• The title (masthead) of the film will be the largest font on the poster and it’s conventionally either at the top or the bottom of the poster. The style of font used for the text on the poster is typically something simple and easy to read, sometimes films will have a scratchy font which helps gives the indication of a sinister sub-genre.

• Conventionally the colour scheme for Horror film posters is black, white and red with the occasional other dark colour. The colour red is used because it connotes danger and it is also the colour of blood, a very popular prop/make-up used in horror film and this connotes injury or even death. The colour scheme allows the audience to know the genre but it also gives them an impression the films storyline.

• There will be other sections of text on the poster such as, a tag line, character/actor’s names, director’s name and the release date or “coming soon”. These are positioned based on where the title is positioned for example, if the title is at the bottom of the poster the credits and released date would conventionally be at the bottom, either above or below the title however, this isn’t always the case as sometimes the title will be positioned at the top but everything else at the bottom or elsewhere on the poster.

• The credits themselves are conventionally three or four lines at the bottom of the poster with the actors, directors and the main people/companies involved, this way the audience can see if there is anyone they recognize in the film. They are usually in a difference font to the rest on the poster. However, sometimes instead of having the actors names in the sentence format they’ll be put at the top is bold writing, sometimes with their character name below theirs, this helps highlight their name as it’s usually done to show off certain actors in the film, helping the audience in their decision to watch the film or not.

• On a film poster there will be a single dominant image that helps the audience work out the genre, the image itself will include the main theme of the film as well as maybe containing some main characters, by doing this the poster gives the audience some insight to the story without having to tell them and they’re able to make an impression. It also introduces the audience to the characters/actors and if there is someone there they recognise and like/popular they are more likely to watch it.

• Another thing that will typically be included in the main image is conventional weapons such as: knives, machetes. Chainsaws etc.

• The colour scheme for the image is the same for the text red, white, black with the odd other dark colour thrown in such as, blue or brown. The image itself is conventionally simple so that the audience can see it and straight away see what it is and not have to search through the poster to understand it.

• A poster is used to advertise and sell a film so you want it to be eye-catching and impressionable, a company will make several different posters for the same film showing different aspects and layouts for each different one.

The purpose of a film review is to:

• To inform - The review needs to tell who is the film and where it can can watched/seen.

• To describe – It should describe the story/characters and some action without spoiling anything for the reader.

• To Analyze – It gives an opinion on whether the film is good or not and a reason why.

• To advise – It should tell the reader whether or not to go and see the film, helping them make an impression of their own.

Bold – Font in bold is used to highlight key parts of information, sub-headings and places in the film.

Italic – Italic text is either the year the film was released, the production company name, director, key people in the film and about the film ( not storyline.)

• Sometimes the text will be a different colour to the rest instead of it being bold or italic and if it does it usually matches the review pages colour scheme which can later with what genre it is, this makes it aesthetically pleasing to the reader but also makes it stand out even more.

• The review will also have eye-catching quotes from the review itself, in larger font then the rest of the main review to draw people in so they can make an impression on the review without having to read much of it, there they decide whether they want to read it or not.

Introduction – This gives an overview to who’s in the film and about it, it sums up the reviewer’s thoughts ( so that the reader can form an opinion without reading the whole thing.

Paragraph Two – The reviewer describes the plot and the action, while informing the reader which actors play which characters and the locations etc.

Paragraph Three – The reviewer analyses the film, talking about the director and the actors and looking at the good and part aspects of the film, usually giving a balance on both.

Paragraph Four – The reviewer informs the reader when the film will be released, where it can be seen and what production companies have contributed to it and maybe even adding some of their opinion in this section too.

Final Paragraph – The verdict, the reviewer will give the film a rating out of 5 stars and then give a small reason/ sum up for why they have chosen the rating they have.

• Conventionally in a film review there will be one main dominant image, and this is then joined by a couple of much smaller pictures showing the behind the scenes of the film or something relevant to what is mentioned within the review. It’s very important that the images used don’t give anything away about the storyline or plot twists, otherwise what’s the point in going to watch it if the reader already knows what’s going to happen. The images used will usually have the main character(s) doing something interesting to intrigue the reader into wanting to know more, make them curious.

• Both the colour scheme and target audience for film reviews can dependent on what the aspects of the film as one magazine might review many different types of films with different target audiences and genres meaning they don’t have anything set. Whereas, some magazines will review only horror films as it goes with their style of magazine and target audience.