1. Film Poster Analysis

2. What to consider when creating a film poster:
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Intended audience (age, gender, sub-culture & personality type)
Representation: Considering the image or portrayal of groups in society
Effect and effectiveness: Distributors will employ a battery of market
research techniques to measure the audience and market response
Positive quotes: A convention is to use quotes from national
newspapers with the same or similar demographic or from respected
critics
The film star: technical codes of photography would refer to aspects
such as distance, focus, cropping, digital manipulation, use of lighting
The title: note position, size, colour and font
Colour saturation: colours which connote different things depending on
context
Costume, props and iconography: Help the audience to establish setting
and genre
Certificate: a requirement of the British board of film classification
( BBFC), indicating that the film with include moderate violence and
swearing

3. Movie Poster Measurements
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Movie posters come in different sizes and styles depending on the country. The most
common are listed below.
United States
One sheet, 27 inches by 40 inches (686x1020mm), portrait format
One sheet, 27 inches by 41 inches (686x1040mm), portrait format (this size is one inch
longer than the modern One sheet)
Insert, size 14 inches by 36 inches (356x914mm), portrait format
Window Card, 14 inches by 22 inches (356x559mm), portrait format; typically has blank
space at top to accommodate promotional text for local theatre
Two sheet, 41 inches by 54 inches (1040x1370mm), either landscape format or portrait
format
Twenty four sheet, 246 inches by 108 inches (6250x2740mm), landscape format often
called a billboard
United Kingdom
Quad, size 30 inches by 40 inches (762x1020mm), landscape format
Double crown, size 20 inches by 30 inches (508x762mm), portrait format
One-sheet, size 27 inches by 40 inches (686x1020mm), portrait format
Three sheet, size 40 inches by 81 inches (1020x2060mm), portrait format

4. Lone Poster schedule
Monday 13th January:
Planning and research: Finding
different film posters which
follows the same genre of
Drama/thriller and deciding
location
Tuesday 14th January:
Using the Canon EOS 600D
Body go to the location, take
pictures for the first draft.
Wednesday 15th January:
Continue taking more pictures
at different
perspectives/angles shots and
different locations
Thursday 16th January:
Draw and design, scan onto
blog and update
Friday 17th January:
Begin editing for first draft and
finish on the 24th on January
latest 27th

5. The rating and critics are
key conventions used
commonly in film posters to
advertise the positive
aspects of the film.
Moreover there used to
initiate an interest for the
audience which will elevate
the media platform of the
movie and increase the
significance of the film due
to the popularity. The
contrast between the black
and white makes the critic
stand out; capturing the
audiences attention.
Drama/ Thriller
The company logo is a typical
convention used in order to advertise
the funded company . This is used as a
way of promoting the company which
allows helps the promotion of the film.
The white contrasts against the red and black, therefore this
makes the white font stand out. In addition the big front
captures the audience attention immediately, as a result the
short and catchy name is remunerable. ‘Kevin’ is purposely
bigger than ‘we need to talk about’ to present the character to
the audience. The big font could also connote Kevin as a
character; powerful and dominate.
Image:
The close-up shot of the actress
Tilda Swinton emphasises the
dramatic and suspenseful emotion
on her face. The dramatic image
proves to the audience that the
character may suffer or is suffering
and this is reinforced by the
lighting and camera angle. Red is a
very emotionally intense colour.
Red is the colour of fire and blood,
so it is associated with energy,
danger, strength, power, therefore
all these aspects could relate to the
representation of the character
and film. The poster is landscape
rather than portrait in order to
convey the close-up shot of the
characters emotions. Here she
stares vacantly out of frame, her
eyes bulging slightly, her mouth
half-open. Even without the rather
heavy-handed bathing of the
picture in dark-room red, it is an
image of horror and disbelief, of an
inability to come to terms with
something, and that strange,
unrecognisable shape floating
beside or behind her face adds to
the ominous mood.

6. Text
The critics are written in a
small font and with key
words highlighted in a larger,
bolder font. This is because
people will only remember
key words as opposed to
whole sentences on a quick
glance. The critics are also
written in a significantly
smaller font than the main
title of the film. Who gave
the ratings are written in a
smaller font as the poster is
made to be memorable and
its isn't highly important as
to who gave them. On closer
inspection later, people may
be interested as to which
institutions and magazines
have the reviews. However,
the main point that to be
remember are the title,
anchorage, the image and
the meaning created.
In the credit block we are given information
of the director of the film, the cast, its
certificate, people involved in the film and
its distributors. We are also shown the
Cannes Film Festival Award sign just above
the credit block. The is also an official
website for the film as a part of the
Artificial Eye company who distributed the
film. The website is highlighted in red, as is
all the other main information, in order to
stand out. Artificial eye are known to
distribute foreign-language and arts houses
films. Which shows they are trying to
appeal to a niche market with different
plots to usual mainstream, commercial
films with big budgets.
A key image n the poster is
of Tilda Swinton who plays
Kevin's mother in the film.
She is known for playing the
wicked Ice queen in ‘The
Lion, the witch and the
Wardrobe’ which creates a
clear contract to the
vulnerable and nervous
representation of the
mother. She is not central in
the poster and she is also
extremely isolated with
nothing surrounding her.
Her face implies an image of
horror and disbelief. This
image suggests as though
she is troubled and deep in
thought, as if she has just
come to terms with
something or just discovered
something which adds to the
ominous mood. This implies
that she is lonely, unstable
character with trouble in her
life or that may feel alone.

7. Both portrait film posters on ‘We need to talk about Kevin’
follow the same conventions as the original poster. It similarly
uses two to three colours for the colour scheme. In addition the
image focuses mainly on the protagonist of the film, either Ezra
Miller or Tilda Swinton, which reinforces the idea of a
Drama/Thriller movie. This is shown through the close-up shots
which convey the characters emotions, along with grasping the
audience attention by using the direct eye contact. The first
shot, the camera which directly stares towards the audience in a
sinister and portentous, but much more straightforward,
fashion. Moreover this film poster used the similar conventions
to the previous (original) poster .
The second poster below focuses the white and red colour. The
red font used for ‘Kevin’ could suggest the representation of the
character. The red connotes evil/bad, fire and blood, so it is
associated with energy, danger, strength, power. The simple
split image gives the audience an idea of the contrast in
character. The image of Tilda Swinton which uses a white
background, suggesting good contrasts against the image below
of Ezra Miller, which uses a dark background, suggest bad. This
particularly helps to create the feeling of loneliness and the fact
that people in the film are left to question what is wrong with
Kevin. Although the second poster is much simpler than the first
it still powerfully portrays the representation of its character.

8. Posters to consider
All of the poster from above from the
Drama/Thriller genre are quite simplistic
however they all give a bold statement. They all
use 2 to 3 colours which represent the theme of
the story. Moreover the close up shot of the
protagonist and the colour connotes the
rawness and intensity of the film/character.
Close up shots are common conventions used in
a Drama/Thriller film.