1. I am going to look at different film posters for
films that are classed as different film genres to
give me an idea of what my film poster could
look like. I am going to look at the similarities
and the differences of the film posters and
hopefully use and challenge these forms and
conventions when I create the film poster for
my ancillary task.

2. To the right is the 2013 film, Identity Thief film poster. As you can
see, there is a large close up image of the main actor in the film on
the left, Jason Bateman and one of the main actress, Melissa
McCarthy on the right. Having these two images show the audience
who the main actor/actress is within the film and this then relates
back to the target audience and genre because Jason Bateman and
Melissa McCarthy are typically associated with films of the comedy
genre. The title of the film splits the two images up and stands out
using a bold font in white and yellow, this is done simply to inform
people of the name of the film.
The masthead of the poster says ‘FROM THE DIRECTOR OF
HORRIBLE BOSSES AND THE PRODUCER OF TED’ which
stands out again, keeping with the colour scheme in white and
yellow, matching the colours of the title of the film. The 2011
film, Horrible Bosses and the 2012 film, Ted are both comedy films
which backs up the idea of what genre this film is and what the
audience can expect having scene a film directed and produced by
this director and producer already. At the bottom of the film poster, it
reads ‘SHE’S HAVING THE TIME OF HIS LIFE’ which is the tagline
of the film hinting again at what the film is actually about. It links to
both the title of the film and the context of the film. The play on
words is humorous again touching on the comedy genre of the film.

3. The image above shows the bottom of the Identity Thief film poster, the fine print includes all of the
information about the making of the film. It includes the production name, the actors and actresses names,
who the music is by, who the music supervisor is, who the costume designer is, who the film was edited by,
who the production designer is, who the director of photography is, who the executive producers are, who
the film is produced by, who the film is written by, who dealt with the screenplay and who directed the film.
This gives credit to those that helped create the film and get it to the point it’s at now, hitting cinema
screens. As well as this, it tells people watching the film who is involved in the film which could impact their
decision to watch the film. If they have watched a film directed by the director of Identity Thief and really
enjoyed it then they may be persuaded to watch Identity Thief as it is directed by the same director, this is
the same case with the producer and even more so, the main actors and actresses in films.
It says ‘FEBRUARY 8’ in yellow writing which stands out below the white fine print. This informs people of
the release date of the film and when they can expect to be able to watch it. Below the date, is the Identity
Thief film website, identitythiefmovie.com where you can watch the official trailer, images, the story and it
also informs you that the film is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now, therefore the website is used as a
promotional page.
At the very bottom of the poster, there is the logo of Universal Pictures as they are the distributor of the
film. There are then other logos such as the Dolby Digital logo and the restricted logo which states the age
classification of the film. This informs people wanting to watch the film of the age they should be in order to
watch it in a cinema, the age also hints at what the content of the film will be because if the age is quite
high then sexual content and strong language are more likely to be involved.

4. To the right is the 2004 film, The Notebook film poster. There is a large
image which is used as a background for the poster, there is the main
actor, Ryan Gosling and the main actress Rachel McAdams. Having this
image as the focal point of the film poster shows the audience who the
main actor/actress is in the film. The pose that the two characters are
in, the female holding the male’s face in a passionate embrace in the
rain, further links to the genre of the film. The passion between the
characters suggests to the audience that the film is a romance without
reading anything on the poster or finding out what the film is about.
The masthead of the poster says ‘behind every great love is a great
story’ which further hints at what the film is about and in this case, it
suggests the film is about a great love story involving the two characters
pictured on the poster. This gives the audience an idea of the genre of
the film and the narrative of the film, allowing them to decide whether or
not it would be a film that interests them and one that they would want to
watch.
Just below the middle of the poster, three quarters of the way
down, there are seven names in a black font with a white outline, making
the names stand out. It doesn’t clearly state who these people
are, however Ryan Gosling is the main actor and Rachel McAdams is
the main actress in the film, therefore suggesting the other names are
the names of other main actors and actresses in the film.
There is then the title of the film which is in a much larger and bolder
font, showing the audience the name of the film they are looking at.

