Film Poster Analysis Questions (500 words)

A film poster is used to advertise a film. A film poster usually contains an image with text; `the text tends to contain the film title, written in large lettering, bold colors’ and attention-grabbing font. These are important because they make the film poster more memorable and original. The text on the poster also often has the names of the actors or the director. It most likely will also contain a tag line which may either be a catchy slogan, offering clue to genre and aim themes or content of the film. A film poster will most importantly contain an eye catching image which shows the genre of the film and is often related to characters or the setting of the film. Also the poster may contain the critics’ review which is usually just a short quote saying something positive about the film. Finally a film poster may also contain the production blurb which the additional information, It is written in tiny print which lists the production and distribution companies as well as other information.

The genre of this film is Comedy, I can tell this by the facial expressions on the characters faces, by the title of this film the last thing you would think is that this movie is humorous because it is associated with death and funerals. In the picture none of the characters look serious for example a topless man is showing the ‘rock on’ sign in the back ground. Also we can tell that this movie is a comedy because of the two main characters Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock who are major comedians.

The characters on the poster are represented to look humorous and to relate to the genre of the film. All the characters are dressed formally in dark suits and dresses. The first character starting from the left is the attractive female in the film, although her facial expression clearly shows shock, it looks posed and sarcastic. The second character is a topless man flashing the ‘rock on’ sign; he looks like an immature joker. The other four men have similar facial expressions, although none of them look serious and upset as of what people would look at a funeral. And finally there is dwarf wrapped in ropes on top of the coffin, overall none of the characters look serious and therefore we can straight away tell that this movie is not going to express the sadness of funerals.

The title of this film is ‘Death at a Funeral’; this title straight away suggests humour because you wouldn’t normally say there is a death at a funeral. The colour used for the title is red; Red may represent death, Blood, danger, warning signs etc.

The film may interest both genders who are fans of the two well known comedians Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock. Also the film has many other famous actors and actresses such as Zoe Saldana, Luke Wilson, and James Marsden.

Death at a funeral is a remake of the British version of death at a funeral which was released in 2007.

The film was produced by Sydney kimmel entertainment, SKE is a major Hollywood company.

Survey Results

Here is the feedback that I have received of 11 people who have answered my magazines survey. I have chosen 5 questions which I think are most useful for my magazine.

What types of magazines are you interested in?

80% have chosen Fashion as being the magazine they are most interested in.

How much would you pay for a magazine?

45.4% of the audience would either pay £1-2 or £2-3 on a magazine whereas only 18.2% would pay £3-4. From these results, I have an idea of what would be the most appropriate price for my magazine. 

How often would you like the magazine to be published?

The most popular answer came to 45.5% which was 'once a month'

What freebies woyuld you like to receive in the magazine?

This question received mixed responses but with 63.6% each , nail polish and make up were the most popular.

Who would you prefer to see on the cover of a fashion magazine?

90.9% have answered 'a celebrity' ;10 people out of 11 responded that they'd prefer to see a celebrity on the front cover, this is a very important factor for my new magazine as this clearly shows that my magazine would be more sucesful if i had a celebrity on the front cover.

Double Page spread analysis

The double page spread is on an interview with Tulisa. Tulisa was chosen for this magazine because she was in a very well known British hip hop group called N-dubz; also she is the new judge for x factor. Ndubz & x factor is of interest of many teenagers in the UK. The double page spread is well layout and looks fun and attractive,  The language used is very informal, this is significant  because teenagers these days speak and write informally and would much rather read something which is also informal and easy to read. The interview is laid out as a conversation between Tulisa and the interviewer, the most interesting and attention grabbing comments which Tulisa makes are highlighted in pink, this make the reader want to read the whole response to the question. The colours used for the double page spread are just like the cover pink, white and black, the colours are not as dominant as the front cover .Only one page is occupied by an image of Tulisa the other page has a small image and lots of text of different fonts.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CC9DNNH

Analysing contents page

The layout of the contents page looks quite confusing at first as the page numbers are all over the page and not in order. The contents page uses lots of images with captions and the page number. There is a box in the bottom left corner where a couple of the page numbers are shown. The main story which is on Tulisa’s interview is placed in the middle of the contents page, the image, text and the page number are the largest of all. The colour of the contents page is now blue and although it does not match the cover page it still looks bright and attractive. A promotional feature has been used at the bottom of the contents page; a small strip of 10 hot posters which will be included in the magazine. The magazine logo is placed at the top right corner of the page, the title is not as dominant as it is medium sized.

Analysing a magazine cover

The magazine which I am analysing is a teenage magazine; Teenage magazines are aimed at teenage readers. They usually consist of gossip, news, boys, fashion tips and interviews and may include posters, stickers, small samples of cosmetics or other products and inserts.

The target audience for this magazine are girls from the ages of 12 to 17. The magazine appeals to the target audience because the front cover shows what will be included in the magazine, The headlines are attention grabbing and the target audience would want to read about it.The central image of the magazine cover is a picture of Tulisa , A famous celebrity who is now the judge of the leading british television music competition. Tulisa uses direct mode of address,  smiling/laughing  into the eyes of the reader to show that she has revealed something entertaining and funny in her interview in the magazine.  Tulisa is on the front cover because X factor 8 is on tv and most teenage girls around Britain watch it.

The anchorage text located under the title ‘TULISA says ‘ Tears, Strepsils and Tesco! The X Factor star keeps it real’, this implies that although she is a huge celebrity, she still relates to her audience as she shops at Tesco, is quite an emotional person, as the word ‘tears’ are used to describe her. This creates a direct message that Tulisa is no different from anyone else and the fame and fortune has not changed her.

The  buzz word that has been used in the front cover of this magazine says ‘world exclusive’ this suggests that this is the only magazine which covers the interview with Tulisa.  There is another buzz word which says ‘brand new mag!’ , simply stating that this magazine is something new and exciting.

we<3pop is the title of the magazine. This is a fun and eye catching title for the target audience as pop is not only a fun word it is also one of the most popular music genres  for teenage girls. The title is in a speech bubble stating that the magazine has lots of gossip and news.The colour used for the magazine is bright coral, this colour is quite trendy and eye-catching.  The font used is simple and easy to read. Many of the words are in capital letters.

The slogan for the cover is #don’t bore us. Get to the chorus. This indicates that this magazine is fun and shouldn't be taken seriously.