Paperclip: Magazine Influence

Another part of our media project is to make a magazine as part of our ‘Paperclip’ film. A magazine is different  to the trailer and the poster as it provides more depth to the narrative or a new perspective which would not otherwise be explored in these other media forms. In this case, we decided to take on a new perspective for our magazine by protraying the actors as themselves rather than their characters. So, our magazine is focused primarily on an interview with the actors and behind the scenes information, which is an entirely different dimension to the depth of the narrative in the trailer and poster. This gives the impression of a more light-hearted approach.

Many Indie fashion, music and film magazines have inspired the idea we have created for our own poster. Conventions used in the front covers of magazines such as “Oh Comely”, “Wonderland”, “A4” and “Plastique” have thoroughly inspired our own work. We wanted use the simplicity in these magazines and the use of handwriting (or a scrapbook effect) in its pages, which we thought fitted our Indie film image well. Therefore our front cover could be sparse, showing only the title, one main photo of the focus (in this case, a photo of the actors in the interview like a portrait) and handwriting annotations of the contents of the magazine. Through the use of a white or bland, plain background this creates more focus on the central, vivid images on the pages as well as enigma for the readers to create their own interpretations from the images we provide them – just as in the poster and trailer. The appearance of handwriting relates likewise to the effect of a personal touch or thought of a childhood that has not yet been surpassed. This relates to the Indie genre as there is a great emphasis placed on crafts and combining reality with the imaginary or manipulating images.

Other influences for our magazine cover came from the idea of scrapbook and my personal scrapbook also. We strive to achieve an almost ‘scrapbook’ like image for our magazine as if we cut and pasted our information and images on a blank canvas, therefore allowing us to manipulate and be more creative with the layout and presentation of information on our pages. The combination of real images and drawings or annotations creates a more crafted and personal feel to the magazine – it looks more fun and authentic which is what Indie teenagers often are interested in.

~ by valerieemae on February 24, 2011.