I am currently in the process of writing the reviews for each of my films, and due to their lengthy word count, I thought that I could make a post about another key element of the magazine reviews: the tagline.
I potentially need two for each, because only some of the reviews have a tagline for the title, but nearly all of them have a witty caption for the photo that accompanies the article.
Assassin's Creed
'Does Fassbender's leap of faith land on its feet?'
This tagline is the one I am the most proud of. It uses the lead actor's surname (Fassbender) because the actor is already well established in the film industry to justify not writing out his full name. Then I use the phrase 'Leap of faith' which relies on the context for readers to understand. It is a very effective phrase because it refers to the 'leap of faith' being made figuratively with the release of a video game adaptation (which have never been critically successful) but it also refers to the literal leap of faith that has become a signature move in the games. Therefore it uses the literal context of the film to create a metaphorical question about whether the film lands 'on its feet', which in other words asks whether it is a good film. So the whole question invites the reader to speculate whilst also adopting language that reflects the film and the games.
Rogue One
'A new hope or a pointless instalment?'
The subheading I came up with for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story plays on the question on whether it was necessary for this film to be made. Therefore it uses the phrase 'A new hope' to act as a witty reference to the original Star Wars film and also ask whether this film is a fresh and revitalising addition to the franchise, or whether it just feels like a 'pointless instalment'. I think that although simple, I still managed to construct my tagline based on the main debate among fans and reviewers of the film, which was whether this film was really necessary to the ongoing franchise or just a commercial product to gain profit.
La La Land
'Fairytale or Flop?'
There are no witty, contextual references used in this tagline. Instead I used a minimalist approach to address the hype of the film. Is it the 'fairytale' critics are hailing it to be, or is all this publicity going to make it an overrated 'flop'. The word fairytale connotes the dreamy elegance of the film's romance, while the term 'flop' is used in the industry to identify a film which has financially and critically bombed at the box office. So the juxtaposition of the two, a dreamlike fantasy and a harsh reality, successful addresses the appeal of the film and questions whether it is overrated.
I didn't want to come up with a tagline for my own film because I knew that it was going to be featured as one of the small reviews on my page. In the magazines I researched, smaller reviews don't tend to have the space for a tagline, so I didn't think it would be necessary to use a tagline for all four films on my page. And realistically, my short film won't have garnered much publicity in comparison to the other films I am reviewing and so any reference I did make would likely be misunderstood by readers.
PHOTO CAPTIONS
'Suspect armed and dangerous'
For Shades of Reason, I wasn't sure how to make a humorous comment, especially since the film doesn't have any contextual basis to make witty remarks about. Instead I am going to use a stereotyped cliche 'Suspect armed and dangerous' because it is a phrase used by authorities to address a threat to the public. I like the sense of deviancy it conveys in relation to the photo being used because it jokingly states the obvious.
'The question on everybody's mind: can these new stormtroopers actually hit anything with those rifles?'
Among Star Wars fans there is a lot of humour based around the acceptance that in the films, Stormtroopers are useless when it comes to aiming weapons. Since my photo is of a Stormtrooper, I wanted to make an amusing reference to this. The caption addresses that these are in fact 'new stormtroopers' and so there is a sense of entertaining anticipation on whether they will live up or live down to their defining characteristic. By using the statement 'the question on everybody's mind' at the start, it appeals to Star Wars fans by showing that the magazine is also aware of the stereotyped view of Stormtroopers, and shows a sense of unity between reader and publisher.
'Starstruck lovers'
'Star crossed lovers' is a very common phrase used to capture the romance of true love. I wanted to use something blunt but different to address the couple in La La Land simply because the film is a complete subversion of genre, and so I wanted to subvert this well known idiom as well to reflect the different approach of the film. 'Starstruck lovers' perfectly fits the photo because it plays on the fact that they are in an observatory and gazing at the stars above. So 'starstruck' has both a literal and figurative meaning of their romance.
'The eagle has landed: Aguilar and Maria on lookout duty'
This caption also states the obvious but in an amusing way. Talking about 'the eagle has landed' is a reference to a completely different film but relevant in this context due to the significance of the 'eagle' in relation to the Assassin's Creed symbol. Additionally, referring to how the eagle 'has landed' is equally applicable because it acknowledges that the Assassins are constantly running across rooftops and never grounded on the floor. The second part of the statement is more of a description of the photo and so there is a combination of wit and observation used in this caption.
Overall, I think that these captions and taglines combine humour and context to show that the magazine has a wider understanding of the film world but also that it engages with its viewers with an entertaining tone.
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