Poster Analysis

Atonement

When Briony Tallis, 13 years old and an aspiring writer, sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner at the fountain in front of the family estate she misinterprets what is happening thus setting into motion a series of misunderstandings and a childish pique that will have lasting repercussions for all of them. Robbie is the son of a family servant toward whom the family has always been kind. They paid for his time at Cambridge and now he plans on going to medical school. After the fountain incident, Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia and concludes that Robbie is a deviant. When her cousin Lola is raped, she tells the police that it was Robbie she saw committing the deed.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, War

Certificate: 15

Distributor: Universal Pictures 

P.S. I Love You

This film is about a couple who have to face cancer, death and regaining life after losing a loved one. Holly and Gerry are a couple who love each other more than anything. The film starts at Gerry's funeral where holly is grieving and remembering her memories of her husband. Throughout the film, Holly receives a number of letters written by gerry before he died. These letters make Holly angry at first, making her think that Gerry isn't letting her move on. However, she ends up recovering better as a result of his loving and sweet gesture. Gerry helps holly move on with her life, by making her do activities and relive memories, which provide the film with upsetting, tearful and hysterical scenes.  

Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance

Certificate: 12a

Distributor: Warner Bros

 

SALT

Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent and highly respected by all, including her boss, Ted Winter. Out of the blue, a Russian spy walks into their offices and offers a vital piece of information: the President of Russia will be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to New York City to attend the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. Vice President. The name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt. Concerned about the safety of her husband, who she cannot contact, she goes on the run. Winter refuses to accept that she is a mole or a double agent but her actions begin to raise doubts. Just who is Evelyn Salt and what is she planning?

Genre: Mystery, Action, Crime, Thriller

Certificate: 15

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Avatar 

When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-fi

Certificate: 12a

Distributor: 20th Century Fox

The Box

Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world, someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-fi, Thriller

Certificate: 12a

Distributor: Warner Bros Pictures

Genre Research

Genre research

The basic genres of film can be regarded as drama, in the feature film and most cartoons, and documentary. Most dramatic feature films, especially from Hollywood fall fairly comfortably into one of a long list of film genres such as the Western, war film, horror film, romantic comedy film, musical, crime film, and many others. Many of these genres have a number of sub-genres, for example by setting or subject, or a distinctive national style, for example in the Indian Bollywood musical.

Our chosen genre is Drama. A drama is often used to evoke emotion; it is often a story line that people can relate too. It represents real life but is normally exaggerated and taps on the heartstrings of the audience.

The green mile is about a man who has been convicted of a murder he didn’t commit and how he is to face the death sentence, for that crime. He remains calm and makes friends during his time in prison and at the end of the film you feel real empathy for the character and hate for the officers within the prison.

There are several sub genres of a drama genre these are:

·       Biography

·       Courtroom

·       Dramedy

·       Historical

·       Melodrama

·       Period piece

·       Political

·       Romance

·       Tragedy

Conventions of a drama genre

Portrays a journey of the film. Includes inner and outer realistic struggles and the audience can relate to the characters. There is normally a form is realisation at the end which is often happy. Other films do break these conventions where by the end is tragic for the protagonists and the antagonist lives or gets away free – an example of a film that does this is Titanic by director James Cameron.

The representation of criminals in films

The representation of criminals in films

There are different types of criminals and they are all represented in different ways in the film industry. For example...

Gangsters

These are mostly associated with the 1920's and were most famous in films, such as, The Godfather. Although their crimes were extreme and often ended in a gun fight, to an extend, their lifestyles are usually presented as being glamorous, as they have masses amounts of money. Or they see it as a normal job to be the breadwinner in a normal family home. Obviously, to the audience, organised crime is not normal. Therefore, despite the fact that they're criminals, the audience often finds these characters likeable.

Gangsters can clearly be distinguished by their suits and the fact that they carry guns. This shows them to be rich, but they have money because of their violent lifestyle.

As well as the use of props, gangsters have stereotypical dialogue. Their accent tends to be ________ and they all use similar expressions and slang terms so that the audience can distinguish what type of person they are.

