Research: Jennifer's Body

Jennifer’s Body was released in 2009 and is a comedy horror film written by Diablo Cody and directed by Adam Brody.  With the film, Boom studios produced a Jennifer's Body novel. The film had a disappointing response at the USA box office, making $2.8 million in its opening day and $6.8 million in its opening weekend. It received mixed reviews from critics, where negative reviews said the film as lacking the content needed for true horror and, positive reviews praised the film for its occasionally clever and funny dialogue combined with fun performances and emotional resonance.

The first scene in the trailer immediately shows a sense of horror in the film because the girl swimming is very much suggested as alone and in a deserted place. This shows us that the girl is not scared of being in a lonely area. Usually water would be a blue colour but it is more of a black colour which again immediately suggests to the audience it is a horror film.

The use of breaks in between scenes in the trailer breaks it up for the audience to understand what each section has. The use of the white glowing writing against the black background emphasises that the writing is necessary to read in order to understand the plot. Before this part of the trailer is shown the audience have no knowledge that is school based and there for the writing is essential to include some form of the plot in the trailer.

Another technique used is the use of colour in the trailer where all the other background characters are in black and the main character is in a bright pink top. She stands out in front of everyone immediately informing the audience she plays an important role and also that in her role she overpowers every one which is shown later.

The next few clips have a lot of emphasises on the girl’s eyes and her facial expressions also leading from daylight into night where her real true colours are seen in this screen shot. The use of black further brings the evil in her eyes where by now the audience are assured it is a horror film. The use of the school based girl turning evil is an usual storyline which is essential for this trailer in order to be successful in attracting the audience to go and see the film.

The technique used where by the screen turns red is a very good effect used as it informs the audience that that she has killed the boy but without showing the blood or the action it is still horrific. This leaves the audience thinking for themselves.

The sound of the trailer is very much emphasised with a bang when the writing again making an important part to the audience. The use of echoes when the characters talk suggests that the scenes are in the past ad also gives a horror sound to the trailer.

Magazine Front Cover

This film magazine has a front cover of the film Jennifer’s Body which can be seen from the main image on the front cover of Megan Fox. It is the biggest and boldest image on the front cover so that it is the first thing the audience see when looking at the front cover. The white background emphasises the image even more.  Megan Fox stands is in an electric blue and yellow cheerleading outfit which informs the audience it will be school based. She stands with one foot against the wall there is a blood footprint on the floor which suggests a horror film with emphasises on blood.  Her laces are undone which suggests some kind of danger. Her hands are pressed against the background, like she is scratching it and blood is dripping down which again informs the audience it is a horror film. Also, the evil look upon her face could also add to the fact that the audience are led to believe it is horror.  

Her head is covering part of the title in the magazine cover suggesting the power she has over people’s lives.

The magazine itself is called Total Film which immediately tells the readers that this is a magazine about films. The name itself suggests to the audience that whatever they want to know and find out about films will be in this magazine because of the word ‘total’. It shows that it has total control over the film industry and you will find the best and more up to date information when reading this magazine.

Film Posters

Both of these posters have a link with the magazine front cover which ensures that the audience know the three promotion methods are for the same film. This is shown firstly by Megan Fox being the main focus of the image again. In all three the words Jennifer’s Body are in red which connotes blood and murder. One the film poster where Megan is sitting on a chair, at a desk, her rucksack placed behind her has marks of blood underneath it, where it has been moved which is similar t the magazine front cover with her hand and foot. Also the use of school girl props like the cheerleading outfit, board and the desk, are in all three linking again to the school based storyline. On the magazine front cover, Megan’s hand is covered in blood, and also the left film poster has Megan is sitting upon a school desk, which has a hand under the desk lid, whereas the right film poster there is hand popping out of her bag. This links to the audience realising that she is the killer in the film.

The colours that have been used for the magazine itself are red, blue, white and black which are very simple colours.  The colours are used to link to the British film Industry as it is the same colour used for the England Flag. The colours also stand out against the white background, making the magazine clear and simple.

The font colour used for Jennifer’s Body is red which links to the colour of blood being emphasised in the images and film. Red is a colour mainly connected with blood, guts and gore. It is also seen as the colour of evil and hell. By using this colour, it reflects the fact that this is a horror film and that this character is the killer.

The trailer is very much an attraction purpose in order for the audience to become interested in the film and to go and view it. For our project the use conventions used in this trailer can be beneficial for our project in order for the trailer to attract and make believable as a horror. The use of the background characters in black and the main character in a bright colour may be used in our trailer. I think the use of changing the colour of the screen rather than using blood and showing the attack is a very good technique which can be used to keep the audience guessing and interested. I think I would like to use the titles in this trailer in our project to break the trailer up. With the magazine front cover and posters being very simple it shows how it can still be effective.