5. The image above shows the bottom of The Notebook’s film poster. It says ‘from the best selling novel’ in a
larger font with ‘by Nicholas Sparks’ underneath. Having the ‘best selling novel’ on the poster encourages
people to go and see the film because it shows the story has already been a success in the form of a book.
Below this, the fine print includes all of the information about the making of the film. It includes the
production name, the actors and actresses names, who the music is by, who the music supervisor is, who
the costume designer is, who the film was edited by, who the production designer is, who the director of
photography is, who the executive producers are, who the film is produced by, who the film is written
by, who dealt with the screenplay and who directed the film. As well as this, it tells people watching the film
who is involved in the film which could impact their decision to watch the film. If they have watched a film
directed by the director of The Notebook and really enjoyed it then they may be persuaded to watch The
Notebook as it is directed by the same director, this is the same case with the producer and even more
so, the main actors and actresses in films.
At the very bottom of the poster, there are a number of very small logos, including the logo of New Line
Cinema as they are the distributor of the film. It has a ‘PG-13’ certification on the bottom because it has
‘some sexuality’ in the film, suggesting the audience that the film is aimed at due to the context. It says
‘THIS SUMMER’ in blue writing which stands out below the black fine print. This informs people when the
film is set to be released and when they can expect to watch it. There is The Notebook website, mentioned
in the fine print where you can watch the official trailer, images, the story and it also informs you that the
film is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now, therefore the website is used as a promotional page.

6. To the right is the 2010 film, Black Swan film poster. As you can
see, there is a large close up image of the main actress in the
film, Natalie Portman although she is quite unrecognisable with the
swan make up on. She has a pale face with red eyes and red lips
which suggests some form of evil being in the film, relating back to
the title ‘Black Swan’. In line with Natalie Portman’s chin on the left it
says ‘Opening Night Selection Venice 2010 International Film
Festival and on the right ‘Official Selection Toronto 2010 International
Film Festival which suggests the film has already had quite a lot of
response from the public and especially at film festivals. This may
encourage people to watch the film because they can see the film is
already doing well and enjoyed by people.
Below this it then says ‘Academy Award Nominee’ in a smaller font
above Natalie Portman’s name in a larger font. Academy Award
Nominee is included to show people that Natalie Portman has
already been nominated for an award for her
performance, encouraging them to think the film is worth watching if
it has already been involved in certain awards. There is then two
other names next to Natalie Portman’s, Vincent Cassel and Mila
Kunis, both are a main actor and actress in the film. This gives the
audience an idea of who is going to be in the film and if their
favourite actor/actress is a main role in the film then they could be
encouraged to watch it.
Under the names it says ‘Black Swan’ in a larger, bolder black font
which makes it stand out and capture the audience’s
attention, showing them what the name of the film actually is.

7. The image above shows the bottom of the Black Swan film poster. It says ‘A film by Darren Aronofsky the
director of The Wrestler and Requiem For A Dream’. This informs the audience about who directed the film
and of other films that the director has directed, this is done because if people have seen one of the films
the director has directed and enjoyed it, then they may be encouraged to watch Black Swan because the
same director has directed it.
Below this, the fine print includes all of the information about the making of the film. It includes the
production name, the actors and actresses names, who the music is by, who the music supervisor is, who
the costume designer is, who the film was edited by, who the production designer is, who the director of
photography is, who the executive producers are, who the film is produced by, who the film is written
by, who dealt with the screenplay and who directed the film. As well as this, it tells people watching the film
who is involved in the film which could impact their decision to watch the film.
Underneath the fine print, there are a number of different logos of institutions that have been involved in
the film for example Dolby Digital and Fox Searchlight Pictures, the company that distributed the film.
There is also a restricted logo on the bottom of the poster, this shows that the content isn’t suitable for
younger viewers. It says ‘THIS FALL’ below the fine print which informs the audience when they can
expect to watch the film because it is going to be released in the fall. There is then the Black Swan website
underneath this where you can the official trailer, stories, images, the story and it also informs you that the
film is out on DVD and Blu-Ray now, therefore the website is used as a promotional page.

8. To the right is the 2004 film, Saw film poster. This film poster is very
clinical and supports the horror genre of the film well, the top of the
poster’s background looks like white tiles which begins to fade out
into a plain white background. The pain background is simplistic and
makes everything else on the poster stand out even more, the
clinical tiled background suggests this may be a part of the film, the
tiled background may be a room that is part of the main scene of the
film and is an important part of the film.
There is a pale hand at the top of the page which has darker red
patches on it, suggesting blood and again linking to the horror genre
of the film. The hand on the white tiles which connotes a dystopian
atmosphere and hints at what might happen in the film, this may be a
still picture from a scene in the film.
Below the hand and just below the half way point of the poster is the
title of the film ‘Saw’, the title is written in a bold black font which has
a red outline, there is also a couple of marked lines around the title of
the film which is also black with a red outline. The bold black font
makes the title stand out from afar and from the white tiled
background of the poster, the red outline again suggests blood and
the almost highlighted, glowing red line around the A and the W looks
as though the blood has smudged slightly.

