Analysing a film poster
A film poster usually contains:
- an image or images
- the movie title
- a tagline or slogan for the movie
- a credit block with the names of actors, artists and producers who worked on the film
To succeed in analysing a film poster, you need to think about how the poster makes the film look appealing to its audience. It might:
- use names and images of popular actors to gain attention
- use genre conventions to appeal to fans of that genre
- create a mysterious image that makes the audience wonder about the film
- refer to names of other films the film-makers created, to appeal to fans of those films
Look at the following poster and think how to answer the questions around it:
Analysing a magazine cover
A magazine cover usually contains:
- a main image
- one to three additional smaller images (the number may depend on the type of magazine – some won’t have any secondary images)
- the name/logo of the magazine at the top (called a masthead)
- a very short slogan or puff to tell you what the magazine is about
- a main feature headline (sometimes called a plug) linked to the main image
- smaller feature titles called coverlines, either linked to the smaller images or as text on their own
To succeed in analysing a magazine cover, you need to think about how the cover makes the contents of the magazine look appealing to its audience. It might:
- use names and images of well-known stars to gain attention
- use genre conventions to appeal to fans of that genre (eg: music, sport, cars)
- include special offers, giveaways or competition prizes
- use persuasive language techniques such as alliteration or superlatives in the coverlines
Look at the following magazine cover and think how to answer the questions around it:
Analysing an advertisement
A print advertisement could appear in a magazine or newspaper, as a poster (eg at a bus stop) or on a large billboard. Most print adverts usually contain:
- an image or images
- the product name and logo
- a tagline or slogan for the product
To succeed in analysing a print advert, you need to think about how it tries to make the product it is advertising look appealing to its audience. It might:
- include images of people that are the same age/life stage as the ones intended to be the audience for the product
- use colours and images more prominently than words, to try and grab attention quickly without the viewer having to read a lot
- use famous stars or attractive models to catch our eye
- show people looking happy or enjoying themselves as a result of using the product
