Research continued (movie poster and magazine front cover)

Movie Poster Research

A movie poster is a poster containing features from the movie that it is advertising. Features include images of the main characters involved in the movie, and usually they are suspended within some sort of action scene that the characters are involved in. The event they are placed in usually depends on the genre of the movie. Within our movie poster we want to pay particular attention to the ideas of Levi Strauss and the topic of Binary Opposition. This will branch off into the idea of the Villain and the Hero and this can be shown within our movie poster. We will need to look into exisitng posters that would include this sort of look to it, these would lie in genres such as Action, Supernatural and Thriller. 

Analysis of existing movie posters

Real Steel

This is the movie poster for the movie Real Steel. I am going to discuss the codes and conventions used in this poster that will help me when it comes to planning our movie poster for our film Life Line. The first convention we see is the text used and typography, this is usually tailored to the movie itself and the genre. So in this case the movie is Science Fiction and includes iconography such as robots. The title uses the word "steel" which suggest solid, strong elements, so the text is capitalised, bold and has a metallic silver look to it to depict the idea of steel. Another common convention used is the inclusion of the Actor's name, as this is the recognisable Hugh Jackman his name takes centre frame in particular his arms are in the middle and folded together, which could be seen as a symbol of power, the folding maybe represeting a seal or bond, or a relationship between Hugh Jackmon and the robot standing behind him. This convention is used to help sell the movie to fans of Hugh Jackman, according to Auter theory he is famously recognised as Wolverine, his most popular role. This solidifies him as an Action Hero and helps to build the audiences' expectations. The name is in bold and the letters are spaced apart, this may be to make it appear important to the audience and to help it become more apparent and noticeable against the rest of the poster. The actor is also present in the centre of the poster, which shows dominance over the entirety of the contents on the poster.

The overall posture looks intimidating with Hugh Jackmon staring towards the camera, which engages and establishes an immediate connection with the audience. The effect of the eyes looking directly towards the camera produces a somewhat connection or a portal for the audience to be taken into the movie itself.

Another convention used is the use of a slogan or a phase that sums up the movie located at the top of the poster. In this movie poster the slogan reads "If you've got one shot, make it real". Becuase they have been placed on seperate lines means you can read them as individual statements, which make them more powerful as slogans. The full stop at the end of each line also establishes that its a statement and makes the slogan seem more powerful and striking, the audience will take it more seriously and initialise the fact of its realism and importance.

In terms of colour they have stuck to greyscale colours such as black, grey and white. This may have been done to work with the colours of steel and to make it work with the colour in terms of making specific areas stand out against another one. Using colours that stand out against other colours is a good way to help areas stand out more than other less important areas. For example they have darkened the lower part of the poster to allow the text to stand out effectively, this is clearly evident as the jeans of Hugh Jackman fade into darkness, which text is then overlayed upon. This is shown on the top of the poster, where the fade of the light is applied to make it appear dark, which the text is then applied on top of. He is lit via stong spotlights, symbolic of a sports stadium. This suggests an element of sportmanship, competition and battle.

Another code and convention used is the large amount of text at the bottom also known as the billings block. This is included in almost every movie poster signifying the actors, actresses, director, production team and small details of the people behind the movie itself. It is a legal requirement that this information be present on the poster as it adheres to regulations.

Looking at the stance and posture between the two figures in the poster we can apply the binary opposition theory. We can see Hugh Jackman with his arms folded together, this usually signifies an arrogance and self confidence of the person. The robot behind has his arms by his sides in a fighting stance with his hands slightly raised. This also shows arrogance and self confidence as the person isn't defending their body and is ready to take anything that comes at them. Two similar stances have been used to show the same attitude. An alternative reading of this image might suggest team work, as the robot is standing behind him in a supportive "back-up" role.

We can also look at the binary opposition of good and evil and how each of these are shown. In this poster we can see Hugh Jackman in the foreground, we see he is behind the large robot whose shadow shrouds Hugh. The darkness, which represents evil has been placed around Hugh in the form of the robots back. This may show Hugh as the dark side of the two figures. On the other hand the robot, which is placed in the background has been placed under many flashing cameras and spotlights, where the light indicates purity and hope. This may show the robot to be the good, between them both.

