Paranormal Activity was a horror movie made in 2007 and produced by Oren Peli. This film is made I a way that portrays the tape as being footage that was found by someone in an attempt to find what is possessing them.
The setting of this poster appears to be in a bedroom but the shot looks like it is coming from a video camera this gives a more rustic look to the picture. As the photo is a still from a previously recorded image it has the time that it was taken at as well as the position of the camera can give the impression that there is someone watching them.
As the quality of the picture has quite a grainy texture this sets up the theme for the film connoting that the film is going to follow suit. The application of grayscale colors gives the poster a typical horror movie look to it which is necessary for a horror move poster. A wide shot is used on this poster to set the scene. As the woman in the bed has her hand stretched out and the door is open this connotes that the woman has magically opened the door whilst still in the bed, this then allows people to think that the woman has some time of power. As it is set in a bedroom which to some people is a place where they can relax and are safe, using a picture of the couple in there bedroom gives makes it relatable to the viewers.
The facial expressions on the couples face is one of shock and disbelief. This also draws viewers in by getting them curious, asking question like what has happed for them to be looking this way. The ways the way the man is positioned next to the lady with his arm over her look as thought her his about to get up and see what the problem is this connotes that the man is protecting her from something. The headboard that is used over the bed is very majestic so as we see the spotlight hitting it, it reflects onto the door which places a shadow onto the door making people think that something is there.
As most people are excited by the thought of being frightened having quotes like ‘scariest movie of all time’ urges fans of horror movies to watch it and see if they can handle the challenge. The type of font that is used in for the text in the black space is the same kind of font used on x-files and sci-fi documentaries which connotes that the scenes show in this movie ore real.
The white font on a black background makes the quotes stand out drawing attention to it. The title of the film Paranormal Activity is in large bold red letters that have a distinctive glow on it as well as shadowing. Having the title of the film in the colour red gives the connotation that there is danger within the film. Dark or dim colours are usually used within horror movie posters because they add make it look appealing to the public as well as being a convention of a horror movie poster. The quote ‘WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU SLEEP’? engages the person to think about that and because that is something that most of us do not know it intrigues the person to find out. Also the way Paranormal Activity is sandwich between ‘WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SLEEP’?and ‘DON’T SEE IT ALONE’ allows the viewer to think that this is what goes on.
Overall the film poster for Paranormal Activities is one that’s purpose was mainly for advertisement over the internet as apposed to being seen on street corners. This allows the films buzz online to become much bigger online drawing in its target audiences.
Premiere was an American film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. The magazine launched in 1987 and had an original version which was intentionally called Première starting in France. The frequencies of the issues were delivered to stands on a monthly basis and the final issue that was given out was in April 2007.
The front page of this ‘Premiere’magazine consists of a medium long shot of Hayden Christensen who is well known for his boyish good looks and his epic role as Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars film series. The photographic image is surrounded by a grey background which could either have been done through Photoshop work or possibly a grey backdrop in a studio. This connotes the use of dark and eerie colours to help symbolize the importance of this actor whilst also emphasising his characteristics within the film by his NVC and costume. He stares directly into the camera lens with a serious look showing half his face while the other side is shadow connoting mystery; this attracts the audience who may come across this at a stand because they wish to solve the secrets within his eyes.
There are 3 main colours that are used in this cover; red, white and black. These are all some what intense colours that not only stand out by themselves but as a trio, they are strong and convey different connations towards varies people. White can be considered as a colour of peace and purity giving of a positive connation whilst red and black are the opposite being seen as negative with signs of warning, fear and pain.
The font type for this cover consists of serif font for the masthead which connotes tradition; the magazine was around for 20 years so it would be understandable that they wanted their demographic audience to know this. The cover lines, selling line and all other text on the cover is in a sans serif font allowing the audience to have to modern feel to it and not only being intrigued by the image but also the context of words. These bold and simple texts keep the audience attracted to what want with excessive information on the newest film industry gossip without having doubt on whether or not to purchase the magazine. The left side of cover lines is what entices the audience to the film directed at the front cover providing them with lines such as “DEATH STAR” and “YODA WOOKIE & THE MEANING TO IT ALL” this excites the audience to know they finally get to find out truths in the film. The right side of cover lines is what attracts audiences who don’t necessarily are interested in Star Wars and have an opportunity to get information on “62 movies starring Tom cruise Russell Crowe Keira Knightley” etc.. It allows everyone to get a fair and diverse feel to their monthly magazine.
