2. 6 Elements of a Poster Design
1. Attention – jump out from the wall
2. Iconography – showing without telling.
3. Interest – create an incentive to see the film.
4. Style – a look that’s consistent with the film.
5. Lasting Appeal – a look that suits other formats.
6. Recognisability – if it’s a sequel, make it obvious.
3. 1. Attention – jump out from the wall
From my research I have found there is a is a ‘formula’ which
From my research I have found that that there‘formula’ which all goodall good poster or
review makers use and that is AIDA. This stands for;
poster or review makers use and that is AIDA. This stands for;
A
I
D
A
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
Attention - This can be obtained by just having your main interviewee
on the poster or iconography of your genre. There doesn’t have to be
any ‘flashy graphics’.
Interest - They have to be interesting so having someone in extreme
long shot isn't going to catch peoples eye. It has to be a medium
close up or close up to get people to look.
Desire - Your audience must see the poster and want to go and see your documentary. This
can have something on it which will make them want to find out what is happening.
Action - Something has to be happening. It has to have some form of a meaning to your
documentary
4. EXAMPLE
• Interest- It is in a
• Attention- Main
characther- Senna,
is on the poster.
• Desire- The
audience will watch
this because they
will want to know
how Senna died
and look back at his
career. This is
helped by the
comment from Niki
Lauda.
medium close up of
the main focus of
this documentary.
• Action- The
meaning to the
documentary of the
poster here is
Senna thinking
about whether he
should race his last
race which he ends
up dead in.
5. HOW AIDA APPLIES TO US?
• ATTENTION - We are going to feature Natasha Jelly on the front cover of our
poster because she will be the main girl in our montage footage in our
documentary.
• INTEREST - We think we are going to have a high angle on Tasha siting with
her laptop on her knees with a gun in her hand. This is show she has been
over powered by the bullies and is caving in.
• DESIRE - Our audience will have the desire to watch our documentary
because they will want to know what happened and they will want to know
what she is representing and they can find this our in our documentary.
• ACTION - In our poster we think there will be Tasha with a gun in her hand
looking at a computer screen. This relates to our documentary because
people take there own lives from cyber bullying.
6. 2. Iconography – showing without telling.
• The most effective movie posters are iconic, presenting the themes in
the film without resorting to flat out saying what it’s about.
• They use imagery, whether a close-up of a character or item that’s a
major plot point, or a simple graphic, to establish the documentaries
genre.
7. EXAMPLE
• It uses tactics such as – sex appeal,
contrast, and spacing – to grab your
attention.
• At the same time, it also gives a glimpse
into what the film is about. This allows it to
market to casual observers and horror fans
at once, all through imagery.
8. HOW ICONOGRAPHY APPLIES TO US?
• We plan to show that our documentary is about cyber bullying without
writing across it CYBER BULLYING.
• We plan to do this by having the laptop on her knee which is
iconography for the genre as to be cyber bullied it has to be through
some form of an electrical device so a laptop fits the bill.
• Tasha head will also be looking down towards the gun which suggest
she is being cyber bullied and cant take it any more so she is going to
commit suicide.
9. 3. Interest – create an incentive to see
the film.
• Icons and more abstract imagery doesn’t
work with documentaries all the time – say,
for example, it’s a serious topic that can’t be
explained with iconography – using an image
that provides viewers with an idea of the
story is a great idea.
• The incentive is that in order to resolve the
situation, the person looking at the poster
needs to see the film and find out what
happens.
10. EXAMPLE
• The Inception poster above uses this
strategy – it puts viewers in the
middle of a scene from the film that
can only be explained by seeing what
occurs before and after it. As a result,
the curiosity created by the poster
translates into on-the-spot ticket
sales.
11. HOW INTEREST APPLIES TO US?
• This isn't something we are focusing on because although the topic
we are tackling is a difficult one we still believe it is possible to use
iconography which will help the audience to obtain interest and want
to see the short film.
12. 4. Style – a look that’s consistent with
the short film.
