top is the films name and our production company. This design has the films name above the business' name as we want to consider how it will look with the most attention towards the films title. 

The main central image is of the two protagonists, but this time they are looking towards the camera. The older, brother played by (Peter Weir) is stood in front of the younger sibling due to the height difference. They both are stood with their arms crossed to suggest that they are serious.

Creating Our Own Poster: Design 1

This is our first design of a poster we've created on Photoshop. We made the protagonists stand back to back, look forwards.We took this picture to show them watching out, but also so they could 'have each others back'. The crossing of their arms suggest that they are focusing and concentrating on their surroundings.

Along the top we have Oblivion Productions in a black font. This is along the top so that it stands out to the audience. Below is the films name, 'Golliwog' so the audience know what the film is called. The name is in in all capital letters so that it stands out and is eye catching. 

For this poster design we have used minimal text so that it only shows the most important information and will hopefully leave the audience with a dialogue hook as there is a lack of text.

Photos For The Poster

This is the first photo that we might use for our poster. The two protagonists are stood one infront of the other with their arms folded showing there confidence. Rory is stood behind Peter. this is because Rory is taller, so his shoulders can be seen over Peter's shoulders.

The two actors have direct eye contact with the camera to give the impression that they are looking at the audience of the poster directly, hopefully connecting the audience with the characters.














This is the second stance we had the two actors pose in for our poster. The two protagonists are stood back to back suggesting a sense of unity as they have each others back and will stand strong together. The actors are stood facing away from each other as if looking out for what might be to come.

The characters have their arms crossed and have very straight faces, showing that they are being serious and are concentrating on their surroundings in order to feel safer. Their pose connotes the strength and determination of the characters, giving hints to the audience about the obstacles and journey the protagonists might face in the short film.

The third photo we wanted to try a more unique pose so we could create a completely different kind of poster. We wanted the younger brother, Rory to be leaning on Peter showing some friendship and a strong bond between the brothers. This strong relationship could interest the audience into watching the short film s they might find the protagonists relatable.

Peter is stood with his arms down by his side showing that he is quite relaxed. Rory has his arms crossed but his lean on to Peter and his slight smile make him too look relaxed and happy. Both the actors are looking at the camera to try and make that connection to the audience.

Poster Analysis and Conventions

Our Paper Magazine Article

This is our paper magazine article. We looked at many copies of Empire magazine to see their common themes as to how they laid out each article. They often had a large image on one half of the two page spread, with the other half full of text. The start of the article talks about the plot as a short overview, release date, certificate, cast, directors and it's duration. This tells the audience some basic information about what they are about to read and hopefully grabs their interest to read the rest of the article.

The background for the article is a vibrant red that has a gradient towards the top right hand corner towards a darker red. This continues the colour scheme that we have used for the front cover of the magazine. This continuation of the same colours should help strengthen our brand image. On the right hand side we have the main image. The image is of the two actors and they cover the whole of the page. The two protagonists are looking straight at the camera with their arms crossed. They look as if they are staring at the audience, creating a connection with them. Having their arms crossed makes them look very serious, suggesting that they are ready for something to happen.

At the bottom of each page is the page numbers. These tell the audience what pages they are on and so can be remembered for future reading. In the bottom right corner is a white fold, telling the audience what is over the next page. This interests the audience to turn over and read the article as they know what is over the page. 

The text for the article is in a white font, helping it to stand out. The text is laid out in columns which follows the conventions of other magazine articles. The columned text makes the page look more full, whilst also making it look far more professional. The font we used is called 'DragonbonesBB' which is quite thick and capitalised, that fits with the genre of horror. This is enhanced by the way the letters drag and curve, making each letter non-conventional.

At the top of the page is the mast head. 'FRESH NOW' attracts the audience to read the article as it is new and fresh. The font we used is called 'Slaytanic' and is very different to the conventional bold mastheads. The interesting and unique font will hopefully grab the audiences attention to read the article.

Our Online Magazine Article

We kept the colour scheme for the article page the same as the front cover of the magazine, using red, white and black as the main colours. The background is red and is the predominant colour of the article.

The masthead for the article has a whit background with black borders. The white contrasts the black borders, helping the title to stand out and be really eye-catching. The title is simple, "Golliwog Review" making it clear to the audience as to exactly what the piece is about. The colours for the title are combined, with black for 'Golliwog' and red for 'Review', keeping with the colour scheme. The font used for the masthead looks messy with paint lines and splatters in and around the lettering.

The article itself takes up 70% of the page and the text is white, again so that it stands out against the solid red background. The font used is an easy to read style as it's all capitals. However, the lettering isn't straight with slight curves on each letter, giving the reader the impression that their isn't much text and it should be easier to read.

