Codes and Conventions of Existing Products

THE BLAIR WITCH MOVIE POSTER-

The Colours. Only two colours are used on the poster, which are red and black. This is typical of the horror genre as red connotes danger and fear and black connotes a sense of darkness. This poster breaks the typical conventions as no ‘star’ is shown on the front as it focuses more on the visual aspect.  The use of iconography through the use of the trees effectively plays an important role. When researching, the most common preferred location was a forest. This shows the level of depth of research in order to create the product. The tagline works well in order to reveal limited information to the audience to gain attention. This is located in the expected place, which normally is at either the top or the bottom. Typically, nowadays hash tags can be seen as a way to connect with the audience rather than taglines.

MY OWN WORK- From analysing this poster, it is evident that the use of the setting is effective and successful. I have taken the idea that using the setting as the main selling point can extremely successful to keep the appearance of characters hidden. I also will take into account the tagline placement and the importance of what it gives away to the audience.

THE CRUCIFIXION MOVIE POSTER-

The use of iconography. This poster primarily focuses on religious aspects, which is reinforced through the use of the crosses. This creates juxtaposition with the use of horror against innocence and purity, which successfully fits the horror genre conventions- good against bad. This poster evidently follows the expected horror poster conventions due to the placement of the masthead, centre of visual interest and taglines. The sense of horror and fright is created by the mysterious character placement, which leaves the audience with fear of the unknown. It could be argues that the positioning of the masthead breaks the typical conventions as it typically is located at the top, intended to stand out. Despite this, it works well in order to send a message to the intended audience.

MY WORK- From researching into this poster and other existing products, I will take into account the centre of visual placing. Similarly to the crucifixion, the use of iconography is key as this is what sets the scene and gives the audience clues into the plot. Also, I think having a tagline relatable to the film will be a success as this typically relates to the product to attract the audience.

DIABOLIQUE MAGAZINE COVER-

The character placement. This is extremely successful and key to this magazine poster. The character is placed centre of the cover and is looking away from the audience. Typically, covers of this genre tend to place the character away from the audience in order to create suspicion and fear of the unknown. In this case, it is clear that there is something darker beyond the audience, which we cannot see, only the character knows. Also the image of the main location is successful as we can immediately tell the location and limited information about the plot. Despite this, the name of the film does not stand out in comparison to the name of the magazine. This could be a limitation for the success of the magazine due the confusion of what the film is actually called.

MY WORK- From analysing this magazine cover, I will capture the placement of the main character in order to sell the film successfully. This will be a main aspect of my poster as I believe this works well in order to create the conventions of fear and horror. Also, I will take into account the colours used, as it is evident that using typical horror poster such as black and red can be just as successful as including other colours such as blue and white. 

RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE COVER-

The use of masthead placing. It is evident that this poster works extremely well to present the title of the film to the audience. This is a key convention as it works primarily to sell the film and make the audience familiar with the title. Despite this, it can be argued that using the font from the original poster would work better to engage with the audience. Also, it is clear that this poster breaks the colours of typical horror magazines as it takes a more subtle approach to the genre. Also, the rule of thirds is key as the information at the bottom is clear, in the middle is the main character and at the top is the name of the magazine. This is expected within magazine conventions in order to break up the information.

MY WORK- From analysing this magazine cover, I have discovered that typically the main character of the movie is the main selling point and a key aspect of the process. Also, I think that the use of a different font to show the movie title is not as successful as using the same font from the movie/main poster. I’m my work, I will not follow this aspect but I will follow the rule of thirds and the use of character positioning