DVD Cover Analysis

Seeing as part of my project may involve creating a DVD cover for my film, I thought I would briefly look at how DVD covers for horror films are put together. On looking around my house at the many horror DVD's I had I decided to split them into two categories; covers with "stars" and covers with "icons". I will analyse to DVD covers, (both of the horror genre), showing an example of how each type would be used.

1) Using "stars"

DVD Cover - 'The Sixth Sense' (M. Night Shyamalan - 1999)

The main selling point of this cover is the "star", Bruce Willis. He is the name everyone will have heard of and will recognise when seeing this cover - and that is how putting "stars" on covers works - just stick a dominating image of that character on the cover or of all the main characters, and put their name in bold letters somewhere near the image. Here, Bruce Willis' name is at the top where the title should be and is the first thing we read, so it is in our brains that we want to watch this film because of this actor. Two of the main characters appear on the front cover; Bruce Willis being the bigger presence, and the main character (the boy) also appearing but without a cast name due to his name being far less famous. However he plays an integral role in the film and therefore earns an image on the front cover. Both photos are at low key lighting and show terror and determination. The boys appears to be looking down in fright, with a supernatural light beaming down on him. Bruce Willis is looking into the distance with almost menace. The images give nothing away about the story, with the darkness and bright orangery colours giving the sense of a dark, scary but powerful film, setting the scene. The only information shown on the front cover is the title, certificate, DVD logo, a quote ("the no.1 thriller of all time") and an oscar nominated sticker. On the side cover is exactly the same except for a wide screen logo and another company logo. The rest of the information is on the back cover - including images of the film in action, a blurb, the full cast, DVD requirements and the bar code.

2) Using "icons"

DVD Cover - 'The Blair Witch Project' (Daniel Myrick - 1999)

The main selling point of this cover is not the "star" (because there are no well know names in this film) but the iconography, with all the well-known icons being immediately associated with 'The Blair Witch Project'. This is so people will see the cover and immediately know what the film is and will buy it for that reason - it will stand out in stores - instead of people buying it because of the main casting role. The three main pieces of inconography in this film are all featured on the front; the black and white forest, the 5 pointed star and the top half of the mans head - all images we see and know what film it is from. The black and white forest is slightly blurred because it is taken directly from raw handheld footage, which sets the tone of the whole film, all of which is shot in this handheld style. The forest is the unique setting of this film, with the creepy shapes made by the trees iconic to the movie. This is above the title to set the tone. Below the title is the most fmaous image in the movie of the top half of the mans head (see my post titled 'top 10 horror film icons'). This is an easily recognisable image. The 5 pointed star is the sign of the 'Blair Witch' and acts as the film logo alongside the title, with the colours red and white standing out on the dark background. The only information given by the front and side covers are the title, certificate, DVD logo and production company ('Pathe!'). The back cover holds the rest of the information needed - special features, blurb, quotes, full cast, requirements and bar code.

Overall, both formats are almost identical except the image. The main image either has to be the main "star" or "stars" with their actor/actress name, or the main icon or icons. A film using "stars" is more likely to have a slogan or quote on the front cover with films using "icons" leaving the image on the front as the main focus in order to reduce detail lost by attention being taken away from the iconic thing/s.