Poster: Survey Monkey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KNGKZ7X

This question shows me that the people who answered my survey are in the right age group so the results from my survey are reliable. The results from this question show me that 100% of the people that took the survey are between 11 and 24.
 

This question shows me that 66.67% of the people are male which works well considering my target audience will be male so the answers from the survey will work well.

This question asks what the ethnicity of the people taking the survey are and the majority were White/Caucasian which is the target audience of the magazine and film so shows that the results of the survey will be reliable.

My fourth question asked what their hobbies were, the most popular answer was 'Watching TV / Films' which means that there are some avid film watchers that answered so the answers will be somewhat reliable.

Question 5 is asking about the genre of film that they like the most. the results were very variable but the top four choices were Music, Film, Fitness/Sport and Technology.

The sixth question asks them what they look for the most on film posters and the majority answered either image or layout, showing me that they are very important when it comes to the film posters.















Question 7 asked if they even look at posters, 21 out of the 24 answered yes, and 3 out of 24 answered no. This tells me that it would be useful to promote the film using posters as the audience will look at them.













The eighth question asks them what colours they like the most for the colour pallet, the most popular 4 colours were Grey, Red, White and Black which fit in well with conventions.

















Question 9 asked how much text they would like to see on the poster. The main two options picked were 'One Sentence' and 'Minimal' showing me that my poster should have a low amount of writing on it. This fits well with conventions as the other posters I have seen also have a low amount of text.

Poster: Common Conventions

There are many common conventions that film posters use to appeal to the target audience and to make sure the poster they create is up to the same or better standards that the other film posters are at the time so they can compete. As Bentley said in 1997 'The creative process is rearranging the old to create the new' and that is what I will do with the conventions I see on the magazines I analyse.

• Dark colours are very conventional for thriller, black and white are very common and then a themed highlight colour such as one in this image is used as they are very gothic and dark colours. Usually there is a use of bright red to highlight some of the text on the poster too, which connotes aggression and passion and also brings attention to the word/s. 
• The masthead is usually underneath the main image and isn't extremely large as the image is usually the focal point of the poster. The smaller masthead size also plays a part in the hierarchy of the poster, to guide the audience's eye down the poster. 
• The layout of the poster is usually an actor's name at the top, followed by a heavily edited image that looks really interesting, hints at the plot line and intrigues the audience whilst showcasing the star vehicle, sometimes there is a tag line written beside the main image. The masthead then conventionally follows underneath the image, followed by the credits block at the bottom of the poster which is small white writing showing all the company and business details.  Then conventionally the release date of the film follows the credits block. 
•  The main image is conventionally an image of the star vehicle/s and is heavily edited to intrigue the audience. The image can sometimes set some of the plot by showing the location of the film, or it hints at the plot line. The image is always of a good quality and the star vehicles usually have quite a blank expression to connote what their character feels throughout the film.

Poster: Analysis

Shutter island is a psychological thriller/horror film from 2010. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and the production companies were Appian Way Productions and Phoenix Pictures. It has made a worldwide total gross  of  $294,804,195 and had a budget of $80,000,000.

The colour palette is dark and uses black, white, grey, a dull blue/green and a bright red for the film title. This is very conventional for thriller/scary film posters because it looks intense and interesting to the target audience. The colour red connotes passion and aggression which links to the film and genre quite well. 
The masthead doesnt actually take up that much of the poster and is quite small in comparison to other media items, for example magazines. The masthead is at the bottom half of the screen underneath the main image which is common for a film poster and gives the poster a good hierarchy so the audience's eyes follow down the poster instead of being confused and their eyes not knowing where to look.
The layout of this poster is very conventional, featuring one main image (usually heavily edited with characters and something from the film to interest audience), the location of the film's title is conventionally at the bottom of the poster and is followed by 'the small print' which is white writing, which gives all the credits of the people and companies that helped create the film. The phrase 'Someone is missing' is written in front of the main image right above the lit match in the picture and is over some of the star vehicle's face which isnt conventional but helps the reader to see the text even though its quite small, this is quite good in terms of not being too loud but still making the audience see it and ask themselves the question.
The main image of this poster is quite interesting and does a good job of setting scene but with no context or plot spoilers. It includes a photo in black and white of Leonardo Dicaprio who plays the protagonist in the film and is the star vehicle as he is very famous and great at acting. His facial expressions suggest that he is confused or questioning something which gives a mysterious feel and the lit match in front of his face suggests he is looking for something in the dark which makes the audience wonder what it is he may be looking for. Underneath the image of the protagonist is a picture of the island, that the film is set on. It is made up of different rectangles which arent aligned perfectly which give it a distorted look and makes it look quite mysterious by connoting a distorted reality on the island. It is raining and there is a rough sea in the picture of the island aswell which makes it look gloomy and connotes that something bad or upsetting is going to happen through Pathetic Fallacy.

