The poster campaign is the primary medium
for advertising a film and will generally start in the early
stages of a film's production and continue during the weeks
building up to the release.
The poster image is the basis of the whole
publicity campaign and out of this 'Key Art' or central image
come the cinema trailers, cardboard standees for cinema foyers,
ranges of posters and television adverts.
Artwork for a film poster can either be an
original painting based on a key idea in the film, or it can
be produced from the colour transparencies which are taken
during the shoot. The aim in both cases is to find a 'narrative
image' that sums up the film and gives audiences an idea as
to the genre of the film and perhaps the storyline. The poster
will need to show various elements from the film which might
include the title, tag line, star's name, director's name and
any additional information which might attract an audience.
TASK 1 – COMPARE 2 POSTERS
Compare poster designs three and four that have been produced
for the film of Oliver Twist and answer the following questions:
The
poster artwork can be found at: www.movieweb.com/movies/film(posters
3 and 4)
- Why
do you think the marketing team decided that it was necessary
to produce two different designs?
- What
impression of the film does each design give you? Which
design gives you more information about the film? Which
poster would make you more likely to see the film? Which
is more eye-catching? Which is more emotionally involving?
Which do you think would stay in your mind longest, and
why?
- Look
on the film's website - where else is the 'silhouette'
design used? Why do you think this is?
TASK
2 - DESIGN A POSTER
In making a film poster, a film's marketing team have to consider
many different things.
- Who
is their target audience (who should the poster aim to
attract)? Male or female? Of what age? What will attract
these people?
- How
can the poster stand out in a crowded environment (eg in
a cinema foyer)?
- Most
posters are only seen/ looked at for around 3 seconds.
How can the poster a) make the viewer look for longer and
b) give an impression of the film in that short time?
- How
are they going to create a memorable image?
- How
can they include all the relevant information (film name,
stars’ names, director) without cluttering the image?
- What
'tag line' best sums up the film?
Bearing all these things in mind, it is now your turn to
design your own film poster for Oliver Twist.
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