Analysing Print Based Media (Poster, Magazine Front Cover & Article)

Poster (Film & Soap Advert Poster)
 • How is the poster composed? Where is the text/images/information positioned? How does this affect where our eye is drawn to? What about use of colour/lighting? Is it a photo image or a graphic or animated image? What effect does having it in this format have?

• Consider what has been included in the poster- are there any characters/settings? Why have these been chosen? Any writing? What? Is it a tag-line or slogan? A pun or a play on words? How does it excite the audiences’ interest? What information does the poster give us? How is this important or relevant?

• When analysing the content and any symbolic meaning in the poster, think about what is implied or symbolised by the images/language/colour/font? What does the poster suggest to the audience about the film or soap? Does it raise a level of intrigue, and if so how?

• Is there a sense of brand identity with the film/soap itself? How? How successfully do you think the film or soap is promoted by the poster?

Example: Sin City
The poster makes excellent and extensive use of contrasting light and dark images. This could give many different connotations to the poster. The constant use of the black/dark in the poster gives it a mysterious and sinister feel establishing a sense of intrigue for the viewer. It also offers a contrast with the bright red of the title, allowing it almost jump off of the page. This could have been done for many reasons; red can symbolize danger, death and blood. The characters are standing in the rain which echoes this grimy and dim feel. In addition, the light reflects off the rain and helps show more of a contrast between light and dark.

The poster is composed and balanced in a slightly unsettling way, with the characters shown at a canted angle and the title presented at an opposite angle, helping to reinforce the jarring effect. From the poster you can tell that the film has a male protagonist; a male is standing at the front of a group of people, which indicates he is the 'leader' and the main character. The shot they have chosen makes the male character at the front look tall and powerful, this makes him look different from the other characters in the picture. Also, the male character has his eyes shut which makes him look unemotional and cold. Weapons are also present in the poster which immediately indicates violence and action. The male characters have guns in the poster which suggests they are the protagonists and are the more controlling and leading characters in the film. This also helps attract their target audience. The awareness of guns in the poster may indicate action to the audience, which some people might like, therefore will see the film. The characters are all wearing black; in keeping with the overall feel of the poster it seems to represent death, power and secrecy. The poster looks very effective and interesting because they have used a lot of red and black, in keeping with the thriller genre, and helping to create a strong sense of brand identity with the film.

In general, I think the poster is successful and has been promoted extremely well since it gives us an idea of what the film will be about, it shows that the film is a thriller and that it contains action, violence and maybe crime. Moreover, it attracts the audience to watch the film and to see if the film is as effective as the poster.
There is a strong coherent style to the poster with the film and trailer. The innovative use of green screen to create a stylised, cartoonish black and white city-scape is echoed in the poster campaign. This gives a clear link between the poster and the film and helps the audience recognise the brand of the film. By reviewing all the posters of the film, I also recognised the similarity of the use of the red title, the rain, the night time and the low angle shots of the characters.

Example: Desperate Housewives
Here we see a poster for the new season of 'Desperate Housewives', using all 5 main characters together, all standing at an equal height. Even though Eva Longoria, for example, is really short in real life, she has been altered to look like she's of similar height as the others, giving them all an equally powerful status. Together they convey authority and break through the stereotypes of women being the weaker sex, becoming incredibly symbolic in America and many other western countries. They are all very glamorous and appeal to a more female audience.

They are all wearing blue dresses, connoting a sense of femininity. Also all the dresses are different, which could suggest every character's different, and has their own style or way of thinking, even though they are in a close group of friends. As well as this, they are wearing different shades of blue, using these complimentary colours to reinforce their sense of unity. Blue is seen as a calm, cold colour which contrasts against the fiery background. Fire connotes danger or anger, and the fact that they are wearing a cold colour, suggests they are in control of the situation and in control of their lives.

The caption at the top of the poster saying 'It's a hell of a day in the neighbourhood' is a play on words with the background, which is fire/hell. This also suggests that living in this neighbourhood isn't as easy as it looks. The use of dark background against the fire and the contrasting characters really brings them out and immediately catches your eye.

The title really stands out and by making the word 'DESPERATE' red and in bold, capital letters is makes the word more powerful. The fact that the word 'HOUSEWIVES' is written in simple, white font could suggest that it's complying with the stereotypical suburban lifestyle, that everything is perfect, the men work whilst the women stay at home and look after the children etc. Also suggesting that the characters comply with certain stereotypes linked with suburbia. This poster conveys a glamorous feel overall, but also shows female dominance and power. Their unity appeals to the female audience members and show they are a force to be reckoned with.

Finally the channel ident for abc at the bottom of the poster tells the audience where to watch it, this helps to promote the abc channel as well as the program itself. This poster follows the conventions of soaps and dramas, as it is highly engaging, catching the audiences attention by taking real-life drama and adding an extra sense of glamour and style. However this also subverts conventional posters as many do not include an all female cast, showing strong and empowering women on posters to attract their target audience of women. The use of bright, vibrant colours is instantly eye-catching and is used in many posters to draw in the audience. The font is kept very simple and the play on words is very common in posters, to engage with the audience as well as humouring them.

Magazine Front Cover (TV Listings Mag.)
• Start by looking at the main image on the front cover, how is this presented/shot? Has there been any noticeable post-production work done on it? If so what and to what effect? Is it anchored with a main-title and/or sub-title? Any play-on-words/puns used? Alliteration? Direct address?

• Analyse the title in terms of font, colour, size, angle, placing and the actual word/phrase. Look also at the other sub-titles, are they the same/different font/colour/size? What effect does this have on the overall composition of the front cover? Is it in keeping with the genre of the magazine? How?

