Poster and Magazine: Analysing

Genre Poster Research

Dear John

Genre: Romance

Dear John is a romantic drama about a soldier who falls for a conservative college student while he's home on leave. He has to go back into the army and as the couple have fallen in love, they want to spend every minute with each other but they can’t. In order to do so, they both promise to write letters to each other every day to keep in contact and to keep their love alive. 

The colours used on the poster are white, green and yellow. The white background shows the purity and innocence of the couple falling in love. It shows how natural it was when it happened and it shows how open they are with one another. The yellow shows happiness of how they make each other feel. It makes the audience feel the warmth of their love and how real it is. It shows how you never know who you will meet and who you will fall in love with. The ‘Dear’ is in white but the name ‘John’ is in yellow to signify this. The green shows the whole stereotype of love being free and it shows the setting of them sitting on the field of grass on the beach. The colours used are soft colours to represent the genre: romance. 

The font is in capital letters and is close next to other to show the closeness of the two characters and how they connect. The slogan underneath the titles is an enigma question for the audience and it persuades them to watch the film to find out the answer to that question.  It is used to tease them. The cast’s name at the top catches the audience’s attention straight away because if people recognize that name of the actor/actresses they are more likely to watch the movie. The font is clear and easy to read, it is simple yet effective. 

The main image on the promotional poster is the male is holding onto the girl in his arms because he doesn’t want to lose her or let her go. It shows the purpose of why they send each other letters to keep the relationship between the two. The emotion on both characters faces is how they are scared to lose each other. It also shows how they are feeling and their emotions. The image is placed in the middle of the poster to grab the audience's attention straight away. it brings the focus onto them and shows the whole movie is based on them and their  battle for love. The title is on the left hand bottom and placed on both their bodies to signify that the letters are sent between them both. The facial expressions of the two characters are not giving away anything to the audience so that they want to know more about the film and what happens between them both. 

The language on the poster is very simple and straight to the point yet effective. It shows a clear titles as well as the both the characters in the movie. At the bottom of the poster it shows the institutions and distribution as well as the production cast. This gives the movie a good reputation showing how it was manufactured and sold. The date of the film release is on the left hand corner in a bold white to grab the viewers’ attention straight away and let them know when the film is releasing. The language used is very eye catching to the audience as it is spread out and lets the audience browse around the whole poster to gradually find out more information. 

The layout on the promotional poster is spread out. The image is placed in the center of the rule of thirds frame to signify that whatever is surrounding them and is around them will not stop their love for each other. The title is placed on both the characters to show how it is related to them. The cast are right at the top to let the audience know who is in it and this might persuade them to watch it. Above the title there is the producer and it shows what other films he has made. If the audience has seen another film he has made, they won’t hesitate to watch this film. They are more likely to watch is as they know his way of filming and the producers way of making a film.

Analyzing Empire Magazine

The magazine, Empire, has a range of colours which connote the country America. This links in with the title of the main topic featuring in the magazine. The house style is: Red, blue and white which are the colours that represent America and that are on the American flag. The main celebrity on the front of the cover is also designed to be dressed in the same colour clothing to link it with the magazine colour scheme. The masthead is in pure white to help it stand out more and to be recognized by the audience straight away. It is placed on the background of the American flag and it brighter than the white on the flag so that it is easier to see and notice. The colour white connotes purity and how the main image is an image of a superhero that only does well for his country. It shows how he has a status of being the ‘good guy’ and has this stereotype of ‘saving the world’. The colour white on the title can also be used because of each white star on the American flag. The main title of the film, telling the audience the main topic, is also white. This signifies the link between the mast head and the title of the magazine to keep it connected. The ideology of the superhero saving the country is the reason the magazine is using the colour white a lot as it represents the innocence of him. The caption under the main title ‘how summers biggest superhero went to war’ is in yellow. Yellow connotes remembrance as a lot of people in the war passed away. It also stands out from the house style and grabs the reader’s attention more. It gives them a clue on what the main topic is about and it teases them to purchase the magazine. Having extra information about the contents inside, which is also in yellow, gives the readers a bigger insight on to what to expect when buying the magazine and helps it stand out more so people read it and find out exactly what they are reading about. This is another element which will help the magazine sell the final element on the magazine cover is also in yellow, ‘meet marvels first avenger’, this gives the readers audience on who it is on the front if they don’t already know and it tells them that the magazine will give them a clearly idea on the characters personality. This piece of writing is in a yellow circle which is representing a stamp to clarify the superhero on the front.

Empire has a very simple yet effective type of font used. This shows the professionalism of the magazine and how mature it is. Empire doesn't want ‘ flick’ or ‘curly’ type of fonts as they want their readers to be able to read the text without any struggle. The masthead and main title are very bold to stand out more as they are the main elements on the magazine front cover. They are very clear and easy to read. The designer of the magazine keeps the font the same throughout the cover to keep it linked. It doesn't have any italic as the magazine has a theme to keep the title bold and simple. The masthead is called ‘Empire’ which stands for leader and it shows the strength and power in the name by using that specific font. The font is also in capital letters to signify the intensity of the magazine name.