Beneath the article is a close-up headshot of a golliwog, showing that the article is about the film. Adjacent to the image is a folder corner, telling the reader that their is an interview if they flip the page over. Along the bottom of the page is the page number.

Creating Our Own Magazine Article

Our first job after looking at the common conventions of articles, was to do to create the article itself. They key to every magazine article is a griping piece of writing that engages the reader, and will hopefully make them want to read more articles, and go on to buy the magazine each week. It's important to use intellectual language that makes the article look very professional. The article mentions the director, the actors, the cinematography and the sound effects. This media terminology helps the reader the get a feel for the film and whether the actors/director/editors did a good job or not. This is what we came up with for our article:

'This film is an example of extremely effective cinematography. The way that tension is held between shots really resonates with the audience and leads to a long lasting feel of paranoia even after the experience has ended. While the stop motion animation of the demonic puppet is perhaps a little primitive, it provides an inhuman quality to the thing, which, when combined with its haunting sound effects enhances its fear factor tenfold. Overall the film is very well shot, making use of effortlessly executed tracking shots, and establishing shots that really are testaments to the director’s many talents. On a different note, the actors in this piece come across as if this is their first motion picture role, however, this translates well in their role as naïve and frankly scared boys, who are being haunted by a terrifying figment of their childhood past. Finally, it is worth giving credit to this films score and soundtrack, which, combined with what you see, provide a chilling background to each of the scenes, enveloping you further into this world that has been created. All in all, from the large scale cinematography, to the intensely gripping effects, this film provides an experience that you will want to witness on the big screen.'

The next step to create our own magazine article was to create a background for the page. For this we want to use dark colours and reds to portray the conventions of blood and danger, as well as blacks and greys to allow the red to contrast the background and stand out. We are also using red to match the colours of the Golliwog, as the article focuses on the film, and the main central image will be of the Golliwog. The image will need to be large enough to grab the audiences attention, but not so big that it takes up most the room on the page, leaving little room for the article.

Along the top of the article will be the masthead, normally a question to title the article. This is used to compel the audience into reading the piece. A rhetorical question is a very useful tool to make the audience think, and hopefully create an interest in the text because they want to know an answer to the question titling the article. Alongside the masthead we can put some star ratings and quotes from people who watched the film to show off the production. This will of course be biased to promote the film to be amazing and hopefully make more people watch it.

Along the side of the article we may want to use some puffs. Just like on the front page, we can highlight key pieces that the audience are likely to enjoy if they are reading a piece on our film. By showing what else the magazine has to offer, the audience are likely to feel that they got better value for their money and so are more likely to make repeat purchases. They can also be used to generate ad-revenue either via the online magazine or the paper copy. This can create extra money which can fund future editions of the magazine and improve their profit levels.

Magazine Article Analysis: Scream

This is the Scream website, showing the online article of Doug Bradley's Interview. The background of the article is black, fading in to a grey colour. This gives the audience an instant perception of the article, creating connotations of horror. The text is shown on a white page, which is a strong contrast to the dark background. The text is a small font, giving lots of space for a detailed article that the reader can enjoy, as the whole reason the reader is at the specific article is to read it, so the text doesn't need to be over complicated with flashy colours, italics and bold text.

The masthead for the article is in bright green font, a very similar colour to the masthead on the front cover, suggesting that the articles should have common colour schemes throughout. The Masthead also acts as a skyline, running across the top of the page an grabbing the readers attention to what the article is about. Under the strapline is the main central image of Doug Bradley as Pinhead. They have used the same image as the one on the front cover, but the article image is much more zoomed in focusing on his head. This close-up head shot alerts the reader as to what the article focuses on, and that is Doug Bradley. At the bottom of the article is another image, showing the two characters that the article is writing about, Pinhead vs Michael Myers. Matching the masthead with the image also having 'vs' in between each of the images, showing that the article will compare them against each other.

On the right hand side of the article are some adverts. These adverts are advertising Scream as a company, showing what else they do. The very top puff draws the readers attention to the printed edition of the magazine, encouraging them to subscribe to it. Subscriptions to magazines are very useful to the business as you can order/buy a 12 month subscription, meaning that the company can predict their future revenue levels much more accurately and can estimate their cash flow as they know they have X amount of subscriptions each month. The second box down on the right makes the reader aware of their app and that it can be brought on the app store. The bottom puff shows off 'Scream music' which is another way that the audience can get involved with Scream and give the business more money. The puffs on the side are used to make more money for scream from those already interested.