• Does the front cover have a particular colour scheme and/or overall style? Does it use lots of graphics (eg. skyline, splashes, boxes)? What is the effect of this?

• Is there a sense of brand identity with the soap itself? How?

Example: TV Choice
The front cover of this TV Choice magazine the main image is of a man and a woman, Syed and Amira from Eastenders. The image uses direct address, with both characters looking directly at the reader, helping to immediately connect and draw an emotional reaction. This is accompanied by the main cover line underneath saying 'THE SECRET'S OUT' in huge yellow letters. This really catches your eye and draws the audience in. Outlining the yellow font with black makes it bolder and instantly grabs your attention. There's a smaller caption that anchors the lead article, carefully positioned between Syed and Amira saying 'Has Amira rumbled Syed and Christian's affair?' telling us the main soap storyline this week is about these two characters.

The way the page has been laid out makes sure all of the week's main events are shown, to appeal to the audience. A skyline at the top of the page, and other cover lines at the bottom and occupying the lower-third, are focused on the different story lines from other soaps, with pictures and captions for example; EMMERDALE: 'Charity's shock return!'. The price of the magazine is shown twice as a bright lure, once at the top left corner of the page and again in the middle of the page, in a jagged, orange splash saying 'ONLY 40p' with emphasis on the 'only' making it appear cheap. Also, by using orange it contrasts against the blue background and again stands out, immediately catching the reader’s eye. There is very little background showing, helping to keep the magazine looking busy and interesting.

The masthead of the magazine, 'TV Choice', is positioned on the top left side of the cover in a red bubble, however part of it is being covered by the character's head, this might have been done to suggest the story line is more important or it could haven been done to highlight the fact that they don't need to show the whole name, as the magazine is well-know and the audience will recognise it anyway. Underneath the name, there is the magazine website, www.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk, for any fans that would like to get more information on the topics and features in the magazine. This adds a new modern edge to the magazine and appeals to a younger audience.

The use of mainly primary colours in very conventional for TV magazine covers, using these bright colours to contrast against the characters and catch the audiences’ attention. The font is very bold and bright to be the first thing the readers see, this is done in many magazines. Also the layout is very conventional as in the middle of the page is the main narrative strand, with other, maybe less important, narratives underneath.

Magazine Article (Film Mag.)
• Your analysis will be focused on two areas- use of images and use of language. Start by analysing the main images of the article; how does the image clearly represent the film? What elements are emphasised and focused on? Is the main image anchored by any text or title, if so how?

• What type of font is used for the main title? What effect does this have? Look at colour, positioning, angle and the actual language used? Is it a pun or play on words- why/what effect?

• What type of language is used to describe and discuss the film? Pick out words and phrases that typify the review and comment on these. What is the tone of the review- serious, humorous, cynical, excited? Look closely at the start and end of the review; what information is relayed to us, any facts and/or opinions?

• What is the layout of the review like? Use of secondary images, sub-titles, splashes, pull-quotes, information boxes? Describe and discuss how the review is composed on the page.

• Is there a sense of brand identity with the film? How?

Example: The Orphanage

This review of “The Orphanage” displays 3 images which guide the readers eyes across the pages. It is a three page spread, the page with the white background has more detailed information into how the film was produced and what influences the producers had.

The first two pages have a large image spread in the background of a young child standing in a dark corridor with a bag on their head which looks quiet bizarre and frightening. The other images are screenshots from the film in a sideways collage style which draws your eyes back and fourth making you take in more information each time drawing you more interested which is also quiet deluding. From the moment you place your eyes on the page you can tell that the images connote the film is of the horror convention.

The text on the left image is slightly blurred and blended into the wall, it says “HOME SWEET HOME” this at first suggests that there may be a comical element within the film but then gets you thinking and feeling its and even more cold and evil story behind the walls of this house which is exactly what happens in the story.

It is explain in a short section on the second page that the family move in to the house feeling it as their home but then the evil starts to take over. This is good as the audience gets a direct idea of the story and theme from the first glance.

The first page is just a review of audience reactions to the film which mentions youngsters gathering to go to a horror festival. They watch the film and are shocked with the same screaming and jumping reaction throughout the film which draws the audiences’ attention and also identifies a target audience.

Once you reach the third page you start to understand the story behind the idea which is more appealing to older viewers as there is also a small box in the bottom right hand corner which shows related and inspirational films to the story which attracts their attention further as they understand what they’re getting into.

There are some small quotes in highlighted text like “The Orphanage” which opens a question in the viewers mind and directs them to the story outline which is handy for those who want to just get a brief synopsis, these then direct you to the area you wish to read about in the main text body.

Altogether the article describes briefly the outline of the story for those who wish to consider watching the film but then move on through the magazine and them more in depth information for those who wish to reminisce over past experiences and get deeper into the idea of the story. There is a lot on offer to all sides of the audiences’ information wise although it could do with some more standing out text titles or images like the speed racer review.

This review is conventional, throughout this magazine article we see a strong sense of brand identity and the layout is a very conventional magazine article as it is very easy to follow, the descriptive language engages the audience to read more therefore creating a successful conventional magazine article.

Overall you should be looking to write a thorough analysis of the two print-based texts, linking common stylistic features where possible and offering a ‘complete brand analysis’ through detailed discussion of moving and static images and how they have been manipulated to entice and engage an audience.

Where possible it would be useful to look at posters/front covers/magazine articles of the same films or soaps (and shorts of the same film, although this may be harder with the short films) to help aid observance of brand identity.