Awake is a Conspiracy thriller film from 2007. It was directed by Joby Harold and produced by Jason Kliot, John Penotti, Joana Vicente & Fisher Stevens. It has made a worldwide total gross of $32,685,679 and had a budget of $8,600,000.

The colour palette is dark and uses black, white, grey, a dull and a bright red for the Coming Soon at the bottom of the poster. This is very conventional for thriller/scary film posters because it looks intense and interesting to the target audience. The film title has a slight blue hint to it which sets it out from the more neutral white tones in the image. The colour blue connotes coldness and is quite a depressing colour which links to the film and genre quite well.
The masthead doesn't take up much of the poster and is at the bottom half of the screen underneath the main image which is common for a film poster and gives the poster a good hierarchy like the Shutter Island poster. 
The layout of this poster is very conventional, featuring one main image, the location of the film's title is at the bottom of the poster and is followed by credits of the companies/people that helped to create the film. At the side of the poster to the right of the image it has text which attracts the audience and poses questions to make them want to watch the film. The text says 'Every year 21 million people go under anaesthesia. One in 700 remain awake the entire time. When they planned her husband's murder, they never thought he'd be the one.'  
The main image of this poster is interesting and also does a good job of setting scene but with no context or plot spoilers. It includes two photos in black and white of the two main characters, they have placed Jessica Alba further to the front because she is more recognisable and famous than Hayden Christensen and her character is more involved in the story and narrative. Their facial expressions are quite blank and maybe even upset which makes the viewer wonder why Underneath the two faces is a picture of three surgeons that look like they're in a discussion over a patient that is under anaesthetic.
Jessabelle is a supernatural thriller/horror film from 2014. It was directed by Kevin Greutert and the production companies were Lionsgate and Blumhouse Productions. It has made a worldwide total gross of  $6,998,359 and there wasn't any information on the actualy budget of the film online but it was a low budget film.
The colour palette is actually quite light compared to the other posters I have looked at and uses black, white, grey, a dull neutral hair, skin and lip colours for the antagonist and protagonist you see on the front. The neutral and dark colours are very conventional for thriller/scary film posters because it looks intense and interesting to the target audience. The colour red on the protagonists lips connotes passion and aggression which links to the film and genre quite well.
The masthead doesnt  take up much of the poster and is at the bottom half of the screen underneath the main image which is common for a film poster and gives the poster a good hierarchy so the audience's eyes follow down the poster instead of being confused and their eyes not knowing where to look.
The layout of this poster is very conventional, featuring one main image, the location of the film's title is conventionally at the bottom of the poster and is followed by 'the small print' which is white writing, which gives all the credits of the people and companies that helped create the film. The phrase 'The dead are back for life' is written underneath the masthead and imageage the text is quite small, but is quite good in terms of not being too loud but still making the audience see it and ask themselves the question.
The main image of this poster is very interesting and eye catching. It includes a photo in black and white of Sarah Nook who plays the protagonist in the film facing right and Amber Stevens who plays the antagonist who is facing left, they are both quite  new actors in the scene and haven't been in many films. The image is interesting as the two faces are attached to each other by the hair thats wrapped around their necks. The girl on the left's face is quite dark and covered with wet and dirty looking hair which makes her look ghoulish and dead. The girl on the right's facial expression is very blank and a little bit scared looking, her face is very bright and lit up which contrasts the girl on the left. I think this image is very eye-catching and interests the viewers. The background of the poster is textured and looks like a dirty wall and is shadowed in the corners so that the audience's eyes are more attracted the the centre.

Magazine: Screen Grabs of Editing Process