Our Second Magazine: Oblivion Productions

For this magazine we have kept it more basic. The poster includes similar features to the last one, but gives a very different effect. The font used for the masthead is a lot thicker and more spacing between each letter, making it fit across the page and stand out to the audience. The puffs for this magazine front cover are scattered around and are in different shapes around the page. The white shapes contrast the black background and stand out to the audience. These puffs advertise free stuff and an exclusive look into the film itself. This creates a feel for the audience that they are finding out secret information and so an more enticed to buy the magazine. The main central image is the golliwog and takes up the majority of the page. The idea is that the image draws the readers attention to the magazine in a stand of many other magazines. In the bottom corners are a barcode and a QR code to try and connect with the younger, more technologically aware audiences better.

Our First Magazine: Oblivion Productions

This is our magazine. We combined the key connotations of magazines with our own style to create this front cover for the first edition of Oblivion magazines. The main central image is the golliwog, with the left hand side given a shadowing effect. This makes the right side look a lot brighter and stand out. The bright reds are in the centre of the page and so draw lots of attention to the poster and the surrounding text. The masthead is a bold white font which contrasts the black background and so stand out to the audience. Under the masthead is our web address, which will hopefully be looked at by some audience members who then may want to connect with us more as a brand.

In the top right are the prices for our magazine. We are charging £4.99 or $8.99 for a copy as we need to charge a higher price because the reality is we won't ever sell many copies. However we didn't want to price it too high that no one would want to buy it. In the bottom right is the barcode and a QR code. The barcode is so that it can be stock checked and bought in stores, and the QR reader will hopefully interest the youth to see where it will take them.

The colour scheme for the poster is white, black and red. These colours were used as they match the colours of the golliwog, but also are typically used in horror genres, so using these colours helps the audience to quickly come to the assumption that the film is a horror. The puffs on the right hand side use these colours in alternation to show they are different and help them stand out individually. The puffs have details as to what will be in the magazine so the audience may be enticed into buying a copy.

Magazine Re-Creation: Scream

This is the magazine we've created as if we were the creators of Scream and our short film was featuring on the front cover. We have kept to the similar themes and conventions of the magazine company so that our magazine looks similar and to the same standard of quality. We have used the same font for the masthead, and used puffs in the same way with boxes along the side of the front cover. Along the bottom we've found a few articles that we want to feature inside the magazine and done this in a similar style to the number 1 horror magazine. We have made this magazine to represent Scream magazines in general and for it to look like scream made the magazine we created.

Our first step to recreating the magazine was to remove the background from the masthead and then change the colours to suit our colour scheme better. We then had to edit around the image of the golliwog so that we could use it as the main central image and have a background behind it. After this we found some blood splatters via google to use as a border to our puffs. We used multiple different blood splatters so that it has variation and looks more like a long line of blood. We then edited these so they were of different lengths and sizes and so each box would look different. The next step was to find images for each puff and then decide on the text that would caption the image. We then created some other article ideas using upcoming horror films to make the poster up-to-date. The last steps were to apply the finishing touches, such as the strap line, the pricing, the barcode as well as any other little pieces of text. The very last thing we did was apply a gradient to the bottom of the golliwog so that the text for the main article could stand out against the golliwog's legs.

Creating Our Own Magazine Front Cover: Oblivion Productions

This is an initial rough draft of our own magazine. It will feature our work that we produce as a film company. We will target the magazine to those of all ages, as films can reach a wider audience as films are for people of any age. By targeting a larger audience, we can hope to make more revenue and profit as well sell more copies.

Along the top of the front cover will be the masthead. 'Oblivion Productions' will be in large, bold font so that it stands out to the audience. We will use a darker colour for the first edition, but this may change for each issue of the magazine depending on the colour scheme and the main central image. It is important for us to create our own brand image so we want to use the same font for each masthead so that the audience can spot our magazine easier when it's surrounded by hundreds of other magazines on a shelf. The title is often the only thing you can see as the shops normally layer magazines, overlapping them slight over other magazines so they can fit more on a wall.

The main central image for the first edition will be a Golliwog as it's our first production and we hope that the magazine can create some attention for our production. The golliwog will take up most of the front cover as we want it to grab the audiences attention and hope they decide to purchase the magazine. We will match the colours for the magazine's front cover according to the main central image, so edition one will be predominately red. however edition two may have a different colour scheme.

Around the main central image will be multiple puffs describing what is inside the magazine, highlighting key articles that the audience are more likely to enjoy. These puffs can hopefully make the audience want to read the articles inside and therefore much more inclined to buy it. One puff may suggest free things inside such as a poster. Stating that something is free is more likely to entice those of lower socio-economic grouping, especially those that are unemployed or have very little disposable income. Hopefully by advertising something as free we can attract a larger audience to buy our magazine, and increase our sales revenue.

To the side of the masthead will be the edition number and the price. The price is important for customers as they want to know how much it will cost them to buy the magazine. The issue number is also very important as it can tell the audience how many editions there have been, and they may be interested into buying other issues if they have missed a few of the previous editions. In the bottom corner there is the barcode. This is crucial for sales of our magazine so that the product can be scanned in stores.

