TASK 19 //
FILM POSTER ANALYSIS
The title on Fish Tank’s film poster is placed towards the left of the screen, while also being in the middle of the height of the poster. It is placed on a point of interest when considering the rule of thirds, as it lies on the bottom line of the thirds. The colour of the title allows it to be seen immediately, as it sticks out from the rest of the text on the poster. The blue font compliments the streaks of pink within the background, which can be linked to youth as they are both bright and colourful. The font itself is basic and bold. This type of typography suggests struggle and conflict, as it can represent a hostile atmosphere. The title itself takes up a large amount of space on the poster and is a lot larger than anything else on the poster, which has been done in order to sway the attention to the title alone. Once the audience has identified the title, they are able to view anything else they would like on the poster. Fish Tank’s title on the poster is two words long, which starts at the left side of the poster and finishes when it reaches the girl in the poster. The words ‘Fish Tank’ makes the audience ponder on why it is called this and what relation it has to the film. The reason for the title to be ‘Fish Tank’ is due to a reference made within the film. The title can link to the image of the girl pushed up to a window, while looking up, portraying her to be a fish stuck in a tank.
The poster also features an extract from a film review from various critics and reporters, such as The Guardian, ELLE and Total Film. These reviews have been displayed at the top of the poster and use a similar colour scheme to the title, as this is also a very important part to the poster, as the reviews allow the audience to decide whether they want to go and watch the film. If the film has been reviewed by a critic or organisation which the viewer is particularly fond of and it receives a good review, the viewer will feel inclined to watch it and will trust the verdict of the critic. To highlight all the positive things said about the production by critics, they have increased the size of certain words, such as “powerful” and “best British film.” A star rating system has also been displayed on the poster for similar reasons. These stars have also been shown at the bottom of the poster, with three extra ratings. Furthermore, there have been award logos presented on the poster in the top right corner which are dark blue. This is done to show how prestigious awards have been given to the director of this film. The dark blue has been used, as it also shows the importance of these awards and stands out from the rest of the images and text on the screen.
The image which the poster is made from is of a young, teenage girl looking outside a window. The picture allows the audience to see the rundown, murky walls which the character is sitting in front of. This is conveyed through the ripped wallpaper, variation of colours and the writing all on the wall. The colours change from beige, pink and slightly yellow. This lack of cleanliness can instantly convey the message of a rundown council estate where the movie could potentially be set. The drawn, pink heart displayed at the bottom of the poster gives the idea to the audience that there is a theme of romance within the film. It can also represent childishness. The hooped earrings and low-cut top can also suggest a person living in low-income households, as it follows the stereotypes of a gypsy/traveller. This is also portrayed through her eye makeup and jewellery dangling around her neck. The character that has been photographed is sat in the bottom right corner of the poster, while the text is displayed around her.
The institutional information on the poster is displayed directly below the little phrase of the film. The information goes unnoticeable, as the text size is very small and cannot be read easily. The audience for this poster is most likely going to overlook this information, as they would not find it important. The information itself only takes up the same amount of space as the title itself, however the information is columns of text and the title is only two words long. The unimportance to the viewer is signified when it is visible that the entirety of the text is the same colour and font, showing them that it is something which the poster creator would not want them to particularly take interest in. This is done to not draw attention from the main components of the poster. However, the names of the director and actors of the film have been presented in a larger font with bold, capitalised text, which denotes importance.
The title of Juno is seen to appear on the right of the screen, where it is beside the two main characters standing beside each other. It is placed beside Juno’s baby bump on her stomach, which easily allows the audience to identify the film is primarily based upon the pregnancy of a teenage girl. When applying the rule of thirds on the poster, the title is appearing on a particular point of interest. The colour of the title is green and features a black underlay. The bright lime colour could signify the ‘baby colours’. The green contrasts from the orange and white background and this colourful scheme is purposefully used in order to show the chaos caused by the arrival of the baby. The black underlay is used to push the title out from the background and allows the title to stand out. It is important for the title to stand out from the whole poster, as the promoters would want the audience of this poster to remember the name of the film and when it is being released. The font of the title is varied in size slightly and features the tilted letters. This has been chosen to be the font of the title on the poster as it can signify handwritten words which a child may have written. The colour in the actual text itself also varies, as there are patches of slight discolouration. This connotes the child who has written these letters has also coloured them in, which is a typical activity which a child may take part in. It connotes innocence and youth, which also allows the audience to recognise that the movie is based upon children. The word ‘Juno’ takes up a large portion of the screen in comparison to anything else on the poster, other than the two characters stood beside each other. The title has purposefully been positioned beside them, as they will automatically attract attention, as they are the largest thing on the poster. Once the audience has seen the image, they will direct their attention to the title immediately after. The reason behind the title being ‘Juno’ is because this is the name of the main character’s name.