Thugs

These types of criminals can occur in any type of film, as the audience will see their petty crimes as normality and so they wouldn't be out of place in any modern day storyline. Subsequently, this is the type of person we're going to present Destiny as in our film.

An example of a movie which contains these types of criminals would be Attack The Block, they are often young and have had something in their life happen to turn them to this way of life.

 

'Secret Agents' 

 

These usually occur in action films, such as James Bond or superhero films and are clearly made out to be the bad character of the film. The antagonist tends to have a 'head quarters' and an army of followers to defeat the good side.

They are presented by their big lavish lifestyle's and the fact that they have so much control over what happens to people in the film. (eg, who lives and who dies.) More often than not, they end up in a fight with the protagonist.

They usually have something signature that they can be recognised by. For instance:

 

Austin Powers baddie - Dr Evil

James Bond baddie - Jaws

 

Batman - Joker

 

Even though our film isn't some kind or far fetch sci-fi/adventure film, our character could have a signature hoodie, for example, so that the audience knows when she is preparing to commit a crime.

 

Mass Murderers

 

Although our character isn't going as far as to kill someone, all criminals attempt to keep their identity secret. They usually do this with masks, if in horror films, such as:

 

Halloween - Michael Myers

 

Friday 13th - James Voorhees

 

The 'Thug'

To make it as obvious as possible in our film that Destiny is a criminal, we're going to follow the stereotypes of a 'thug', so that it is explicit to our audience. For example:

Costume

In almost all films they have a hood and are wearing dark clothing. This is so they can hide their faces to avoid getting caught, which makes them a mysterious type of character. 

Make-up

Drug use seems to be paired with crime, in a lot of cases, where this type of character is used and so they are often made up to look very weak, pale and tired.

Props

 

If you're going to be a criminal then you're probably going to need to protect yourself. Therefore, in films, thugs usually have a weapon on their person; whether that be a gun or a pocket knife.

Setting

For some reason, in movies, these types of criminals are always stereotypes to hang around in parks at night, when meeting people, etc. Their homes are always run down and messy and are often small properties in not very nice areas.

My Film Poster

My Film Poster

In the end I decided to make a film poster a lot like the one advertising Perfect Sisters.

I am very happy with the outcome of my research and design ideas, however Photoshop, having not used it before, was very difficult to get used to. By the end though, I had developed enough skills to be able to design an effective film poster which I believe would successfully portray the content and genre of our film, as well as make them want to watch it.

Film Poster Analysis

Film Poster Analysis

 

I looked at the posters of films that I had already detected as similar, as they include the topic of cancer. Such as...

 

The poster, like most, shows the two protagonists in the story. Furthermore, the position in which they have been photographed also represents their relationship in the film, as they have their faces very close, as though they are about to kiss, which suggests to the audience that these are lovers.

I also noticed a similarity of their position to the yin and yang symbol and so researched its meaning. The definition which I found was when two opposite forces compliment each other. Having watched the film, I can see why the creator of this poster could have photographed the characters like this, as she still has cancer and he, to begin with, has overcome it.

What I find as equally striking as the photographs on this poster is the font. It can be clearly seen by the handwriting-like, almost childish font, that this film is for teenagers.

What I could take and use from this poster is a similar font, as my film has an almost identical audience and it has made me think more about how I could photograph our character, as well as who.

 

Although a very simple poster, it does have a lot of things that I can take from it. For example, the fact that his friend is positioned just over his shoulder watching him suggests he will play a supportive roll in the cancer process. In a similar way, the protagonists positions in the foreground could be taken by the audience that in the film, he won't let anything stop him and the fact that he is shaving his hair shows he will face the cancer head on.

What I love about this poster is the slogan and it has got me into thinking if I could have a memorable quote to sell our film. The reason why '50/50' has this, as well as other selling points, such as name of actors and directors, is because, unlike TFIOS, which will sell well because of the popularity of the book, the creators of this film need to take a different angle to sell their movie. Likewise, names of the people involved in making the film is something I will include on mine.

