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.