media

1. Film posters Terminology and features

2. Billing:
By having two well-known actors playing the lead
roles people are more likely to be attracted to the
film, People are likely to have heard of them and
may be more willing to watch the film because of
their success in the film industry.
Title:
White stands out against dark background, the
words ‘the’ and ‘of’ are smaller because they are
less significant connecting words.
Release Date:
Informs the audience and generates
anticipation and hype for the release. Its
position is centered, clear and easy to read for
the target audience.
Secondary Images
Main Image:
The closeness of the protagonists
in the foreground of the poster is
a convention of a romance film.
As the plot focuses around these
two characters and their
developing relationship.
Credits Block/Company logo
Crediting the Director, producers,
screen writers and distributors.
• James Marsh
• Working Title
• Eric Fellner
• And that it was Based on ‘Travelling
to Infinity: My Life with
Stephen’
Positive Quote
The expert quote describes the film as
“heartbreaking” which could connote
drama in the film. The quote describes the
film as “heartbreaking” which is another
convention of drama films, they are
designed to move the audience
emotionally.
The Tagline: “The incredible story of
Jane and Stephen Hawking” is also likely to
attract an audience because the film
focuses on one of the most well-known
people in history.
These secondary images give the poster
depth and informs the audience as the
image at the bottom allows the audience to
get a glimpse of the setting: London/
Cambridge University. Where Stephen
studied, this will appeal to an English
audience as they are familiar with the
location therefore it is possibly relatable.

3. AnalysisThe theory of everything is a 2014 biographical romantic Drama, based on the compelling true events of Stephen Hawking's life.
Produced by Working Title Films the British production had plenty of financial backing, with a budget of $15,000.
• The film tells the story of how Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) fell in love with his wife Jane Hawking (Felicity Jones) and his journey
through his ALS diagnosis.
• The film uses the actors as the USP (Unique Selling Point). As Eddie Redmayne is a well known actor and has won many film awards
including an Oscar and ACCA award. As well as this the female lead (Flecitiy Jones) has also won many awards including an
Empire Award.
• Due to the more dramatic and romantic plotline, the intended audience for the film is likely to be adult women. However it could
also appeal to couples due to the empowering love story of the struggle they both faced despite Stephens disability the young
couple stayed together because of the true love they felt for one another.. Also this film may attract a family audience as despite
Stephens disability he manages to have a normal family and cope with the usual and relatable family struggles of day to day life.
Although the audience empathise with the main characters they do not pity them, but instead admire because of the
empowering narrative.
• One alternative reading of the poster could be that it romanticises disability, this could cause offense to disabled people which harms the marketing message because people
are deterred from watching the film.
• The main objects used on the poster are Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) and Jane (Felicity Jones) and they are represented photographically in full focus to portray their
importance in the film. They are shown with Stephen holding Jane’s face, this intimacy between the characters connotes romance during the film. The represents
disability well as disabled people are often represented in films as non-sexual so therefore the poster is suggesting that they are willing to challenge that stereotype.
• The use of stars makes an audience more familiar with the characters because they are likely to have seen them in other films, this means that the poster appeals to many
different people whilst still reaching it’s intended audience.
The main colours used in the poster are blues. This perhaps connotes sadness however the dark blues could also connote seriousness and intelligence, darker colours usually
portray a more dramatic plot. the theme of intelligence fits with the term ‘Super Crip’, created by Collin Barns; showing that despite Stephens disability he is admired for his
excellent intelligence and theory's. Although as an audience his disability isn’t presented as pitiable the audiences admiration may become patronising. However the light blue’s
symbolise hope and healing, the actress playing Jane Hawking costume is fully light blue so therefore as an audience we can already establish a link between her role in helping
Stephen throughout the film. In the background image of the poster a light orange is used. Orange symbolises success and happiness which forebodes a happy ending to the film
or a resolution. The font is White and therefore stands out against the background images sue to the dark colours, this creates contrast between the images and the font type this
makes the writing easier to read because it stands out. The font style is simple but easy to read with the title being the biggest font sixe to allow it to stand out in comparison to
the other information on the poster. This is similar to how it is shown on the DVD cover, the title is in the center and is placed in two lines horizontally, the words ‘Theory’ and
‘Everything’ are the most important words in the title and are therefore considerably larger in size.
Overall this film is quite unique, hence it’s award success. However the poster does follow the codes and conventions of the romantic drama genre. With the embrace of the two
characters in full focus. However the colour pallet does challenge with observation due to the use of blues instead of the stereotypical pinks and lighter colours. This highlights the
sense of drama involved.
Alternative Poster

4. Intertexual References:
Gives the audience the link to the facebook page, it
also gives a hashtag to get the audience talking online
– generating hype, online and virally.
Previous Credits:
Targeting a potential
audience who enjoyed the
films credited.
Positive Review:
Gives an audience insurance
that it is worthwhile watching
the film because of the
positive review.
Billing: Chris Hemsworth is a
popular actor and physically
attractive male, men may aspire
to be like his character, due to
his happy go lucky attitude and
luck with women and cars in the
film. This film is predominantly
skewed towards males.
Secondary Image:
Allows the audience to be
informed the story is based
around formula 1 racing.
Main Image:
The main image shows the
two main protagonist with a
serious expression and facing
away from one another with
their arms crossed this
perhaps portrays a rivalry
between the two characters
which drives the film.
Director:
His films include: Cocoon,
Apollo 13, How the Grinch
Stole Christmas and A
Beautiful Mind, which earned
him the Academy Award for
Best Director.
Title: Large clear font
matching style of racing
stripe.
Release Date
Age certificate
Tag Line
Credit Block
I have chosen to look at another Film based on True events to highlight any similarities, however this film contrasts the
romance genre. Rush is a 2013 biographical sports drama film centered on the rivalry between Formula 1 drivers James
Hunt and Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula One motor-racing season.