The film poster also features a review extract in the top right corner. The extract is in the style of a quote from a review given by Roger Ebert, who works for the Chicago Sun-Times. The quote covers a large amount of the top half of the poster. This is done as reviews can often be the breaking point of where a viewer goes to watch a film or not. As the Sun-Times are an international outlet, they are proud of this critics review and would like the audience to see that there are viewers already which have enjoyed their experience of watching this full feature film. The jet black text sticks out from the bright-coloured background and is placed in the top right corner of the poster. The size of the text is very large and takes up more space on the poster than the title itself. This is unconventional for a film poster, as it is often the title which is the largest text appeared on the poster.
The image featured within the poster is of Juno and her accomplice in the film, Paulie Bleeker. From the image overlapping the orange and white stripes, the audience is able to see how this film is focused on teenage pregnancies. This is because of the visibility of Juno’s large stomach, which is placed beside the title of the film. These two characters are shown, as they dominate the majority of the plot within the film and play vital roles within the film. The image is positioned on the entire left side of the poster, covering the whole length of the poster, up until the middle of the poster in terms of width. Juno is seen wearing a striped orange and white t-shirt, which is identical to the background of the poster. This shows how she plays a dominating part in the film. Also seen in the image, her best friend, Paulie, is seen wearing sports clothing. It is the conventional wear for an American gym class, which allows the audience to identify that this film is set in America.
The institutional information for this film is played at the bottom of the poster. The font is unreadable from afar, as it is very small compared to other aspects of the poster. This is done purposefully as the creators do not want the attention to be on this specific information, but however to be on the title. As the colour is similar to the background, it blends in with the stripes and goes unnoticed.
The release date displayed on the poster is also placed at the bottom of the poster. The colour of the text is black, which allows it to stand out from the institutional information, as this is a crucial piece of information which the creators of the poster must send across to the audience so they are able to watch the film. The size of the text is also a lot larger than the institutional information for similar reasons.
The title for the film ‘Adulthood’ is displayed in the centre of the film poster. It appears on top of all of the characters within the poster and overlays the yellow sky. When applying the rule of thirds to the poster, it lies directly on the line which suggests various points of interests. The text of the title is black, bold and is capitalised throughout. The jet black colour allows the audience to focus their attention on this text immediately, as it is the only text not displayed in white. This colour change signifies importance of the word and the audience easily conveys that this is the title of the film. The title has one letter which is not capitalised and this is done to show dysfunctionality in their lives and how things seem to be all over the place in their lives which are shown throughout the film. The film title covers a large portion of the entire area of the poster, and covers almost the entire width space of the poster. The title itself is only one word, however covers more space than the institutional information and the release date. The word ‘Adulthood’ itself is used as the title of the film, as it is a reference to what the film explores and the hardships of growing up from children to adults.
The poster features certain quotes from reviews which have been given from organisations, such as The Mirror and Touch. This critical acclaim has been displayed at the top of the poster and covers almost half of the poster. The text of the review extracts are white, bold and capitalised, similar to the title. Particular words, such as ‘Fearless’ and ‘Phenomenal’ have been emphasised by a larger size than other parts of the review. The reviews also feature a star-rating beside each quote to add confidence to the audience’s thought of whether they should go watch the film.
The background of the poster is an image which has been taken. The image is of the eight main characters which the film is based upon, where the protagonist is seen stood at the front with his head tilted up and his hood on. He is seen in the forefront of the poster, which allows the audience to also identify him as the main character. Also seen in the image, we can see a skyline of buildings, along with a sunset visible. This skyline suggests this film is set on an urban environment, particularly located in the city. We can also see a balcony which the group are standing close to, which suggests how they are fearless and are ruling the city by being ‘at the top’. The sunset being shown can convey how these characters are usually roaming the streets at night and can be very intimidating. The characters are positioned towards the bottom half of the poster, which allows the text of the review extracts and title to be displayed above. All the characters are seen to be wearing cheap, non-branded clothing, which typically is associated with people of a lower class and people in gangs. The visibility of the bat in front of the characters represents a sense of violence, aggression and gang culture within the film.
The institutional information for the film is displayed at the bottom of the poster. The information’s text is small and also white, which allows the audience’s attention to be focused on something other than this information. Beneath this information are logos of companies and productions that have been involved in the process of making this film. This information may be useful for audiences because they can use it to identify if they have viewed any of the company’s previous work. If they enjoyed their previous films, it could influence them to view this feature film.
