The document discusses and compares film posters for short films and mainstream films. It analyzes posters for three short films: "George Lucas in Love", "I'm Here", and "Across the Hall". It finds that while short film posters use similar conventions like credits and focusing on main characters, they tend to have a less professional, theatrical look than mainstream posters. A comparison poster is also analyzed, showing how mainstream thriller posters more boldly reflect their genre through techniques like close-ups, threats, and distorted images that build suspense. Overall, the document examines how film posters represent and market films at different scales.

1. Film Posters
By Anna Ryan

2. George Lucas in Love
This short film is about a writer who has writer’s block and everywhere he goes, the audience sees
people around him who resemble Star Wars characters. Eventually, he meets a woman who helps
him with his writer’s block. It disappears but he faces devastation as the girl he loves is actually his
sister.
This film poster clearly reflects that as it includes Lucas as
the bigger picture on the poster. His love interest in smaller
than him but bigger than others, suggesting she’s also a
main character, and the person he falls in love with. This is
typical of film posters to have the bigger the image, the
bigger the character in the film.
Furthermore, the poster here is based a lot on Star Wars,
therefore it reflects the original star wars poster with the
idea of just the main character’s heads.
Photography hasn’t been used on the poster as the
characters have been drawn, but this may signify that the
film is a short film, as it doesn’t have the impressive
photography major, mainstream films have.
However, the poster does have a professional look, as the
name of the film and credits are features at the bottom of
the poster, typical with mainstream film posters. Also, light
is drawn on the poster to give the impression that the actors
have been photographed and not just drawn, which gives
the poster a quirky, different edge, reflecting on short films
in general as they’re often quirky and original. This poster’s
main goal may have been to look original, as it means
people are more likely to watch it.
Furthermore, typical of Sci-Fi film posters, there is a
lurking threat in the corners of both posters. This
Suggests that the short film is Sci-Fi,
like Star Wars.
Lastly, the background colour is
brown which is softer than blue, and
reflects ‘Shakespeare in Love’ as that
has a red background. This suggests
it’s a love story.

3. I’m Here
I’m Here is a love story set in a world when robots and humans co-exist. It’s about two
robots. One of the robots keeps losing parts of herself and, in order to make her whole again,
the other robot gives her parts of himself. For example, when she loses an arm.
The poster reflects that it is a love story, as it shows two people (Or in this case, robots) sat
on a hill in the sunset. The lighting is soft and peaceful. This already looks like a romantic
setting, which would attract people who enjoy watching that genre.
The poster looks professional as it includes features of major mainstream film posters,
such as the credits at the bottom of the poster.
The couple in the short film are the main focus of this poster, despite the title, as it
suggests that it’s going to show their story, typical of romantic film posters. The position
of the characters suggest that he is protecting her, as he is behind her, which reflects the
romance genre. This is also viewable in ‘Dear John’, another romantic film. The poster
focuses only on the two main characters, despite there being other characters within the
short film. Usually, romance film posters only focus on the two main characters. The film
title is simple and large, which doesn’t draw too much attention to it, allowing the
audience to focus on the characters in the film posters. This technique is also shown in the
examples below, which also belong to the romance genre of film.
Soft colours are used throughout the poster, reflecting on the genre of the film as romance
Posters tend to use soft pastel
colours, showing the lightness
and softness of the film. In this
poster, the characters are in the
sun, which reflects on how happy
they feel when they are together.

4. Across The Hall
Across The Hall is a short film about a man who follows his unfaithful wife to a hotel,
where he aims a gun at her. He phones his best friend who has to make his way there.
The film is a thriller, which is reflected in the film poster as well as the plot. The
poster shows low key lighting, which gives an eerie feel to the poster, giving the
audience the suspicion that the film is not for the light hearted.
It includes a medium shot of half a man, his head turned to the right, behind a wall.
This gives the impression that he’s hiding, therefore he doesn’t want to be seen, which
can be typical of Thriller genres from time to time. This suggests that something’s
going to happen, therefore giving suspense. This is shown in the Donnie Darko poster
below, despite looking different, the conventions of the thriller poster are the same, for
example, the lighting.
The film poster includes a large title which is clear and easy to see. It reflects on the
genre as thriller films are usually big and cause an impact, like the title on the posters.
There is a caption: ‘room 503, non-smoking, checkout at noon’ which gives an
implication of what the film might be about. Most thriller film posters include a
caption, as it creates suspense and makes the audience
Want to watch it to find out what happens. In this
sense, the caption isn’t very exciting and doesn’t
bu8ild suspense as normal thriller film posters
would, showing it as an amateur short film. Typical
of all film posters, it includes the names of the
actors in it and credits at the bottom. This gives the
film poster a professional look, despite it simple
being an armature short film.

5. Comparison
The first major different between these two
posters is that the mainstream movie poster is far
more theatrical than the short film poster. The
colours are bolder and the photography looks
more professional. The movie poster reflects the
genre of thriller more than the short film poster.
This is shown by the photography. Like in the
example below, the poster includes close ups of
the main characters in the film. It also shows
another character the at the bottom of the poster,
suggesting that this could be a threat, as he seems
to be emerging from the darkness. This gives
suspense, as a thriller film would too.
Both film posters include names of the actors at the top, but the poster on the right looks more professional as it shows the names equally spaced out. The
names on the left of the poster look crowded in comparison. The medium shot of the main character show him hiding behind a door, which gives
suspense as it raises the question: ‘What is he hiding from?’ This would make his audience who likes thriller films want to watch it and find out what
happened.

6. Comparison - Continued
The conventions of mainstream posters and short
film posters remain the same. As well as the
actor’s names positioned at the top, both posters
also include credits at the bottom. The
mainstream poster’s credits are smaller and look
tidier than the short film’s credits. Furthermore,
the mainstream movie has more sponsors than
the short film confirming that it is in a fact a
short film, as it has more credibility.
As the poster on the right is more bold, it would
appeal to people who enjoy thriller films. Even
thought the poster on the left would too, it
wouldn’t appeal on such a large scale as the other
poster. It would appeal to other people creating
short films and people who see film-making
potential. The film poster on the right is about
marketing, whereas the film poster on the left is
about marketing on a smaller scale. It doesn’t
have to compete with millions of other films at
the box office, only other short films.
The film poster on the right looks distorted
compared to the film poster on the left. It
includes doors falling left, giving the impression
that things aren’t exactly what they seem. And
shadows behind the obvious threat, suggesting
New threats are yet to come, which can happen frequently within thriller films. The short film poster also gives this impression, but more subtly with the
almost shadow of the man approaching the door, appealing to it’s audience which wouldn’t care so much about theatrical film posters, but who cares
about thriller movies, as it reflects that genre.