Analysis of genre specific film

posters
Poster Research Pt. 2

Ethan Scott
THE HENLEY COLLEGE A2 MEDIA PORTFOLIO
The film poster for the 1992 psycho-erotic thriller: Single White Female, is a manifestation of the films central theme: A female stalker (Hedy, played by Jennifer Leigh) who
obsesses to become and destroy a single white female living in New York (Allie Jones played by Bridget Fonda) who is looking for a roommate. The films poster is very striking by
immediately evoking its theme through the mise-en-scene of the poster. The door is symbolic to show that Hedy is the enemy on the other side of the door as she is more in the
darkness. Eye-level angle of close-up main images along with heavily clad shadows, makes for a very menacing and fearful poster. heightened by the mystery frightful expression on
Bridget Fondas face. Allie on the other-hand has more
The main actors in the film are displayed at the
light on her face, which makes her essentially on the
very top in white capital letters to stand out from the
good side of the door. The idea that the enemy is much
dark edging.
closer than you think is a sinister theme associated with
thrillers and the film studio has made it clear what the In film trailers, posters and other promotions, taglines
genre of the film is and have given an indication as to are used within them all to emphasise a point about a
what is going to happen in the film. film as well as hint to what will happen in the film for
audiences. Taglines aim to be memorable for
Here the Levi Strauss theory; about the binary
audiences, so that when they think of the tagline, they
opposites e.g. good v.s evil applies here to this film. The
think of the film:
whole point of his theory is that opposite characters drive
the narrative forwards and make the film more engaging Allies new roommate
for the audience.
Is about to borrow
The film title situates in the lower quartile of the page A few things
and slightly out of the centre of the poster to resemble
the random style of logs on the property section of a Without asking
newspaper, emphasised by the rip out section and the Her clothes
font of the film title. This is a convention of a film title is
that it is meant to be adhesive: This is done by giving the Her boyfriend
viewer clues aesthetics within the title that incline on
Her life.
the plot of the film. This feature causes the poster to
stand out from any other film posters that may be around It indicates it is going to be scary than any other
it. The slogan underneath the film title Living with a recent film that involves killing.
roommate can be murder is for the audience to
Billing-block that contains the name of the
understand the theme of the plot by connotation the
director, producers, actors, soundtrack, Production
roommate search section of a newspaper. This is to let
Company, screenplay, and much more, as well as the
the image, do the talking. The title is meant to be
rating, the information on posters is very small, so
simultaneous with the main image almost as a clue to the
attention is not diverting from the image and other
typography of the film title is in a sans serif, capitalised
parts of the poster.
red font; communicating the formality of a newspaper.
Pale white complexion, warm reds and oranges blood, enveloped in darkness communicates negative emotions and occurrences. The heavy shadows of black conveys Intimidation,
unfriendliness, evilness and death. White depicts uniformity and caution whilst the blue in her eyes (and on the small print) shows mystery and deceit. The use of colours and
connotations on a film poster is very important.
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 psychological thriller that follows the story of Evan Treborn (Aston Kutcher) suffers from memory blackouts where he finds he can travel back in
time to inhabit his former self and to change the present by changing his past behaviours. Having been the victim of several childhood traumas he attempts to set things right for himself
and his friends. I chose to analyse this film poster because The Butterfly Effect incorporates the gothic motif of pain and the supernatural with romance.
The film title is situated at the centre of the poster,
The side profile shot of Amy Smart depicts her as
in front of the wide canvas main images. It is red to
resemble the blood of the head rush, Evan (Aston being minor character whose very existence represents
Kutcher) gets when he travels back in time an initial some major idea. The colour of the mans eye as well
preface to the film; but the red is also used for vibrancy portrays a supernatural outcome of the film as the
to stand out against the bleak colouration of the actual other characters eyes appear normal and they are
poster a similar cold colour scheme to the Matrix. looking away from his, this could also convey how she
is unaware of whatever power or skill he has.
Fixated around the film title are the slogans
The main actors in the film are displayed at the
Change one thing. And Change everything. This is
about the power of changing something in the past and very top of the poster: The protagonist to the left and
how that can completely change the circumstances of the symbolic character to the right. The font is kept
the future. This theme of time travel for the audience simple and the actors names are in capitals to signify
brings about an idealistic solution to reverse any the importance of them, it is a different font and colour
mistakes or traumas of the past. altogether compared to the title.

