Analysis of film posters - Research -

As one of the main ways to promote a film is through posters as they are usually bold which people look at and take notice of. I need to research into what the codes and conventions of film posters are so that I can include them in my poster.

Kidulthood
I annotated this film poster as Kidulthood has similar themes to "My Brother Leon" in that it is about youth culture and how it effects others around them.
This film poster introduces all the main characters in the film and gives the title and a quote from a viewer.
Its quite a dark picture stating that the film and character could be quite mysterious.
It sets the scene of the film consisting of themes of violence, youth culture and relationships.
At the bottom of the poster it states the directors name and actors/actresses names.


This Is England
This is England is also about the loss of innocence and how actions do affect the family around us. For example when Shaun has his hair cut by the girls his mum doesn't agree with it and as he hangs around with an older crowd of people he witnesses alot of violence.
The film poster shows the characters involved and the estate that the film is located in.
Along the top of the poster is the awards that the film has won and quotes from various places.
This is England is in bold letters symbolising strength and in the Union Jack colours showing the power of the United Kingdom.
Shane Meadows name who is the director is placed underneath the title to show importance.
All the characters show their personalities by what they are wearing and the positions they are standing in.



Bullet boy
Name of film is in bold and big letters so that they stand out.
The main character and director's name are on the poster.
Three powerful adjectives describing the film are placed under the title but are bold so that they grab attention and show that it is a good film.
All the writing is on the left hand side with a side shot of the characters face. Inside his head is him as a child holding a gun and with his friend. It is an important part of the film as it is representing the way that he is thinking that he doesn't want to see his younger brother like him.
The background is a merky dark green representing his life as an unclear picture. It also shows his personality of being masculine but greedy.

This is a short film poster. It gives a full view of the location and states the title. It doesn't show any comments or names of the director or actors/actresses involved.
It does show one of the characters.






Film posters have all of their writing together; the main characters, directors and title of the film. It's always off centre, either to one of the sides or on the top or bottom. There is usually a picture of one or more of the characters and shows one or more of the themes.


Having consulted with producers from the short film industry we have been advised that the conventional film poster is replaced with more direct marketing in the form of a postcard. Miss Becky Knapp has given us examples which I will analyse.
As this is the case, I need to know if the codes and conventions for postcards are the same as above.

This short film poster includes actors names and the directors name so you know it is adveritising a short film. The title suggests it may be something to do with blood or children. The writing is clear to read and has a white background. The main image represents the short film of someone looking scared to look out. It has all the writing centred in the top half and the picture takes up the rest of the space.

The back of this poster includes the title, the cast list, the producer of the postcard and the production company's name and logo.




The front of the postcard has the title in capital letters in white with a black background, looks quite plain but stands out.
The main image could have been taken from the film or separately but shows four different girls that I am assuming will be the main characters. It also includes a quote at the bottom again with a black background. The girls faces are sad and with the black background it seems like it could be an eerie or dark film.

Lighting Experiment

Lighting experiment

We produced a lighting experiment which showed the effect different gels and lights had on the ambience of the shot. This allowed us to gain skills and knowledge to put to use when filming. We decided that the blue gel was key to use as it created a "cold" feeling when Leon and his Mother are arguing. The 1/4 blue gel would be used first and gradually changing to 1/2 blue gel to show the transfomation of Leon getting more aggressive and the family growing futher apart. The orange gel will be used at the end of the story where Lily and her Mother join together, to show warmth. We decided that we would use the pro light as it wasn't as strong as if a red head was used.
We will also use barn doors when we don't want as much light to show. We will bounce off of the walls when we want little light. Diffusion can be used when we want an even softer light or do not want as much light to show.

Gels that we won't use are the red gels because the lighting was too bright and not suitable as it would only fit in with such genres as horrors and thrillers.

Pro light 1/2 blue

Pro light 1/4 blue

Pro light barn doors

Pro light diffusion

Pro light orange

Pro light plain

Pro light red

Red head

Red head 1/2 blue

Red head 1/4 blue

Red head bouncing off celing

Red head barn doors

Red head diffusion

Red head orange

Red head red

Red head tin foil

Toaster reflecting