The release date of the film is also displayed at the bottom of the poster. The text of this date is larger than the billing block, is in bold, capitalised letters and attracts attention. This is done because the main purpose of a poster is to allow the audience to know the presence of this upcoming film, the name of the film and when it is being released.
The title for the film Boyhood is placed in the centre of the poster in a white, large font. The typography is displayed as handwritten, connoted through the variation in size and shape. It is displayed as the title has been written with white chalk on a blackboard, which instantly brings upon the thought of school. The use of unnecessary and grammatically incorrect capital letters can show that this title has been written from the perspective of a child, which represents a lack of knowledge and innocence. The title takes up a width’s space of the poster, when it is only one word long. The title ‘Boyhood’ is a play on words, used to illustrate the life of a growing little boy and the problems he faces in his life. The word is similar to childhood, but the title makes it clear that this film is particularly based on the boy’s life whilst growing up.
The poster features a review extract, displayed at the top. This review is a quote from a critic’s professional review column on a well-known blog. The review is also displayed in white, bold and capitalised text. The simplicity of the text connotes how simple life may be in the child’s life. The size of the review is the same size of the title itself. This quote has been emphasised through its size, as this can create incentive for the audience to go and view this production.
The image of the little boy has been used to help identify what the film is through the poster. The boy is seen lying on grass, whilst looking up at the sky with his hand reached out. He is positioned towards the bottom of the poster, looking upwards at the title of the film. This photo has been used to show his innocence, as he is entertained by the smaller things in life, such as looking up at the sky. It shows his problem-free life is going to be displayed throughout the film. The use of grass is to connote that this film may be set in places such as parks and gardens, as this is the conventional place you would expect to find a child spending their spare time. The green also allows the white text to stand out.
As this is a coming of age feature film, there is the likelihood that particular, well-known actors have been used to allow the audience to identify with these people. This may attract an audience which follows the work of a particular actor, as their fans may be dedicated enough to watch the movie just because they have been a part of the production. The names of these actors have been displayed above the title in a smaller font. As it is displayed near the title, it highlights the importance of these names.
The institutional information for this production is displayed at the bottom of the poster. This is the only text which is displayed at the bottom, signifying its insignificance. The text is layered above the boy’s t-shirt, which is easily looked over as it blends in to the similar colour shades of the shirt. The text has followed the conventional route of having small font with the similar colour scheme of the title’s font.
I also thought it was important to analyse a film poster which is for a short film. The title for the film poster of ‘Slap’ is seen in a hot pink colour on the bottom half of the poster. The pink represents femininity and a softer side to the protagonist we see in the poster. As the production focuses on the struggles of a gay boy coming to terms with who he is, this fits well and can allow the audience to understand that this may be the problem faced throughout the film. The title is written in a style which can be seen as painted words. The varied streaks in the title represent how the character within the film is struggling to overcome the problem he faces throughout the short production. The title of the film is displayed in a larger font than any other text and takes up more space than the other texts. Although the title is one word long, it still manages to cover a large majority of the poster. The word ‘Slap’ is used as the title of the film, as it captures the aggression and violence of the boy’s life as a boxer which he is portrayed as in the poster, as well as his slightly feminine side.
The poster features three awards which the film has won at the top of the poster. The awards include Official Selection from the AFI Festival, Best Short Film from Edinburgh’s International Film Festival and Official Selection from the Palm Springs International Short Festival. The size of the text is considerably smaller than the title and is in white. The white stands out from the background of posters. These awards have been displayed on the poster to show how previous viewers of this production have enjoyed it and it is prestigious enough to win in such competitive categories. This is the equivalent to film reviews which are seen on a feature film’s poster.
The image shown in the poster is of a teenage boy in his boxing attire. He is visibly wearing boxing gloves, a sweaty sleeveless top and has his hair tied up. The connotations of the top and gloves contrast significantly to the bun in his hair, as they both represent something completely different. The boxing equipment signifies strength and power, meanwhile the bun can suggest femininity and a softer side to the boxer. The teenage boy is positioned in the middle of the poster and is the main focus. The background is of posters, which display his boxing aspirations.
The institutional information of the film is shown at the bottom of the poster. The text of the information is in white and is significantly smaller than the title, which it is placed next to. The information is displayed in a smaller text at the bottom, which is similar to a feature film’s poster, as it is also insignificant information for most viewers of films. However, the largest difference is that there is a line of the information shown at the top of the poster. ‘The national film and television school presents’ is seen right at the top of the poster. This line is larger than the information at the bottom of the poster, which connotes that this is more important.
It is also worth noting that there are no actor’s names displayed on the poster of the film. This is because short films often have actors which are not known and are only just entering the film industry. Therefore, if the names of these actors were displayed, no one in the audience of the poster would identify who it is and is less likely to have seen a production they have already been a part of.