23rd february

here is an example of how Empire have made their magazine name appropriate to the film(s) they are advertising within the magazine. this is a two-cover special which the company released when The Dark Knight was released. each cover is specific to the character on the front; either the dark knight or batman, through colour and the addition of the different font, similar to the joker's writing, on the bottom tagline of the magazine cover.

24th february

i am going to use popular film magazine Empire as inspiration when making my magazine cover. the image on the front cover is large, taking over two thirds of the page. the black background used on the cover makes the red tone of Hellboy’s skin really stand out. minus the title, all text on the cover is either white or a dull khaki colour making it stand out, but not taking the focus off the main purpose of the magazine; the release of Hellboy 2. there is only one font style used on the cover of the magazine; however it has been either enlarged or made smaller. the second largest font to the title Empire, is used layered on top of Hellboy’s chest in white making it stand out against the red of his skin. the tiniest font is used towards the top of the magazine where Empire’s website it mentioned, along with the date, price and issue number of the magazine, in red, which makes the potentially less important information not stand out.

the sidelines, mentioning other films or stars, are a lined perfectly around the image of Hellboy, framing his head and neck, meaning the main focus is not lost. to the right of Hellboy, there is a circle containing text which reads ‘40 MOVIES THAT WILL GET YOU SEX!’ Empire have cleverly kept with the theme and genre of the magazine but mentioned sex, which is likely to draw some readers in. being the only thing on the magazine cover which is in a colour filled circle, it stands out and the reader’s eye is drawn to it second or thirdly. the use of this sentence suggests the target audience of the magazine too; 16+ males. this is not true of all Empire magazines, but in this specific issue, the target audience are more likely to be males, as Hellboy is more of a male’s film and in addition, sex is mentioned; stereotypically linked with men. finally, one strap line says ‘NATALIE PORTMAN VS SCARLETT JOHANSSON. WELL WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE?’ making the magazine suggestive towards men too; choosing between two attractive women.

a diverse feature. and unique selling point, about Empire magazine is its theme to change the font style of the title Empire so that it is appropriate to the main film it is advertising. for example, in this instance Empire is made red and the letters look as though they are on fire, all in relation to Hellboy. Empire magazine titles are versatile and varied, which makes the magazine front cover more attractive to the audience.

3rd febuary

• the film poster gives nothing away about what the film is going to be about
• it contains the two main characters which star within the film 'eternal sunshine for the spotless mind'
• at the top of the film poster, the stars names which feature within the film are shown
• the film title - 'eternal sunshine of the spotless mind' is central within the poster and therefore becomes the focal point
• above the film title there is the films tagline
• this poster contains two different images which have been blended into one, where the male character looks up at himself and a female as a couple, suggestively, as though he is looking back on things or a situation. this technique makes the audience want to see the film more so that they are able to understand why he is looking back at himself and the female together

3rd febuary

• the opening shot of the trailer shows the film institution who have produced and sponsored the film
• the following scene allows the two main characters to be introduced to the audience
• throughout the trailer there is a sequence of film clips and graphics where text is displayed on screen
• many of the film clips are short and mininmal, making it impossible to conclude what the film is about hence why it is called a teaser trailer
• the music which accompanies the film trailer changes three times throughout - beginning with calm relaxing music sounding like a woman singing and a flute being played. the music sounds happy and suggests hope. however it changes quickly, and the music conveys a sense of confusion
• as the music changes the shots become shorter and quicker - giving the audience little time to even process them, but drawing them in to see the film so that they can understand what has happened
• the music once again picks up, and a song by 'elo' can be heard
• as shots become slightly longer, the music changes and sounds somewhat opera or orchestral like, suggesting power. as this happens, although the shots are still rather short, complete sentences can be heard by the cast and the sense of confusion is lost
• at almost the end of the trailer, the same song previously played by 'elo' is heard again as small snippets of the film are shown, however no diagetic sound is heard
• as the names of the stars appear on screen, a male voiceover is introduced who says the casts names and introduces the name of the film - 'eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'
• finally, the last shot of the trailer allows the audience to see the production information
• this clip which is 2 minutes long contains 99 shots, with sections in between there there are fast flashes of several images. however, they flash so quick i was unable to count

3rd febuary

Michel Gondry

• he is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scene
• we are going to use him as inspiration when creating our surrealist film