Importance of film posters:

Mean Girls

Film posters are extremely important as it essentially promotes a film towards the public, whether it be locally, nationally or internationally. It should be in

teresting eye-catching to persuade the public to view the film as a poster is one method of advertising and selling a film to a potential audience. The poster should create enigma within 15-20 seconds.

Film posters are displayed inside and on the outside of movie theatres, and elsewhere on the street (e.g. on buses) or in shops. The same images appear in the film exhibitor’s press kit and may also be used on websites, DVD packaging, flyers, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, etc.

Film posters also emphasis the actors in their film. For example, a poster may present their main actor in the front centre of the poster to potential viewers to watch the film, based on a popular actor/actress. People who are already fans of particular actors/actresses may be compelled to watch the film, as they may be their favourite actor.

For example, in the film ‘Mean Girls’, Lindsay Lohan is positioned on the left hand-side in the foreground, where as the other actors are placed in the background. This is so the public can notice Lindsay Lohan more than the rest of the other actors, therefore they will be informed by this new upcoming movie with the popular Lindsay Lohan, as she had become more well-known after he hit films, ‘The Parent Trap’ and ‘Freaky Friday’.

Film poster conventions:

There are a range of conventions of a film poster that overall contribute towards a film poster being successful, so the public are persuaded to watch it. It all depends on how it is advertised on the poster.

  • Title – This is clearly essential for the film poster, as it how the public will notice the film
  • Tagline – This is shown on most film posters. The tagline gives the audience a clue to what may happen in the film, or even a quotation from the film may appear as the tagline
  • Name of director – Again, this is an important element as it advertises the director. Likewise with actors, the public may want to watch a particular film according to who directed it. If a person likes a particular director e.g. Steven Spielberg, then they may watch his next upcoming film
  • Name of actors – This links in within the point made above. Not only does it advertise the actors who are in the movie, but it is necessary as it a movie poster should always show who is appeared in the film; it is similar to the credits of an actual film
  • Release date – This is very important as it tells the public when the film will be released. Without it, the public wouldn’t know when to watch the film, therefore possible dropping sales
  • Quotations –  Some movie posters may show critic quotations in support of the film to persuade the public to watch it, for example, in the film poster, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ – “The road is twisted and so are the laughs. This one is a winner.” (Rolling Stones)
  • little-miss-sunshine-poster_79877-1600x1200
  • Production company – This is included to tell the public who produced the film. Some production companies are more well-known and have a better brand image than others, such as Paramount Pictures, Warp Films, Warner Bros. and Film4 Productions. These are a mixture of production companies from the US and UK.

Analysis of specific posters:

Here is my analysis of the film poster, ‘Wild at Heart’

REPRESENTATION:

  • Two characters are in the foreground of poster, therefore telling me they must be the main characters and will play an important role in the film. There will be a male and female character in the film, therefore suggesting possible romance.
  • The clothing codes tell me a lot about the characters. The woman is wearing a red leotard, therefore suggesting danger, love, passion and promiscuity, adding to the potential themes that may appear in the film. The guy is wearing a snake skin jacket, therefore possibly suggestion this character may be ‘vicious’ or ‘evil’ since that is usually how people connote snakes. Therefore the audience may suspect this character may create a negative influence in the film. His jacket can be compared to the title, the word ‘wild’ connotes with the snake-skin print, thus suggesting he may be a ‘wild’ character in the film. Their sunglasses also suggest that they were both hiding from someone, and they don’t want to be caught for whatever particular reason.
  • Although we can’t really see the woman’s facial expression, she looks relatively serious. The guy, however, looks a bit confused yet posturehe looks as if he is trying ‘too hard’.
  • The posture of both of the characters are different. The woman is standing with her back towards the guy, therefore there may be a rift between them in the film. Although she is standing with her back facing away from the guy, she looks sexually confident with her hands on her hips. The guy also looks confident with his hand in his jean pocket in an upright posture, therefore this suggests that both of these characters are happy with themselves, as they look emotionally stable.
  • Due to the posture involved in the poster, I assume that there is no affection between these people, especially since the man is in front of her, therefore suggesting dominance, where as she is slight behind him. They don’t appear as if they are in a relationship because they look slightly distant from each other, although the movie may suggest otherwise.
  • There may be other significant people in the film but may not be shown on the film poster as it leaves the audience guessing who else will create an impact in the film. If all of the important characters were shown on the film poster, it would give away the storyline and not create narrative enigmas.

TECHNICAL CODES:

title

  • The text is all either in white or baby blue. The main title is baby blue, capitalised and bold, being a main feature of the poster. It is possible baby blue to related to the colour of the sky in the background, where the title is positioned. 
  • The frame of the poster is clear as the man is in the front centre, showing his significance in the film. The camera frame of the poster is a mid-shot, as cuts off some body language of both characters and it shows a feature features in the background as well as the foreground.
  • There is nothing completely out of focus in the poster, as I presume the creator wanted the audience to view the poster as a whole, and not emphasis particular aspects within it. They possibly wanted the audience to view the background as well as the foreground because the background presents fire, that gives away a bit of the storyline as fire connotes danger, passion and love.
  • The camera angle is at eye-level, as the audience see it as if they were in front of the characters. The camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that actors’ heads are on a level with the focus.