The dark edging around the sides of the poster follows

Richard Dyers theory of Utopian Solutions is
the colour palette of most thriller films as well
the idea that audiences want media products that offer
them 'utopian solutions' to their problems. This is and this makes the billing block more visible as the text
where the audience use films to escape their everyday is in a light turquoise colour.
lives and get some unrealistic closure. This psychological
thriller is a good example of how film producers do this,
Billing-block that contains the name of the
as most films of this genre are entertaining as they director, producers, actors, soundtrack, Production
make the audience think about the events taking place. Company, screenplay, and much more, as well as the
rating, the information on posters is very small, so
The two main images take up the entire attention is not diverting from the image and other
background of the film poster with the extreme close- parts of the poster. This is especially notable because
up of Ashton Kutchers face being the dominant image unlike most billing blocks situated at the bottom of the
to communicate that he is the protagonist. The poster, it is situated around the poster.
discoloured red eye further communicates the power
he possesses in the apple of his eye to return to the
past to fix his life and his love interests (to the left).

The overall colour palette is made up of blue/turquoise, white and black, the splashes of colour in the actors eye is a cold colour scheme and evokes a serious and mystical
nature. The marine blue is deep, along with the heavy blacks communicates the unknown, grief and the supernatural that is depicted in the film. The open and blank white spaces
within the poster describes the silence, solitude and seriousness of the main character Evan Treborn.
Twilight is a 2008 American Fantasy film that focuses on the complicated and passionate relationship between a human; Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and a vampire Edward Cullen
(Robert Pattinson) who fall in love and become infatuated with each other. I chose to analyse this film poster because the love story is essentially gothic literature just played out on
screen. Gothic literature delves into the macabre nature of humanity in its quest to fill humankinds intrinsic desire to plumb the depths of terror, Bella Swan the female protagonist is
complying to this aspect by falling in love with a vampire, channelling displacements about what it means to be a human being and gendered.
The film title is in the bottom right hand corner of Billing-block containing the name of the director,
the poster and contains a glistening silver tone which producers, actors, soundtrack, Production Company,
adds to the realm of coldness established within the screenplay etc. is not visible. The only mention of any
persona of the film. institutional context of the movies production is that
SUMMIT Entertainment has created it.
Fixated around the film title are the slogans When
you can live forever. What do you live for? for those The images used for this film poster is a close-up of the
who have read the novel (from which the film has two main characters, Bella and Edward. This shot is used to
been adapted), they can immediately recognise the express emotion reflected through the facial expressions
meaning behind it, which triggers excitement and and the mood represented through body language and
anticipation. As for those unaware of the story, they character positioning. The expression on Bellas face is one
are left in suspense after reading the tag-line. In both of content; she looks as if she is deep in thought and at
cases, the taglines hint at the films plot. peace with her surroundings.