5. I have chosen to look at this film poster for Vantage Point, this film is presented extremely
differently from the previously analysed posters, as it is from a completely different genre,
Action Thriller. The poster breaks a lot of conventions. For example the poster shows a
photoshoped/ manipulated image where multiple images fill the outline of a human body,
this may suggest the complexity of the plot as the tag line suggests it follows ‘8 Strangers’
this makes the audience question who they are and want to find out what the truth is, it
also implies that the storyline will follow the actions of these 8 different characters and
they will experience the action through their eyes. The images shown within the outline
show the different characters involved, This is effective as it compels the audience to want
to see the film to uncover the meaning behind the images shown and shows the
importance of all the characters, however this contrasts most films as it does not quickly
drawn an audiences attention to the protagonists due to the business of the jumbled
images. The feature of a gun being held to the left of the poster, is a general code and
convention of thrillers as it portrays to the target audience a sense of danger. This may
appeal to a predominantly male audience seeking adrenaline through exciting fight scenes.
The title is also shown inside the body outline in white and red, red is typically associated
with action thrillers due to the connotation of danger this theme is strengthen by the gun
in hand shown to the left, presenting a text-image cohesion pattern.
This poster contains the general features, with the billing in the center of the images, this
shows the famous actors are a USP for the film. The Title is placed under the actors names
although the font size is considerably larger.
Overall the use of photo manipulation to create an intriguing poster is very successful and
different as it breaks many conventional features of a poster, I hope I can challenge the
typical conventions when creating my own. However I want the audience to be able to
clearly understand and read the information. This is what I must carefully consider when
planning my poster.
Tag
line
g
Main Title
Credit Block
Release
date

6. There are two posters linked with this film and I intend to analyse the differences between them.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Main Image
Billing
Title
Release Date
Manipulated
Main Image
Billing
Title
Credits
Date
Secondary Image
Positive Tag
Line/previous
success
Tag line
Similarities: The title font and placement Is clear to
the target audience as the white stands out on the dark
background and grabs the attention of the viewer. The
Inclusion of the credit block and billing is also the same.
This allows the audience to see the vital information;
such as who is involved with the film. The overall style
they share is similar due to the tonal grey and black
colour pallet which connotes mystery and drama to the
poster. And are colours typically associated with dark
films such as thrillers and suspense films. Tone is key in
portraying the seriousness of the film and the expression
of both actors in the posters is stern and serious. This
engages the target audience which is perhaps aimed at
an older audience of 25+. The presentation of the female
role challenges the typical female character due to her
short boyish hair and grey looking skin.
Differences:
The use of the main image is the obvious main difference, on the right is an image which has been heavily
manipulated to create images layers of the two main characters and whilst this is intriguing and visually effective
the audience are not quickly able to see the star actor, Daniel Craig. This is clear in the second poster (on the left)
as the audience are quickly able to identify him as the protagonist due to his placement and coverage of the
poster. This is key to selling the film as potential audiences may be persuaded because they like Daniel Craigs
previous work/films.
Another difference is the Tag line, the poster on the right uses an intriguing line which may give the audience an
idea of the plot, uncovering some of the mystery which the poster conveys, however because the other poster
has a much clearer image the tag line more simply a positive reference which states the movie idea came from ‘a
bestselling trilogy’ this may incise some of the target audience but is not widely effective in my opinion.

7. There are two posters linked with this film and I intend to analyse the differences between them.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Main Image
Billing
Title
Release Date
Manipulated
Main Image
Billing
Title
Credits
Date
Secondary Image
Positive Tag
Line/previous
success
Tag line
Similarities: The title font and placement Is clear to
the target audience as the white stands out on the dark
background and grabs the attention of the viewer. The
Inclusion of the credit block and billing is also the same.
This allows the audience to see the vital information;
such as who is involved with the film. The overall style
they share is similar due to the tonal grey and black
colour pallet which connotes mystery and drama to the
poster. And are colours typically associated with dark
films such as thrillers and suspense films. Tone is key in
portraying the seriousness of the film and the expression
of both actors in the posters is stern and serious. This
engages the target audience which is perhaps aimed at
an older audience of 25+. The presentation of the female
role challenges the typical female character due to her
short boyish hair and grey looking skin.
Differences:
The use of the main image is the obvious main difference, on the right is an image which has been heavily
manipulated to create images layers of the two main characters and whilst this is intriguing and visually effective
the audience are not quickly able to see the star actor, Daniel Craig. This is clear in the second poster (on the left)
as the audience are quickly able to identify him as the protagonist due to his placement and coverage of the
poster. This is key to selling the film as potential audiences may be persuaded because they like Daniel Craigs
previous work/films.
Another difference is the Tag line, the poster on the right uses an intriguing line which may give the audience an
idea of the plot, uncovering some of the mystery which the poster conveys, however because the other poster
has a much clearer image the tag line more simply a positive reference which states the movie idea came from ‘a
bestselling trilogy’ this may incise some of the target audience but is not widely effective in my opinion.