1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions
of real media products?
Film Poster

2. In the beginning…
I began my research of film posters by firstly addressing the key conventions of a poster. I summarised
them in five (what I think) are key elements to creating an effective poster. These were the five points -
• A large title which attracts the eye, unique text that stands out from the background
• Intriguing picture which would attract viewers to the film, a bold image and interesting image
• Persuasive language which might persuade the viewers to go and see the film
• Using the main character’s name for promotion, and the certification will ensure that the right type of people
are watching the film
• An example of how different types of film (e.g. comedy, horror) poster use these forms and conventions to
attract a certain type of person (e.g. teenagers, horror fans) would be a really scary horror film, which will use
eerie images in order to appeal to horror fans
These were my aims going into the design process. I felt if I had all these elements evident in my poster, I
couldn’t go wrong!

3. Drive (2010) Poster Campaign –
The first set of film posters I analysed were used for possibly my favourite film (ever!) Drive (2011). I drew
influence from this set of posters for the action film drive.
• Set out: The single figures in the image moved me towards the same style, recreating the dominant image
was key I felt, to my posters success. The use of the release date supports conventions and I think this is key
to a poster.
• Text: This poster’s text is very important not only to the film but to the promotion of the production. The font
is individual and creates an identity for the film, this is very important as it makes the film easily
distinguishable in what is a very saturated market. I have also learnt that the colour of the text is key through
researching this poster, the pink contrasts with the background and creates a bold effect.

4. Similarly to the drive poster I have used a
large bold image of my main character.
Echoing the Drive
poster I have put
the release date
on my poster, this
is a key
convention of a
film poster and I
felt it was key to
mine too. Unlike
the Drive poster I
have made mine
much more
evident. It is in
bold writing at the
top of the
poster, on its own.
I did this as I felt it
was essential to
the poster
My text draws comparisons to the Drive poster’s text as it is bold and in about the same position; at the
bottom and not covering any key part of the image. I have also picked an unusual font which supports
the conventions of a poster, this gives the poster an individuality. Although I did I challenged the typical
bright coloured title as I felt it wouldn’t have suited my dark, foreboding poster because it would have
added colour to what I wanted to be dark and haunting.

5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Poster Campaign –
I continued my research and felt particularly drawn to the
poster for this detective film, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
It’s a brilliant film as well as having a superb advertising
campaign.
• Set out: All the text is at the bottom of the
page, conforming to conventions. This allows the
image to be the focal point of the poster. The image
grabs the audiences attention as it’s intriguing yet
clear. The poster also contains studio logos.
• Text: The text is simple yet bold and eye
catching, they haven’t overcomplicated it which I
think is key to success. The designers have used one
font for the title and the actors and another for
information about the film and the strapline.
This poster has taught be to innovative with my
image, not to always used a simple image but change and
make it interesting. It has also shown me keep the text
simple and readable, there is a risk of making your poster
too complicated.

6. I decided to not just use a simple image like the Drive poster but to make the main image more
interesting and create an interesting element. My image is six images of my main character
layered over one another, this has created a dark and haunting atmosphere to my poster. My
image still conforms to typical film poster convention as it’s a bold eye catching image.
I drew
influence from
this poster’s
use of the
studio
logos, Drive’s
poster didn’t
contain any
logos but I felt
this was key as
it gave it an
authentic feel.
Similarly to the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster my title is at the bottom and stands out from
the rest of the poster. Although it does not completely conform to the typical convention of
having a eye catching coloured title as I felt this would ruin the dark/haunting atmosphere.

7. Safe House (2012) Poster Campaign –
This poster caught my attention because of the huge
image, this was the main reasons I decided to use a
large image for my poster.
• Set out: Nearly all the text is at the bottom of
the page apart from the strapline. This creates a
focus not only on the image but the strapline
too. The split of images portrays opposing
sides, supported by the strapline ‘No one is
safe’. All in black and white, which I think is
very effective and hope to create something
similar. The use of black and white means that
bold text stands out.
• Text: Similarly to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy the
text is white and red standing out against the
black image. Although the text is evident, it is
minimal. The designers have kept it simple. The
date is in a different font to the rest, this means
it stands out against the other parts of the text.

