RESEARCH - Research into similar products - dvd covers

                                                                   Ben 10 Dvd Cover.

Layout:
The route of the eye firstly travels through the masthead/title, "ben 10" this is written how it would normally be written and will be recognised by children who have watched the program. This is also bold and stands out well. Above the title there is a caption "volume 4..." This suggests that it's part of a box set, this also helps grab attention as it stands out well, as the white contrasts with the black backgroud. The route of the eye then travels into the monster/alien thing. Behind it there is lots of little pictures of little monsters and aliens with their arms out and their legs kicking showing they are ready to attack. The larger thing is shown as being very visious, as its teeth are out and it's eyes are bright yellow and feisty looking. The route of the eye then travels though to Ben, showing clearly his facial expressions. His mouth is open and his eyes are bright suggesting he is up for a fight or he is running really fast to get away from the monster. In the picture his watch is giving off something and is shown to be keeping the demond at bay. The route of the eye then travels through Ben's clothes, he is wearing his typical clothing he wears in the programs, this is effective because it means the children will recognise him. The route of the eye then travels through the "pg" age rating, this is showing what the target audience age is, boys aged around 4-10. The last thing we see is "cn" this stands for cartoon network and is helping to advertise the network, although it is helping advertise this dvd because people who like other cartoon network programs might be intrested in watching something different. The hotspot areas are showing the monsters face and Ben's face, maybe they did this in constrast, as the monster is looking fiesty and Ben looks like he's ready to take on the monster!

Colours:
The colours used in this dvd cover are greens blacks and yellows. Green is sterotypically more of a masuclin colour, although yellow and black arent so much, you know that this is targeted more for the males because of the idea of mosters and fighting ect. Black block colouring is used on a few occasion in this dvd cover, this is effective as it enables things to stand out more and grab the attention of children.

Fonts:
There is hardly any font but when its used its simple, consistent, clear and bold to ensure young children can ready what it says.

Images:
The images used are effective to the target audience. All pictures are cgi which younger children enjoy and can understand. The facial expressions of both Ben and the monster are shown clearly, to effect the situation which is happening. All the little aliens at the back are effective because they add onto the big monster, showing to the audience no matter what Bens faced with he can always win and achieve. And to younger boys being a hero is something they can look up to and aspire to be like. As the image of the monster is the biggest and most central to the page you get the impression thats the most dominant character in the film, the one Ben has to keep fighting to become a hero.

Conventions:
This dvd cover sticks to conventions because it is clear to the target audience it wants to achieve, this is shown through the images and the colours. Also having Ben on the front cover dressed in his normal feature clothes is effective because children will recongise him. The layout is conventional, with the masthead being at the top. Also using CGI imagery when the target audience is young children is effective as they can easily understand it.