Hulk

This is the movie poster for the Hulk. I am going to discuss the codes and conventions used in this poster that will help me when it comes to planning our movie poster for our film Life Line. The first convention im going to talk about is the text used and the typography, which is usually tailored to the movie itself. In this case the movie title Hulk is suspended under what looks to be a helicopter light, maybe to emphasise the fact the Hulk is wanted and dangerous. An alternative way we could also read the spotlight, is as a sign that the Hulk is the most important aspect of the movie poster and the movie itself so a spotlight is used to show this. The text is capitalised to emphasise the fact that what the letters come together to read, Hulk, is in fact strong, the text carries this idea through.

Another convention used is the inclusion of the famous actors/actresses on the top of the movie poster. This highlights the famous actors/actresses that are in the movie. It sort of looks like the names are placed on the Hulk's shoulders, like they are being placed on a pedestal to show importance. The text is in white to help it become clear to the audience against the green and blue background.

Another convention i will be looking at is the stance between the two figures in the pictures. The person in the foreground we can see is keeping his hands in his pocket, whilst looking down. This stance suggests the character holds a timid nature, or maybe looks like he's ashamed of something he's done or a secret he's hiding. On the other hand the Hulk has his hands by his sides and appears to be looking behind him at the man. The arms by his sides shows confidence and control, whilst the looking behind him action may suggest he's protecting the man from harm. After watching the movie i know the two people in the poster are the same and therefore can suggest that this poster is trying to capture how he transforms from a shy, timid guy into the giant bulky Hulk.

Another code and convention used is the use of a Billings Block. This is a legal requirement to be on every movie poster that is officially released. This is included in almost every movie poster signifying the actors, actresses, director, production team and small details of the people behind the movie itself. This convention would be essential to include in our movie poster as this would be the finished touch to making our poster look professional.

Movie Magazine front cover

What is a Movie Magazine? 

A movie magazine is simply a magazine that is directed towards the genre of movies and movie culture. Popular movie magazines such as Empire typically include interviews of movie stars, movie review, previews, movie premiere highlights, a transcript, and details of movie scenes in their magazines. They will include articles that cover that of the magazines to appeal to the target audience and sell more issues and make greater profit.

Movie magazines usually appeal to a wide audience range by offering features such as upcoming movie releases, subscription offers, movie releases and interviews with famous movie stars such as Hugh Jackamn, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise etc. The cover stars will all have a direct mode of address, where they are seen to be all looking directly at the camera, it is very rare that you will find a cover star looking away from the camera. This technique is used to hold the consumers attention and establish a connection between the cover star and the consumer.

They will feature a cover star that relates to the genre or movie that the magazine typically represents or is promoting at that month, for example Empire will host a cover star such as Danielle Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson on the month of the Deathly Hallows part two premiere. An example of a magazine that doesn't follow the movie genre include OK! magazine which is a women's lifestyle magazine.

This type of magazine features articles that relate to that of celebrity gossip that appeal to the OK! target audience being mostly females. The advertising within the magazines also targets this core readership with adverts varying from shampoo products to lip gloss. You wouldn't find these sorts of articles or adverts within Movie magazines, instead you will find adverts promoting a dvd release, an upcoming movie etc

Movie magazines such as Empire will feature some unique articles that relate to that of the months bigger movie release. The advertisements contained within may be aiming towards that of a male target audience who are targeted to buy the magazine.

Features contained within a typical magazine include interviews, movie reviews, movie premieres, movie releases, competitions, advertisements, subscriptions and what will be featured in the next issue.

Why do people read music magazines?

According to Blumer and Katz's gratifications model, people seek out media that meet their desired needs or personal preferences. We can apply this to movie magazines, people who find that media fulfils their needs will purchase the movie magazine. There are four gratifications that have been analysed. Firstly, it provides us with information, people want to find out about the world and society and satisfy our curiosity that we sustain as humans. Secondly, being our personal identity, magazines will use specific cover stars to help achieve this by using someone that we find contain attributes and behaviours that we contain. The consumer will aspire to be like this model and adapt their personality and actions to match that of the cover star as well as these we can take in information and surveillance from magazines. We can collect information such as movie release dates,  interviews with movie stars, movie reviews or information about a new movie about to be released. People may use this information and spread information by the word of mouth to their friends and people they encounter on a day to day basis. The third one, personal relationships can be achieved by media. people may use the media as a substitution for their family life, for example substituting soap opera to their family life. The media can also be used as a diversion from reality, a way for them to escape and emerge in a world that is completely controlled. For example in movie magazines the consumer can become emerged in a world which the editor controls, the placing of the contents and features allows the magazine to flow, followed by the consumer.

