Synopsis

A group of friends having a relaxed night in… who would have thought a ‘harmless’ game would cause such a disaster? Such distress? The group is soon split through paranoia and fear as the night unfolds in this classic American teen horror.

Harry Potter magazine analysis

Here I will be analysing Empires front cover of Harry Potter the deathly hallows part 1:

• The first thing I notice is that the dominant picture is of Harry himself, the main character. This will familiarise the audience with him and the film and fans of the film may choose to pick up that magazine and read on
• I then notice that hermione, ron and voldermort are also incorparated into the magazine in shattered glass which again involves the main characters. It also links well with the title "Friendships shatter. Evil unites". Their faces look shocked/angry which makes the audience wonder why, maybe they will find out if they read the magazine.
• The background of the magazine is like the night sky and I know from watching the film that a lot of the scenes take place outdoors in the evening.
• The title doesn't quite say 'Harry Potter' just uses his last name, this is used because its that much of a phenomenom they don't need to use his full title.
• Below the name of the film it says 'The end begins' suggesting to the audience that this is the first half to the end of the Potter series. Or is it the end of Harry Potter himself?

The dark knight rises magazine analysis

Here I will be analysing the Entertainment magazine front cover for the dark knight rises:

• The name of the film title 'The Dark Knight rises' is big font as it tells the audience straight away what this poster is all about and what they will be reading about
• The main character of the film (Batman) takes up the majority of the magazine and is staring into the audience which interacts with them and directs their attention to the magazine
• To the left it says "2012 Prievew" which is placed in a spotlight effect which makes the magazine seem exclusive, again used to draw the audiences attention and make them want to read on.
• Below the title of the film it says 'We're in the batcave' 'Exclusive photos' 'And news on this year's hottest movie'. This is used to make the audience feel that this magazine is exclusive to the film and give people a sense of excitment. It also gives them some inside information on the film giving wider knowlege of what they are likely to see appear within the film, building excitement and hype.
• The background of the magazine is black with smoke rising from the botton, which fits in nicely with the conventions of the film. Smoke represents destruction and as it is coming from behind batman it appears as though he is the cause of it. His facial expression makes him seem like he is ready for action.
• The magazine title is feature at the top of the magazine which is very typical, however part of it is covered by batmans head. This doesn't matter as the title is still readable and it is a very popular magazine therefore the font and parts of the text will be instantly recogniseable to the audience anyway.

Halloween poster analysis

For my own choice of poster I will be analyzing a poster from the horror film 'Halloween' as it is a famous film and I can use similar conventions for my own poster.

• When I first look at the poster I instantly recognize the evil pumpkin face. When analysed properly the ends of the face come to a sharp point, similar to the knife at the beginning of the face. This is used to add to the affect that this is a slasher horror movie as well as being a horror.
• I then notice the knife at the beginning of the face which is used to represent the horror film as a slasher. The hand at the top shows that someone in the film will be using the knife, possibly for killing. 
• I also noticed there is very little use of text on the poster as the focus is inteded to be on the main image in the middle. However the text that does appear says 'the night he came home' which is simple but very effective. Who came home? were had this person been? what did he do when he arrived home?. These are some of the questions going through the audiences mind. 
• The background of the poster is simply black to add to the conventions of the horror genre. It is the colour that represents evil and danger. It also helps the main image stand out an the text also. 
• This poster is useful for analysing as I can use the same conventions for my horror poster. Simple is more effective and dark mysterious colours to add tension.