4.02.2010

• Again this poster gives off a surreal feeling. It shows like a stained glass effect of a butterfly in a blue colour, however there are bits of it which are black and make it seem like there may be another side to this film, something a bit mysterious.
• The title of the film is typed using capital letters which makes it stand out and also because they have used a white font on a black/ dark background. This can draw the audience in along with the use of the main picture. It seems to be a convention that the pictures used for surreal films are very simplistic and they don't make the posters too busy as this draws the audiences attention away from the unusual side which the film is trying to create.
  
• Also the title of the film has a effect on it which makes it look like it's glowing which is abnormal for film posters to have. This makes it seem that bit more interesting to the audience as it isn't normally seen. In addition it makes it stand out as it is kind of competing with the main picture which is the focal point.
  
• Like with other film posters, there are only a few colours used; blue, black and white. This stops it from looking too busy and allows the audience to focus on the title of the film and also the picture which gets the audience interested in what the film is actually going to be about.
  
• The directors name and the other information about the stars and production team surround the title which gives the impression that the less important information is outline the key thing on the post which is the title. Again this draws the audiences attention to the title as it written in a much larger font than the other writing showing its importance.
  
• The layout of the poster is very minimalistic like the poster for The Science of Sleep. This shows that it can be seen to be a convention of surreal films, that they need to come across simple so that the audience is shocked when something unusual or different happens within the film. However they need to get the right balance between looking enticing and looking boring and too simple as this could put off the audience if it is too bland and doesn't get their attention straight away.
• Likewise with the other surreal film poster, the main focus is that picture which they use to try and portray some of what the film is going to be about. Yet, I think from looking at this particular one, it is hard to draw any hint of a storyline from it because it is simply a butterfly. However this is probably done on purpose to make the audience watch it as they want to find out what the butterfly has got to do with being 'unstoppable' .
  

3.02.2010

• This magazine is very Batman orientated as it shows 'the Joker' as being the main feature on the front cover. It displays quite a surreal effect to the front cover as it is just him sitting in what looks like a jail cell as there are metal bars behind him. He also has a very strange look on his face which people could interpret as him looking like he "isn't all there". This could make the audience feel uneasy about the nature of the film from this.
• The magazine title "EMPIRE" seems to be getting overlook to a certain extent as "meet the joker" is nearly the same size font wise and is not being overlapped like EMPIRE by the joker himself. But as this is such a well known magazine, everyone knows the title and the kind of layout it uses and therefore they don't have to solely rely all the letters being in full view.
• The colours used on the front cover vary and give a bit of a mixed look. The purples, greens and white all seem to coincide with the main theme of the magazine, the release of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. However, the red is still used for the title which makes it look a tad mismatched.
  
• The strapline "meet the joker" has used an unusual font for a magazine front cover which gives off a representation that this is something very special and different so a big deal should be made out of it.
  
• Everything on the front cover is very focused on the Batman film and by using the joker as the key character from the film, it shows that this is an important character. Maybe due to the fact that Heath Ledger started off playing this role, but then unfortunately died and could not carry on filming which was viewed as a great loss to the film society.
  
• It could suggest that the target audience of this magazine or even film would be anyone who is interested in Batman but also people who like films and ones with bits of suggested surrealism as 'superheros' don't exist in the real world.
  
• There is a small amount of writing on the front cover which leaves the audience to concentrate on the feature of that particular issue. There is also nothing apart from the barcode in the bottom left hand corner which is unusual. However, the audience's attention has already been drawn to the strapline about meeting the joker along with the actual picture of the joker. There is no need for the whole of the A4 space to be filled as this would just overcrowd the front cover and leave nothing to stand out.
  

• This poster clearly shows that the film has a surreal side to it as there is a toy horse walking on clouds. It could suggest that either it may be a fantasy film or just something which people find very unusual.
• The horse seems to be the main focal point of the poster as the cloud it is walking on is a lot brighter than the others, plus with it being so unusual to see, it draws the attention of the audience even more so.
• Also the title of the film is displayed differently to conventional films as two colours have been used. The brown colour highlights the more 'interesting' words, whereas the white is just used for 'the' and 'of'.
• In addition, they have also made the title seem like it has got some sort of texture to it which adds to the unusual nature of the film.
• The colours used are very dull and unappealing to the audience which may seem strange as the point of the poster is to attract the audiences attention, however due to what the actual image is, this may be the USP and draw the audience in more so than bright colours.
  
• Also the writing at the top of the poster which includes names of producers and the distribution company etc, is written in a font a few shades lighter than the background colour which makes it not seem so important for the audience to see this or be drawn to it. It is also a small font which could again make reading it from a distance quite hard, yet it is not a key element to draw the audience in.
  
• The whole layout of the poster looks very minimalistic which may make it seem as though not a lot happens throughout the film. On the other hand this is probably done on purpose for people to wonder why there are two people riding on a horse on a cloud and that there is probably a lot more to happen within the film and they will have to watch it in order for them to understand the simplicity of the poster.
  
• The horse which is featured as the key point of the poster is clearly not realistic and looks similar to a rag doll type toy. This could lead the audience into thinking that parts of this film may not be realistic or that it may have child-like elements involved as it uses a childs toy to portray some of the story through the poster.

3.02.2010

A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with a film magazine cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.

- Title: 'Thrown Away' (TBC) -- Final title: 'FINDERS KEEPERS'
- Genre: Surrealism
- Aims: To create a surreal and post-modern media text
- Target Audience: People who are interested in film and/or have knowledge in film, where they are able to notice specific techniques used. Students within colleges or universities.
- Institution: A small, independent film company, such as New Line Cinema