Overall, this is a successful cover as it is intriguing to the audience by use of colours, prop and costume along with NVC and the use of lighting within the face to shadow cast a different side to the actor. The text appeals to the eye, bold and sharp which adds to the response from the audience. I will then take this into consideration and use these factors that I learnt to help my group make a successful horror film magazine cover.
In this essay I aim to provide a textual analysis of the front cover for the Empire magazine.
Denotation: The magazine consists of a colour photograph showing many actors. Some are looking straight at the camera others are looking away, I can tell that the camera shot was a mid long shot for the main actor in front but for the others a close up camera shot was taken. It also shows that the photos were taken with a high quality camera and then edited with Photoshop to put the broken glass effect on the magazine. Behind the picture we can see the masthead Empire and the barcode is located at the bottom of the magazine.
Masthead: Empire is defiantly one of the most known film magazines and industries known in England. The sign Empire is written in a non-serif style as the letters seem quite big, spaces out and they are not curved or have like a little feet at the bottom. I would also say that Empire followed the convention of having the masthead behind the cover artist as most media magazines follow the convention of having the masthead at the back.
The cover photograph’s are of Harry Potter and the other stars in the famous ‘’Harry Potter’’ movies this could suggest that Harry Potter was deliberately placed as the big picture on the magazine because most people would see harry potter as the main character and the others are support characters. Harry is posed with his wand sticking out which means when people especially children walk past and see the magazine they will be able to tell its Harry Potter straight away by the wand being in his hand and the child being able to remember straight away that Harry Potter uses a wand.
The style of the photograph is very much in fashion of the 21st century as we are moving into a era of were most children movies are supposed to have dreamlike and surreal animations also the use of 3D is more and more becoming accepted and used in the movie industry.
There are many cover lines on the magazine front cover but the main cover line is ‘’Friendships shatter, Evil unites, Potter 7, The End Begins’’ This is making reference to the latest Harry Potter film called ‘’Harry Potter and the deathly hallows’’ which is said to be author J.K Rowling’s finale on the worldwide hit book. The use of the phrase ‘’friendship shatters’’ has a double meaning and could be said to be a pun as on the front cover of the magazine it shows shattered glass which links directly to the phrase ‘’shattered’’ and also the use of all the other characters looking as if they are all against each other is also a play on the phrase ‘’friendship shatters’’.
As it seems the magazine front cover is only focused on Harry Potter but there are some other cover lines such as writing about other heroes such as ‘’The Avengers, Green Lantern and Pegg and Frost’’ this is suggesting that there could be other heroes who are even better than Harry Potter and if you are one of those people who are not really interested in Harry Potter then there could be other heroes which you may find interesting in the Empire magazine.
Also at the top of the magazine front cover it says ‘’our best preview yet’’ which could convey that in a bid to boost sales they are trying to convince people that this is their best ever magazine that they have made to talk about film previews as out of the whole sentence the two words ‘’preview issue’’ are highlighted. It could also be placed on the top deliberately as when people look at a magazine they mostly always look at the brand name to know whether the brand is a local, national or globally known magazine which may always influence their decision to purchase a magazine.
There is also a cover line talking about legendary directors such as ‘’ Carpenters, Dante & Landis and Triple-Bill’’ this could suggest that Empire are trying sway the people who are interested in film directors views and thoughts into purchasing this magazine.
I would finally like to point out that the target audience for this would be aimed at children from at least aged 5- 18 as they will most likely be the people to be interested in the genre of Sci-Fi and the fantasy side of films. I justify this because most people aged older will be interested in films of a rating of 18 such as Saw, The House Of Wax etc, parents would watch this Sci-Fi but only as they will be bringing their sons or daughters to watch the films.
‘Carrie’ was directed in 1976 by Brian De Palma, It is based of a novel written by Stephen King who was excessively known as the ‘Horror novel king’ in this decade and to this present day, which bought a lot of commotion to this film as it was released in theatres.
The ‘Carrie’ trailer lasts 1 minute and 38 seconds which is long for a teaser trailer however it still pertains to mystery and suspense that leaves the audience wanting more. Consisting of several varies shots that sequence the trailer throughout.
