DVD covers do a huge amount to market a film and entice the audience to watch it. If the cover for a film did not create a story that the audience need to watch the film to answer or did not seem interesting then the audience would not feel the need to watch the film. It is the first thing the audience see when choosing a film and it needs to grab their attention for them to notice it amoungst the many other DVD covers. If the audience did not get a chance to watch the film when it first came out in the cinema, then it needs to be the DVD cover that encourages them to watch the film. It is therefore extremely important to get the mood and feel of the DVD cover correct in order to draw in the correct audience and to market your film successfully.
This is the DVD cover for the successful Tim Burton movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I feel that this DVD cover sells the film really well and makes the audience want to watch the film to find out what its about.
You can immediately tell from this film cover that the genre of the film is horror. This is shown by the dark and depressing background in contrast to the paleness of the actors' skin. The razor blade in Johnny Depp's hand is also an indicator that the film is going to be a horror as it is shown to be a significant object in the image as he is holding it up and a sharp object is normally associated with murder. The blood splatter at the top of the cover across the writing also indicates to the audience that the film is from the horror genre as a blood splatter is related to death and killing and as it is so dominant and noticeable in the image, we know it plays a big role.
The image is quite sinister and scary looking. Johnny Depp is directly addressing the camera in a menacing way and the surroundings seem very mysterious, derelict, dark and eery. The red barbers chair is also very creepy as it is a huge contrast with the rest of the background and it looks very derelict and dirty, as if it has been through a lot. The fact that it is blood red is also a signifier to the audience of what is to come as many people's blood gets spilt on the barber's chair as he murders them on it. The image as a whole grabs the audience's attention as it is so extreme and makes them want to watch the film because it creates a sense of mystery that they want answered.
The audience are able to tell the age rating for the film from the front cover of the film as the '18' certificate sign is shown on both sides of the cover. This makes sure that audiences know the age that they have to be in order to watch the film to avoid any confusion that could be caused. It immediatly singles out the audience that are allowed to watch the film from the audience that are not, therefore picking out their target audience.
There is a quote at the bottom of the cover saying "A Bleedin' Masterpiece". This encourages audiences to watch the film because they can trust another persons opinion and if it has been critically acclaimed then it must be a good film. It acts in the same way as word of mouth endorsement, the audience want to be talking about the film as well and be able to give their verdict. They want to watch the film so that they can either agree with the person's verdict or disagree and find out why they are so enthusiastic. They do not want to feel like they are left out.
The 5 stars across the bottom of the DVD cover entice the audience to watch the film as well because they can tell its been given a high rating, therefore it must be a good film. It will make them want to watch the film to see whether they agree or not and to find out what is actually so great about this film.
Johnny Depp directly addressing the audience draws in the audience as it makes it seem as if he is looking at them, therefore involving them in the movie. It will make them feel special and so they will be more inclined to pick up the film and watch it. Helena Bonham Carter is looking lustfully at Johnny Depp. It is connoting to the audience that she is maybe in love with him and willing to do anything for him. He seems like the domineering figure and she is just his loyal follower, like a love struck puppy dog. It makes you want to watch the film to find out exactly what their relationship to each other is because from the image it seems as if it plays a big part in the story.
The audience can tell who the main characters in the film will be from the front cover, either drawing them in or putting them off. From this image we can see that the main storyline will revolve around Johnny Depp's character and Helena Bonham-Carter's character. We can tell clearly that these two actors play these characters so therefore fans of these two actors will be more inclined to watch the film. Also people who have seen previous films from these two actors will be more likely to watch the film because if they liked their previous work then they will think they will be more likely to enjoy this film as well. However it could also work in the opposite way. If the audience do not like Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham-Carter, or have watched previous films with them in them and hated them then they are more likely to not watch this movie from the DVD cover.
The silver, blocky writing reflects the shine and cut of the razor. It ties in well with the image and anchors the fact that the razor plays a big part in the storyline. It grabs the audiences attention as it is quite a dramatic, meaningful style of writing that matches the whole mood that the film is trying to set up.
The cover tells us the film was directed by Tim Burton as written above the title it says 'A Tim Burton Film'. As he is a well known, successful director the audience can make the decision of whether to watch the film from his reputation. They can look at other films he has been involved with the directing of and decide whether they liked them or not and therefore base their decision of whether to watch this one on their other encounters with him as a director. He is well known for being a fairly quirky director so therefore it tells the audience before they watch the film that it is going to be edgy and different so they should not expect something too conventional as Tim Burton is renowned for taking risks.
Johnny Depp's name is written in big writing at the top of the DVD. His name markets the film because he is a likable, established Hollywood star and if people know that he is in the film then they get the feeling that the film will be good because he would not be seen in a bad film as it would ruin his reputation. It gives the audience a sense of security because they can feel that if he was willing to put his name to it then it must be watchable. Also Johnny Depp draws in a fairly wide audience as people would watch the film just because he is in it as he is said to be one of the most good looking actors of all time and he has such a huge fan base, both film lovers and haters. This would mean that a bigger audience would want to watch this film rather than just its target audience because they will see that Johnny Depp is in it and want to watch it for that reason, rather than for the story-line. In a way his name is marketing the film and selling it to the audience.
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