Molly Owens A2 Media Studies

• Doesn’t look like a horror – looks more like a drama. 
• Not currently meeting conventions of a horror.­ Could you include something in the girl’s eye that links to your story – the box or imaginary person? Or could you have the box in a spotlight in the dark part of your poster?
• No certification.
• No actors / director / producer details.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy film directed by Wes Anderson. This poster can be seen as postmodern as it is heavily influenced by the 1930's, especially through the way all of the characters look. Each of the characters are on a key label to signify the hotel, the characters are also being represented as 'objects' that make up the hotel as this is playing on the postmodern technique of irony. The reason this is irony as all characters are being shown as equal on the poster, despite them being of different levels of hierarchy in the film itself, this is very typical of directors who play on postmodernism, especially when a serious topic of war time is involved.

Pastiche is also used within this poster as it slightly resembles a Guess Who board by how the characters look with 'mug shot' looking pictures with their names below. This is because the majority of the story is about a character trying to prove his innocence and proving who the culprit is, so again this plays on the pastiche of 'Guess Who'.

The poster also includes historiographic meta-fiction as the hotel is probably based on a real hotel that was thriving back in the 1930's and also looks like a dolls house. This also incorporates hyper-reality because the hotel looks like a real hotel, despite it being completely fictional. All of these characters are strong stereotypes of the 1930's so this humour is showing you that the poster is purposefully not serious which is typical of post modern texts.

The imagery on the magazine cover is actually illustrations and painted images and therefore, it shows that this magazine cover is partly unconventional. The typography that has been used for the headline story and cover stories are written in Gothic fonts which makes it more appropriate for the genre and theme of the magazine. We are instantly  able to tell what genre this magazine is by looking at the colours, images and the typography used within the magazine cover. The changes in the colour of the typography allows us to understand the importance of the text and the text that is aimed to attract the readers’ attention first.

There is a barcode at the bottom of the left hand corner of the magazine cover, this is a code that is conventional as it is placed at the front of the magazine. Some magazines tend to have the barcode at the back of the magazine or within the magazine, however by having the barcode elsewhere makes it harder for the reader to find it straight away and this may put them off if they’re planning to buy the magazine in a rush. There is the price and the issue number near the barcode which also helps the reader identify the information that is needed. 

There is no use of synergy on the cover of the magazine regarding social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, which is a disadvantage as some people may be more interested in viewing the updates on social networking sites rather than on paper. However, there is the website link included on the cover of the magazine which is useful for people wanting to view some of the content online as anyone can access the information through cross-media convergence. 

Insidious Poster Analysis

Main Image -

From what is presumed to be the main character, the poster has used a medium shot to indicate this. You can see a house behind this character which indicates that this is where the character lives and where most of the plot's main events will be set around. So to conclude, from the main image I can recognise that this is the films main character and all of the events that will take place in this film will happen in this house.

Text -

The film title is clearly shown from being much larger and bolder than the other text. All of the text contrasts the dark background to make it stand out more so it can be seen from afar. Other than the film title, the release date is the most striking piece of text as it is in bold and this is because it is arguably the most important piece of information. This is because it is often the information that people want to find out first, again, other than the title. Smaller and finer text is used for crediting as this information is still important enough to be on a poster but is not the centre of an audiences' attention. Finally, another typical convention of film posters is the production companies logos' to show who was involved with the production and creation of the film itself.

Layout -

The layout of the poster is very simple and sticks with common codes and conventions of films posters which makes it look more professional and clean. Everything is evenly spaces and sized to match conventions but doesn't distract from the main image.

Film Companies -

The logos of the film companies that are involved with the film are displayed along the bottom of this film poster to show that they were involved with its creation, it is also used for advertising also. It is also for audience reassurance, for example, if a well known production company released this film people may feel more inclined to see is as the production company could have a good reputation.

Colour Scheme -

Overall the colour scheme is very dark and dull, this is to intentionally create a sinister and weary feel to the poster. The sky in the main image is very dull, gloomy and grey. The pyjamas the boy is wearing is the only true colour on the whole main image. The skin tone of the boy looks deathly and his face is showing no emotion or expression. The only bright colour on the whole poster is the bold white text to convey the sinister nature of this film to the audience.