The teaser opens up with an establishment shot which is slowly tracking in from a crane to show the prom taking place, the scene is extended to a long time of 10 seconds for the audience to get a clear view of what is going on. The diegetic sound of upbeat 70’s music connotes a party or ball which gives the audience the idea that it is as it appears. The non-diegetic sound that comes as a male voiceover highlights the obvious with the explanation to what’s happening in the scene “It’s the night of the senior prom, the baits high school gym is alive with excitement”.
After this it then goes to straight cut of a two shot with Sissy Spacek being introduced as Carrie and she stands with her date. The shot is very brief and as it is coming to as end a red light shines upon the two actors which then leads to a black screen dubbed with a screeching sound effect that is carried on into another shot of jump cuts zooming in on Carrie’s face covered in blood. These shots used are very interesting, they allow the audience to see the contrast of the previous shots were it was; calm, collected and fun to then lead onto shots of connotations involving danger, pain and fear. This is a typical convention of horror films and Intrigues the audience more to see what has caused this.
It is then cut to the next shot of the female character (Carrie) outside in a mid-shot, her denotation of costumes shows that she is partaking in Physical Education. This is also known through the lighting which reveals that is it now outside in the daytime. Again the shot is brief however it leads onto another female actress hitting Carrie on the head displaying a form of bullying by her Non-verbal communication as she is attacked and the non-diegetic sound of the voiceover saying calmly “The girl who no-one likes” This is highly stereotypical as it shows that yet again a female in a horror movie is shown to be fragile and defenceless even if they are being abused by the same sex, unfortunately the leads are mostly shown like that in different situation within most horror films.
Another establishment shot is shown whilst tracking in to reveal an oddly eerie looking home which can’t be mistaken for where the main character lives. The lighting within this shot is quite low key around the sides of the home with increases fear. Non-diegetic music of strings that add onto the tension from the scene before leading up to this one connotes unsettling feelings as the pace of the shots seem to speed up to this quarter way point of the trailer. A cut comes to show a pan from left to right of low key long shots of one room in the house to the other and then comes to a point to show a long shot tracking in of Carrie being dragged of into darkness by a new female character which can be thought of to be a family member. The voiceover reveals to the audience that this new character is no other than her mother and diegetic sounds of Carrie’s “NO” with screams and mother repeating a low chants allow the audience a view into her home life which is distressing adding onto the horror conventions of pain and suffering into what is thought to be a safe environment.
The next shot shows Carrie looking into a mirror displaying her power of telekinesis connoting her danger to both herself and others as the mirrors shutters and pieces fall to the floor, there is also a prop of a Virgin Mary lantern showing that she comes from a religious background. Non diegetic music that adds to the tension and builds up for the coming scenes, the voiceover also helps to confirm the audience’s suspicions by saying “The girl which the strange power”.
The non-diegetic music changes to piano chords that synchronize with the quick shots of Carrie being at the prom, dancing and having fun whilst there is a repetition of dark and intense colours like black and red that give of warnings to the big climax of the trailer. As the sequence of prom shots speed up, the non diegetic music of a screeching type sound return and shadows appear to add onto the eerie feeling to what is the audience has been waiting to happen.
Everything such as the voiceover, non diegetic music and quick cuts comes to a halt as Carrie is showered in blood this is an extremely brief shot that brings the chaotic ness alive and brings a new sequence of shots showing multiple spilt screen shots of blood, strange activities happening and Carrie’s NVC in a trance like state connoting her being taken over and the person responsible for these events. Diegetic sounds of screams and yelps of fear from the actors and bought forward with the voiceover saying information related towards the actors playing, director, the famous novelist etc. The non diegetic music continues to the end of the trailer as the voiceover says “IF YOU HAVE A TASTE FOR TERROR, YOU HAVE A DATE WITH CARRIE” this ends with a final text of the title of the film and the last few quick shots showing a final establishment shot of the school lighted with flames as a shadow connotated to be Carrie slowly walks out. It then goes to a previous jump cut showing Carrie’s bloody face focusing mainly upon the upper part of her face.
The pacing within this teaser varies between different scenes; in the beginning as previously discussed it is quite long giving the audience a chance to comprehend what is going on which is very important as it can be viewed diversely between each audience member. The medium builds up faster to the end which connotes to us that the climax as to what is going to happen is coming up. The non diegetic music goes from upbeat and cheery to eerie and screech-like noises to assist along with the erratic scenes, as well as the music the voiceover helps to add on a push of suspense to the end of the trailer where all the havoc occurs. The use of repetitive scenes makes it so not a lot is giving away however it also allows it so the audience are aware of the importance to what those scenes are and how they will later be affected and altered within the film.
