POSTER RESEARCH

Thor + The Expendables + Anonymous

The aim of a film poster is to advertise a film in more diverse locations than a trailer such as on buses or the underground; locations where people are on the go. Usually, wealthy film companies produce a number of different posters to advertise a film.

These posters are placed in a variety of locations including bus shelters, billboards and outside cinemas in an attempt to raise support for a film. Also, depending on the market, different posters will be released.

They also feature in locations that are manageable for the target audience. Text on the poster includes the name of the director, the actors, a billing block and the film name which regularly appears in a bold font.

As with a teaser trailer, the aim of a film poster is to gain interest in a film. In a way, a poster can be seen as a more effective way of advertising a film as it is cheaper to distribute and can be seen in a wider range of locations.

An effective poster, as well as a trailer, will draw attention from the audience and generate interest for the film.

Three examples of movie posters can be seen above. On the left is the movie poster for the film Anonymous in the centre is the movie poster for the film The Expendables and on the right is the poster for Thor. These films are produced by major, wealthy film companies and therefore they have the capability to produce a various number of posters for different locations. Another common feature is that all of the posters use a single image and have strong fonts displaying the film title.

The Expendables A bold font at the foot of the page. Popular actors standing in the

foreground with a strong, action, 'tough-guy' pose. The use of popular, recognisable actors will automatically draw attention to the film from the public.

Only the surnames of the actors are used at the foot of the page; as aforementioned the actors are established names and therefore only their surnames are needed.

The explosion in the background connects well with the action genre of the film. Also, the vivid colour of the explosion will bring attention to the poster.

Use of pull quote from a review at the head of the page "The most awesome action cast..." provides the film with a sense of credibility and will encourage the audience to go and see it.

Listing of actors names features at head of page.

Thor Use of a single, striking image and

simple short sentences does not reveal too much about the film.

No pull quotes from a review. The red colour used on the font 'Thor'

ensures that it stands out to the eye. It also connects with the red costume on the character.

This poster could be described as a 'teaser poster' as it does not reveal too much to the audience on what to expect from the film. The film comes from the superhero genre and is a recognisable name.

Reveal of date matches with short statements on poster.

Anonymous To draw the attentions of the

audience, a bold interrogative is asked "Was Shakespeare a Fraud?".

The poster deals with a popular and prolific historical figure and is guaranteed to get a glance from passers by depending on the location of the poster.

The main image has an ink effect surrounding it. This is creates a cohesion between the image, the subject (Shakespeare) and the prop in the actors hand, the quill.

The title links with the posture of the character; he is facing away from the viewer and is therefore anonymous, an unknown.

From the research and analysis of these selected movie posters, I have come to a decision on what I would like my movie poster to look like.

Out of the three presented above, I believe my poster will use the conventions seen in the Expendables poster the most. I prefer the Expendables example because I can picture the main character from my zombie trailer standing in the foreground facing the camera.

In the background will be a horde of zombies, outstretched, screaming in an attempt to reach the character.

The decision I have made on my poster is that it will consist of the main character (survivor) surrounded by a small horde of zombies. I will then be able to use photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop CS3 to edit features such as the brightness or contrast to make the poster more suitable for my genre. CS3 will also allow me to add text to the image, allowing me to change what used to be a image into a recognisable movie poster by adding features such as pull quotes.

My poster will aim to: Use all quotes from magazine reviews to

entice the audience to watch. Have a certificate of 18 for a certain

audience. Have a billing block. Have a single, main image. Have the film date, institution and website. Have the names of actors. Have a tagline such as, ‘from the creators

of’.