2. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
3. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
4. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
5. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
6. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
7. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
8. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
9. POSTER CONVENTIONS
• CAST AND CREW
• TAGLINE OR SLOGAN
• ACTOR(S)
• FILM TITLE
• MAIN IMAGE
• RELEASE DATE
• AGE CLASSIFICATION
• EXPERT WITNESS
Editor's Notes
It is a legal requirement for film posters to contain cast and crew on the poster, in this case the marketing team for Dunkirk used it to market Christopher Nolan- the director- due to him being well known for other films, such as The Dark Knight Trilogy. Using his name entices readers to watch the film as they may be fans of his other work and as a result may enjoy Dunkirk.
A movie poster will always contain some type of tagline or slogan and it is the first impression the film’s audience get about the general idea and plot behind the film. The slogan for Dunkirk is “When 400,000 men couldn’t get home home came for them.” The reason this slogan is used is to pay homage to the 400,000 British soldiers that were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk. The British government called for all of the British sailors and fishermen to come to Dunkirk and to take part in the biggest civilian rescue operation in history
In the Dunkirk poster they do not put in any of the Actor(s) names due to the majority of them not being well known. This is one of the Unique Selling Points of Dunkirk due to it being a traditional, British film. In addition to this Christopher Nolan wanted an only British, French and German cast due to them being the only nationalities involved in the evacuation of Dunkirk, this resulted in huge amounts of support and respect for Dunkirk and the marketing team further exploited this as a result.
The film title is usually one of the most visually attractive elements of the poster and in Dunkirk’s case it definitely follows this trend. In the Dunkirk poster the word Dunkirk is written as if it is the sea and across the word the reader can see the waves crashing down. This is symbolic as it was the cold temperatures of the sea that was restricting the allied forces to simply swim across back to England, as well as that the idea of the sea is also symbolic of the fact that the Nazi forces were slowly closing in on the Allied forces effectively trapping them. The sea also connotes ideas of freedom and serenity which is a complete contradiction of the position the Allies were put in in Dunkirk.
The main image is the most visually attractive element of the poster and if done successfully usually results in a very successful advertising campaign. In the Dunkirk poster the reader can see one of the main actors Fionn Whitehead. The reader can also see that he is clearly in some form of trauma, this is due to the British forces just have been attacked by German Stuka dive bomber planes. The main image in Dunkirk’s case is visually attractive, but it also connotes general ideas on what warfare is like.
The release date is one of the most important elements of a film poster as the audience needs to know when the film is out otherwise the film won’t achieve maximum sales. The inclusion of a release date keeps customers informed and raises a consistent level of customer awareness to ensure that the film achieves maximum sales. In Dunkirk’s case they make the release date the same format as the main title with the sea as the background to create synergy and cohesion within the poster, also to create an element of consistency. They also make the release date slightly larger than the tagline in order to attract a decent amount of attention, with the main image and title attracting the most attention.
The age classification is also important as the audience need to know the minimum age to watch it. In Dunkirk’s case they decided to make the film a PG-13 in order to broaden their market and potential sales at the cost of realism and a more accurate representation of the brutality of war.
The inclusion of an expert witness can sometimes raise the profile of the poster and in some cases make the film see more appealing to customers. In Dunkirk’s case they decided not include an expert witness and instead decided to focus on the format of the poster and making it as visually attractive as possible. They also decided to focus more on the audiences interpretation of the poster and decided to go for a more show the audience the film instead of telling them about it. Due to the marketing team’s use of Christopher Nolan I do not believe that the lack of an expert witness will hinder the poster’s success.