Maslow's  hierarchy of needs

Maslow has used the terms Physiological, Safety, Love/belonging, Esteem and Self actualization to describe the pattern that human motivations go through. Maslow has used a pyramid to describe these patterns. He has included five stages within the pyramid, describing the different stages in human motivations.

Physiological: These are the requirements for human survival. Requirements such as breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homoeostasis and excretion. Those who are best situated at the bottom of the pyramid will not purchase a magazine because it doesn't fit into there priority's, which is food and water etc.

Safety: With the physical needs satisfied to live, we can now move onto the safety of our lives. This section focuses on the individuals safety such as personal safety, safety of a job, safety of their family, safety of their health and safety of their home. People who are focused entirely on their safety may look to buy a movie magazine as an escape route from reality to a world where it is entirely controlled by the media and safety shrouds the person, no one can harm them there.

Love/ Belonging: This section focuses on the love of friendship and family. This need is strong during childhood,which can over ride the need for safety. They need to love and feel loved (sexually and non-sexually). People who fit into this category need to love and be loved, I could associate presenting a gift to someone an expression of love and friendship, if that person was into movies maybe a movie magazine would be purchased as a gift for that person.

Esteem: Humans have a need to be respected and to have self-esteem and self-respect. This includes confidence to perform actions such as presentations to a large number audience, to gain respect of and by others and feel a sense of achievement. People who fit into this level will be looking for self respect and self esteem, this may encourage them to purchase a movie magazine as they may be respected in their social group with people who share a common interest in movies. 

Self actualization: This level is at the top of the pyramid. This talks about what a persons potential is and realising that potential. They are interested in their own gains and dismiss the comments made by others. My movie magazine will incorporate information that is commented by the editor and artists involved with the issue of the magazine. Therefore they will not be interested in my magazine.

Overall , according to Maslows theory, people who fit into the Love/Belonging level and the Safety level would be the people who are most likely to purchase my movie magazine. They are the people who purchase a magazine as a safety route, to intake new information to talk about amongst their social group or to present as a gift to a loved one or a friend.

VALs hierarchy

This theory states that people are stereotyped to form nine different categories each contains its own different set of characteristics, which summarise the type of people each category presents. The category split into nine categories, which follows:

•  Belongers
•  Achievers
•  Societal concious
•  Emulators
•  Experiential's
•  'I am me' people
•  Survivors
•  Sustainer's
•  Integrated's 

These different categories have distinct characteristics that separate one from another. The purpose of me studying this theory is to determine which category or categories of people will be within my target audience.

Belongers: This group of people make up 38% of the population. These are conformists that are completely satisfied with mainstream values, meaning that they will continuously change brands and won't stick with one that they trust. as a result my magazine may be purchased once and changed the next month, meaning that these are the sort of people who I won't be targeting towards. They are not very adventurous people, which my magazine tends to explore.

Achievers: This group of people make up 20% of the population. These type of people are the ones who make their own decisions. These are the type of people who I hope will move from mainstream magazines such as Empire and will drive towards my movie magazine, TheBigScreen.

Emulators: This group of people make up 10% of the population. They aspire for a better life, but aren't quite sure how to get there. They will be good consumers of my magazine because it's something different that will separate them from people such as Belongers who follow the mainstream.

Experientials: This group of people make up 5% of the population. These are the people who are risk takers of the world. they are always willing to try out new things,which is perfect for my magazine as its a new magazine that will be published. A new opportunity to try something new and they will. Its disappointing that they make up such a small portion of the population.

'I am me' people: This group of people only make up 3% of the population. These are the people who wish to set themselves apart from the remainder, to be different. they are the ones likely to start marketing campaigns. These people hopefully will be the ones to drive the rebellious youths towards my movie magazine.

Integrated's: This group of people make up 2% of the population. They are the smallest group of people amongst the population, but are the people willing to try out different products and carry a creative mind. They are similar to Emulators in the way of trying different products that may make their life better in some way. 

Overall, the Integrated, Emulators, and the Experientials are the groups of the population that i will be aiming for. they are the people that are willing to try new things and the ones who  look for new things to improve their lifestyle.

Analysis of existing movie magazines

I am going to analyse some existing products so i can get a better understanding of what codes and conventions are used, which i will need to bear in mind when designing and creating my movie poster.