The font is pretty plane, but I am more concerned over the background colour. White, connotes his innocence, showing he has doesn't anything wrong to deserve cancer. It also proposes that in the film,

he will have to spend time in hospital. In my film idea there is a scene in the hospital and so I could include the colour white on my design too.

 

The film probably most similar to ours is My Sister Keeper, as it includes the topic of cancer AND sisters. Therefore, I deeply analysed this poster.

Again, the protagonists are all present in the poster, but for some reason have been separated. The mother and daughter at the top are presented as very close, although they argue a lot, however I think there is a very effective, deep seated meaning behind this. The fact that the ill girl asks her sister to go to court against the procedure which would save her life but drastically change her siblings, is shown by her being underneath them on the poster. I believe this shows her support for her sister to fulfill her normal life as the fact that she wants her to live a normal and happy live. Although this is a very hard decision to make, her facial expression shows her to be happy about this decision.

A character in my film also makes a sacrifice, but doesn't mind doing it due to sisterly love. Therefore, I am undecided whether to have her happy because of lifesaving drugs she buys her sister or go with the 'nitty gritty' drama genre conventions and have the poster dark and depressing.

The background, floating title and bubbles make the poster look almost dream like, despite the fact that a character present will die. I think, perhaps because my film involves crime and isn't as light hearted, I could even go as far to make our film poster look like a nightmare. The way in which we could do this is by using the similar effect on this poster, like blending images into each other and also by using dark colours.

I also tried to look into films that, despite not including cancer, had sisters as the protagonists.

 

What is also similar about this film to mine is the fact that it is also a thrilling drama AND it is aimed at teenage girls. Perfect Sisters wasn't a huge hit, being shown in limited cinemas and only a few countries decided to release it on DVD, however it helps immensely to create a film poster.

What I love about the poster is that you can only see half of the girls faces. This connotes the double lives they have to leave since killing their mother: murderers and orphans. This could be a device I used on my poster, as Destiny is having to lead the life of a criminal, in order to be a good sister.

The fact that the sisters mirror each other and have been made to look very similar is not something I will be doing on my poster, as I'd like to achieve the effect that the sisters couldn't be any more different, yet still love each other. Therefore, one the actresses has long, straight blonde hair, the other's curly and brown. There is also different in height and facial features, which, thankfully, adds to the

differentiating of the sisters beliefs and views.

On of the words in the title of the poster is red, as their is death involves, the fact that the death in our film is through illness and not murder, I will try to avoid connoting this to the audience. What connotation I could present with the colour, however, is that red could represent the dangerous lifestyle Destiny has chosen to peruse in the film, even though it is to save her sister life.



Filming Day 2

Location:  Hospital room

Characters:
Destiny

Appearance:  blond, tall, thin, around 17 years old

Personality Traits: determined, keeps to herself

Role in Narrative: the main character. She is shown from the beginning to commit crimes, such as stealing, drug dealing, indication into prostitution, violence. from her actions, the audience are made to feel anger and dis-like of this character. however, in the ending scene the audiences are provided with an explanation to Rosie's actions, to be able to afford her sick sisters treatment. Though Rosie's criminal behaviour is still bad, the audience are made to feel sorry for the two sisters and that Rosie has to commit crime to be able to afford the money to help her sister.

Hope

Appearance: curly brown hair, average hight, pale complexion due to illness

Personality traits: caring, appreciative, sympathetic

Role in Narrative: Hope is Rosie's ill sister. She is first introduced partially in the photo's shown in Rosie's bedroom in the title sequence. It is in the ending scene, when Rosie's intentions are made apparent, we are introduced to this character properly. She is shown to be extremely ill and hospitalised. Her illness is made obvious by her drip, appearance and hospital equipment surrounding her. 

Props: Hospital equipment (eg, drips, syringes, hospital gowns)

Equipment: camera, tripod

Scene: Destiny will arrive at the hospital to see Hope and the two will converse normally until Hope explains that her treatment has been paid for and that she knows it was Destiny who donated the money.