8. Similarly to the Safe House poster, I decided on have a full face image. My main image taking up all
of the poster, unlike the Safe House poster where it is split in half. I decided against this as this is
used to show division in Safe House but my film is personal and focuses primarily on a single
character.
This poster
influenced my
choice of colour
(or lack of it) in
my poster. The
b&w theme is
meant to echo
the dark tone of
the film. The mix
of images and
layered effect to
highlight
torment, then
emphasised with
deep shades and
dark tones.
This poster made me positive that I needed the date
Text at the bottom of the poster and bold
and it needed to be evident, not tucked away. I used
but subtle, both similar as they basically
what seems to be the same font used on the Safe
take up the same amount on the poster.
House poster (Helvetica), this is a generic serif font.
They both standout against the B&W image.
Although I felt as though mine suited at the top
better as it stood out but did not distract.

9. Shame (2011) Poster Campaign
This posters screams with metaphors. It fights against
typical poster conventions; it has no central image
instead an empty bed with countless interpretations to
it’s representation.
• Set out: Unlike any other poster I have looked at
the title for this film is centered. This poster is
able to do this as there is no focal point in the
image. This contrasts with typical conventions
but works for this poster. Similarly to other poster
the rest of the text is at the bottom of the screen.
• Text: Although the title is understated it is
evident. It has been placed in the middle of the
poster to create a central focus as there is none
from the image. At the bottom, the text has been
kept simple with only the director’s name in red.
This has been done as he’s a prestigious director
and some viewers would watch his film purely
because of this. The awards are also shown at the
bottom in white.

10. The text on both posters is white and simplistic. There is nothing complicated about the
posters. I decided to copy the Shame’s poster’s approach to text as I felt it was
effective, especially against dark backgrounds like the two below.
Similarly both
posters have
their
production/dis
tribution
companies
lined up
against the
bottom of the
poster.
Both images are uncomplicated but The injection and contrast of colour is evident in both posters.
ambiguous. My layered images, create a dark Although different in my poster it is the date that is in a different
atmosphere implying a deeper meaning and colour but in the Shame poster it is the directors name. I decided
the Shame poster is completely open to against this as I’m not a famous director and felt the release date
interpretations. was vital to the success

11. Followed Conventions
I feel as though my poster has stuck to most of the key conventions that I have identified
during my research process. Out of the five I had identified I felt that I successfully had a:
– “A large title which attracts the eye, unique text that stands out from the
background” I felt as though my title stood out, the white contrasts with
the dark image creating a focal point. The text is also unique and I doubt
anyone will have seen it before.
– “Intriguing picture which would attract viewers to the film, a bold image
and interesting image” I felt as though I definitely ticked this box. I was
extremely pleased with my image used on my poster. It’s powerful and
definitely bold and interesting.
– “An example of how different types of film (e.g. comedy, horror) poster use
these forms and conventions to attract a certain type of person (e.g.
teenagers, horror fans) would be a really scary horror film, which will use
eerie images in order to appeal to horror fans” I feel as though my poster
would attract my audience as it’s different. My audience as I stated on my
blog were people that enjoyed art house/indie films, this poster is different
to most posters and would attract this target market because of it’s arty
perspective.

12. Challenges Conventions
I decided to challenge a few conventions that are usually active in film posters, I did this
as I felt they would over complicate my poster. I’ll try to explain my madness below, the
conventions that I identified but avoided were:
• “Persuasive language which might persuade the viewers to go and see the film” I
didn’t want to over complicate this poster as the face in the image takes up near
to all of the picture. I felt if I tried to place a quote on there somewhere is could
take the focal point away from the strong image. I kept it simple and trusted the
fact that the picture was a strong enough attraction!
• “Using the main character’s name for promotion, and the certification will ensure
that the right type of people are watching the film” I felt this was an unnecessary
use of space as realistically if this was released no-one would want to see the
actors used. It was also once again just another complication. I felt that if I had
added the names above the title they would have began to invade the full view of
the face and this was something that I really didn’t want to happen!