Film Poster Research - Carla

Sadly the snow has prevented us from reaching college to finish editing however I have been doing some research into Film Posters.

What is a Film Poster?

'A film poster (more often called a movie poster in the United States and most English-speaking countries) is a poster used to 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. Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. Prior to the 1990s, illustrations instead of photos were far more common. The text on film posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include a tag line, the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, etc.' (source wikipedia)

Film posters are used to try and attract the target audience of the film that is being distributed. They are very important to gain public interest to the product, even in this technological day, and are used everywhere from tube/train stations to the back's of buses. They have to catch the eye of people very quickly, and attract them into seeing the film. The visual elements on a movie poster can convey powerful messages. The best posters make people anticipate an upcoming release.

So what makes a great movie poster? 

A few tips I picked up were from this website here. The main factors being:

1. It has to get your attention and jump out at you.
2. It needs to be iconic - but without giving away too much.
3. It needs to make the film look interesting and make you want to watch it.
4. It needs to have appeal to everyone so you can expand your target audience.
5. The style of the poster needs to keep with the film otherwise the audience may not get what they expected.
6. It needs to have a classic look that won't age and continue to look good.

Important components to include in a Film Poster:

In a film poster there needs to most importantly, be an image or more to give the audience an idea of what the plot is about. It can be hand drawn or taken photographically. The title of the film needs to be clear. Also it's important for the A list celebrities to be named in a big font to attract their fans, it's equally important to name the main cast including the Director and Production team. There needs to be a few reviews from the media to show its credibility. It needs to clearly show the date it's coming out. There is also normally a tag-line or phrase from the film to try and catch peoples attention and make them curious to see the film. A film certificate is also vital to show what the certified target audience has to be above. Finally the production company is on the front to show the audience who it has been made with.

Film Poster Inspiration 

For myself I like a film poster that doesn't give too much away but attracts me immediately and makes me want to see it. At the moment one of my favourite film posters has to be the Dark Knight Rises film poster.

A very effective film poster

The Dark Knight Rises film poster screams action. The burning buildings behind Batman have been well edited and creates an astounding image, with Batman in the heart of the image looking very dominant and determined. I like this poster because it is very ambiguous and doesn't tell us too much about the plot.

Ideas for our Film Poster

I like this shot of the back of a Motorcycle

Idea 1 - For our film poster I quite like having the idea of having something very ambiguous such as the picture of the back of James motorcycle with him on it only showing his bottom half of his body, on top of the South Downs with the view in the background. This would create a sense of curiosity with a bit of knowledge that the motorbike would be part of the journey possibly to deliver the package.

A focus pull image I found online of the Triangulation pillar.

Idea 2 - Another idea would be to possibly have photo of Harrison and James in his full motorcycle leathers at the triangulation pillar on the top of the South Downs as its where the handover takes place. This would be a great opportunity to get a good photo with great surroundings. It would also look very empty and bare which I like the idea of because it creates a very minimalist photo which can target a much wider audience.

A shot of the pillar on Ditchling Beacon