The common theme within this is bullying throughout the trailer whether it being from the main character’s peers or family member it is highlighted by the quick cuts of sequences that alert us the actions being carried out which then allows the audience to have the understanding as to why this has happened as a last resort.
In conclusion after, analysing elements of a teaser trailer I have come to realise several things. Editing a teaser trailer isn’t as easy as it may appear to be, it is extremely hard. It must be remembered that this is the main product of advertisement that will entice people into going to see the film therefore editing, camera shots, camera movements are needed to be thought over thoroughly. I understand that some teasers like this one for example may solely concentrate on the main character whilst other can stray of to minimal characters to not give away any surprises that may happen in the film. Getting the audience to understand the teaser and intrigue them to watch the film is hard and my challenge will be to incorporate this into my teaser trailer successfully.
Carrie was written by Lawrence D. Cohen based on a novel by Stephen King, Directed Brian De Palma and Produced by Paul Monash. Released on November 3rd, 1976. Disturbed by United Artists.
The film is about a girl that is closed of from others by being bullied at school and being abused at home by her religious mother. One day someone takes pity on her and asks her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom which she then agrees to go with him. Everything seems to go well until she is picked as prom queen and goes on stage to be drenched in pig’s blood. Carrie then uses her telekinesis power on her peers, creating murder and mayhem.
The poster consists of text and two contrasting medium shots of actress Sissy Spacek. The lighting in the picture to the left high key which displays a more welcoming and upbeat environment into comparison to the picture on the right which is low key with a bit of a glow focusing on the depth of colour coming of the actress’ emphasising the pain that is being inflicted.
The non verbal communication within the two pictures portrays different sides of the model which is very essential for the target audience to distinguish within this poster. In the picture on the left shows the actress broadly smiling and expressing happiness which combines well with the high key lighting connoting a positive atmosphere however the picture on the right shows the actress with a expressionless face with her eyes engaged widely towards the audience in a statue-like state which allows us to believe in the discomfort and pain that is coming from the shot.
The costumes from the actress in both differences foretell a story to the audience as it shows the gruesome comparison between the two which enables the horror genre to be expressed more. The light pink dress in the picture enhances the glee and happiness shown through the actress along with connoting her femininity and gentle emotions whilst the other that has the previous dress covered in a red substance believe to be blood. It connotes danger and warnings letting the audience aware of the bad things that will take place in the film.
The props used in this poster are used for the picture on the left symbolizing the usual US conventions of a teen homecoming queen with a sliver/sparkling tiara with pink roses with a pink bow which again as said in the costume analysis is connoting her femininity and gentle emotions within it, stereotypical revealing her frailness even though she may have the NVC of a happy and cheerful girl. This again comes into contrast with the opposite picture which relates more toward the horror theme, the denotation its self creates a story for audience to want to uncover and understand more clearly.
Setting is entirely seen within this poster however from what can be denotated from the left picture is a blue tranquil background along with glittery letters that is symbolically representing the prom environment; this is also known as previously said with the high key lighting it connotes a more safer feeling rather than the right picture that is dark and black around the actress connoting a eerie atmosphere to the audience.
The depth of field in both pictures is of a hyper focal distance. In 1976 it wouldn’t have been advanced as it is in the present however it clearly can show that within these the planes of the images the aperture and point of focus are the same throughout allowing it to be as a softer focus.
Anchorage in the poster allows the audience to be alerting of the tragic events which will take place at the prom and also clearly displaying what context of the images “IF YOU’VE GOT A TASTE OF TERROR… TAKE CARRIE TO THE PROM” this tagline gets the connotation from the pictures to get the audience more understanding that between both images and this text, a timeline of events are taken place which develops the mind of the audience to pinpoint this, thus intriguing them to watch the film showing whether their theories were correct or not.
This poster consists of both serif and sans serif font, the tagline at the top of page is of serif font connoting tradition which may have been quite unusual in 1976 because of it being new and accelerating for audience, however to be viewed today it is more understandable as to why it was done. On the other hand this serif font was used so many can think of having secret reveals in tradition towards ‘Carrie’ which gets them more interested in viewing this film. The sans serif font comes from the title in the middle of the poster ‘Carrie’ this created a more modern feel to it, along with the wave font which made it more fun to look at in that time, nowadays in current horror film posters the conventions of font for this genre wouldn’t casually be done like that in 1976 however those were times of growth and development to the new age of today, so it can easily be seen as acceptable.
