Component 3

FILM POSTERS

An independent film company is a company that operates outside of the main film companies.

There are two types of film posters, which occur in the film industry.

One of them being a TEASER POSTER and the other a THEATRICAL POSTER. There is a stark difference between the two:

TEASER POSTER= When a film poster appears before the release of the main marketing campaign. The aim is to use enigmas, for example a tag line or a single image, to catch the interest of the audience.

THEATRICAL POSTER=  Is a poster used to promote and advertise a film. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text.

Examples of teaser posters include:

·         The 2011 film ‘SCRE4M’ consists of a teaser poster, which has a simple tag line ‘NEW DECADE. NEW RULES’ to attract the attention of the audience.

·         The use of a simple image is present, as there is a ghost like face presented at the forefront of the poster, with the eyes and mouth being positioned in a state of shock, to correlate with the title ‘SCRE4M’

·         The simple dark maroon background depicts a sense of danger, blood and death, as it matches the red tagline, and the letter 4, in the title.

·         The release date is positioned below the title, in a simple white font, informing the audience, to the date in which the film is to be released.

·         The teaser poster, for ‘lost girl’ is a simple one, with a red, white and black colour pallet.

·         The title is divided into a black and white colour scheme, with ‘lost’ being presented in white, which connotes innocence and purity, juxtaposed against ‘girl’ which is presented in a red colour, highlighting danger and potential death.

·         The main image consists of a girl, with half of her face being presented, whilst a red strip covers the right side of her face. This allows her entire identity to be concealed, thus correlating to the title of ‘lost’.

·         A small tag line is presented at the bottom of the right-hand side of the poster; ‘COMING THIS MAY 2016’ further confirming the fact that the poster fits the conventions of a teaser poster, whilst also informing the audience.

·         The Black and white colour scheme confirms the genre of mystery, thriller etc.

·         The girl on the poster, appears to be staring directly, into the lens, conforming to the ‘gaze’ whilst also engaging the audience.

·         The use of the simple image of a face, in the mirror and a hand, creates a sense of suspense and apprehension amongst the audience, as it correlates to the title ‘IT FOLLOWS’.

·         The use of the title ‘IT FOLLOWS’ in bold red, suggests that the genre of the film is horror and mystery, as the character appears to be looking into the lens, to see what is following her.

·         The fact that there is a use of red font for the title, suggests there is danger, death and blood possible within the film.

·         There is a simple tag line present at the top of the poster, which reads ‘It doesn’t think. It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t give up’, further emphasising a sense of mystery, to which what is following her.

·         The 80s horror film poster, consists of a faded dark blue background with a pinch of light, suggesting that the film is based in the night time, as a white shadow appears at the top right-hand side of the film poster, in the shape of a moon.

Examples of theatrical posters include:

·         The ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST’ poster, holds conventions of a theatrical poster, as there are several images presented, with surrounding text, consisting of the release date (March 17), directors etc.

·         The stars featured in the film, are presented at the top of the film poster, in a gold font, further correlating with the theme of the poster, and the title itself.

·         The main image consists of a princess holding a rose, connoting love and romance, whilst on the right-hand side of her, stands a beast, which connotes danger. The juxtaposition of the traditional ideal princess, and the generic monster, appeals to the audience, engaging them in with the story line.

·         The use of a castle, and characters dressed in fancy dress, highlights a magical and fantasy type theme, which is to run throughout.

·         The colour pallet being blue, hints at the theme of magic, and potential deception.

·         This theatrical poster subverts traditional ones, with the title being placed in quotation marks ‘Fake News’.

·         The two famous actors; Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, are presented physically on the poster, whilst their names are presented above the title ‘Fake News’.

·         The use of the tag line ‘Please Stop Caring Newspapers’ engages the audience with the film poster, and narrative.

·         The 2018 film poster holds a comedy element, with text at the bottom of the main image reading; ‘Newspapers are at least more reliable than those stories your mom shares on Facebook. What the hell is ‘TruthNewz.net”?!’ This suggests a sense of mocking, which can be interpreted as controversial, whilst appealing to an audience.

·         The title and tag lines are presented in a white colour scheme, thus, reverting the audience’s attention towards the title, as well as to the main image which appears to be in tune.

·         The main image consists of a male writing on a type writer, whilst a female character appears to be looking directly at him, suggesting they are coming up with a story line.

·         There is an equal representation of genders, within the poster, with one male and one female character being presented.

·         The colour pallet of the whole poster, appears to be a faded shadow, creating more depth on the character themselves, as well as directly engaging the audience towards the text being presented.

·         The title of the poster is presented in a black and bold font, whilst reading ‘BLACKSWAN’. The title can potentially be read as ambiguous as it is unclear about who the ‘BLACKSWAN’ is. Whilst it could be interpreted at the woman presented on the poster, it could also refer to what she is attempting to win.

·         The white colour pallet, from the white background and the white washed face, of the woman presented on the screen, connotes a sense of purity and innocence, which is juxtaposed against the tile ‘BLACK’ and the dark lips and eyes. This further hints at the theme of disillusionment, deception and manipulation of one’s situation.

·         The crown and the makeup suggest to the audience, that the woman is a theatrical performer; a ballet, who aims to make her way to the top.

·         On the left-hand side of Natalie Portman’s shoulder reads ‘Vince 2010’ whilst the right-hand side reads ‘Toronto 2010’. This can potentially be referring to places or people, hinting at intertextual references. 

·         The use of makeup and costume, imply to the audience that the ‘BLACKSWAN’ is in fact the woman presented, on the poster, as she gazes into the lens, presenting the ‘gaze’ to which the audience are supposed to respond to.