The first point to note is the use of a large, bold mashead to grab the attention of potential audiences. This is something that you always see of magazine front covers, not just the covers of film magazines. It is a vital part of the codes and coventions and plays a vital role in establishing the genre of the magazine and also in attracting the attention of target audiences. If, for example, a magazine was entitled 'Action Film' or something along those lines, the audience or consumers would clearly see and understant that it was a magazine about action films, and therefore they should only buy the magazine if they are interested in reading things about that genre of film. I chose to call my magazine 'Film central' as it attracts a wide range of individuals and as a result will have a wide target audience. My use of a large clear masthead at the top of the page is one way in which my magazine front cover uses and develops the codes and conventions of real media products.
A second part to consider is the style and framing of the main image. Throughout my research i came to understand that there was somewhat of a split throughout the codes and conventions of film magazines between to different things. Half of the front covers featured the whole of the an individual and the other half had a relavively close up shot of his/her face and shoulders. For my magazine front cover i chose to go with the head and shoulders approach. The main image tells the audience a lot about what is in the magazine and also the genre of it. In the case of my magazine, i chose a quite 'urban' styled image to depict the urban grudgey aspect of the film. At the same time, the character you use for your main image tells the potential audience about th content of the film. For example, you wouldn't have an image of a cat on the front cover to advertise a sporting film. The use of a main image, depicting the head and shoulders of the prtagonist is another way in which my magazine front cover uses the codes and conventions of real media texts.
The use of cover lines was essential in producing my magazine front cover. It is rare that you will find a magzine cover with no cover lines to offer an insight into its contents. I chose to take the route of using and developing the codes and convention by embrassing the use of cover lines in the production of my front cover. As well as the cover lines, i used a strap line to emphasise the genre of this particular copy of the magazine. I used 'the ultimate action special' to clearly define the genre whilst the sporting doceumentry aspect was coered by the focus of Alex in the image.
As well as the cover lines, title and main image, i included the simple things like a price and a barcode. These are small things, but are vital in making the magazine front cover look like a real text. By following th codes and conventions you can make the magazine front cover look very near to a real media texts. As well, i used the codes and conventions more by including a website. Almost every film magazine will have a website on it as the magazine tries to become an even larger part of peoples life. By including all these fine details i have further used and developed the codes and conventions of real media texts. Below you can see an image of my magazine front cover against a real media text...
The second project I will look at is the poster. The main code and convention I used and developed here was the bold title of the film. This is probably the most important part of the poster and it must be clear and easy to read. I is essentially th main focus of the poster and so it must be large and interesting, as well as eye catching. I have used this code and convention on my poster by making the poster one of the most predominate parts.
The next code and convention that I followed was the use of production and distribution information coupled with the logos of certain company’s. This is something that is often used on the posters of magazine to offer some publicity to the distributors and also tell the audience where the film came from. By including this section on my poster I used and developed the codes and conventions of real media texts.
Putting the characters names across the top of the poster is something that you see more often than not on film posters, and you could argue that it has become somewhat of an icon and is definitely a code and convention of film posters. I chose to embrace this convention and add the names of three characters to my poster across the top.
Finally, there is the release date. Second only to the title, this is a hugely important part of the poster. The whole idea surrounding the poster is to advertise the film by telling the audience something about what the film involves, defining the genre and telling them when the film is released. Not mentioning the release date would be like having a sandwich without any bread, it just wouldn’t be right. I am, however, aware that there are film posters out there that choose to disagree and challenge this code and convention. I on the other hand felt that the date was a vital part of the poster and therefore I used and developed the code and convention of real media texts.
My final point surrounding my poster and the codes and conventions of real media texts is the main image. One code and convention of real posters is to include a close up shot to one or more characters within the film, often in fact only half of the face is depicted. This was something I had initially planned for my poster, however after getting started I decided to challenge this particular convention. I chose to remove the race and focus simply on the BMX bike against the fence. There were two reasons for this. The first was that I didn’t feel the ‘half a fence’ theme fitted very well on the poster, and the second was that one of the main parts of the film is the sport of BMX and I feel that only depicting the BMX in an urban environment attracts the young target audience that I am aiming for.
Here you can see an image I have made to show my poster against a real media text.
Moving on to the trailer…
In fear of clogging the blog with writing I decided I’d screen flow the answer for the trailer so there isn’t quite so much writing. You can follow this link to youtube where i have uploaded the video:
No comments:
Post a Comment