The main colours used in this poster are predominately low key such as black and red. This then connects to the audience that it is based upon a horror synopsis. The background colour is black which has the attributes such as emptiness and darkness. The colour red represents blood and death, all in which has a major importance to the genre and plot being said through the poster to the target audience. The aim for this poster was to diversely advertised among different platforms in media e.g. the internet for viral marketing, Magazines, Cinema and commonly known for coverage on buses. The aim for all posters is the intrigue the audience by selling the film evidently making them want to go and see it.
The most extraordinary thing about this film poster is that even though it looks simple it still looks like something that most people would stop and stare for, not just because it is branded and everyone knows and recognises the name saw but because of the way the poster stands out as having the main character in most of the saw films Jigsaw head statue being blow to pieces.
On the poster it says ‘’ In Mind-Blowing 3D’’ and below it shows a statue of Jigsaws head being blown to pieces which shows that the title has a double meaning as it says that the film could be shown in mind blowing 3D meaning that it will shock and amaze you in 3D but also mind blowing as it shows Jigsaws mind being blown.
Conventionally a horror film normally shows actors on the poster possibly the main character, a victim or maybe the villain but on this poster it shows none of the above but just a statue of Jigsaw’s head which could mean that the producers could have decided to challenge the traditional convention and try to not give any hints to the audience and decide to try let the audience try and find out who the main character will be and build more suspense.
Even though the poster is in more or less white and grey the movie title is in red which is a media convention as the colour red is bright which means that it will stand out more and will make people stop, look and wonder what the next saw instalment will be about as there is no clue or hint as to what is going on which in turn will make them research it and could lead to more people coming to watch it.
It also says that ‘’This December the traps come alive in real 3D’’ which could show the directors want to do things such as make tension and fear rise more in the audience as saw is normally a very gory and bloody film but this time its going to be in 3D which means that the audiences experience of the film will be pushed even further. It could also be used to try and boost the promotion and the amount of people that will come to view the film will increase as this will the first ever time saw the horror film will be in 3D
Saw 3D is said to be the last of the ghastly Saw film series created by director Kevin Greutert most of the Saw films have received average feedback of around 3-3.5 out of 5. But what could be said from the masterpiece of a teaser trailer.
The Saw film is of a horror genre but the sub genre would be of a mixture of survival and psychological horror as it has characters beliefs, eerie sound effects and a normal human being, whose horrific identity is not revealed until the end, which is of a psychological. It also has survival
Editing- The sound of the music composes very well with the editing and are very much in pace of the teaser trailer. At the beginning the teaser only seems to show a black background with text which would in a sense create suspense as the audience will wonder what is going on or wonder what this next chapter of the film’s story line will be about which in sense most likely make the audience will want to watch more of the teaser. It then seems to fade out into showing parts of the trailer of the film with an eerie music being played follow by a narrator speaking. What is also good about the editing is that the music seems to stop when the narrator is talking but when the narrator stops talking it restarts which makes the trailer look very professional.
Mise-En-Scene- There is four types of Mise-En-Scene which are props, lights, camera, non verbal communication and setting. Well in the teaser I could safely say that there are no props used as most of the time in the trailer the actors will be in a situation where they are locked up or trapped, this may be because this is a horror film which suggests that most of the time the actors will be defenceless and the whole part of them not using props is because this fits well with the genre. The lighting used in the teaser is mainly low key lighting as it fits well with the genre of a horror movie, it being a dark, cold place in the middle of nowhere and there being traps and puzzles everywhere in the dark to create a lot of tension between the audience which could build them up to get them scared. The setting in the teaser shows it to be in a period of the 21st century.
Sound- The sound in the trailer is very much on point with the video as the slides show the eerie music is played right in sync with it, a loud noise is also played during the slide until the video clip is played but as soon as the next slide comes in the sound restarts this brings about a sharp sense of trepidation among the audience. The only sounds used are non diegetic and sound bridge.
Camera shots- There are quite a number of camera shots used such as in the beginning their is the wide shot used which shows where the action is taking place, there is also an mid shot shown when an actor is in trouble, long shot where an female actor is shown to be in trouble, a close up to show actors fear and facial expressions, reaction shot as a actor responds to a sudden trap, and finally a high angle shot to make actors look small insignificant and vulnerable.
