3. The film poster for action/thriller film ‘Next’ contains transparent images which gives a mysterious edge to the
poster. I used this transparency technique convention from an existing media text on my own film poster to help
portray my ‘dead girl’ as a ghostly figure and help to enhance the horror genre of the poster. I really like the
transparency effect as it also means initial attention to the poster is drawn to my leading male character before
then being drawn to the dead girl who is partially transparent, adding to the whole idea that the audience will
identify with the male character and feel like the dead girl is stalking them/him.
The position of the title and steel style colouring has been taken from the film poster for ‘Next’ – the title is also the
biggest text on my poster, just as it is on the ‘Next’ poster, sticking to media text convention.
Just as the film poster for ‘Next’ has included a website address for their film, I have also included a website address
for my film on the poster. The address is positioned in roughly the same place, however mine is slightly larger than
the one on the ‘Next’ poster.
4.
5. I have developed the idea of containing a landscape style background on the poster. On the poster ‘Next’ the
background landscape image is of an explosion and is positioned on the left hand side of the poster, with the actors
positioned beside it and faded slightly into it. I have developed this by using my own ‘crime wall’ landscape
background in the centre of my poster and placing my actors over the top of it (one on the left and one on the
right). I really like the effect having a landscape background has on the poster, as it tells more of the narrative of the
film and appears more appealing than just purely having images of actors on the poster.
Just as the media text of the ‘Next’ film poster includes the names of the principal cast members on the poster, so
have I. The positioning and size of the cast names has varied between the two posters, with the ‘Next’ poster
placing the cast names at the top of the poster and myself placing the cast names in the bottom corners of my
poster in an attempt to frame the rest of the poster. Having cast names included on a poster is conventional of a
film poster as it may attract an audience based on who is acting in the film.
Most film posters include credits in a Steel Tongs font at the bottom of them; my poster and the poster of the film
‘Next’ are no exception to this convention. I have developed the credits on my poster by having them in a dark grey
colour in an attempt to blend them into the background of my poster, this is different to the credits on ‘Next’ as
they are white and stand out boldly from the background. I have also included the release date of the film in the
centre of the film credits in a red font which the media text I have been comparing my work to has not.
6.
7. My film poster tagline is placed at the top of my poster in the same steel style colouring and font style as my film
title, this is challenging the convention on the film poster ‘Next’, as that real media text has changed the colour and
boldness of the text between the tagline and title and the tagline is located, tiny, beneath the title of the film. I
really liked the concept of having the tagline and title in the same font colouring and style so that they can easily be
identified as the tagline and title and draw your eyes to them both.
The entire colour scheme of my poster and the ‘Next’ film poster are completely different, this is mainly because
they are representing different genres. The ‘Next’ poster is depicting a thriller/action film and it is convention for
such a genre of film to have a blue tint on its imagery, whereas this is not so conventional in the horror genre.
Convention in the genre of horror is to have dark imagery containing colours such as greys, blacks and reds – which I
have included in my poster through reducing the brightness of the images on Photoshop and through the colours of
my character’s costumes and the ‘crime wall’ background. This colour difference is a complete challenge to the
media text I have been basing my work upon, however it is not such a challenge to the typical conventions of a
horror film poster.
I have challenged the convention of the real media text I have been analysing by adding a reflection to my film title
text, which is not found in the real media text. I added this reflection because I believed it made the text look more
creepy as reflections are always used as tools within the horror genre to show creepy things hiding behind
unsuspecting and vulnerable characters – I also have a reflection of my dead girl in a mirror behind my male
character, further subtly linking my poster to my trailer.