• Whether we were marketing an short film or a blockbuster, style
matters. Some of the most memorable film posters out there have
used bold, unique artistic styles to their advantage.
• What separates these posters from their ineffective art-for-art’s-sake
rivals is that they’re consistent with style, in both the movie’s
promotional materials and throughout the film itself.
13. EXAMPLE
• Watchmen- to the right is a classic
example of this technique. Since it
uses an instantly recognizable
comic book style, it grabs the
attention of fans of the book.
• It’s uses the same type of stylized
imagery as the film itself. This
consistency means that it isn’t just
a great marketing tool, but a
recognizable image for DVD and
other releases in our case virally
for social networking sites.
14. HOW STYLE APPLIES TO US?
• We plan to keep our look consistent by using the same sort of laptop
which features in our documentary and also the same girl who is
going to feature in our montage footage.
• We plan to do this to make our linked products recognizable. We want
to create an association between our ancillary products and our
documentary.
15. 5. Lasting Appeal – a look that suits
other formats.
• There is a very big danger apparently with making your film poster
very arty and sophisticated: it’s eventually going to be shrunk to a
fraction of its original size for the advertising on social networking
sites.
• While a growing number of short films now use different designs for
their social networking marketing than they use for their posters, most
of the classics and high-budget blockbusters still use the same poster
for both.
16. EXAMPLE
• The poster doesn’t use imagery that’s just as visible and clear when
it’s small as when its gargantuan. For my poster to work for the longterm, it needs to have scalable, clear, and lasting design appeal.
17. HOW LASTING APPEL APPLIES TO US?
• This means that my imagery, titles, and major points of interest such
as the gun need to be just as visible on a small computer screen as
they are on a giant movie poster.
18. 6. Recognisability – if it’s a sequel,
make it obvious.
• Sequel posters tend to be highly
related to the first release,
generally with a giant title in the
bottom third of the canvas and
instantly recognizable imagery
throughout it.
19. EXAMPLE
• The Godfather and the two sequels in the franchise are a great
example – all three use the same style and design, using the critical
and commercial success of the previous films.
20. HOW RECOGNISABILITY APPLIES TO US?
• Although we aren't doing a sequel this is still important to us because
we want to make sure that our 3 products are all linked together and
that they have a clear brand. We have talked heaving about the fonts
Lucida Grande which is the font that Facebook use and also the exact
same colour as the Facebook page- blue.
22. 1. Viewing
• View the film more than once because although it is a
short film I may have missed vital or key elements after
just one viewing. So we will be watching it over and over
again and because we made the short film we will know
everything about it.
23. 2.Give My Opinion
• Most reviewers will give their own opinion on the short
film. However impartial details should also be included. It
should give your opinions so the reader can agree or
disagree.
24. 3. Who is my audience
• I need to consider who my likely readers are because I
need to target them. For example writing to children is
very different to writing for movie fan clubs. So from this I
know I am writing an educated review for my secondary
audience of opinion leaders. So knowing my target
audience means I can target them with this product.
25. 4. Give an outline
• It is important that I don’t totally ruin the short film for them
by saying exactly what happens shot for shot. It is
important not give away essential details but enough that
it entices people to watch it.
26. 5. Actors and Directors
• I need to talk about the actors here and discuss how well
they have acted in the short film and the importance of the
role they play in the documentary. I also need to analyse
myself and Lilly in the review as the directors.
27. 6. Structure
• I will need to talk about the narrative arc of the
documentary and what featured in each part of the
documentary.
28. 7. Music
• I need to talk about who the artists where of the music
which featured in the film and whether the music was
effective and if it was used correctly.
29. 8. Lighting and Cinematography
• I need to give details and be honest about how well I
believe the documentary was shot and directed. I need to
look at weather the lighting of the interviews was good or
not. This is difficult as we are the directors of both the
review and the documentary but we have to be critical of
ourselves.
30. 9. Read, Read, Read, Read
• I need to make sure once we have wrote it that we read it
over and over again and make sure that there are no
spelling mistakes because after all it is meant to be an
educated review.
