Poster Annotations

Analysis  of poster designs

When researching film posters advertising romantic comedy, I realised that portraying the comedy value would prove to be more of a struggle when I create my own poster as I didn’t know how I could make this clear to the audience. The romance was much clearer to recognise, shown through the actors body language, facial expression and pose as well as  the different use of style and text on the posters. Such as the bold, clear and brightly coloured  text that all provide the feel you should get from this genre. The colour red and other feminine colours and fonts seemed to be vital on a romantic comedy poster, as though they were purposely designed to attract women. After my research into film posters focusing on this sub-genre, the love story between the characters and their romance I found was much easier to get across instead of the comedy aspect of the film, so therefore I felt the poster that I create should get across both romance and comedy clearly and affectively.

Poster 1: The diagonal masthead across the poster that iv drawn, instantly tells the audience that the film being advertised is not formal and serious, but gets across the fun and good-feel aspect shown through the brightly coloured letters. The way I have used a dot separating the two words, making it look like its is a web-address immediately informs the audience that the film is focused around a web-site so therefore gives an in-sight into the story-line. Other text used on this drawing are the names of two familiar young actors that are known to appear in romantic comedy’s, to convey the age-range of the two characters in the trailer. I've drawn a selection of characters on this poster that could also be starring in Friend.Finder.com, as well as the two love interests, and used two familiar names Dakota Fanning and Aaron Johnson, who I imagined could play these roles.

As well as the images of various characters, I have also drawn two computer screens; one computer screen with the word ‘Snob’ and the other with the word ‘Geek’ which creates humour for the viewer and also informs them that the film is a romantic comedy. If I was to use this drawing as my focused design for my real product, I would like to make the poster in a cartoon design with bright colours to reflect the feel-good genre. I feel this will be something different but will still maintain maturity.

Poster 2: This design of a movie poster shows four individual images of characters in a small square around the edges of the poster, from our movie Friend.Finder.com. I thought showing other characters as well as

the two main characters on this design would create interest because I have also named the well-known actors above the image who are known for appearing in romantic comedy’s. These extra names I have used are actors such as; Hilary Duff and Dakota Fanning, who also act as persuasive text to name-drop on the poster and therefore influence the audience  into already having a positive impression of film being advertised. The drawings iv done of the two main characters are at the top of the poster with their names under them, insinuating that these are the two main characters. I have also drawn this part of the poster as though they are looking at each over. The masthead iv designed is placed in the middle of the poster which instantly eye-catches the audience. The masthead would also be a consistent logo, and the colour red would work well to relate to the romance of the film. Other pieces of text which is used on the design is the writing telling the audience when the film is released. Most of the posters I researched commonly uses the persuasive words of ‘Coming Soon’ which I then used on this design and also the layout of the poster I related to other posters advertising romantic comedy.

Poster 3: This particular design shows the audience that the film involves  a website. I’ve drawn the characters on a computer on each side as though they’re talking to each over. I have also used the design of a split-screen to represent how their opposites. The icon iv drawn in the corner of this poster is a small heart with the words ‘Coming Soon’, this relates to the genre of the film.

Poster 4: I thought this specific design was affective and got across the story-line well, and maintained interest, making the audience want to watch the film. The masthead has been made in a clear font, resembling real web addresses from the use of the dot.

Poster 5: Using a laptop screen as the focus of this poster tells the viewer this film must be focused around technology, and because of the recognition that its a romantic comedy, the audience begin to guess what the film could be like.  Although this is quite a simple design, it has a great appeal. I have then included text in capital letters reading, ‘OPPOSITE’S DO ATTRACT’. The fact that the word ‘Do’ has been made bold puts more emphasis on the meaning. I have used two captured words either-side of the laptop that resemble two stereotypes, but also put a love-heart next to the words to continue the guessing of what the story-line could be.

Poster 6: I found this design very appealing and considered designing my final poster this way. It allows the audience to get a lot of relevant information from the  eye-catching design but also be appealed by  characters shown, where I had tried to add to the comedy value, representing the genre, through their facial expression. I also found the idea of using descriptive text on one side of the poster, telling the audience some of the reviews this film has had. The affective split-screen iv drawn also shows how the love-interests are on one side, separating them from other characters who are clearly recognised to also be the same age as them, so the audience assume these are their friends. I've drawn the girl’s two popular friends on one side and also one of the boys friends, with all their mouths opened in shock that they’re together, which adds humour. Also on the poster I’ve wrote ‘OPPOSITES ATTRACT =‘ which resemble what the drawing in underneath. I then included the premier information on the poster announcing that it’s the premier of 2012, again persuading the audience to watch the film. I made this overall design quite cartoon-like which gives this poster a fun-feel to it immediately.

Poster 7: This poster uses descriptive and eye-catching text, showing the words ‘LOVE STRUCK!’ in big capital letters and also an appealing font. Telling the audience when the film is released is focused in a love-heart reading ‘Coming Soon’ which I felt would be in tone of the genre. The image of the two characters on the poster I have drawn them next to a computer screen showing her laughing while he is shown un-steadily tripping over. The text shown at the bottom of this poster reveals that the production who created the film ‘The Break Up’, a very successful rom-com, also created this film. This therefore gives a positive impression of this film.

Poster 8: This design is also quite simple but very affective, showing two characters next to each over with descriptive facial expressions. The masthead has been made very striking, with a small computer-screen next to it with a love-heart in-side it- recognising that its inside a computer-screen is also relevant. The characters are also in school uniform which tells the audience that these characters are young and the film is focused around them. I have made the writing at the bottom of the page, reading ‘COMING SOON’ in the same style writing as the masthead and I feel the simplicity of this particular design adds to the audience’s interest.