TEXTUAL CODES:

  • There is no tagline in the film poster, therefore it may be more difficult for the audience to guess what the film is about. However, there are a  lot of elements in the poster that give away what happens in the film.
  • There is a logo on the bottom right hand corner that displays a heart with a dagger through it. It represents the film, as it shows that the main of the film may possibly relate to romance and passion. However, the dagger through it suggests that their love will be ‘torn apart’ somehow during the movie.
  • There is no particular font type, but it is capitalised, therefore emphasising the title against the foreground of the poster. This means the audience will be drawn towards this posture, therefore creating potential viewers.

OBJECTS:

  • Due to the wide highway roads, it is clear that is set in America, particular a state that has hot weather conditions (e.g. California, San Francisco). The Thunderbird car also relates to America.car
  • There are particular objects in the advert, such as the car with the one door open, thus representing freedom. This instantly tells the audience that these characters are running away from something that is causing them distress. The car may well possibly be a main object in the film as if they are running away, they will be using their Thunderbird car a lot.
  • The main colours that appear in this poster are red, orange and blue. The red and orange colours are from the fire, logo and woman’s leotard whereas the car and sky are blue, and so these colours contrast each other as red usually connotes love, danger and passion, where as blue connotes relaxation. This therefore may suggest that although the film may related to danger, there may be some aspects within the film that are completely opposite to danger.

FUNCTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT:

  • This advertisement is a film poster. 
  • The narrative is not completely obvious through the film poster but if you look closely the audience may realise that the film will revolve around these two characters in a relationship, running away from someone (with their car) who wants to catch them. The fire represents that there could possibly be danger throughout their journey.
  • The audience may be able to relate to the characters. Perhaps they need to escape from a relationship, or from life and they could possibly want freedom in their life as there may be restrictions, e.g. a young adult may want freedom from their parents.
  • The man in the centre of the poster appears to be in control and in power due the positioning and angle of himself. He is right in the centre of the posture where he is easily visible, therefore the public will instantly see him and realise that he will be highly significant throughout the film.

AUDIENCE:

  • This advertisement is aimed the general public, but you can specify it towards particular groups of people. For example, avid movie go-ers would be persuaded by this poster as they generally view a lot of different types of movies. This could also be aimed towards people who are fans of the actors or the director, or who enjoy watching crime or thriller movies.
  • You could fit this film into different demographics as follows:
  • Class – I don’t think there would be a particular class for this film.
  • Age – Aimed towards adults ranging from an age from around 18-60.
  • Gender – Possibly more males than females as the typical stereotype suggests men prefer thrillers to women.
  • Religion – I don’t think there would be a particular religion for this film, as there are no religious aspects in the film.
  • I don’t think you would need much prior knowledge to understand the advertisement, as some elements give the storyline away (e.g. the car referring to freedom).
  • This poster will be advertised in publications, such as newspapers and magazines. They would probably (or should) appear at the beginning of the newspaper (or the back since this is also viewed a lot, although it is possible about football) or magazine, since people read the articles at the beginning more (since they may not have time to read the rest), therefore creating more potential viewers of the film.

Here is the film poster:

screenint1

Here is another example of a film poster – INCEPTION:

I

REPRESENTATION:

  • All the visible actors on the film poster are from the same racial group – white. 
  • Their clothing is very smart as they are wearing suits, therefore connoting smartness, professionalism and a “business-like” attitude. This tells the audience that something important will happen in the film, that will create a significant impact that will be possibly continue throughout the film, as they may have to solve something.
  • We can’t see their facial expressions clearly, but their posture is upright and again in a “professional” position, as they look confident and “ready for action” with their guns in their hands, therefore the audience know that the movie will be action-packed.
  • The relationship between these characters is difficult to understand, as although they are in a group they are separated from one another. The man in front of the group is mostly in the foreground, therefore representing his powerfulness, as it shows that he could possibly be the “leader” of the group, as this shows his dominance compared to the other people.

TECHNICAL CODES:

  • The image has been framed to show a vast amount of the background with the characters in centre, so the public can instantly put the two together to potentially work out what may happen throughout the film. The frame is probably a very wide shot as it shows the characters full body and it includes a lot of background features (road, buildings etc.) 
  • The camera angle is normal to show the characters in the same eye range as the viewer. The lighting is quite interesting as there is more light towards the bend of the road (near the main character’s head), where as at the foreground we see a contrast of darker lighting, representing that the film could possibly have positive  and negative issues throughout the film, making the audience question whether this film will have a nice ending or not. The dark lighting also fits nicely with the bold red title – ‘Inception’.

