Auxiliary Products

WebpageFilm poster/newspaper advert

DPS listingsFilm magazine front cover

Film magazine reviewRadio trailer

The Briefs• 1. A promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film; • a poster for the film.

• 2. An extract from an original documentary TV programme, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two of the following three options:

• a radio trailer for the documentary;• a double-page spread from a listings magazine focused on the documentary;• a newspaper advertisement for the documentary.

• 3.A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:

• a poster for the film; • a radio trailer for the film;• a film magazine review page featuring the film

Role of film posters• Posters occupy a space between art and

advertising. • They have a clear commercial purpose -

to promote an event or product - but they also have artistic value.

• People buy them and hang them on their walls.

• Museums have whole galleries devoted to poster art.

• When analysing a poster it is important that you evaluate both how well it fulfils its purpose (ie promotion) as well as its aesthetic value. ("aesthetic value" means their value as artistic creations.)

• You see them everywhere. Film posters are prominently displayed on billboards, in the lobby of cinemas, in magazines, on the Internet, and even on the sides of buses. But how often do you stop and think about the effects movie posters have on you?

• It's important to remember that movie posters are advertisements. The goal of a poster essentially is to "sell" the movie—to make you want to see it.

• How does it do that?• The poster may have the movie title in

a big and bold font. Images of the movie's attractive actors are usually featured. In addition, the actors' names are probably included somewhere on the poster to remind you that the movie has big-name stars.

• Designs, colours, and fonts are used to appropriately reflect the mood and tone of the film.

• The poster probably includes a catchy sentence or slogan that piques your interest and makes the plot seem intriguing.

movie title movie title

attractive actors

actors' names

catchy sentence or slogan

• The visual elements on a movie poster can convey powerful messages.

• The best posters may make you anxiously anticipate an upcoming release.

• The worst ones may not have a persuasive effect at all.

• By analyzing movie posters, you can gain a better understanding of the elements that effectively grab the attention of movie-goers and sell the movie's story—even before viewers see it for themselves.

representation

audience

Film Poster for 1 & 3 & newspaper advert for 2.

• Types of Poster:• Identify which type of poster it is: • The Teaser poster -This poster contains basic information to whet your appetite. It often

does not indicate much about the plot, but may have a picture of the stars, and the name of the film.

• The Main Poster: • This contains information about the production personnel, the stars, and the distributors.

• Video/DVD Release Poster: • This one comes out when the film is released on DVD/video and often has all of the above

plus short, one line reviews from relevant publications.

• Character Poster:• this one features the main character. • Remember that the posters could be a combination of two types.

Many of these aspects are relevant to newspaper

adverts too, so use the checklist.

Which kind?

Language• •Images of the key settings and the main characters. What is the title of the film? • What can you say about the way in which the title graphics have been written?• Who is starring in the film? Where are the stars’ names placed on the poster?

Why? • Describe the key images on your poster. Why have they been chosen? • Talk about what images are used - stars, setting, colours, symbols, (mise-en-

scene). • What do they suggest/signify? What other pictures can you see? What is their

purpose?• What are the most important colours on your poster?• Why do you think these were chosen? • What do you think the film will be about?• Who is the target audience?

Narrative• •What clues are there to the

narrative? • What can you tell about the

genre of the film and the types of characters from their facial expression, body language, stance, appearance and position on the poster?

• What makes you say this? What impression do you get of the character/personalities from their expression, clothes, props.

• Is there an enigma being presented.

• Is the poster composed of a series of images (montage, lack of perspective)

• Is the key image a still from the film?

Colours

• What colours are used in the posters? • Are they relevant to the genre eg

horror posters generally use dark strong colours especially black and red to represent death and evil.

• Romance films tend to employ lighter pastel and warm colours such as pinks, purples and other warm shades.

• Are the colours on your poster important? Why?

• What clues do they give about the genre, and how do they attract the target audience?

Connotations of colour?

Layout• Talk about how the images are laid

out.• Are they are blended in without

any concern for real perspective or size relationships between people and setting.

• Why do you think they are laid out like that?

• Do you know what the plot, genre and/or theme of the film is? If so, how?

• Most posters are Portrait or Landscape in shape. What shape is yours?

• Describe and discuss the title, font, typeface and graphics on the poster.

• What style are they in, where are they positioned etc? has the poster been painted and printed or produced using DTP ( mention how improvements in technology have changed production values)

20061967

Written Text• Is there a catch or tagline? • What does it tell us about the

action, genre and attitude within the film?

• Who do you think is the target audience for the film?

• How has the poster been made attractive to these people?

• Discuss the billing/credit block. • What information does it include

about credits and information? • Do we get information about who

is in the cast, who directed the film, which company distributes it and promotes it etc?

• Where is the certificate?• What does it indicate about the

target audience and the content of the film?

• Does the poster list a website? If not, why not?

USP• •Finally,

what is the USP (the unique selling point) in each poster? What makes it different from other films? The plot, stars, themes, setting or characters

What you need to do

• One of the things you NEED to do is analyse at least three types of trailers and film posters. Here's some advice and a checklist for analysing your film posters. Remember that representation in posters can vary in different countries as the audiences and cultural preferences are taken into account.

First steps

• When analysing a poster, you should consider the following broad questions before you start to focus on the details:

• What are the main colours used in the poster and what do they connote?• What symbols are used in the poster? Do you need audience foreknowledge to decode

the symbols?• What are the main figures/objects/background of the poster? Are they represented

photographically, graphically, or illustratively? • Are the messages in the poster primarily visual, verbal, or both? • Who do you think is the intended audience for the poster? • Given that all movie posters have the same purpose - to get audiences to go see a movie

- what persuasive techniques are used by the poster?• Which genre conventions are referred to? • Is a star used as a USP (unique selling point)? • Are "expert witnesses" (ie critics) quoted? • What pleasures (gratifications) are promised by the poster? • How is attention gained (humour, shock, surprise)? • How does the tagline work? (humour, pun, alliteration etc?)

Production Constraints• The poster can also give you

important information about the production context of the movie:

• How much does the poster tell you about the institutional context of the movie's production?

• How important is this information on the poster (think about information hierarchies)?

• How important a part of the whole marketing campaign is the poster? Where is the poster placed?

• How expensive was this poster to produce?

• Finally, you have to pass judgement on the poster.

• Is it an effective poster? Why?• Does it communicate effectively with the

audience?• Are there any alternative readings which might

harm the message of the marketing campaign? • Is the poster offensive in any way?