Conventions of magazine front covers

Some of the conventions that are included in magazine front covers are;

• Bold title.
• 1 to two people in main image.
• Text down the side detailing what is inside magazine.
• Normally some sort of exclusive feature.


The bold title is an obvious convention that you see in most magazines it because a lot of magazines titles are recognizable and used to see a magazine. The title is also normally very large and not too long for example ‘Empire’.

The second most important thing on a magazine front cover is the image you use. Generally the image is of the feature film that they are reviewing or previewing. The image usually relates to the themes that the film is looking to convey and features the main characters we followed this convention with our magazine.

The other convention that magazine front covers have is to include text down the side of the image detailing what is inside the magazine. This because people wouldn’t buy the magazine if there was no more information on the cover. Most magazines include information such as regular features or completions along with previews and reviews and exclusive interviews. The more stuff you include on your cover the easier it is to sell the magazine because people feel they are getting value for money.

An exclusive feature is a feature that only this magazine has. For example an exclusive interview with an actor or director who is featuring or filming in an up and coming production. Exclusives are very good at selling magazines especially with the larger magazines where they exclusive interviews with some of the largest actors on the planet.

Conventions of movie posters

Movie posters are made to link with the release of trailers and the films itself. They have to entice the people who see them to watch the film they are there as another form of marketing for the film.

After looking at a lot of different posters we noticed several things they all do the same they all have large bold test for the tile which ensures that the first things people see are the titles this means that they remember the name helping to ensure that they go and watch it. Most posters include a picture of the lead character and the name of the actor above them. This applies to posters for mainstream films which feature famous actors such as the I am legend poster which has will smith and they use will smith to sell it. Also normally posters include a strap line of some sort for example in ‘I am legend’ it is ‘the last human on earth is not alone’ this gives a little bit more information.

Horror posters often feature a sinister and scary image which gives ambiguity. They often sue low key lighting and feature one character which can range from a demon to a haunted house.
We realised that our poster would not follow all of these conventions because it is more of a teaser poster which means it is released a while before the film comes out this is unlike most posters which come out closer to the release of the film. However we still needed to stick to some of the conventions these included;
• A bold title featuring a relevant font type.
• A picture which links to film through the imagery.
• Low key lighting in the image.

Conventions of horror films

Horror films are designed to frighten, excite, engross and thrill audiences. This is achieved through different techniques and conventions. These techniques are widespread across the horror genre some of these techniques are ;

v    Low key lighting.

v    Point of view shots from the killer.

v    The use of the unexpected.

v    Music

One of the most common conventions that we see in horror films is the use of low key lighting this is generally because most horror scenes are set in dark areas which is a convention in itself. An example of a film that uses low key lighting is the ring.

As you can see there is only one source of light here and we cannot see what is really happening apart from what is on the screen this gives a sense of ambiguity it also gives the audience a better perspective because they can see as much as the person on screen.

A good definition of low key lighting is found on Wikipedia “The term "low key" is used in cinematography to refer to any scene with a high lighting ratio, especially if there is a predominance of shadowy areas. It tends to heighten the sense of alienation felt by the viewer, hence is commonly used in film noir and horror genres.”

Another technique used in horror films is point of view shots from the killers in the film. This useful because it gives more than one perspective also it lets the viewer know what is really happening however leaves them powerless to stop it. A good example of this is from jaws where point of view is used alot from the sharks eyes showing it about to kill its prey

Point of view is also usefull when viewers do not know where the point of view is coming from and so do not know what kind of horrors await.

The use of the unexpected essentially means a shock or fright it usually occurs after the viewer is lulled into a false sense of security. A good example of this kind of unexpected fright is in the film ‘seven’ by David flincher

Another very useful technique is music. In modern times most films have soundtracks and usually they are crucial in helping to tell the story or set a scene. Music can be used to manipulate people’s emotions and to make them scared or angry or tense and works very well in horror films.

We are going to use and develop these conventions in our trailer in order to get the best effect possible.