Analysis of film posters

Purpose

The purpose of this blog post is to research in to film posters to allow me to have an insight as to what conventions I should include and follow on my film posters. This will also allow me to have a greater understanding of the use of film posters in the marketing of a film.

The main use of film posters is to advertise and brand a film, they are used in publicity blitz in order to catch the attention of the public so that more people will go to see the film, the posters are displayed everywhere; on the side of buses, on billboards, In cinemas and anywhere else that they can be put. They will often include information about the film such as; release dates, actors, director and reviews, these will enable the public to see vital information about the film so that they know more about the film. Sometimes film posters will have limited or no information on them, but still manage to effectively portray the genre and cause an interest for the public.

Bourne Identity film poster.

The title/text: The title is big, and easy to read against the background meaning that it stands out and is easy to see and read for the public therefor more people will see the posting causing more people to see the film. The title also conveys the genre well because the 'O' is in the form of a sniper rifle scope which identifies with the action genre.

Colour: Colour is a basic yellow and blue theme which allows the black areas of the key protagonist to stand out against the yellow and the text to stand out against the darker areas.

Image: They key protagonist is shown very clearly in this poster, this is good because the character is Matt Damon who is a very well known film-star so this will entice the public and make people who are a fan of this actor want to go to see the film. Most film posters won't feature the key protagonist on their own unless they are a very well known film star.

Conventions: This poster effectively follows the conventions of an action film, it doesn't stray away from the typical expectations of an action film poster, for example there is no blood stained writing to represent a horror or a pink background to represent a romance or a chick flick. 

Paddington bear film poster.

 

The title/text: For this film the title is less important than the image because almost everybody knows who the key protagonist in the image is. The title is good because it is the biggest text on the poster so the public can be aware of what the name of the film is. There is a comical theme to the text so we can identify that it is a comedy through the title, it also is positioned effectively underneath the image, as the audience sees the image of paddington causing chaos and mischief and then can see the title of the film which communicates to the public the genre of the film. The text shows a large amount of information; the release date, characters and also entices the public by the mentioning of the fact that it is 'from the producer of Harry Potter'. The use of pun in 'A little bear will make a big splash'

Colour: The colours are very bright;yellow and light blue, this follows the key conventions of a comedy film poster because they are light hearted and funny they use light colours to convey this factor.

Image: The image shows the well established character Paddington which enticises the audience because people that are aware of  Paddington will potentially be interested in seeing the film.The image conveys the comedy genre very well because it shows a shot of the film where Paddington is up to some mischief and antics which would be expected to be seen throughout the film.

Conventions: I've mentioned how this film poster covers the main key conventions using colour and text, but it's important to be able to recognise how it has identified the key conventions of a comedy poster. The colours and text probably target a younger audience, also the use of text 'A little bear will make a big splash' may be patronising for an older audience but for a younger audience and parents it may appeal as a good family film.

There tends to be a number of similarities when it comes to film posters, here are some examples of how film poster genres follow the same conventions.

Action film posters

Action film posters follow the similar conventions in that they normally show the key protagonist(s) in the film on the front of the poster with a dramatic facial expression, holding a weapon against a dramatic background. They usually use darker colours and tend to have explosions, fire, wastelands etc as the background to add that aspect of action.

Comedy film posters

Tend to use natural and bright colours to convey their genres. They usually convey the genre through text and the actors in the film; The text is normally bold and colourful and if the actors are linked to comedy, the public can identify that the film is likely to be a comedy.

So it is important that film posters follow the conventions of their genre in order to properly market their film and ensure that they are attracting the right target market, if they fail to do this in their poster designing it is likely to impact the level of people that will go to see and buy the film because it is unclear as to what type of film it is that they are actually going to watch.

Key learning points

This blog post allowed me to look at all the different conventions of film posters that enable them to convey their genre effectively; for example, comedy films tend to use more bright or naturalistic colours whereas horrors will use more dark and sinister colours, so film posters will normally follow the typical use of colours within their genre to effectively convey their genre to its audience. This is something I will need to consider when I am creating my film posters because if I follow the conventions of a film poster that has a similar genre to mine, I should be able to effectively convey my genre to my audience.

Film marketing

Today in class we had a discussion about the best ways to promote a film, we also created mind maps where we personally wrote down some of our own ideas about film promotion:

Which method are you most persuaded by?
From a personal view I am most persuaded by film trailers because they are the main indication to me as to whether or not the film will be any good or suited to my film interests. Film trailers need to be able to make the public want to go to see the film, so they need to be enticing and effective but not give too much away about the film. They tend to show funny parts, areas of tension, romance and cliff hangers-depending on the genre to allow the public to be aware of the genre and so they can get to their target market who will hopefully find these areas interesting and make them want to see the film.