Direct Address -

The poster uses direct address in a very obvious way as the main character is almost staring directly into your soul, as they are looking right at the centre of the camera. This along with other elements of the poster create one whole sinister feel and creates a true sense of fear for the character.

Lighting -

The chosen lighting in the poster is meant to look like natural daylight as the character is stood outside but it is much darker to reinforced the sinister and gloomy feel to the poster. From this lighting the audience can immediately tell that this film is not going to be a light-hearted comedy but something that strikes fear. The dark lighting also makes it more difficult to see smaller details on the posters main image, this will make audiences more inquisitive to find out what happens in the film.

Hook -

This text at the top of the poster could be used as a hook because if the audience are already fans of the films 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Saw' then they may enjoy watching this film but they may not have though this if they didn't know about this prior to seeing the poster.  

In preparation for planning and creating our ancillary products, we had to analyse this poster and magazine front cover.

Poster:

What I liked about it -

What I didn't like about it -

Magazine:

What I liked about it -

What I didn't like about it -

Mama Poster Analysis

Colour -

The chosen colour scheme relates well to the horror genre, which is what this film is. The theme seems to give off a paranormal disturbance vibe. This is because the darker blacks, browns and and grey's connote mystery and the fear of the unknown, which is the theme of the film. These colours are a strong contrast of the pale white girl and makes her stand out as the main character. White typically connote innocence and this high key lighting is showing this. The white writing on the title of the film could connote a 'ghost' theme within the film, linking in with the paranormal disturbance again and the fear of the unknown.

Typography -

The use of sans serif font style makes the writing stand out and make more of an impact on the audience. The sans serif font may be more conventional within the horror genre as this genre is used to make an impact on the audience by triggering their attention and emotions, so this font links in with the genre by making a statement. The size of the title helps it stand out and be one of the first things that you see, allowing the audience know what the film is called.

Main Image -

The character in the centre of the image appears to be wearing old, worn out clothing. This could indicate that something tragic has happened to them, telling the audience that this is an intrging horror film. The costume worn by the other character gives you an indication that they are young, showing them to be vulnerable and isolated. The shot type is a mid-shot, but her facial expression expression still clearly strike fear and intrigue into the audience. It also allows the audience to see that the younger character is holding the anonymous characters arm, indicating towards what the plot of the film, and the relationship of these two characters. The mid-shot also allows you to see the costumes that the characters are wearing and the audience can relate this to the horror genre, as rags are typical of horror's. This shot does not show the face of one of the characters so this creates a mysterious atmosphere, as the audience are unaware of what the character actually looks like.

Layout -

Because one of the characters is highlighted, this signifies their importance within the film. The highlighted character on the right uses the rule of thirds, which stresses on her vulnerility, linking again to the genre as she appears to be afraid. The film title is in the conventional position as it is in the centre third of the page.

Hook -

The writing at the top of the page is conventional as it is commonly used to attract larger audiences. This wider audience would come from fans of Pans Labyrinth as they might think this film is similar if it has the same people working on it.

Language -

The use of the phrase 'A mothers love is forever' link to the title as the title is slang for 'mother', it also gives audiences an intriguing insight into the plot of the film. This phrase also gives a mysterious tone to the poster and film, linking in with the genre again.

Conventions of Genre (mise-en-scene) -

The dark colour scheme is conventional within the horror genre as it links to mystery and fear. The chosen shot type is also typical of the horror genre as it connotes isolation, fear and innocence. The facial expression from the character reinforces this. The costumes worn by the characters are conventional as the rugged, worn clothes bring in an element of mystery as the audience will attempt to depict what happened to these characters.

Conventions of Form -

The hook at the top of the poster is conventional as it is there to attract a wider audience as this film is the first of its kind so it doesn't already have an existing fan base or audience. The sans serif fonts and the colour are conventional as they stand out from the main image to give a greater impact on the audience by capturing their attention. A character being in the centre of the poster is conventional as it draws attention towards is by using the rule of thirds technique to show what the key elements of the plot.