Poster Terminology

One Third of A2's practical is the production of a film poster to promote that of my production 'Writers Block'. But before I even consider making a poster, I must first familiarise myself with the elements which in themselves make said poster;

For example, here we have the poster for Marvel's 'Avengers Assemble' (For which you can find an in depth analysis implementing the very conventions you'll learn below on this blog).

But where would you start with this?

Previous credits:

One of several film poster conventions used as a form of guarantee and as a means of prompting audience expectations.

Positive quote:

Another movie poster convention is to use quotes from national newspapers with the same or similar demographic or from respected critics. Failing that,

anyone who says something positive about the film can be quoted. References to aspects of the film not referenced in the poster can offer more detailed information about plot or character or style e.g. balancing the hardness of a thriller’s title and dominant images in the poster with reference to love or humour?

The film’s star:

You ought to be alert to the techniques used - technical codes of photography would refer to aspects such as distance (close-up, long shot, and so on), angle, focus, cropping, digital manipulation, use of lighting, and so on; in moving images you may wish refer to editing, mise-en-scène or use of camera. Discuss font style and layout.

The title:

Note position, size, colour and font. As well as demanding recognition, the font may suggest other connotations.

Colour saturation:

Red has connotations of passion, anger, danger, love – other dominant colours blue, yellow, green etc connote different things depending on context – cold, calm, cowardice, sunshine, nature, jealousy…

Certification:

A requirement of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) indicating that the film will include moderate violence and swearing. What might an 18 or 12A suggest about content?

Costume, props, iconography:

Further help to establish setting and genre.

Gothic horror you’re after? Look for fangs, bats, crucifixes, rats, coffins, black cloaks,

fog, dark nights, the moon, and a Victorian or earlier setting…

Credits:

Another convention of the film poster – what do they tell us about the film?

And for more depth...

Connotation/ Denotation:

Words, sounds and visual images have denotative or literal meanings. A dictionary

definition of ‘rose’ is likely to describe it as a flower, with a thorned stem, having a

variety of colours and emitting a pleasant scent.

In our culture, however, the rose has a large number of associated meanings, the

majority of which connect with ideas of romance: ‘My love is like a red, red rose’. Be

prepared to explore these associations or connotations as they are

likely to yield a good deal of insight into the preferred reading of your film poster

and magazine cover.

Anchorage:

A picture is worth a thousand words, so the cliché goes. But rarely do pictures appear without some text, (whether spoken or written), which serves to establish or anchor

an interpretation. In a newspaper, sub editors will apply headlines or captions to a

photograph; in a documentary, a voiceover may serve a similar function. To highlight for yourself the importance of anchorage, try looking at pictures you’re thinking of using for your poster or magazine cover with, and without, accompanying text, or with Different text.

Tone and register:

What tone is being adopted? Remember that in human communication roughly 70% of the message is through non-verbal communication, 23% is tone and a mere 7% is through the words used. Is the tone humorous, solemn, laddish, coy, sentimental, or

what? Register refers to the vocabulary, style and grammar used by speakers and writers according to a certain situation. There are thus degrees of formality: bloke, man, guy, gentleman, geezer, dude, blud or ma, mam, mum, mummy, mother, mater.

Intertextual references:

Note any visual or verbal references to other media in the text.

Target audience:

From what you can glean from the ideas already listed, who in particular do you think

was the intended audience for your particular text? Your answer may refer to age, gender, socioeconomic status, region or nationality, sub-culture or even personality type. If you are examining a poster, you ought to consider the context – such as genre & classification – for an indication of target audience.

Representation:

Consider the image or portrayal of groups in society. Posters, by dint of limitations

of space, time and the need to make an impact, tend to trade in simplifications.

Be prepared to discuss representations of, gender, class, nationality, sexual orientation,

youth and age (the elderly, for example, are often depicted negatively, if at all). Close cousins of this are the concepts ideology and values, which refer to ideas about the way the world is and ought to be. At their most effective, ideologies assume the status of commonsense, natural explanations of the world. Part of your job is to identify any social assumptions contained in the texts you are analysing.

Effect and effectiveness:

To what extent does the poster achieve its purpose? Distributors will employ a battery of market research techniques to measure the audience and market response – from sales figures, surveys and focus group gatherings. Film producers are likely to mount test screenings to test audience reaction. What is your own response to your poster?