Serif font has been used for the text of the poster as We can see her hand gently touching Edwardss chest
almost as if she is touching the place where his heart would
it is sophisticated and formal which ties in with the
be, suggesting that these two characters are emotionally
traditional gothic genre. The colour used for the font
connected. She seems to fit neatly underneath him,
of the tagline is white, allowing it to stand out against
enforcing this idea of a missing jigsaw piece that has finally
the black background and to match the tonal scheme
been found and placed where it belongs. This of course
of monochrome colours.
reflects the narrative of the story; up until they met one
Audience gratification has been used within the film another, they lived their lives feeling as if something was
poster, as the mise-en-scene of the characters missing. Edward has been placed above Bella at a canted
promise to provide a love story. Attention is gained angle, which gives the impression that there is
through the contrast of a darkened background and something extraordinary about him. Bella sits underneath
the chalky whiteness of the characters skin. As well him appearing vulnerable, as Edward towers over her
through components such as camera, where we see protectively yet lovingly. Edwards use of low-key lighting
Edward strategically placed in the corner at a canted highlights his perfect bone structure and angular features.
angle. This catches the attention of audiences because The golden glow of his eyes, stained aubergine lips and the
it is an unusual composition, indicating the obscurity harshness of the lighting make him appear inhuman, but
of this genre. not evil.
The black background symbolises night-time as it creates a dark, mysterious and alluring atmosphere. The colours suggest a calming, tranquil peace and conventionally reflects the
gothic genre, with the contrast of the black background and pale white complexions of the characters skin. Within the poster, we have a pop of colour within the tones of Bellas hair; the
texture is soft and appears touchable, making the character look delicate and beautiful. The tones of her lips are tinted red, which can symbolise the love between her and Edward as well
as representing life and humanity in comparison. The uses of tones subtly inform audiences that this film follows the dark journey of a love story between a human girl and a vampire.
Blue is the Warmest Colour is a 2013 Drama/Romance about a French teen (Adle Exarchopoulos) who forms a deep emotional and sexual connection with an older art
student (La Seydoux) she met in a lesbian bar. I chose to make this film (poster) apart of my research because it focuses on youth culture (young love) and heavily on the idea of a
same sex relationship. The film brings a 21st perspective on modern day sexuality and romance. The film title is the biggest piece of text on the poster as it makes for the focal point.
The purpose of the font choice could be to suggest that the writing is smudgeable.

The side-profile main images, on either side of the film title anticipate something comes between them in their relationship while also highlighting some narratives of the film by
which the characters have an intense love affair, only to separate at the end. Furthermore, the colours of the image are largely diluted with the inclusion of the vibrant blue of Emma's
hair. This shows the importance of the colour, as in the film, when Adele first sees Emma and throughout the positive parts of their relationship, her hair is blue. As troubles and
conflicts arise, Emma's hair is a natural blonde-haired person, illustrating that to Adele; blue is a warm and passionate colour.
'Blue is the Warmest Colour' was awarded a shared
As this is an independent
film with the actors, writers Palme dOr to the director and both leading
and director being largely actors, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux. This
unknown - especially to a award is extremely prestigious which suggests why is
British audience - the size of has been placed in the upper middle section of the
their names is considerably poster as to be clearly visible to viewers. The fact
smaller. that 'BITWC' has won this award may make people
want to watch the film as it has been well received
At the bottom of the poster, in comparison to many other that do not have this.
the various types of social
Numerous reviews and star ratings have been
media supporting the included on this poster to give the film prestige and
film are displayed. The ones importance. This highlights the importance of
that have been stated here reviews for independent films, as they cannot just
include Facebook and rely on the names of actors and directors to bring
Twitter as well as a website. attention to their film, as they may be largely
This gives an insight into the unknown
demographic of the film's
target audience as the Short, snappy words are also used with the purpose
majority of people who use of having an impact while being quick and easy to
these social media platforms read -, if a passer-by were to see the poster, they
are young adults. This fits would not have to fully stop to read the reviews. The
with the film's age certificate star rating system is extremely effective as there are
- 18 in the UK. no language barriers as this idea is universal.
Hyperbole is used in one of the reviews that has been included on the poster as it states "Blazingly emotional and explosively sexy." The use of exaggeratory language here is used
in order to make viewers of the poster have an instantaneous view of what they think the film will be like. It also gives the impression that no other film compares to this one; 'Blue is the
Warmest Colour' is the most "emotional" and "sexy" film out there. The billing block is situated at the bottom of the poster in grey. The reason this colour is used is to not
distract people from the image and title. From this, it is evident that the film was released under the Canal + Group - fitting as 'Blue is the Warmest Colour' is both independent and
French. Underneath, it also states the film is an 'Artificial Eye Release'. This hints further to the fact that the film has independent values as Artificial Eye specialises in those. The names
of the two leading actresses are in a medium sized font at the top of the poster. They are also placed beside the character they correlate to. This links to the fact that
characters/actresses have the most screen time in the trailer and are evidently the main characters.
* GENERAL POSTER RESEARCH (previous analysis) *
BASIC CRITERIA
Reflection
From the research conducted from the general film poster analysis, these conventions are necessary to produce a professional film poster:

The film title is placed either in the middle/ in bottom of the film poster
All the film posters follow some sort of colour scheme/theme
All main images are placed within the middle of the cover
All of them have slogans in either at the top of bottom of the page
The billing block is at the bottom of the poster

Reflection
This a reflection of the genre specific analysis the final research for the film posters.
I have gone for films that have love interests within them but have gothic motifs entwined.
Due to them being of the same genre they all share something in common:
They have the side profiles of 2 faces
They are all situated in either all darkness or all light
Film title either in the middle or the centre of the poster
These are the main features that signify love
SINGLE WHITE FEMALE
The romance in this film is between Allie Jones (Bridget Fonda) and her husband. However, the twist on the film is that the other love is from Hedy who obsesses
over Allie (pseudo romance) in the hopes of becoming her. This makes for a lesbian relationship a gothic motif as it goes against what God intended. What I
like the most about the poster is that its film title is conducive to the films premise. This feature of the posters title is worth considering for my own.
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
Richard Dyers theory of Utopian Solutions is a precinct to the films poster. The colour scheme is very unnatural; along with the unconventional use of the billing
block. However, I do appreciate the unconventional use of the billing block as it adds to the mystery of the film. Unfortunately, the poster hasnt got any
correlation with the films title and would not be of much value to me as it does not depict real romance. The billing block feature is worth considering for my
own.
TWILIGHT
Out of all the posters Twilights is the most gothic and arguably shows the most love, especially young love. What I really enjoy about the poster is that
everything is harmonised, from the colours to the characters and the main images to the small amount of text and the film title. Particularly, I like the simplicity
of the poster, it really does give love a platform to just be without any crazy amounts of text (billing block and film title). The least amount of text
feature is a great way for the image to do the talking, evoking more intimacy with the audience. The youth identity is also key as love is new at that
age.
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR
This is the only film poster to be landscape and in my opinion is more hefty in terms of communicating the genre and theme of the film to the audience, as there
is more room to put on there. Its use of the French language is also key because it is considered as one of the languages of love. This along with its use of social
media promotions and reviews has prompted me to make this an important feature in the film trailer and poster. Once again there are two people in the poster
a feature that has ruled all these posters. Both variants of layouts for the film posters (portrait and landscape) work well. And have even given me the
idea to produce two posters; as part of the marketing for the film along with social media. A glimpse of a love language would also benefit the film.
Film development

Although Romantic, the film is also gothic and must be fair to both sides of the coin. I will do this just by Taking the prominent feature of all the
films and developing it to adhere to the genre. All film poster have two people in them. Therefore, I would like to reduce that to 1. Gothic
literature is very big on solitude and refinement. Only having one character in the film means that it would be a monologue, but because its
romantic it would not be any evil or harsh words but about the rough with the smooth benefits of love.

These are the features so far for the film poster: (NOTE: could possibly change after trailer analysis)

1. The film title is placed either in the middle/ in bottom of the film poster
2. All the film posters follow some sort of colour scheme/theme
3. All main images are placed within the middle of the cover
4. All of them have slogans in either at the top of bottom of the page
5. The billing block is at the bottom of the poster
6. Film title is conducive to the films premise
7. The least amount of text feature is a great way for the image to do the talking
8. Unconventional use of the billing block (gothic)
9. Both variants of layouts for the film posters (portrait and landscape)
10. Youth, is also key as love is new at that age.
11. Social media.
12. A glimpse of a love language would also benefit the film.