Analysing film postersConnor Philand

“The Lovely Bones” 2009, Director: Peter Jackson

I have chosen to review the poster for this film as it is similar to the plot of ours. The protagonists are of similar ages and in both films there are aspects of both life and the afterlife. Reviewing this poster will be beneficial as it will help our group understand techniques that will help us promote the film to the target audience in a suitable and beneficial manner.

What is on the poster?

The film cast: this is usually ordered in a way which shows the ‘top billed’ characters first. Actor’s agents may want their names to appear above the film titles to make their characters appear important in the films.

There is use of a silhouette style dead tree which has birds flying out of it. This could be symbolic to the death of the protagonist.

This billing block section includes the institutional information. This includes the film production companies as well as crew and cast members. Additional information such as a website for the film and ident logos are also included here.

This is a ghostly figure of the films protagonist who looks towards the centre of the lens to attract attention. This could show that she is dead but is now in an afterlife form. The size of the character in the picture shows that she is a main character and that she will have a large involvement in the plotline of the film.

This is the film title which is part of the film's iconography. The same font will be used on all of the other promotions such as the trailer for the film to create synergy. Above the title appears the director's name, fans of the director's previous work may be enticed to go and see the film. Beneath the title is the strapline which gives hints to the plot of the film and can make even more consumers want to go and see the film.

Colour

Colours on film posters can be important when aiming to promote the film in the correct manner which will appeal to the relevant audience. Using a white background will highlight characters more which can be a good technique when trying to promote a film with famous cast members. Darker colours may be used on action based films to highlight any action in the foreground such as an explosion. The colours used on the poster in The Lovely Bones are contrasts of oranges and purples, this promotes an autumnal hazy effect which is relevant to the period which the film is set but it also is relevant to the skyline. This is symbolic to the protagonists death; as she is a dead character it could be trying to promote that she is in heaven or is in a stage of afterlife.

The use of white backgrounding on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith poster highlights the fact that celebrity cast members are included in the film. It also contrasts from the colours of their outfits.

The darker colour of the backgrounding on the Iron Man 2 poster helps to highlight the use of the explosion. This promotes that the film is from the action genre. This is a beneficial way of targeting the audience.

Relation to teaser campaign

In the trailer for the film, the dialogue confirms that the protagonist is infact dead and it also tells of how she is in a form of afterlife or in “the in-between” as it is put in the official trailer by a character who appears to be the protagonists younger brother. The use of colours in the trailer are also similar to the ones shown on the film poster. This shows that the film is set in the same time period as the one from the poster and also helps to create synergy with the promotion campaign. The same font style is used in the trailer which highlights the iconography of the promotion. Details of the production companies as well as cast and crew members are also included in the trailer. The use of repetition makes the promotion appear more professional but also makes it more recognisable and memorable.

Information, ideas and key aspects

At a quick glance, the poster would not give away all of the ideas of the films storyline. It does not have any information that would suggest that the protagonist was murdered, which is contrasting to the trailer as it is revealed in this that she was. It does however suggest that she is dead, with a large image of her floating in the clouds. This is also an aspect which suggests to how she may be in a form of afterlife, which is a key aspect of the film. This is because of the fact she is still visible, however she has a slight fade effect to her to show she is fading away into the afterlife. One other symbolic aspect of the poster is how there is a silhouette character running, this could suggest that a character is running from something or even someone who is chasing them.

StraplinesStraplines are used in film posters to give audiences ideas about what the film may be about without giving too much away. The same or similar looking fonts to the ones from the film titles may be included to promote iconography.

The Lovely Bones strapline

The Lovely Bones strapline makes a key link to the plot of the film. It promotes that the protagonist has most likely died and is entering the afterlife stage. This also promotes that the film is set in the time scales both before and after the death. The strapline also relates to the narrative in the film trailer which suggests that the protagonist has gone into the afterlife from lines such as “she’s in the in-between”.

Other posters from “The Lovely Bones” film promotion. There is a similarity in the look of the posters to match the iconography to create synergy.