Which method do you believe is most successful?
However I believe the most succesful way to promote a film is through word of mouth because it can be spread across a wide range of people without any cost.` It is normally a product of other methods of promotion-for example someone will see a film trailer and tell their friends and family that they saw a film trailer and they want to see the film, this method is most effective when the film has come out because once people have seen the film they are likely to tell people about it via social networking and through face to face conversations-these will hopefully be positive reviews because if they are bad reviews there is likely to be a much smaller volume of people going to The Cinema to see the film.

Film marketing strategies include:

-Viral videos
-Publicity stunt
-Publicity blitz
-Press junket

Viral videos are videos such as behind the scenes videos or teasers that are uploaded on to social networking video sites such as youtube or perhaps instagram, they are a great way of raising awareness because people can share videos on other popular social networking sites such as twitter and facebook which acts as a double method of promotion meaning it reaches a huge population, these methods tend to be used for highly anticipated films to build excitement and awareness for the film.

Publicity stunts are when someone perhaps from the film goes out in public to do something that goes against the social norm to draw attention to the film, such as a flash mob. These are good because they catch the attention of everyone in the area at the time which means that it will lead to a lot of word-of-mouth promotion-these would be likely to be filmed which means they can also be viral videos meaning that it is a very effective way of promoting the film.

A Publicity blitz, this is promoting the film so much that the public can't miss the numerous promotions coming from the film, the film marketers will advertise on the sides of buses, billboards, use numerous teaser trailers and place ads on the internet and in the newspapers, they will try to get the image and film name anywhere they can in order to promote the film. This is a good way of promoting a film because if it is heavily marketed, the public will become increasingly interested in the film and will draw more people to come to see the film.

A Press Junket is a way of getting favourable interest from the public via the press meaning that there will be a more positive interest for the film so the public are more likely to be interested in seeing the film, they are attended by a publicist, Publicists are public relations professionals who represent celebrities rather than companies, they ensure that there is nothing but positivity coming from the interviews, these press interviews are normally attended by one of the main characters in a film with the film's logo in the background.

Key learning points 
In this post I looked at how films are marketed and which are the most effective and convincing methods of promoting a film to its potential audience, this will be useful when I come to creating a magazine front cover and poster because I can look at what makes a film poster and magazine cover persuade the potential audience to go to see the film. I have also been able to gain knowledge on the various different methods of marketing a film and the technical terms for these methods.

Research in to Film distribution

Film distribution.
  
Here is a flow chart explaining the process of film distribution.
 

       
Film distribution is everyhing that happens between the idea and the release of the film.This task has enabled me to identify how a film is made from the idea to the release, I found that there are more features in the film distribution process than what I imagined.


The flowchart above shows a basic outline of how films are distributed, here is a more in depth process;

1. The idea
This phase is quite self explanitory, someone has an idea for a film, writes a script and perhaps some drawings-which they hope will be good enough to gain interest and finance.

2. Outline/promote interest
Here the person with the idea will begin to go in to more detail about the film and try to gain interest from studios/investors who they hope will be able to finance and help produce the film.

3. Studio/investor buys rights to film
This is the part where the idea can begin to be made in to a film, the idea is pitched to a potential investor and if they think it is a good idea that will be a successful film they will turn the idea in to a reality.

4. People brought together to create the film.
This is where everything is gathered that is necessary to make the film; props, scenery, cast, producers, director, camera crew, sound crew etc they are the ingredients needed to create the film, so it can go in to the next phase of distribution.

5. Film is completed for production
Once the it has all been filmed, it is time for it to be sent off to be structured and edited in to a film

6. Studio makes licensing agreement with distrubution company 
An agreement to sell and show the film is made between the studio and the distribution company so the film can begin the marketing phase.

7. Decision on how many films to make.
The level of demand would need to be taken in to account so that they aren't making too many or too little.

8. Film distribution company shows film to prospective buyers
Film is shown to theatre and cinema companies who may be interested in showing the film, they will be able to see if the film will attract people to their cinema and will be a large factor of how successful the film will be.

9. Buyers negotiate with distribution company lease terms
An agreement of how long the film will be available to buyers.

10. Prints sent to cinemas
Cinemas get the prints 3 days before the release of the film.

11. Film is shown in cinemas
The public goes to see the cinema, here reviews will come out and the public will begin to judge the film.

12. Lease agreement is paid
Cinema sends back prints and the agreement on the lease is paid to the distribution company. 


Key learning points

This task has been useful in enabling me to have an understanding of how films are distributed, so I was able to be aware of all the processes that a film maker must go through before the film can be available in cinemas 

Film trailer analysis

Here is my analysis' of 3 film trailers that I chose.

 

Preliminary editing exercise

Introduction

Greetings,

My name is Griff, I'm an A level Media Studies student at The Fallibroome Academy, for my coursework this year I will be creating a trailer video and promotional package. This coursework will include a magazine cover for the film, a film poster and the trailer of the film.