DECADE
FILM POSTER DECONSTRUCTION & ANALYSIS
The colour tones of the images show a change as the images progress as the first image that shows deep depression is very connoting the females dark state of mind. However the images in the centre show feelings of love or lust for her husband making the overall tone of the image brighter with warmer colours connoting the lighter times they had after their son’s death. The last few images show the husband go through sad emotions, as the colour of the image remains dark.
The impact of the images is to show the roller coaster of emotions the characters go through and by using colour it more easily identifiable by the audience.
Rabbit Hole (2010) Directed by: John Cameron Mitchell
Feature film
The films tagline reads ‘The only way is through’ which relates to the film title ‘Rabbit hole’. The tagline relates to the journey of grief the parents are going through as they come to terms with their son’s death. The rabbit reference could connote to the son that died as he died at a young age meaning the rabbit could represent his inexperience in life.
Stop (2015) Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Short Film
The main colour of the poster is red which could signify the red lights on a police car, as the films shows a young black male be stopped by the police.
The colour red could also signify the anger that is associated with the stop and search regime. This is because ethnic minorities feel victimised by police forces when they carry the act out.
The red cold also connote a sense of danger within the situation as news in America; where the film is set shows stories of police brutality, a situation that the film could be portraying.
The central aspect of the poster shows a series of cut images that featuring two the films characters. Each image portrays a different emotion such as despair, grief, lust etc. The image begins with just the female character and then show her husband join her. The series of image could relate to the different feeling the characters felt in the film as it shows how they cope after their four year old son dies.
All of the images interlink as the female character is wearing the same clothes and makeup. This could relate to the idea that everyday feels the same after a loved one passes away.
The actors name are present above the films title as it makes the audience able to notice that there are well known actors in the production, causing them to want to watch the film.
The additional film information is shown below the film. It is common for this to feature on film posters.
At the top of the poster there is a logo for the Sundance Film Festival. By having the logo on the poster it makes the poster more likely to attract a large audience, as cinemagoers normally would associate the quality of the film to be good because of the festival.
The actor’s names are featured in the film poster, as they are relatively known in the film industry. This could make the film popular among audiences, as they might like to see the new talent.
The name of the short film is shown to be in the centre of the poster, as its purpose is to draw in an audience. Within the lettering there is an image featuring the main character of the short film. The font of the title is presented to be very bold and eye-catching which ultimately places a further emphasis on the films message surrounding ethnic minority youths and the police.
The poster also features other information on the film; this is standard for both feature and short film posters as it gives an overview of the Production Company, cast and distributor etc.
Kysan Bancroft 8028
A film poster must be eye catching and captivate the audience. This can be done through various features on my film poster. Through the typography on the film poster, photographs and illustrations, lighting, camera, angle and shot and colour schemes. Film posters are a form of promotion for the film, just like the trailer and below and above the line marketing. The advantage of the film poster is that it can be promoted in different areas to attract a larger audience for example on the bus, train, newspapers, social networks which can be passed on very easy and also through word of mouth to search the film poster also on big billboards and around the cinema. As our film is a drama I will be concentrating on drama films but also I will be looking at other genres film poster to compare the posters. Icons are very important on a film poster as this will make or break the film poster. The film poster allows the audience to understand the genre of the film which will result in the audience either liking or disliking the film because this gives out the impression of the film. If it’s not portrayed clearly to the audience there is a risk of the audience not paying attention to the film poster.
The film poster includes nominations for film festivals and actors, seeing this will make the audience more interested to see the film as it has been nominated, for various awards which shows that the film has a good reputation.
The title of the film ‘ The hurt locker’, is in white, which is eye catching and bold for the audience. The letters of the title are in font style white and are fading with the flames. This reflects the title hurt and the main character because the white font may represent him and the heat coming behind him is the red flame behind the letters.
The main character is a man running away from a fire this denotes the genre of the film to the audience that it is an action film because of the action happening. The image is very eye catching and the flames denote danger. This gives the audience an insight into what they will see in the film. As there is a storyline built on a man running away from fire.
In most film posters small print information is included which is very important, it contains the name of the director, producers, actors, soundtrack, Production Company, screenplay and ratings. The information is important however it’s always in small text so attention is diverted from the image and other parts of the webpage.
A tagline is used to emphasise the film. The tagline links to the image of the film and a tagline used on a film poster is supposed to be memorable to the audience. The tagline on the film poster links with the film poster as it includes the word war and through the image and the protagonist character it shows he may have just come from war. The text is in white font which allows it to be easily seen but doesn’t take away from the film image.
