Magazine Analysis

This article for I Am Legend is from the well known film magazine, Empire. The main focus of the aritcle is on a picture of Will Smith being filmed. However, unlike a typical film review, the main image isnt based around a scene in the film. This is to focus the audience on the production element of the film as it was made on a budget of $150,000,000. This is also to focus the audience on Will Smith, the lead role. By having such a big name being filmed as the primary image, it draws the audience to the actor more than film. However, there is a smaller image underneath it to give the audience a basic idea of the film in action and the production value. These to pictures take up a vast majority of the two pages, and show Will Smith in a very dramatic light. This is to give off the impression of the films serious nature. This is apposed to how the actor is usually presented, which is more glamourous than dramatic.

The film title is written in big, bold text in blue. This is so that it stands out from the white background and smaller, black text. Following a similar colour scheme all elements of the review are either highlighted or written in blue. Also, they are in blue or white boxes. All the other details such as location and the director are highlighted in red and written in bold writing. This again is to draw in publicity and present all the key features of the film in an exemplified fashion.

Target Audience

 Blair Witch Project Audience.

Rec Audience.


The audience of the two trailers are mainly teenagers or young adults between the ages of 13-17. The age limit reaches a maximum of 34, but it is mainly teenagers who have watched the advert. This means that my trailer should be aimed at people of a younger demographic. Most of the veiws of these two trailers have come from English speaking countries, such as England and North America. So my trailer should be set in an English speaking country to bring out the element of realism that makes the two trailers so successful. A large proportion of the views have been submitted by men. This means that my trailer could use issues related to men so that it will help appeal to the large male audience.

Trailer Analysis

For the film project, i have decided to work on a horror trailer. The trailer i have decided to analyse is the Trailer for the 2007 horror film REC. The trailer for the film has very typical forms and conventions for a film in its genre and is very inspiring for my project, as it will contain very similar themes and ideas.



The entire trailer is filmed on a hand held camara to give it a more real feel, as if the footage is real. This attempt at realism is very typical of the horror genre. On top of this, there is no music throughout the trailer, only noises of radios and the people speaking. This also helps to enforce the idea that the trailer is completely realistic. The trailer is also very dark, and a lot of time is supposed only lit by tourch light. This is to evoke fear, as it takes deliberately takes away the comfort of being able to see everything in the light. This is exemplified when the camara first sees the little girl. Because the trailer is so dark, it is hard at first to see her face which builds up suspence to why she is there. This is very usual of horror films, because people are generally scared of the unknown, which makes them guess whats going on where they are unable to see. The titles that come up throughout the trailer are used to build suspence. For example, when the final title reads, 'Unclassified 4-5', the suspence reachs a peak in the advert, as the next shot is of the little girl with a concealed face. The girl then jumps out at the camara. This sudden break of suspence is also very typical of the horror genre. Because of these graphic images in the trailer, it is obvious that the film is likely to have a high age rating. This use of scary imagery and graphic scenes is very much like what my film will have to achieve in order for my trailer to reach the required rating.

The entire film was made on a budget of €1,500,000. This, like my project, is a very low bugdet, so it will have similar use of effects and scenery. The entire film is filmed in one location with minimum effects. Seeing as my film is also supposedly on a low budget, i will also have to use minimal effects and locations.

Breif One

I am concentrating on task one for my AS level media studies. From this task, i am taking the film option for the course, as the course i have chosen has the choice between a TV or Film series.

During my course, i have been asigned the role of being a freelace employee for Prime Times Productions. Throughout the course it is my task to produce a promotional, two minute trailer for a film. The first task of this course is the Film and Broadcasting, where i will be filming and editing the trailer footage.
My trailer should be aiming to hook the audience into the narrative, posing questions that the film will answer. Throughout this task, i will be needing to constantly keep the target audience in mind and keep in perspective the balance between plot and spectacle.

The film itself is on a £5 million pound budget, partly supplied by loterry funding. Other films that have been lottery funded include:

• Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll - New boots and Panties Ltd.
• This is England - Warp Bulldog Ltd.
• Kidulthood and Adulthood - Cipher Films
• Anita and Me - Starfield Productions

My research will be continued by looking into these films and finding out more about such things as the budget.