Film Magazine Covers and Target Audiences.

When creating a film magazine, we decided to create two instead. Not only did we have too many ideas, but we also thought that we could take advantage of making two as we can target different audiences, making our film product potentially more successful. Because we have chosen to target two different audiences on our film magazine, we have to make sure we fulfil all of their expectations, which meant that the content in the magazine is absolutely essential.

To make sure we were doing the right thing, we had to repeatedly ask for feedback from teachers, family and friends. Although we were pestering others on a regular basis, we still continued as we wanted to achieve the best possible outcome. Feedback was crucial as we had to ensure we were targeting our different audiences appropriately, if this was disregarded, our product would not meet our target audience’s expectations which would also then mean that our film product would fail. I think that we all worked hard asking for advice and comments and we made sure that what they were saying was clear and detailed, giving us a concise idea on what we need to do and/or change, undoubtedly this made our film magazine’s outcome look professional and effective, targeting our 2 audiences well.

Although making two film magazines was more challenging and time consuming, deviating from what most of our classmates did, it was definitely worthwhile. Once the magazine covers were done and polished, we then decided which magazine belonged to which target audience.

The first film magazine cover (below) is to attract the younger target audience ageing 18-25. We came to this decision because as you can see, there are more colours used which is a typical technique used to attract younger audiences. Another reason is because of the main character. The character’s clothing consists of a bloody shirt and vest underneath, both was once crystal white. This suggests that white (which connotes purity and innocence) is now stained by red, body fluid, which emphasises on the fact he can no longer go back and he is now on the side of insanity. More blood is seen on the character’s head and the bat making it clear to our audience that violence would be present and unavoidable in the film product. The use of blood is also a convention that conforms to our crime and gangster genre. We chose the blood-spattered magazine to target the younger audience as it is apparent that more young people are interested in violence and gangs in films. We did not use this cover to target the older audience as all of this violence and blood is (for most) no longer striking for their era. Although this is a very stereotypical way of thinking and deciding, we had to lend our products to the audience that most are interested in, this meant that the minority of the target audiences had to be ignored because not everyone around the same age will have the same way of thinking. The framing of the character is also vital as it is closer to the audience, creating interaction between them. I like the way in which the character’s body is not shown as our main focus on the character was the blood, as that would target our young audience effectively. The font was kept plain, simple and bold (as seen on trailer). We wanted to keep this consistency as it would be professional, noticeable and legible. The extra-diegetic gaze was also used to capture the audience’s attention. The extra-diegetic gaze is where a character looks directly and consciously at the viewer. E.g. looking at the magazine below shows and confirms it. Looking at the magazine cover in more depth, you can see that there are 3 colours which are used frequently; red, white and blue. These colours were used to blend in with the union jack in the background, emphasising that it is a British film and the magazine is also British as the films beside the characters are also British. Looking at the package as a whole, I am very pleased with the outcome as a lot of time and effort was put into it. I am convinced that it targets the younger audience well as the content is effective and striking.

Here is the other magazine (below) which is to attract the older target audience ageing 25-40. There are many reasons as to why we think this. Firstly, the colours are plain and the magazine cover does not look arty, making the older audience interested as it suits their expectations. The extra-diegetic gaze is also used to capture attention and social interaction, making each older individual feel like it is targeting just them. This is a cheap technique that is effective and mainstream. No blood was used as we felt that the older generation would frown upon it and would be uninterested, therefore we wanted to make it look sophisticated. From my research, the older generation are more interested in films such as The Kings Speech and Sherlock Holmes. Although violence is shown in Sherlock Holmes, the characters and storyline are more complex, and death is not usually shown in a gory way. Because we did not want to show blood, we used a different approach to suggest there will be violence in the film. The use of red for the fonts is immediately recognisable and the shovel the character is holding is clear that it is a weapon and not suggesting he is some kind of gardener. I like the way there is a shovel and the title is Grow Your Own, this was a deliberate decision as we wanted to make our title stand out and use something which reflects it and we thought a shovel would do the job well. Unlike the magazine cover for the younger audience, we chose to show the character’s full body, allowing the audience to examine the character themselves. Here, he is wearing a luxurious suit with his blazer buttoned up, top button and tie done up. This makes him look neat, older and more likeable by the older audience.

Overall, I am very happy with both magazine covers as I feel that they both offer something different to the two different target audiences. This was time consuming and stressful but I think it was also rewarding. There are a lot of connotations in each magazine cover making our knowledge for film and media recognisable when targeting audiences.

If I had to choose which magazine cover I liked more, it would be the first one. I find the use of colours very effective and British making it clear that everything inside the magazine is British. I like the framing of the character forcing the audience to observe his sinister face. I think that preferring the first magazine cover is good because that is used to target the younger audience and I am in that age group.