Poster AnalysisA How-To Guide for Your Poster Project Write-Up

Visual RhetoricYou must describe the ways visual rhetoric is

used in your poster—even if you didn’t consciously think about visual rhetoric while creating it.

Beyond mere description, you need to explain why the concepts used in your poster are appealing to an audience. Why, for example, is stark contrast (black & white)

useful on a poster for James Bond but maybe not on a poster for a romantic comedy?

Example: The Bounty HunterWhat does this original color image convey?

Example: The Bounty HunterIn black & white how does the image’s meaning change?

Example: SkyfallWhat does this original black & white image convey?

Example: SkyfallHow does the pink background change the meaning of the poster?

Visual Rhetoric: Explain YourselfThis write-up is also your chance to explain the

choices you made while composing your poster—especially if it didn’t turn out quite perfectly. Imperfection is OK!!

Working with the visual rhetoric concepts we’ve learned, you can explain what kind of effect you intended to create.

Visual Rhetoric Concepts

Also,

SPACIAL or SIZECONTRAST

These are BALANCED figures.

CONTRAST

CONTRAST

This i

s bad ALI

GN

MENT

Visual Rhetoric ConceptsNEGATIVE SPACE is hard to portray using text and clip art. It’s all around.

PROXIMITY refers to the spacing between and around objects, but can also work with visual/mental cues.

A focal point draws attention to itself, either through the composition of the entire image, which is good, or by being flashy like this—not so good.

FOCAL POINT

Repetition and Rule of Thirds

Rhetorical AppealsYou will also need to discuss the rhetorical

appeals and how they are at work in your poster. Movies and movie ads are generally working to appeal to the emotions (pathos) most strongly, but can use the other appeals as well.

Practice In small groups, look at a poster and analyze

its use of visual rhetoric concepts and the rhetorical appeals it makes. Why does it look the way it looks?

Movie PitchesWhen you present your poster on Wednesday,

you’ll need to tell us a little bit about your movie idea. We won’t have time to hear everyone’s whole synopsis, so you have to distill the story down to it’s most important elements.

In a pitch (for a movie or otherwise), the main goal is to get the listener to feel an emotion that generates a positive connection in their mind.

For extended details about making a successful pitch, check out the reading on Blackboard: “The Eight Steps to a Powerful Pitch”

Pitch Basics2. Write: jot down some different ways of quickly explaining/connecting the key elements you’ve just defined.

The article has an extended list of pitching steps for people actually trying to sell a creative idea, but they’re not totally relevant to our work right now.

1. Review your synopsis for the most powerful and important elements. (protagonist, protagonist’s main desire, conflict)

3. Practice the pitch—we have to get through everybody’s so two minutes is your limit.