The document provides guidance on analyzing film posters by discussing key concepts to consider such as connotation, anchorage, tone, target audience, representation, and effectiveness. It explains how to analyze aspects of a poster like stars, titles, colors, certificates, costumes, and credits in order to understand the intended message and audience. Specific techniques are outlined for exploring implied meanings, social assumptions, and how well the poster achieves its purpose of promoting the film.

1. A2 Media Studies Ancillary Tasks 1: Film Poster 2a: Film magazine front cover featuring the film 2b: Film magazine review page featuring the film

2. A2 Media Studies Analysing film posters 1: Film Poster Based on ideas from Media Magazine.

3. Intro In your analysis you need to be able to apply a variety of concepts. While widespread use of Media Studies terminology is not 100% essential, your ability to employ key terms such as connotation or anchorage will considerably enhance your work. a. Connotation Words, sounds and visual images have denotative or literal meanings. A dictionary definition of ‘rose’ is likely to describe it as a flower, with a thorned stem, having a variety of colours and emitting a pleasant scent. In our culture, however, the rose has a large number of associated meanings, the majority of which connect with ideas of romance: ‘My love is like a red, red rose’. Be prepared to explore these associations or connotations as they are likely to yield a good deal of insight into the preferred reading of your film poster and magazine cover. 1: Film Poster

4. 1: Film Poster b. Anchorage A picture is worth a thousand words, so the cliché goes. But rarely do pictures appear without some text, (whether spoken or written), which serves to establish or anchor an interpretation. In a newspaper, sub editors will apply headlines or captions to a photograph; in a documentary, a voiceover may serve a similar function. To highlight for yourself the importance of anchorage , try looking at pictures you ’re thinking of using for your poster or magazine cover with, and without, accompanying text, or with Different text.

5. 1: Film Poster d. Intertextual references Note any visual or verbal references to other media in the text. c. Tone and register What tone is being adopted? Remember that in human communication roughly 70% of the message is through non-verbal communication, 23% is tone and a mere 7% is through the words used. Is the tone humorous, solemn, laddish, coy, sentimental, or what? Register refers to the vocabulary, style and grammar used by speakers and writers according to a certain situation. There are thus degrees of formality : bloke, man, guy, gentleman, geezer, dude, blud or ma, mam, mum, mummy, mother, mater.

6. 1: Film Poster e. Target audience From what you can glean from the ideas already listed, who in particular do you think was the intended audience for your particular text? Your answer may refer to age, gender, socioeconomic status, region or nationality, sub-culture or even personality type . If you are examining a poster, you ought to consider the context – such as genre & classification – for an indication of target audience.

7. 1: Film Poster f. Representation Consider the image or portrayal of groups in society. Posters, by dint of limitations of space, time and the need to make an impact, tend to trade in simplifications. Be prepared to discuss representations of, gender, class, nationality, sexual orientation, youth and age (the elderly, for example, are often depicted negatively, if at all). Close cousins of this are the concepts ideology and values , which refer to ideas about the way the world is and ought to be. At their most effective, ideologies assume the status of commonsense , natural explanations of the world. Part of your job is to identify any social assumptions contained in the texts you are analysing.

8. 1: Film Poster g. Effect and effectiveness To what extent does the poster achieve its purpose? Distributors will employ a battery of market research techniques to measure the audience and market response – from sales figures, surveys and focus group gatherings . Film producers are likely to mount test screenings to test audience reaction. What is your own response to your poster ?

9. How to read a film (poster) 1. Previous credits? one of several film poster conventions used as a form of guarantee and as a means of prompting audience expectations. 2. Positive quote: another movie poster convention is to use quotes from national newspapers with the same or similar demographic or from respected critics. Failing that, anyone who says something positive about the film can be quoted. References to aspects of the film not referenced in the poster can offer more detailed information about plot or character or style e.g. balancing the hardness of a thriller ’s title and dominant images in the poster with reference to love or humour?

10. How to read a film (poster) 3. The film ’s star: You ought to be alert to the techniques used - technical codes of photography would refer to aspects such as distance (close-up, long shot, and so on), angle, focus, cropping, digital manipulation, use of lighting, and so on; in moving images you may wish refer to editing, mise-en-scène or use of camera. Discuss font style and layout. 4. The title: note position, size, colour and font. As well as demanding recognition, the font may suggest other connotations. 5. Colour saturation: red has connotations of passion, anger, Danger, love – other dominant colours blue, yellow, green etc connote different things depending on context – cold, calm, cowardice, sunshine, nature, jealousy…

11. How to read a film (poster) 6. Certificate 15?: a requirement of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) indicating that the film will include moderate violence and swearing. What might an 18 or 12A suggest about content? 7. Costume, props, iconography: further help to establish setting and genre. Gothic horror you ’ re after? Look for fangs, bats, crucifixes, rats, coffins, black cloaks, fog, dark nights, the moon, and a Victorian or earlier setting… 8 ‘Intertextual references’: any references to films in a similar genre? 9 Credits: another convention of the film poster – what do they tell us about the film?