TEXTUAL CODES:

  • The tagline says, ‘Your mind is the scene of the crime’, therefore suggesting that things relating to crime may appear in this film, for example: an intelligent protagonist, a villain and danger. This tells the audience that something will need to be resolved at the end of the film, starting with some sort of problem. This also tells the audience that this crime may be some-what psychological since the tagline clearly states ‘your mind is the scene’. The tagline relates to the image through the use of the word ‘crime’, as the background presents various buildings, therefore we could link the word ‘crime’ and the buildings together, potentially meaning that their investigations may in fact take place in a building, or even the crime. 
  • We are given other information in the poster to help us convey the overall image. The background contains a range of different types of buildings, so we are given the impression that this film may be filmed in various buildings, or there may be on particular building that is the main setting where, perhaps, ideas are constructed for their crime.
  • A red, bold typeface is used to help the title stand out against the blue tones in the background. The red title connotes danger, love and passion, therefore these themes could possibly be included in this film.

OBJECTS:

  • One of the main (and possibly only) significant object in this film poster would be the guns that the characters are holding, therefore telling us their journey throughout the film will be dangerous and a character’s fate in the film may even lead to death. It also appears only a few guys are holding guns, whereas the woman is not. This may refer to the stereotype of woman not being “strong” and unable to deal with a battle.

FUNCTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT:

  • This advertisement is a film poster, aiming to attract the public to watch the film. 
  • We make sense of the narrative through the images shown in the poster, whether it be through body posture or lighting. The audience is promised to be shown action with a protagonist who will (hopefully) resolve the problem by the end of the film. With the dark and gloomy blue colours, the audience may think that something bad will happen, since the colours connote dullness.

AUDIENCE:

  • The advertisement is aimed at a range of particular people. Firstly, it is aimed at anyone who is an avid movie fan, meaning they see any genre of film, usually they aren’t compelled by anything else, rather than it simple just being a new film to watch. Secondly, it is aimed at people who are interested in the genre of Action/Adventure and mystery, so therefore they will be more influenced to watch this film. Lastly, anyone who is interested in the actors and/or director will want to watch the film, as they want to support their favourite actor/director. Leonardo DiCaprio is the main actor in this film, therefore a huge audience will be drawn towards watching this film. Christopher Nolan also directed this film, being a very successful director as he directed ‘The Dark Knight’, being a highly successful film, therefore people will expect this film to be just as good. 
  • This publication will appear almost everywhere visible to the public eye: newspapers, magazines, buses.

I also evaluated the film poster of ‘The King Speech’. I chose this because it is significantly different from the other film posters that I analysed, as it revolves around the characters facial features and expressions, therefore making it slightly more difficult to analyse as not much is going on in the background, nor foreground.

the-kings-speech-poster REPRESENTATION:

  • The positioning of the characters within the frame is signficant as the King is positioned slightly in front of the other two characters, therefore showing he is a dominant, as he has more power and authority over them.

From the poster we can also see their costume (clothing codes), as they are all dressed very smartly, therefore suggesting the typical stereotype of wealth and intelligent. This can also suggest a particular social class to the viewer just from what they are wearing. It is possible that they are representing the ‘upper class’ as they look ‘professional’ and serious (shown through their facial expressions, perhaps apart from the female, as it appears she is smirking slightly).

TECHNICAL CODES:

  • The poster is framed in a certain way to show the characters facial expressions very closely. It is a ‘close up’ as it mainly shows the characters faces (and clearly showing their expression) with their shoulders.
  • The camera angle is normal since it shows the characters from the viewers eye-level, therefore making it appear realistic. The lighting includes green and blue tones, perhaps suggesting this film will be positive, as this colours are almost pastel-like, therefore overall connoting a positive vibe. The only dark lighting in this poster is shown through their smart uniform.

TEXTUAL CODES:

  • The poster has a tagline that states, “When God couldn’t save The King, The Queen turned to someone who could.”. This suggests to the audience that there may be a problem shown or discovered in this film, and someone will try to solve it, as “God couldn’t save the King”, therefore implying that the problem is referring to the King.
  • The title is in gold, which is a colour often used with royalty. The gold tone stands out against their black costume and the colour shows the importance and significance of the King.

OBJECTS:

  • There are no objects shown in this poster.

FUNCTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT:

  • This advertisement is a film poster, aiming to attract the public to watch the film. 
  • We make sense of the narrative through the images shown in the poster, whether it be through body posture or lighting. The audience is promised to be shown a film where a problem will arise that will have to be solved. The title also gives it away as ‘The Kings Speech’ instantly tells the audience that the problem may in fact relate the King and his speech. The film may be psitive since the lighting connotes this, therefore stating that the problem may be solved successfully.

AUDIENCE:

  • The audience may be directed towards people who are interested in the royal family, as this film is about the King. This fan-base would be more likely to watch films like this.
  • Also, people who are fans of the actors (and there are three well-known actors) will be influenced to watch this film, as they would want to see the next film that their favourite actor or actress is in.
  • Lastly, people who are fans of the drama genre will be more compelled to watch this film, as they are interested in films with drama in them.

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January 20, 2013

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