ANCILLARY PRODUCTS.

Chloe Mason

Existing productsThe main aspect I found within my research was that the main images of the magazine cover for a horror film was normally a central close up of the face of the main character or villain. I found this to be extremely effective as it creates a very intimidating and dominant look to the front cover.

Another main aspect of the front covers is the composition of the cover lines. I found that the most common side of the page to hold to the cover lines was the left side. This is because conventionally the left side is the dominant side of the page.

The colour scheme of this front cover uses one main colour of red. The colour red connotes power and danger, both aspects of the horror genre. This is similar to the colour scheme I have chosen because the white contrasts boldly on the dark background and the red stands out brightly to the target audience.

My productFor my final magazine cover, I attempted to incorporate all of the main aspects that I had found within my research to keep with in the conventions of my genre. Using a similar image of a central close up I thought it created a comparable effect to those previously addressed. I found the image able to stimulate the identical effects of intimidation and dominance, thus staying with the conventions of the horror genre.The fact the image is the main article of the page reinforces the idea that this character plays a key role in the film and the close up image also clearly shows all of the features of the character, enhancing the make up and the sinister look.

The colour scheme I chose consisted of red, white and dark grey. These colours were selected because of their ability to boldly stand out against the black background of the cover image. Also the red colours connote power, danger and blood, all of which tie in with the conventions of a horror genre. The fonts used were chosen because of the connotations they give off. The pull quote underneath the name of the film appears to written in blood and the other fonts portray an askew and off balance feel to the page, reflecting on the film its self and the genre of horror.

The central image is a close up of the main character. The close up allows the audience to focus on the sinister lookin the protagonist’s eyes and the blood on her face. The face of the protagonist is the main focus point of the magazine cover, and this was a common convention of the horror film magazine covers.

The pull quote creates a link between the film and the magazine cover as it uses the similar lexis to the film trailer. I found pull quotes to be a common convention of horror magazine covers, as it gives an insight to the film and article inside the magazine. The colour of the font used on the pull quote is red, which makes the font appear to be written in blood adding to the sinister effect.

The mode of address on the magazine cover makes it dramatically clear that the issue is based on horror films as it clearly states “HORROR SPECIAL”.Also, the name of the magazine instantly explains what the magazine will entail.

The most typical convention I found to be common among the magazine covers I looked at was that the cover lines were based on the left hand side of the page, this is because the left hand side is considered to be the more dominantside.

The colour scheme of the magazine cover uses white text to stand out on the dark back ground image. The red text connotes blood and danger and so ties in with the horror conventions. The texts used are mainly off balance and askew, suggesting the events of the film will reflect these connotations, that mirrors the conventions of horror.

Existing productsThe one thing that I found to be the most predominant aspect of the posters I looked at was that the film title was most commonly situated at the bottom of the page. This means that the line of sight will guarantee that the film title will be the final piece of information that the target audience will read.

Another aspect I found to reoccur on the horror film posters is the use of long shots. The use of a long shot helps to show the setting, which is often isolated reflected on the main characters vulnerability. The use of a long shot here emphasises the protagonist being unaware of the villain behind her and to show she is alone with them.

Another fixation I found to be common among horror film posters is the use of serif fonts. I believe that the projections look like they are trying to escape from the word itself as if it has some form of life, reflecting on the genre of horror.

My productAfter looking into the main conventions of a horror film poster, I decided to incorporate all the different elements of a conventional horror film poster to stick within the conventions of the genre. I used a long shot image to emphasise the isolated, dark setting of the image. This shows the protagonist to be alone and vulnerable. Also the low key lighting makes the atmosphere seem very eerie and negative, reflecting on the conventions of the genre. I used a serif font as I found this to be very common among different horror film posters. The font I chose was serif, but also held an element of an askew and off balance look, reflecting on the film its self and the conventions. The information on a horror film poster is usually kept to a bare minimum so I decided to follow this convention and only allow the name of the film and the billing block to appear on the page, along with a ‘based on true events’ comment at the top to create fear in the audience.

The main image is situated in the centre of the poster. This suggests the character plays a key role in the film. The mise en scene used in the main image imitates the conventions of a horror movie. The long shot image shows an isolated setting, suggesting the protagonist is in a vulnerable situation. The low key lighting signifies a negative atmosphere and the make up and costume connotes danger and death as she is covered in blood and dirt.

The film title font was chosen on the basis of the connotations it shows. The font looks distorted and off balance and the letters are quite ragged reflecting on the horror theme and is conventional to the genre.

I used the billing block at the bottom of the page as this is a typical convention found in horror movie posters.

Another convention I found to be common among horror film posters, was the use of a simple colour scheme. Black and white were the main colours used as they contrast boldly off of the back ground. As my main image uses low key lighting, white was the one that would stand out most. I then went on to use the colour red at the bottom of the page. In doing this, I think I have made the piece of information stand out more than the rest of the text and in addition to this, incorporated connotations of blood, danger and power. This also reflects on the make up on the cover image.