Filming Day 1

Location:  Benches outside Barnsley College

Character: Destiny

Appearance:  blond, tall, thin, around 17 years old

Personality Traits: determined, keeps to herself

Role in Narrative: the main character. She is shown from the beginning to commit crimes, such as stealing, drug dealing, indication into prostitution, violence. from her actions, the audience are made to feel anger and dis-like of this character. however, in the ending scene the audiences are provided with an explanation to Rosie's actions, to be able to afford her sick sisters treatment. Though Rosie's criminal behaviour is still bad, the audience are made to feel sorry for the two sisters and that Rosie has to commit crime to be able to afford the money to help her sister.

Props: Handbag

Equipment: camera, tripod

Scene: Destiny will notice and steal a woman's handbag form a bench, run away before anyone notices and hide in an alley and inspect what inside it she can sell.

Questionnaire Results and Analysis

Audience research was useful as we were able to establish their needs and expectations from our film.

We can see here that there is a split opinion between those who would and wouldn't recommend our film. Once the final product is created they may change their opinion as it is difficult to gage what the final appearance will be like.

It is clear that the majority of people dislike the tragic ending to our film. Due to the nature of the Drama genre, we feel that the ending it suitably fitting and won't be changing the ending.

 

The majority of respondents liked the sister relationship within the film. The theme of family is something I think audiences can relate to.

Participants of our study agreed that the genre of our film was Drama. This could be clarified for some respondents through the nature of the plotline.

We also found that our suggested target audience is the same as hat identified by the survey participants.

Difficult shots

Difficult Shots

Before we could start filming, we decided that to get the best level of cinematography, we should practice our difficult shots first.

The scenes which we thought would cause problems are those that contain focus pulls. Such as, when Destiny steals a handbag.

To practice the shot which we plan to pull from the handbag to Destiny, we just stood a couple of people around two metres apart and played about with the focus until we perfected the technique.

New Storyboards

Location Photos

Locations

The Hospital Room

We will use the facilities in Barnsley College that simulate a hospital ward. In this we plan to use one of the realistic hospital beds (minus the dummy in the bed) in the scene involving the two sisters on Destiny's visit to Hope in hospital. 

The parts of this location we will be using will not only include the hospital bed and the bed's surroundings, but also outside the room in the corridor. It will be the location that finalises our film. this will be where Destiny is shown to collapse crying on the floor after seeing her sister. This scene will be one of the more emotional and important parts of our project, and therefore we will have to take extra care and effort when filming this. 

The Location for Handbag Scene

For most of the scenes portraying Destiny's criminal behaviour, we will require public areas. These public areas however must not be busy places where members of the public could get alarmed by the actions involved in our project. This is not only to protect members of the public, but also our actors and crew members who could be harmed by witnesses who mis-understand our intentions. 

This particular area that we shall be using is the area situated outside Barnsley college. We have chosen this location due to its limited public activity along with it's easy accessibility to each member involved in this project.

Filming Diary

Filming Diary Google Doc

Potential Distributors of our Film

Warp Films

Warp films produce controversial topic films for example Four Lions. Our topic of Cancer will fit into their gritty hard hitting genre of films that attracts a niche audience.

They produce independent techniques and use similar editing software to us known as final cut. 

Both FluffySkirt productions and Warp are independent companies which could work together to produce a film that doesn't follow their usual type of adult films if they were to be willing to branch out into different audiences other than their niche target audience. 

Their rites of passage films such as Made In England tie in with our themes of children having to mature quickly and become adults. Warp could offer us an audience who are willing to watch independently made films who have different expectations to a high budgeted mainstream film which may be more effective in advertising and promoting the film. 

Survey Questionnaire

Film Questionnaire

Above is the link for the online research we conducted for our target audience. We have then analysed these results to try and improve our storyline 

Risk Assessment

Props and Costume

We will need hospital scrubs to represent the nurse in the scene where we see the ill sister. We have sourced some of these as a parent of the production team works in a hospital. We can also get a drip. 

We also need to give several connotations that the main character is a prostitute. We will attempt to imply what she is doing without having to show graphic scenes in order to keep the age rating of the film appropriate.