Film posters

Before creating a film poster i felt it would be useful to search for  film posters that incorporate similar themes to my film in order to identify common techniques used to reach the specific target audience. i decided to briefly analyse the codes and conventions of  film posters within two drama film posters with similar themes; isolation.

Common codes and conventions within film posters:-

• To have a focal picture that will entice given demographic of target audience.
• To display a large title that is easily read.
• Suggestion of the film genre.
• May use famous actors to promote the film.
• A tagline is usually evident on the poster.
• Age certification usually displayed.
• Coming soon or release date displayed.
• Directors and Production Company displayed.
• A website is increasingly displayed on film posters

I felt that each of these films were relevant to analyse as they all suggest a sense of isolation which was my groups focal point each of the following film posters are ones that I would personally be intrigued by, these posters remain interesting whilst conforming to the conventions of a drama film poster. Each of the following posters contains a focal picture that will invoke curiosity.

Poster one;- Identity

   














the main image is intriuging as it manipulates the idea of fingerprints to link directly to the title 'identity' as a fingerprint is unique to the individual and therefore what seperates them from others.The face within the palm of the finger i would interpret as the protagonist as he is constructed in the centre of the poster.The use of the fingers as silouttes of different people suggests he either suffering from multiple personality disorder or the other people that appear within the fingers are character subplots that relate back to the protagonist. The use of white as the background further accentuates the main image and gives it an almost 3d appearance. The main image shows a man with his mouth open which is suggestive of shouting, the combination of this and the use of red in the colour scheme suggests a thriller element or bloodshed. Identity conforms to most conventions of film however subverts the convention of having cast names on the poster. I feel this is intentional in restoring the idea of diagesis, the association of characters within the film with actors or actress could ruin the films intention.

Poster two;- The social network    

The subversion of typical film poster conventions is what drew me to this poster. The idea of the tagline text overlapping what is usually the most promonant and remembered part of a poster the image. This poster does not clearly display a large title it is constructed on the side of the poster, similar to a toolbar tab.This suggests that the film relies heavilly on other forms of advertising as the fact film doesnt need its title to be large oreasily legible suggests the film already has a high profile and the advertisement is therefore there to create further intrigue rather than create awareness.There is no release date or indication of when the film will be in cinemas.The absence of the director, production company and any age certification and 'star appeal' suggests the film doesnt need to association in order to be successful. The lack of knowledge is a tool to create curiosity around the themes of the film.The main image of the male alone is an indication that the film surrounds his hardships, in that sense it conforms to the idea that film posters often suggest the genre and narrative within the poster.

I would like to make posters similar to these two for my short film, these posters are both very effective in selling the 'idea' of the film in an inventive way.

Evaluation of group presentation

What went well?

• visual aides were very useful
• we managed to conduct the presentation effeciently without notes
• each member of our group spoke equally

What would you change?

• i would talk in more detail about scripting
• i would have included a picture of the focus group i conducted
• We could have included our filming schedule

What were you individual contributions to the planning and research so far?

• I created a mood board of inspirations for our film
• I conducted a focus group
• I wrote the script for the film with Adeel
• I casted the actors for the film with Adeel
• I chose appropriate costumes for the actors with Adeel
• I selected music for the film with Ryan

Music

Me and Ryan searched through various uncopyright music websites in order to find non diagetic music for our film, we finally found www.freeplaymusic.com in which we found various options for music. We narrowed our alternatives down to two track options per scene, and we are yet to discuss our final tracks with the rest of our group members.

Casting

 Me and Adeel then went on to cast the characters based on the image we had been creating whilst deciding character traits and scripting. We thought it would be sensible to cut down our list two options per character.After making the neccersary alterations to our cast list, we decided to find out the acting experiance of each candidate and discuss the commitments we would expect them to make for our film. Only then could we finalise our eight cast members, we felt that our final selection fit the visual codes and conventions of their character type perfectly.The cast members were also confident that they could give there personal time up for filming.

In order of appearance; top row left to right  Alex Eagles as Alex, Adeel Khan as Eddy, Feargal Parham as Parham, Maurice Enwright as Maurice.

bottom row left to right Nathan Jameson as Tyreece, Ellie Goffe as Stacey Taylor, Aidah Namugenyi as Imogen, Alice Marks as Bianca

Scripting

Me and Adeel scripted the entire film, we felt it was very useful to incorporate role play during the creative process in order to fully embody the characters.

We then numbered the script to correspond with the shot numbers, we thought this would help with filming process.

Results

After compiling the notes i made during the focus group i found that most people felt they could relate to the characters myself and Adeel had created. Members felt very strongly about the character 'Parham' a member of the group added " everyone knows a someone like that". This information made us feel comfortable in the knowledge that we would not have to alter any of our characters. The plot was also very popular with the focus group members felt that it was definently something they would enjoy watching and it was an interesting concept in the portrayel of isolation. Noone withn our focus group had seen a short film and or knew where they could go to watch one. six out of eight members strongly expressed there love for comedy as there preffered genre. After discussing this with my goup we have decided to add comical elements to our script.

Audience Research

I decided to conduct a focus group as a form of qualatative data as the previous research done by my other group members were all forms of quantattive data and i feel its important to have a mix. The aim of my focus group was to find out our target audiences perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards our film narrative and characters. I felt this would help us to make any neccessary alterations before scripting our film idea.

I decided rather than having a formal list of closed questions i,e how often do you go the cinema? it would be better to have a list of conversational prompts in order to allow the people within the focus group to ellaborate whilst answering the questions in order to provoke responses from other members of the focus group whch may be useful to our research.

My four discussions topics were;

• The charcters within our film
• The narrative
• interest in short film and its appeal
• favourite genre

Conventions of drama

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