Codes and Conventions By Daniel donovan Film posters: Codes and Conventions By Daniel donovan

Question: What makes a good film poster? First, a good movie poster should grab the viewer’s attention. This will ensure that viewers take the time to look at what the film is called and the movie’s cast. If a viewer is given a visual image, it makes it easy to remember. One approach to capture potential consumers attention is to utilize a big and bold picture of a character that will show viewers the leading actor or actress in the film. Second, the movie poster is supposed to be iconic - it uses imagery to give the viewers a taste of what the movie is about without telling them exactly what the plot is. This can be created through a close up shot of a character or a symbolic item unique to the movie. Third, it can create interest with the poster and leave the viewer with an image that makes them want more. Using the middle of a scene can show viewers a glimpse into the world of the movie. It is likely that they will not quite understand what is happening and will then need to see the movie to find out what happens next.

My Two poster case studies + Content/Context: Case Study 1: Name: The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Genre: Superhero Notable Actors: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine. Why I picked this CS: Original use of imagery, stands out amongst other posters. Iconic in how it was presented to the audience and it’s distinctively memorable in its presentation. Plot: Batman has to fight the anarchistic villain known as Bane who is hell bent on nuking Gotham, all whilst fighting his inner demons that have built up since the previous installment in the Batman series (The Dark Knight) Budget: $250 million dollars. Gross: $1.1 billion dollars Case Study 2: Name: Scarface (1983) Genre: Crime Thriller Notable Actors: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfieffer. Why I picked this CS: The stark contrast between black and white makes the main actor stand out. It’s also an iconic poster that is considered a major influence of pop culture. Plot: The film tells the story of Tony Montana in his rise from a Cuban refugee to becoming one of Miami’s biggest drug kingpins. Budget: $25 million dollars. Gross: $66 million dollars.

Photos and illustrations Similarly, both posters used images that audiences will remember, leading to a build up of interest in the film. As we can see, both images use different photography within their posters to signify or foreshadow events in the plotline: Scarface uses the image of the main actor (Al Pacino) to represent who the main character is - this gives us an indication of who the actor is portraying (i.e. the gun and suit combo indicates he is some sort of criminal) and allows us to guess what the film will be about. In comparison, the Dark Knight poster uses imagery of a collapsing building to symbolize Gotham City collapsing to the ground (whilst using the debris to show the Batman logo). This is good because it not only catches the audiences eye, but it’s memorable and can lead the viewer to wanting to watch the film/production. As we can see, the colors used also lend a hand in making the posters imagery stand out, which leads us to…

Written Language Scarface: In comparison, Scarface uses text on both sides of the poster in different colors (black and white), summarizing who the man in the middle is. It’s useful because it provides the audience with some context on what the film is about and who the main character is. It also is used to foreshadow events in the film that may occur later on. The problem with using text in this image however, is that it draws attention away from the main focus of the poster (Al Pacino) - it also ends up summarizing part of the plot, meaning that the audience already has information on what is going to occur in the film. The Dark Knight: The case study barely uses any text in the poster, save for the release date and selected theatres; this ends up directing more attention towards the poster’s image itself, showcasing the symbolism of the picture in the film and signifying parts of the plot line. The problem with this however, is that it relies too heavily on the images in the picture, neglecting to show the names of the actors, directors or the distributor of the company. This is a problem, because it misses an opportunity to draw in prospective viewers who may be a fan of the film.

Comparison between 20th and 21st century posters: In comparison, 21st century posters are slowly starting to use posters that employ original, eye catching imagery to draw in viewers. For example, the Dark Knight Rises poster employs a 3D design to illustrate the damage done to Gotham City, the falling debris from the buildings falling into the shape of the Batman logo. The originality in this poster is a good example because it is something that viewers haven’t seen before, thereby generating interest within the audience to come see it. 20th century posters (in this case, Scarface), rely mostly on imagery related to the plot of their film – Scarface positions the image of the main protagonist of the film in the center of the frame, drawing the readers eye to him. A good example of this is the film poster for Jaws – it pretty much gives away the plot line for the film without explicitly stating what is about to happen, instead leaving us to guess. Older film posters typically employed this mainly in order to draw the readers in purely based on symbolism and imagery of the films plotline.