My unique selling point (USP) will be the stars of the film. Many films sell themselves on the plot like, “Hulk” and the “Harry Potter” series. But, some films whose plot isn’t strong enough to catch the attention of some people are promoted on the basis of their characters. “How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days” for example, doesn’t have a particularly interesting plot but it has popular stars, which would attract people to see the film. From this I have decided that someone really famous that teenagers and young women like will star in my film; for example, Hugh Grant or Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts or Reese Witherspoon.
When creating my poster I have to consider issues such as the enigma, connotations and narrative image. I think my poster should have a pink background, which represents femininity and should have shades of red which connote passion and love, which are themes in the story I am developing. All films have an enigma, which is an unanswered question. Take ‘Jaws’ for example, the enigma here is “Will they ever kill the shark?” or in ‘Junior’ it would be “Why is the man pregnant?” I have thought about an enigma that would be raised in my poster, I think a lot of unanswered questions would be thought of when watching my film such as “will she ever get back with her boyfriend?” or “will she and her mother become friends again?”
I have chosen to analyse certain existing texts to get a sense of appropriate media language and generic conventions. Firstly “A Walk To Remember” as it is also a romantic comedy and has similar qualities. The poster has a white background, which represents purity and virginity. The title is written at the bottom of the page in white writing with a blue background. To me, the contrast of the white against the blue is immediately striking. This then makes you read the title, which creates the enigma of “What do they mean by a walk to remember?” This may persuade someone to see the film. I think this would be a good idea for me to do, as I don’t think the film will be sold on its plot alone. The poster also includes comments from the press and the stars’ names-Mandy Moore and Shane West- written in big bold letters. The stars are set in opposition to each other. The girl looks innocent and a little seductive whereas the boy looks serious and slightly cocky. This is a good idea and would make people want to see it to find out what happens between them.
As well as researching into other film posters I created a questionnaire and asked people who are the target audience to fill it out. 60% tend to go to see a horror or comedy at the cinema and usually go between once a fortnight to once a month. The people who filled out the questionnaire said that the stars of a film usually persuade them to see it, which is helpful to me, as I now know I have to choose my actors and actresses very carefully. They also said that they found posters and cinema trailers the most effective ways of advertising, which also helps me and shows me that I need to make the poster so it tells the audience what the film is about and persuades them to see the film but doesn’t give the plot away. I also thought about making a CD soundtrack cover and included a question about this in my questionnaire, because the results say that people who have enjoyed the film have often bought the soundtrack. I have to think about the colours of the poster very carefully. Using a red or black background is unsuitable for my poster as these colours connote blood or horror. Colours like blue, pink and white connote purity and femininity, which is suitable for my poster as it is going to be used as a text which promotes a Romantic Comedy.
I now have to think about what I am going to include on my poster. A blue or pink background would be the most suitable for my poster as my film is about the life of a woman. An image of the woman would be useful, as from my audience research I have discovered that the actors and actresses are what appeal to my constructed audience group. Also an image of her boyfriend positiones on the other side that would create an enigma of “what has happened between them?” when people look at the poster. The title would be big bold letters possibly in white, which would be a contrast to the blue or pink background. I will also include the certificate: 12A, a list of the other actors and actresses in the film and the release date of the film which would be big so that people will notice it when looking at the poster.
I intend to create three sketches of posters by half term and to have chosen one by the end of half term. After half term I will start taking pictures and scanning them onto the computer by the middle of November. By Christmas I will have created a rough and final draft of my posters. Then my Evaluation will be completed by the end of January. I will be using my own camcorder to take the pictures as it has a memory card to save images on. These will look better than normal camera pictures - which you would have to scan – because the quality of them is better and all you have to do is plug the camcorder into the USB port and transfer the files. However, if my camcorder is not compatible with the computers at my college I will borrow a digital camera from college and use that to take my pictures.
