The masthead is recognisable because its used in every issue of total film. Total film is an established film magazine and this is reinforced by the quality of this front cover, for example the main images are composed to make them appear to be running away, this illusion will engage a reader because they will feel that there is a feeling of urgency being conveyed. The main images take up the majority of the space of this cover letting the reader know that these two characters are going to be the main focus of this issue. The female character is wearing a dark red dress which matches with the colour of the main cover line, this is eye catching because the colour red stands out against the blue background and the white masthead. The pug and buzz words are used to entice the customer to buy the magazine by making it appear like they are part of an exclusive minority that get the first look at the new movies. The extra text at the bottom outline the other stories in this issue making it seem like the customer will be buying more for their money which encourages them to purchase this issue. The banner 'The modern guide to movies' is indicating to a potential buyer that this magazine will help them keep up with contemporary films. This encourages a new film watcher to read the magazine so that they know when new films are released and what the critics think about the current films in the cinema.
Sight and sound is a british film magazine that was published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handled to the BFI, which still publishes the magazine today. This issue was published in April 2013 and uses Danny Boyle as the main image. During the release of this issue Danny Boyle was promoting his new film Trance.
Danny Boyle has directed an impressive list of films that have been critically and commercially successful, these films include Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 days later and 127 hours ago. His name will be recognised by film fans and this helps the magazine to capitalise on the readers positive attitude towards familiarity, showing how the main cover line works well to capture the readers attention. However for those who are not familiar with Danny Boyle's films will most likely not be impressed by his name. Sight and Sound relies on the reader to have prior knowledge of who Danny Boyle is demonstrating the magazine's intended audience; film movie goers with a wide scope of cinema knowledge. The absence of buzz words (e.g.'Exclusive') demonstrates that Sight and Sound's target audience is different from Total Film (who target a younger audience and frequently use buzz words) and will focus more on the director, indicating that Sight and Sound's intended audience will have a more critical perspective on films in contrast to Total Film's intended audience who will be more interested in the stars of the movie.
Danny Boyle is looking straight ahead making eye contact with the reader, this attracts attention because there is some interaction between the magazine and the reader. His head is composed in the centre of the cover and symmetrically this is aesthetically pleasing for the reader, the lighting has also been used to make Danny Boyle appear pleasing to the reader. The professional photography lets readers know that Sight and Sound is an established film magazine with a high level of professionalism and quality.
The Masthead for Sight and Sound is consistently the same font and colour and it doesn't change unlike Empire or Total film that changes the style of their Masthead, after a couple issues, in concordance to the main image. This masthead is original but nothing too eye grabbing, a younger audience would not be gravitated towards this magazine cover because to me this masthead is too simplistic and boring however an older audience probably wouldn't care about the aesthetics of the magazine cover because their attention is focused more on the content of the magazine. Making my magazine cover too simplistic will not capture my target audiences attention because they want a magazine cover that engages and visually simulates them with buzz words along with bright colours and eye candy. However I do think that my audience will appreciate the high level of photography used in this cover because it offers the allure of professionalism and prestige.
Disclaimer: I am well aware that this is not a teaser trailer. A psychological thriller teaser trailer is really difficult to find on the internet, thus I have been left with no other option than to analyse a full trailer.
Media Language/Mise en Scene:
This trailer opens with some white text against a black background with the words 'some people want to forget the past'. After 3 seconds the text changes 'some people want to change it' and then disappears to be replaced by the New line cinema studio logo. When the New cinema studio logo appears the soundtrack begins to play in the background. This is a simple yet effective way to begin the trailer because it is unorthodox and therefore I feel intrigued to see what the trailer has to offer. In other to have the same effect on my audience, I plan to open my teaser trailer with an unorthodox camera shot because it will intrigue them.
The trailer continues with a tracking medium shot of two main adult protagonists. Whilst the male protagonist is talking to the female character there is a fade transition to a medium shot of a young boy, the saturation of this shot has been increased to suggest to the audience that this is a flashback and the dialogue helps to convey the shot as a flashback. For example the male protagonist asks the question 'remember when I was a kid and I use to have those blackouts?' before the fade transition to the little boy, the audience would put two and two together and recognise that the shot is a flashback.I plan to use flashbacks in my teaser trailer however to me It seems risky because if a flashback shot is not executed properly, then it can confuse the audience. I am now confident that by using dialogue and increasing the colour saturation of the shot, my audience will understand that I'm using a flashback and will not get confused by the storyline.
There is a small montage of medium shots of the main protagonists when they were younger, the last shot of the montage is an over the shoulder shot of them kissing. The storyline appears to be back in the present (the protagonists are now adults) , there is a cut into a close up shot of both characters smiling in bed. The male character asks 'do you think we'll be together forever?' through the use of dialogue and the close ups, it lets the audience know that these two characters have known each other for a long time and may have a romantic history together, emphasising that they have a close relationship. This shows some character development because now we know that these two characters have a romantic bond. These characters seem to be in love making them seem relatable because somebody in the audience will know the feeling of having an emotional connection with another person. Making the characters relatable is important because the audience will identify themselves with them and therefore care what happens to them in the trailer. I am now fully aware of the importance of making the characters I present on screen relatable.
After the close up shots of the two characters in bed laughing, there is a fade to black transition into a medium shot of the female character with a blank almost sad expression on her face. This sudden shift in the female characters' emotion lets the audience know that this shot is a pivotal moment in the plot. Fast cuts are used for the next three shots, a close up shot of the male protagonist shouting in his bed is followed by a panning long shot of an ambulance parked in a driveway, an ambulance connotes danger letting the audience know that something dangerous might have occurred to one of the main protagonists. The panning long shot continues into the next shot showing a funeral. The audience discovers that the female protagonist died.