9. The image above shows the bottom of the Saw film poster. The bottom of the poster is again very
simplistic, a white background with black font. There are no taglines which almost keeps the film a mystery
and doesn’t give anything away, encouraging people to watch the trailer to find out more about the film and
find out what it’s actually about. The fine print includes all of the information about the making of the film. It
includes the production name, the actors and actresses names, who the music is by, who the music
supervisor is, who the costume designer is, who the film was edited by, who the production designer
is, who the director of photography is, who the executive producers are, who the film is produced by, who
the film is written by, who dealt with the screenplay and who directed the film.
Underneath the fine print is the Saw movie website which takes you to photos, videos, articles and
information about the actors/actresses in the films, there is also the Deaplaneta website which is a Spanish
website that deals with home entertainment such as DVD and Blu-Ray.
Below the website links, there are a number of logos of institutions that have been a part of the film and are
closely linked to it, for example the distributor’s logo, Lionsgate and the studio’s logo, Twisted Pictures.
These logos give credit to those involved with the film and also advertise them, having their logos on a film
poster.

10. I am now going to look at the similarities between the film posters to make myself aware of
the forms and conventions of film posters, giving me an idea of what I could include on my
poster for my ancillary task. Below are the similarities that I noticed:
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All of the posters had an image on their posters
All of the posters had the film’s website link at the bottom of the poster
None of the posters had the title of the film at the top of the poster
They all had the fine print at the bottom of the page
They all had logo’s of the institutions that were involved with the film
The images used on the Identity Thief, The Notebook and the Black Swan’s film posters
were close up images

11. I am now going to look at the differences between the film posters to make myself aware of how
film posters are different and this could give me some ideas of what to include on my poster that a
few have or haven’t put on theirs. Below are the differences I noticed:
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The Saw film poster was the only one that didn’t have a release date or season on the poster
The Saw film didn’t have a picture of the main actor/actress of the film as the image on the
poster
The Notebook and Identity Thief had taglines on the poster but the other two didn’t
The Black Swan film poster had evidence of awards on the poster (including Academy Award
Nominee Natalie Portman)
The Saw poster didn’t have the film classification on it
The Notebook gave credit to the story already being successful in the form of a book

12. After looking at the similarities and differences of the film posters, I have made myself aware of the
forms and conventions of film posters. This has allowed me to get an idea of what sort of things I
could include on my film poster and what forms and conventions of film posters I could challenge in
order to make mine stand out.
I have decided to keep the film’s website at the bottom of the poster along with the fine print, this is
what I found almost all of the film posters did and therefore I want to use this form and convention
of film posters because I think that if I were to challenge it and put the fine print at the top of the
poster, it would detract from the rest of the poster, drawing the audience’s eye to the fine print
rather than the image and the title of the film. I am also going to have the logos of the institutions
involved, for example the distributor at the bottom of the poster. The image I am going to use is
going to be a mid-close up shot of the victim in the film, I found that most of the film posters had a
close up shot on their film poster, so I am going to still keep the shot in a close up shot, however
include more of the character, changing it to a mid-close up shot.
I am going to have the release date of the film at the top of the page, this is to challenge the forms
and conventions of film posters because they tend to be at the bottom of the film posters. I am also
going to include a tagline on my poster, to add anticipation and hint at the content of the film, it will
hopefully be a tagline that my target audience remember and therefore become almost attached to
the film. I am going to have the classification of the film on the poster to show people who the
audience is and whether or not they are old enough to watch the film, this links to media effects
debates and moral panic because I will need to be sure to have the classification on the poster and
the CORRECT classification to avoid this.

14. The film posters on the previous page are more examples of horror film posters, I have
chosen to add these in to look more at horror film posters, the genre my film trailer is going to
be.
I found that a lot of horror film posters tend not to have the ‘villain’ on the film poster, instead
something that links to the film, for example for The Cabin in the Woods poster, there is a
picture of the cabin and for The Human Centipede, there is a blurred image of the human
centipede behind some sort of glass or door. Therefore, I am going to use this and not have
the villain clearly pictured on my film poster, instead I am going to try and put them on the
film poster but so that you don’t release it is there until it is pointed out to you, this is a clever
way of gripping the audience and adding anticipation. An example of where this is done
would be the Mama film poster shown in the bottom right hand corner. There is the image of
a young girl holding onto a dark figure, at a glance it appears to something like a tree, piece
of furniture or a wall, it isn’t until you look closely that you release it is actually the figure of
the villain that the girl is clinging on to. I want to try and do something like this with my film
poster because I believe it works well and makes people say ‘WOW’
when finally see what the figure is.
Horror film posters tend to be either a dark background or a very light
background (white), they don’t tend to be in the middle or have bright
colourful colours on them, this is going to be a form and convention I
am going to use, keeping my film poster dark to support the horror
genre of the film and keep the poster quite mysterious. The setting for
our film trailer is going to be mostly night time, therefore we will be
shooting more in the dark and why I would choose to have a dark
background for my film poster.