Form Research

Film TrailerTitles

Titles in horror films typically come at the end of the trailer, as the trailer will show clips from the film and before they show something important they cut to the title, this way an audience is intrigued to see the full film.

Actors namesIn other genres, crediting actors is very common, however in horror, especially in the trailer, the actors aren’t credited to add to the realism of the film, an example being a film like The Others and Halloween, both in contrast as Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, was in her first feature film role which is typical as many actors begin doing usually bad horror films whereas the film became a cult classic, whereas Nicole Kidman in The Others was different as she already had acclaim, being previously nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTAs, however both film trailers don’t credit the actors, as horror aims to make the audience believe what happening is real to create fear of the unknown to the audience.

Film production logosTypically seen at the beginning of a trailer as an audience may be familiar with the company therefore show an interest in the film, because a lot of production companies invest into similar projects, like Pixar and Warner Bros being involved in many children’s films. Also if the production company is someone like Universal then an audience will be aware that the film will most likely be of a high budget as the company is a global brand that is worth millions.

InstitutionsThe current heavyweight champion of horror film production companies with heavily acclaimed horror movies like The Purge, Sinister and Insidious, their ethos to spend no more than $5million on a film but still manage to get a stellar cast, with stars such as Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey in The Purge, there is no surprise these films gain a huge box office gross, however these defiantly need an element of luck although the company is very intelligent in the films they decide to produce.

Layout/structureThe first title for a film trailer will most likely always be the rating title screen, as before you watch a trailer, you need to know whether you can legally watch it therefore it is a legal guideline for this title to be shown and it starts with this as it gets it out the way.

Secondly it is typical to see the production company logo, and in this example the film The Purge is produced by Universal, this quite obviously being the largest company involved in the film, them showing this early on is to attract an audience as people familiar with the institution may be interested in the film, this is a smart marketing strategy as Universal is a commercial brand and even though it may have little production investment, just the name targets a large and wide audience.The third part of a trailer involves finding the audience, so this has typical lines like ‘director of’ or ‘producer of’ which shows a viewer similar projects so if they like those films then they will most likely enjoy this one as companies and directors tend to stick to a certain genre.

The fourth title in a film trailer usually involves showing the title of the film, typically at the end of the trailer after a lot of shots from the movie, this is done as it draws all of the previous titles and shots together to end on the title of the film which is the most important as it is the product which they are wanting to attract an audience for.

The last title in most films will be the title of the film, but for most recent films past the 2010s, films often have social media mentions as we see on The Purge trailer, as the introduction of social media allows viewers to become more involved with the film and it spreads the word out more of the film as liking a page on Facebook, makes friends aware which makes a larger audience be reached.

Magazine Front CoverThe magazine title will always have the magazine title which in this case is Scream, this part of the magazine front cover will be the largest as it is the masthead and is typically placed on top of the magazine as if it was at the bottom, it would look less important.The barcode is an integral part of a magazine as every magazine has one as it is the way the product is sold, also as in this example it is at the bottom which is also typical as it isn’t important to a viewer as it isn’t the way it sells to an audience.The headline is the main story usually in bold, large font. Typically placed around the centre of the cover to connote its significance as it is the main talking point inside the magazine and the main selling point as it is what attracts the audience.The subheading typically follows the headline and does in this example where it says ‘the life & films of Jason Voorhees’ and it being in a plain white font gives the headline more attraction as you look at it first which the publisher wants as they want the headline to stand out and be the first point of interest.The main image is very important as it is what people first see when they look at the magazine cover, as it is a film, the image will be of a film character so in the example it is Jason Voorhees, the trademark mask is straight away recognisable to him so fans of the films will instantly be interested so it is targeting the horror audience straight away.The selling line is also important for a magazine as a few words can sell a magazine to an audience, with words like ‘NEW’ and ‘exclusive’ which can make a magazine unique as only they are the only one with a certain piece of information or something of that kind. This magazine has words like ‘exclusive’ and ‘plus’ which can trigger a viewer to believe it is better than all other magazines which is what the publisher wants.

Layout/structureThe masthead is typically placed at the top of the magazine cover, sometimes in the middle, both used as it shows the importance of the magazine publisher.

The main image is usually placed in the centre of the cover as it is where it stands out to an audience.

The sub heading is placed slightly under the main image to connote its juxtaposition of being paired with the image as the title is Friday the 13th which is placed under the image of the villain in the film.

TypographyLooking at the masthead, the size is larger than any other font in the cover which is typical as the name of the magazine is crucial as a company wants to spread their name as much as possible, the colour yellow isn’t a stereotypical horror colour but a very eye catching colour. It being placed on the top of the article is typical as it shows it is superior to the article as it is placed above everything.

The colour red here is very typical of a horror, slasher especially as red connotes blood and gore which is the theme in slasher films. The size is large but smaller than the masthead so it doesn’t overpower it, but the second largest to connote that it is the main topic. If the headline is close to an image then it is juxtaposition as the image is associated with the title, also typically placed central to connote its importance.

Film PosterIngredients of a film poster:• Taglines or a slogan are typical on a film poster, usually placed at the top or the bottom

of the poster, this will have reference to the film by saying something in relation to it so in the Scream poster, the slogan references murder which is going to be regular in this horror film.

• Main images are very popular as this is what a viewer will see first as it is very noticeable, this will usually be of the antagonist or protagonist character, usually if it is the protagonist they will be displaying signs of fear or will show a shot of the antagonist, typically in slasher as they are the major characters such as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

• Title, every film has a name and this is mostly always placed central however is usually used in juxtaposition of the main image so can be at the top, bottom or central.

• Cast, directors etc, most films will have the main cast and sometimes the director on the poster, typically the cast, as these are the selling point as most people go to see movies due to them having their favourite actor in, for example A-list stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio.

• Billing Block, this is typically in small writing as a lot of information is shown on the entire cast and crew which created the film, it is usually placed at the bottom of the poster as it isn’t important in the selling of the product but is required.

• Quotes and ratings, posters usually contain a quote from a newspaper or ratings, typically ones of 4 or 5 stars as this gives the audience an idea of the caliber of the film.

Typography

The film title is typically bold and large as it is important as it is the name of the product, the colour will make sense to the film, for example a horror may have colours like red and black as they tie in well with the horror genre as they connote blood and darkness.

Actors names can also be relatively large but smaller than the title as they are selling the product and not an actor from the product, this can also be determined by the prestige of actor as larger actors may have larger font sizes as the production companies are pushing the idea that a large actor is in the film to get more people to watch it.