Image is the main element of the magazine that attracts the reader’s attention the most. It needs to be interesting and a good element as it should draw the audience in.The main image is placed in the center of the magazine to show what the magazine has to give the audience and what the main topic or story line is about. The character is giving the audience eye contact to try connecting with them and try to create a relationship. The main image is covering the middle part of the masthead. This signifies how the audience and target audience of the magazine recognizes it because of its popularity and reputation. The audience will automatically know what the title is without seeing the whole of it. The main image should consist of someone popular that most people know and like to read about, it has to be someone interesting with a fascinating life background otherwise the magazine will be unlikely to sell. If it is someone people recognize easily, it will raise the level of sale of the magazine because of the character used. The main title is placed in the center of the characters stomach to be supported by the main image. It shows the relationship between the text and image. It also represents the title ‘Captain America’ and it shows the model is the captain of the whole country as he is surrounding the text. The character is wearing a very superhero type of costume to link in with the topic that is in the magazine. At the bottom of the page it says ’32 page sci-fi special inside’ this pushed the audience to want to turn the page and read more. Being placed at the bottom allows them to turn the page straight away as they have nothing else to read on that page.

The language used on the front cover of the magazine is simple but causes the audience to want to know more. It tells the audience what the magazine contains but it doesn't let them know everything so it keeps them wondering using short phases and words to create this effect. There is not a lot of text used on the front cover but just enough to give away why the magazine is worth buying. The magazine tells the audience what it has to offer and why that is the magazine they should buy. It states that the magazine is about ‘Captain America’ mainly but has other topics that are interesting to read about. It also states how the magazine has a Sci-Fi side to it, this would attract the Sci-Fi side of the audience. The magazine has ‘Magazine of the year’ on the top in bold, spaced out letters to let the audience know that it has been given a title to show how good it is to read. This language is dominant and will push the audience to buy.

James Bond Magazine Cover.

I decided to analyse this magazine cover so that I can get my own ideas on what techniques I should use to make my magazine cover for my A2 coursework the best to my ability. I am going to use CFILL as a guide so that I make sure every aspect of the magazine cover is covered and I can use that to understand why the magazine cover is presented the way it is.

The colour of the magazine is very sophisticated. The colours used to signify this are: white, black and a golden yellow. The white background makes the mast head of the magazine stand out to the audience and to show the reputation of it. It also makes the main image have a bold outline around it and gives it this 3D effect. It gives the magazine a better outcome and adds professionalism to it. The title being black on the white background is the correct colour chosen and it goes with the whole colour scheme and the genre of the film advertised on the magazine. The golden yellow text that is spread out on the image and background is bright and eye catching. It makes the audience read it through and it gives them an idea of what the magazine consists of. The text is two shades of golden yellow which gives the magazine a better impact and doesn't look dull. The colour gold also represents power which connotes the power that the main character in ‘James Bond’ has in the movie. The actors name is in gold because of the power he has. The movie is all about the power and skills he has to defeat anyone that gets in the way of his journey. The colour on his clothing is also black and white to show sophistication and class that represents his character. This is stereotypical clothing that should be worn to show this.

  

The font on the magazine is all in capital letters and very big. This is so that the audience can recognize what the magazine consist of straight away. The font is the same on the whole cover to give the magazine synergy. The font being in capital letters gives the audience an effect that it is important and it pushed them to read and notice it more. The title is the biggest on there because this is the brand of the magazine and people are more likely to buy it if they know the reputation and population of the magazine. The name of the character on the front is the same size and font as the title because it lets the audience know who is in the magazine and this may persuade them to watch it more if they are keen on the actor playing in the movie. The rest of the font is smaller because it is less important than the mast head and subtitle of the magazine.

The main image on the magazine cover is ‘Daniel Craig’ who plays ‘James Bond’ in the movie. The magazine showed a clever way of showing the two sides to him and his profession on the magazine. The main image is the actor standing up and looking straight at the audience. Eye contact gives the audience a better relationship with the actor and the magazine. In the plain white background there is a shadow of the character holding a gun. This represents the whole story line of the movie and again, shows the genre of the magazine. The main image is overlapping the title, this shows the audience that is a magazine that they will recognize without seeing the white title because of its population. The shadow of the image is under the title because it signifies the slyness of the character in the movie. The title of the magazine is at the top across the page because this is the first thing the audience need to know before they decide on purchasing the product. The main text that is telling the audience what the main story line in the magazine is about is placed on the left hand side of the character, slightly overlapping the image of him to show the connection between the two. The other text is placed on the right hand side on the image so that it is easier for people to see and read it. Right at the top of the magazine there is a quote that says ‘when stars behave badly’ which pushes the readers to buy and read it to find out exactly what that means in more detail.

The layout of the magazine is very straight forward and understanding for the audience. The main image is placed in the middle to show the audience who the magazine is going to use for their main article. It’s the thing that catches the audience’s attention straight away. The title is placed at the top to represent its importance on the magazine. The other text is down a line on the left and on the right, giving the character space to show stereotype their character with the clothing they are wearing and the way they show themselves. It lets them show their facial expression and their posture to represent the genre of the movie.

The language used on the magazine cover is very smart. It gives that kind of effect making the audience want to know more. The main article in the magazine is ‘James Bond’ and the quote in the film is usually ‘Bond, James Bond’. However this time, the magazine has used the actor’s real name, ‘Craig, Daniel Craig.’ This relates back to the movie and shows the link and relationship between the actor and the film. It has enigma question making the audience want the know more: ‘Will the new bong hit the jackpot in casino royal ’ This also shows what the movie’s title is. It is a persuasive question and it makes the audience want to purchase the magazine. It also has other actors and actresses names on the front to tell the audience who else the magazine talks about inside. It doesn't give too much away so it keeps that secrecy.