Research into the link between Trailer, Poster and Magazine Cover

For my research I have decided to focus on the Hobbit franchise most specifically "An Unexpected Journey" to explain the link between the 3 areas; trailer, poster and magazine cover. I have chosen this specific film due to it being part of a massive and successful franchise therefore there is a wider range of materials from which I can compare.

Magazine Cover:

The Hobbit "An Unexpected Journey was released in 2012 to much acclaim and featured on a number of magazine covers from Empire to Entertainment. In each of the posters there are common themes that relate to both the story and to the title "An Unexpected Journey" and help to publicize the film itself. On each of the posters there are close ups and mid shots of the two main characters from the film (Bilbo and Gandalf) This allows the audiences to see what their favourite characters from the books look like in the film and as they wear the same costumes in trailer, poster and magazine it also creates a link between the three areas. As well as this the title of the film "An Unexpected Adventure" appears on all the covers which continues the link with the film and the magazine, also the anchorage on one cover "Your return to middle-earth starts here!" makes it seem like this is not only an unexpected journey for the characters but also for us the viewers. The red used for two of the Empire covers follows the house style of the magazine but also creates a link to the evil red eye of Sauron (the main enemy in the world of middle earth) The costumes that the characters are wearing are the ones they wear also feature in every edition of the covers which shows continuity and links them all together; we can recognize the characters easily just from the costumes that they are wearing.

Poster:

 The same theme that features on the magazine does indeed continue when it comes to the design of the posters for the film, the writing on the posters and the magazine is gold to link to the colour of the One Ring and also continue the 'house style' that was created the previous trilogy of middle earth films. Additionally the two main characters in the film feature predominantly on the posters as well as on the magazine covers again linking the two together and letting us know that these are the characters that will drive the narrative of the film. Moreover on the bottom left poster the main character Bilbo is stepping out his front door linking the image to the title of the film as he is embarking on his "Unexpected Journey" The same costumes are again being worn by the characters linking them to the posters about the film, in some cases the same images have been transferred to both poster and magazine trailer again reinforcing the similarity between the two media platforms. The stern and serious expressions on the characters on a couple of the posters let us know that this is not going to be just any journey it is going to be full of dangers and mystery as well as friendship and enjoyment.

Trailer:

The trailer for the Hobbit is full of fast, quick actions scenes, violence and a sense of adventure. The title of the film is continued throughout and links back to the both the posters and magazine covers. There are many dangers and enemies shown in the trailer highlighting how it is such a perilous journey to reach their goal. The same colours and links to the One Ring are shown throughout and the 'house style' is continued. For example at the end of the trailer the Ring appears to fly into the air to become the letter O in the Hobbit.