The film poster includes the ratings of the film, which is a good thing for the audience as it helps them decide on whether they want to watch the film. The review that is left is a summary of the film and they are normally located at the top or at the bottom of the film poster. The font size is small enough to read but doesnt take away from the image and title of the film.
The title is in red bold writing which is eye catching and links with the image. The title is in red bold font which is eye catching and links with the image. The font is red which connotes danger and fear which connotes danger and represents the films genre as being a drama. The title reels the audience in to the film as it’s in large font which represents the size of 2 hearts which are represented through the characters.
The character is seen sitting on top of another character; her position makes her have more power which conveys she may be the protagonist character in the film. The character being on top shows that she has more life than the girl she s on top. Through her position is shows that she may have the beating heart.
The position of the character makes her have a low status and links with the title beating hurts. The position of the character laying down makes her have a low status and links with the title beating hurts. This connotes that she is a young character as she is in white which represents purity and innocence. By her laying down it connotes that her heart may have stopped beating and she may have no life in her.
The film poster has a focal picture that attracts the audience attention. It is large and as it’s animated it makes the audience wonder whether if it’s an animated movie or there are representing the characters. Through the position of the character’s it connotes to the audience that it is drama as one character is holding the character down and the use of the gas masks on their faces shows that there may be in a difficult situation or place that they can’t breathe. The colour used on the film poster as white and dark blue which show the contrast in colours and connote that they may be young character's may be innocent in the situation that they are trying to get out of.
The title of the film poster is in large font which eye catching and bold and the colour of the title is white which stands out against the blue font. The letters are in capital letters which emphasises the importance of the title. The editing of the letter ‘n’ in the title is linked with the image as it shows some problems may occur in the film and it may be up and down but also through the image it shows that the characters are connected which is the name of the film.
The producers and director Information is displayed in a billing block at the bottom of the film poster, this allows the audience to look out for the future actor and director as its short film the actors may not be well known to the audience so this builds a profile for the audience.
The focal image of the poster is bold and shows the audience the main characters. The image shows the protagonist charcater in the film as his positioned more forward, than any another character. Through the mise en scene of his costume, the main colour being red symbolises danger and he may be the leader of the group. Through the image you are able to connote the genre of the film which is an action drama because of the location of the image and broken glass and alot of items. All the characters are looking in diferent directions, which conveys the action is coming from different locations. The feature length film poster conveys alot through the image in comparison to a short film poster as there is great editing that has gone into creating the film poster. The colours in the film poster convey straight away the genre of the film poster that it’s an action film through all the colours. The fire in the background connotes danger in the movie as fire denotes danger and death. Through the mise en scene of the protagonist posture he is trying to protect people, as the blue colour is reflecting from his hand it denotes that it’s neutral and not a dangerous tool but will be able to protect them.
The tiitle of the film poster is in bold eye catching font. This straight away grabs the attention of the audience. The logo marvel is above the title which is in red and white font which is bold and gives more information to the audience as they are able to learn more about the film and research on the famous marvel comics. This lets the audience gain more information about the movie which helps them, make the decision of whether they are going to view the film. The logo is bold but doesnt take away from the action of the title. The font used on the title reflects the action shown in the focal image. The use of the arrow connotes that something is going to happen during the film and may be repeated. It's white which contrasts the image as white which connotes purity and innocence , however the action in the image connotes danger and it's not safe.
This is the billing board which includes all the director and producers name but also soundtrack information and the team which produced the film. This is in small print so it doesn’t take away from the image of the film. The name of the director and producer are bold which is a selling point for the film because as the film producer and director are well known this will make the audience want to watch the film. The billing board also includes information about the release date of the film which is vital information as it’s bold and in the middle of the billing board information it stands out and similar icons are used in both the title and release date. Underneath it, information on how the film can be viewed is included such as in 3D real and IMAX which gives the audience a choice before they get to the cinema how they would like to view the film.
The name of the cast is at the top of the film poster. This lets the audience know who the actors are and who they will see in the film. As this is a feature length film the audience are able to recognise the actors which helps me make their decision on whether they would want to see the film especially if their favourite actor was in the film this would help make the audiences decision straight away. The font is in white font which makes it easy to read as well as being in capital letters, it goes will with the background colour of the film poster.
By deconstructing film posters, it allowed me to identify the key features of a film poster, which helped me plan our film poster so that it include all the conventions.
Tracy Kimani 8108