2. In the following slides I will
analyse and explore three
different poster, which relate to
the documentary genre we are
trying to target.This research
will aid our team to take
inspiration from the posters,
and to try and incorporate them
in our poster ancillary task for
our own documentary.
For the three posters, after a lot
of research I choose to analyse
the film Connected byTiffany
Shlain, DSKNECT by Dominic H.
White and Downloaded by Alex
Winter.
3. The documentary is advertised in the
poster by boasting about its selection and
premier at the famous Sundance film
festival. The documentaries engagement
with the festival is located at the
immediate top of the poster making it one
of the first things the viewer sees. This
allows him to recognise the potential
quality of entertainment this film can
provide.
Below the Festival the poster contains a
quote from the famous American
politician Albert Arnold also known as
‘Al Gore’. Due to our primary audience
being in the A-C income bracket the
relevance between politics and this film
would increase the interest the viewer
would feel towards Connected. Also in
our target audience are looking for
acceptance of facts and problem
solving as shown in Maslow's hierarchy.
This need will seem to be fulfilled due
to politicians such as ‘Al Gore’,
representing just these characteristics.
The poster portrays hegemonic
manipulation through the short
summary of the film. Love, death and
technology effecting every person in the
world the poster indirectly tries to
saturate their market by approaching an
extremely saturated audience.
The word ‘CONNECTED’ being made out of a
collage of different pictures connotes the
documentaries controversy and creative
approach to the topic, as is represented in the
different letters. The audience is engaged by
this font, due to it’s exciting and different
style.
Including a photo of the director of the
(Tiffany Shlain) makes the film appear more
personal, and as it shows that anything
displayed in the film can be related back to
her, it is not just advertising for the film, but
also for Tiffany Shlain.
The poster also includes web 2.0 at the
bottom of the page, were the twitter
and Facebook reference is mentioned.
This targets a younger audience, as
people between the ages of 15- 40 are
most likely going to have either Twitter
or Facebook.
4. At the top of the poster some mind-
blowing facts are given to the viewer,
such as there being 6,5 billion cell
phones or that there are over 500
million websites. These figures are
meant to amaze the viewer, to make
him crave further information about the
data given. Also the statement
‘Connecting with the human race’ is
quickly turned around by the poster
saying ‘Or disconnecting it‘. This again
challenges the way an average viewer
would look at the poster, as they would
assume that the invention of social
networks and E- mail would help
connect the world. This again
encourages the viewer to find out more
about the subject.
Similar to ‘Connect’ , the poster mentions
the film festivals and prizes the
‘DSKNECTD’ won, in order to promote
their product. Including the success of the
film, shows the viewer that the film is
worth watching as it connotes the prizes
quality and high level of entertainment.
The picture being very simple allows the
viewer to focus more on the facts at the
top of the page, the awards the film won
on the right side of the page, and the
actual title of the documentary. Due to
the background consisting from different
shades of grey, the blue power button
stands out. The power button is a
representation of the title, due to the
power being switched off leading to
being disconnected. Due to the power
button being lit, the button connotes the
actual psychological power button in our
heads which is on 24/7 encouraging us to
keep using our phones and other
technology. The picture is trying present
the idea of shutting of the mental power
button, and to take a break from
technology.
The title ‘DSKNECTD’ represents the way
people communicate with each other using
digital messaging services. Especially
teenagers who like to abbreviate
everything to save time and use phrases
like ‘lol’, ‘tmrw’ and other alike, will be
attracted by this title. The title connotes
the waste of language, due to it’s indirect
complaint about losing the art of
conversation.
5. Following the first two posters of
documentaries, the ‘Downloaded’ poster
also promotes their production by showing
evidence of film festivals were the
documentary played a role, by either being
nominated or winning. For example this
documentary was in the official selection for
the Hot Docs awards, and the Full Frame
awards. These prestigious awards advertise
the film through their representation of
quality, professionalism and innovation
which attract their audience.
Due to the whole film being about
Napster and topics involved with the
music downloading company, the picture
and title summarize the documentary.
The font of the title is very plain and in
capitals adding to the technological
theme. Downloads being a huge topic the
world of the internet, which effects every
person owning a phone computer or
gaming console, the title speaks out to all
those billions of people, and there by
saturating their target audience.
The background picture shows the Napster
logo, which is surrounded by what seems to
represent pixels on a screen. The picture as
well as he title tries to tell the viewer what
the documentary is all about. The company
Napster being iconic for downloads
connotes the extreme impotence of
downloading and the internet in general.
Also the Napster logo being recognized
world wide, it attracts a variety of people,
and has some kind of effect on anyone who
recognises the logo.
The tagline of the poster is intended to capture
and define the whole concept and point of the
documentary. Also the chosen words of music
which represents the business, battle which
connotes excitement and power and revolution
which is a symbol of change and new starts all
engage the audience through the emotions and
thoughts carried by those three words.
6. The dark theme of the
poster connotes a
metaphorical battle
between Napster,
supporting independence
and revolution against the
influence of authorities
and tradition, as they have
the capability to shut
down independent and
revolutionary
organisations which, in
this case, they have
succeeded at doing,
furthering the negative
tone of the poster.
7. After looking at all three poster in great depth and
analysis the purpose of certain aspects of the different
posters, I have found some things which I thought to be
especially useful for our own production.
1. Mentioning awards and festivals which the
documentary won or participated in is a great way
to promote the quality of the production
2. Having an innovative title helps to attract
attention to the poster, which leads to an
increased interest in the documentary
3. We should also consider attracting our audience
using social media, and either create a Facebook or
twitter page. UsingWeb 2.0 marketing proved to
be very effective with other products such as in the
film ‘Les Miserable’.
4. Also we should add in a short summary of our
documentary, which literally consist out of a few
words or a brief sentence giving the viewer a clear
idea what the film will be about.
8. The majority of these posters also suggest a challenging of traditional ideologies and the
status quo.The reason they work is because they are aimed at a passive, niche and
sophisticated audience, liberal enough to support these ideologies to encourage change and
modification.
That said, the audience who are older and probably parents, may already be aware of the
negative impacts of modern day technology, as they are not digital natives who have grown-
up with advancing technology.As a result, they will be less interested in how technology is an
underground force, used to challenge authority.They would be more appealed by some of
the psychological affects technology has on the development of young peoples brains, as
from this they feel they will gain more information as opposed an almost conspiracy about
the growing power of technology.
If we were to have our production produced or exhibited by BBC, we would focus more on the
mainstream affects technology can have, such as insomnia and its affect on education and
development.This is because the BBC are more of a mainstream company, appealing to a
mass market who are more of a passive audience that do not challenge ideologies as much as
a niche and more sophisticated audience.
9.
10. As you can see, Channel 4 have a distinct and unique style to all of their posters for their
productions.The two posters previously shown are completely different genres of
programme, yet are easily associated through the style of poster, for example the
natural and almost low key lighting.This is one of the reasons for their established and
loyal audience.
Although we are planning on using Channel 4 to produce the production, due to their
professionalism and work with controversial content, we will not be using them to
exhibit to distribute the production.This is because we believe we will not be granted
freedom within our poster to allow to promote the ideologies we want to promote.We
believe our niche audience would be more attracted by a simpler and more unique style
of poster.
Furthermore, the topic of technologies impacts on teenagers with Channel 4’s style will
seem way too mainstream for our target audience.The natural and low key lighting will
instantly promote the mainstream ideology that technology is destroying the minds of
young people. On the other hand, we want to leave the audience in a position where
they are able to make up their own conclusions as they are active, as well as giving a
balanced view on the impacts of technology.
