Magazine Potential Layouts

Below are three different sketched layouts of a magazine cover. The drawings are based on research of film magazines such as Empire, Total Film, and Sight and Sound. The sketches below are potential layouts for my magazine cover, and conducting this has helped give me a greater understanding of the conventions of a magazine cover.

Poster Sketch Layouts

Below are three hand-drawn designs of the layout of a poster. It is imperative that I understand that there are various different ways to create a successful design for a poster. Moreover, these designs have not only helped give me ideas for my final poster layout, but have helped me get a better understanding of what attracts a film poster to the audience.

Having looked at many posters and their layouts, and after sketching these three poster layouts, it is evident that the images, whether they be of recognisable stars, or of imagery associated with the genre, take up a vast amount of the space allocated in the poster. This shows that these images are what the companies producing the films want the audience to remember and be drawn to, more so than the name of the film, actor names, and the tagline.

Researching Magazine Cover Fonts

The magazine cover I make stands alone from the poster and teaser trailer that I create. This is because the poster and teaser trailer are part of the marketing campaign of the film, and therefore there would be similarities between the two, such as font. However, the only input the marketing campaign would have for their film on a magazine cover would be the selection of pictures they give to the magazine to put on their cover. They use their own fonts their own designs etc. Therefore, I need to choose a font for my magazine.

I studied various film magazines and found a pattern amongst them. The big, worldwide, film magazines, who have big interviews with the biggest stars, such as Total Film and Empire, have similar fonts. They are loud, sharp fonts. They are hard to miss, and reflect the size of the magazine. Smaller and local film magazines, ones that go under the radar, who focus on smaller and different aspects of the movies, such as Sight and Sound, have smaller, less 'out-there' fonts. This gave me a 

good insight into the marketing of magazines, and helped me find a suitable font for my magazine.

My Teaser Trailer and Poster Font

The font I have decided to use for my poster and teaser trailer is Headliner No. 45.

The reason I decided to use this font is because I believe it reflects the storyline of the film; it is a story with a lot of rough edges, it is about a man who is trying to make money any way he can, legal or illegal, and he ends up in need of money to the point where he is in deep and he is required to repay the people who have helped him in ways that he is not comfortable doing. This font I think reflects the main characters struggles in the film, and how he adapts in order to plough through it.

Potential fonts

I scoured dafont.com for potential fonts that can be used for the thriller genre, as my movie belongs to that genre. I looked at hundreds of fonts on the website, spending most of my time in their 'Eroded' section, as most of the fonts in that section belong to the my chosen genre.

The following are a list of fonts from 'dafont.com' that I feel could be used for my movie:

Fonts - Poster

In the following posts, I will be analysing various types of fonts from websites including 'dafont.com', 'fontmeme.com', 'linotype.com', and 'fontyukle.com'. I am researching these websites in such detail so as to gain an understanding of why specific fonts are used for specific genres of film, and what the font tells about the stories. Ultimately, I hope to have enough understanding so as to choose a selection of fonts that may be used on my teaser trailer and film poster, and narrow that down to my final font for my film.

Thriller Trailer #2 - THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

• This teaser trailer is unlike others because, as it is the final film in a trilogy, it includes numerous shots from the previous films. It does this to create suspense and build drama. The first shot from the Dark Knight Rises comes at 0:38.
• The opening shots, coupled with the voiceover and taglines, are used to build up the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman, and illustrate how far he has come, now he is at the end. This creates tension amongst the audience, as this unconventional use of previous material attaches them to the character they have grown to love, with the realisation that it is the end.
• Darkness is a common theme in this trailer. Very few shots cast a character or setting in light. The only time there is light is in the shots with Gordon, which illustrates he is a good man, and a ray of light.
• Very little context of storyline is given. This trailer ignores the fact that there is a general storyline and focuses on the battle ahead that Batman has to go through. Shots, such as Wayne doing press ups, and Batman's fight with Bane, highlight the physical aspect of the struggle Batman has to go through, but there is also an underlying mental aspect hidden in Gordon and Wayne's conversation. "The Batman must come back". Batman was believed to be gone according to Wayne, so it seems as if he will need to re-adjust to life back as Batman.
• Trailer does not give away any story line, other than the Batman returns, and that he's biggest task lies ahead of him.

Thriller Trailer #1 - SKYFALL

• Protagonist seen in first shot of movie. Followed by voiceovers, and a man questioning him.
• Name of title brought up, attracts audience as we know it has meaning.
• Montage includes numerous action shots which have no meaning to the story line, but are necessary in relation to the genre. Music is fast-paced to reflect this, and create suspense.
• Sudden stop to a halt, and the title "Skyfall" is shown on a black screen. This is followed by a voiceover from Bond saying "They are coming to kill us". That is a sentence that causes the audience to ask questions, such as "Who is trying to kill him?", and wonder about what happens in the film.
• When Bond says "We are going to kill them first", the audience have a real buzz of anticipation because they have been given a big chunk of the storyline, without actually being told anything of note. This attracts them to the film and leaves them wanting more.

Although Skyfall is an Action Thriller, it does fall into the category Thriller