Along the bottom we will advertise our website and social media accounts. We believe that social media is a very useful, effective, and more importantly free way to market our products and improve our brand image. We have given our website address, our Facebook page and Instagram account in the hope that we can get some followers and increase the amount of publicity we get for our short film. As we understand the youth get along with technology very well, we have put a QR code on our magazine so that, once scanned, can take the reader to a website, perhaps showcasing an exclusive interview or maybe a shortcut to our social media platforms.

Creating Our Own Magazine Front Cover: Scream

We looked at magazines from Scream and Empire and looked at their common conventions and themes so we could replicate something to a similar standard. We began by drawing up an initial draft of how we might create the magazine if we were to feature on Scream. We made the golliwog the image and made it nice and big so it would be eye catching. We used the boxes on the side to showcase what else features inside the magazine. Along the bottom are other articles that feature inside the magazine including games, comics, news and competitions. These need to also stand out as they are key parts of the magazine.

The colour scheme for the magazine is likely to be red. This is due to the Golliwog's red jacket so the magazine should complement the colours. On top of this, red connotes blood which suggest horror and death. We will have blood dripping from the title and the border to the boxes will be blood splatters. This links to our production as we have gone for a short film based around an evil doll. We will use red for the masthead and all the headings on the page. This helps them all to stand out and be vibrant, which will help attract the audiences attention. The titles need to be eye catching because these are what the potential customers need to see to become interested in the magazine.

As this is a 'Scream' magazine, we will use the font they use for every masthead on all their magazines. To do this we will have to photoshop the masthead from a magazine, remove the background and then change the colour to math the colours on our 'Scream' magazine. This will make sure that the masthead we use is in theme with the rest of their range of magazines. It is important for a business such as Scream to maintain the same brand image across all their magazines as the masthead is the first thing the audience will see when looking for the magazine on a shelf with hundreds of other.

Scream's Brand Image

Magazine Analysis: Empire

Empire is a British company that publishes magazines each month about films. It is the biggest selling film magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States, Portugal, Turkey, Russia, and Italy. Each month it looks into multiple films and some film festivals. They have a logan just under the masthead stating that it's "The world's biggest movie magazine" which is a very broad claim.

The image on the left is the front cover of the magazine. This is the first thing the audience will see when they look at the magazine. It is very important that the magazine stands out to the audience and grabs their attention early on. The title font for Empire is bright white which strongly contrasts the image and background to the front cover. The image used of Daniel Craig as James Bond is very enlarged, showing a close up of his face. the image covers over half of the front cover, and does not include all of his face. On the left are puffs, showing the audience what features in the magazine. This particular magazine shows spectre in great detail, behind the scenes to Jurassic World, Fantastic 4, a look into Fast & Furious 7, the British version of Evil Dead and a special on the Sundance Film Festival. Along the bottom are three famous actors who all have a segment in the magazine. At the top of the magazine is a TV preview to the biggest shows in 2015. The front cover of the magazine shows off what is inside with the most interesting elements bigger to attract the audience to read the magazine.

The font used for the magazine cover is large and bold so it grabs the audiences attention. In a world with 30 different magazines on a single stand all bunched up together, it is important that it is easy to recognise the magazine and for it to stand out amongst the other magazines. Every Empire magazine has the 'EMPIRE' across the top, covering the whole width of the cover. This is important as it makes the magazine easy to recognise. On some magazines, the image on the front cover will go in front of the 'P' but it's still clear that it says 'EMPIRE'.

The magazine cover is dominated by the main central image of Daniel Craig as James Bond. The image is highly zoomed in which allows the image to be placed in the top right hand corner of the magazine cover. This makes the image look very clean and professional. Daniel Craig is holding a pistol in front of his face which represents the film as a whole with its stereotypes. This helps the audience to associate Daniel Craig to James Bond instantly. The gun also reaches out to the male mainstream audience as guns are stereotypically masculine. This goes hand in hand with the readership statistics, as the majority of the readers are male (548,000 males opposed to 187,000 females). 

The lettering on the left alternates colours each line so each line is distinguishable from one another. This is important as some articles may appeal more to certain audience members than other articles do. For example, Fast & Furious 7 may appeal to lots more of people than the British remake of Evil Dead. By being different colours, Fast & Furious 7 can stand out and be seen as separate. The main article of the magazine is in larger font and is located at the top of the list. 'SPECTRE' stands out to the audience and is likely to be the first thing they see. Magazines need to grab the audiences attention on the front cover so they purchase it, so they will have the magazine focus on what is likely to be the most popular articles, in the case it's "the worlds first look at spectre".