BLACK SWAN GENRE GENERAL INFORMATION Genre of Film

BLACK SWAN

GENRE & GENERAL INFORMATION Genre of Film: v Thriller General Information: v ‘Fangoria’ is an internationally distributed US film fan magazine specializing in the genres of horror, slasher, splatter, and exploitation films, in regular publication since 1979.

BANNER “Darren Aronofsky’s Dance Of Death” Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. He has received acclaim for his often surreal, disturbing films. This links with theme of the magazine and so therefore that is the reason why ‘Black Swan’ wants to be promoted on it as the reader’s of this magazine are more likely to view it as it is a thriller.

MASTHEAD v The design of the font of “Fangoria” specialises with theme of the magazine as not only is red used which links with the conventions of horror and thriller films. But likewise the design of the letters ‘f’ (the first letter) and the ‘a’ (the last letter) are made to resemble fangs as the bottom of both letters have been stretched into a point which allows the page to be framed. v This iconic typography is used in most of their issues so the usual reader will recognise it but likewise a new reader will be drawn to it as the colour contrast of red writing against a white background is in keeping with the genre of the magazine and the films it advertises

CENTRAL PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE v The focus of the magazine is the ‘White Swan’, played by Natalie Portman whom is wearing the iconic mask used in the ‘Black Swan’ poster as well. The image is not that clear as her facial features are subtly defined such as her face shape and cheek bones as the focus of the image is her eyes, which are glaring red. The use of red is a reoccurring theme as she is also pictured with red lips, this theme of red links with theme of horror and thriller. v The positioning of Portman is important as the direct address the audience receives from her is her eye contact as she is facing front on which catches the reader’s attention. Likewise the obvious editing of her eye area to make it appear as if it has been drawn could link with the financial capability of the magazine as this is a specific magazine just for horror and thriller audiences, they do not necessarily have to draw great attention to the magazine, for example using star theory, as they know their magazine attracts the similar type and number of readers per month.

FEATURE ARTICLE v The feature article is not classical as in it is not particularly bold even though it is written in a red and the letters are all capitalised. The reason for this could be that the attention of the central photographic image doesn’t want to be diverted. v The lexis “Black Swan” is normally written in black or white, whereas red has been used here. Although it links with theme of the magazine and the film (horror and thriller), it could have connotations that it looks too similar to the other text on the page as it is written in exactly same font and colour and the only reason is that is positioned in the centre to indicate that it links with the central image and so must be the name of the film.

BARCODE v In this version of the magazine, it is evident that the white block covering an image in the bottom left hand corner is where the bar code is displayed. Using another source of the magazine, it displays where the barcode is positioned which is the norm. v This doesn’t distract the attention from the central image.

DATE & COST Date v The date written on this magazine is in an extremely small font which is virtually impossible to read. v It is located in the top right hand corner next to the ‘a’ of ‘Fangoria’ which fits with the conventions of magazines in which most readers will check this area to find out what edition of magazine has been released. Cost v The price of this magazine is written in a very small font inside the barcode in the bottom left hand corner. v This is logical positioning as the bar code needs to be scanned before being purchased.

COLOUR SCHEME v The predominant colours in the text of the poster are red, white and black/blue. v As previously mentioned, the use of red links with the conventions of the genre of the film (horror/thriller) but likewise theme of the magazine. As the colour red is usually a colour associated with danger and blood it could be foreshadowing the plot of the film. The use of red is used not only in the masthead, but similarly in the feature article, other text on the cover and in the central photographic image. v The most used colour is white, in which the normal connotations are purity and innocence which is a contradiction to the plot of the film. The main purpose of the excessive use of white is that it enables the reader to easily read the text as it acts as the background of the contrasting text (reverse out).

AUDIENCE The prime audience would be the usual readers who read ‘Empire’ but a new audience whom are interested in the film ‘Black Swan’ may also be interested.