Initial Research Into Film Posters - Luke

 

 

This is the poster for the 2011 Nicolas Winding Refn film Drive starring Ryan Gosling.  It clearly pictures Gosling in front of a car holding onto a bag which already poses the question ‘what’s in the bag and why is he holding it?’ (Barthes’ enigma code).The contrasting purple and white of Ryan Gosling and Drive really stand out well against each other and show the film’s simplicity, although the loopy writing for the actor might suggest this is a 'softer' film than the tagline suggests and will also be very female-friendly thanks to Gosling's appeal. The blurred out streets against the in focus Gosling and car work really well in this poster because it draws your eyes to the centre whilst being aware of the surroundings. The whole poster gives nothing away from the film but maintains its focus on the appeal of the main character and actor with the straight forward title and tag line ‘GET IN. GET OUT. GET AWAY.’ This suggests that he will carry out some kind of undercover activity and then need to get away as fast as possible. When you piece the poster together the audience can guess that Ryan Gosling drives the car, due to the driving gloves and simple title, also the snippet from a review helps to persuade someone to watch the film ‘blood pumping thrill ride’ sounds exciting and immediately catches your attention. The reason I like this poster is just because it’s straight forward and stylish through the imagery down to the clothing on Ryan Gosling. It all contrasts well against each other and has an interesting tag line.



 

 

This poster is for the 2012 comedy called ’21 Jump Street’ which is a reboot of a T.V show by the same name from the 1980’s. In the centre of the poster we see the title of the movie in big lettering with ‘JUMP’ boldly standing out as a red against the white background and lettering. The two stars names are positioned above the title, Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, with them positioned behind it. This poster works well for its genre because of the tag-line ‘The only thing getting blown tonight is their cover.’ It creates a sense of humour that is seen through many of Jonah Hill’s films so it already attracts his audience. The fact there is a ‘Senior Prom’ banner behind them goes well with the tag-line and also creates humour as the two main characters are holding guns, which is not usually seen at a prom.  I like this poster because it tells you a little about the story but not too much and shows recognisable cast members with a funny tag-line. There is also a slightly old-fashioned, retro feel from the styling of the poster to the white suits, which reflects the 80s inspiration.



 

 

This is a poster for the 2008 Kevin Smith movie ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’. This is the more controversial poster for this movie because at the time it had to be pulled down off billboards and many other advertisement spots as it depicts the two characters performing the act of oral sex on one another. I believe this should not have been removed as it fits well with the title of the movie ‘...Make a Porno’ and is not explicit at all - children would not understand the inference, for example. However, the controversy was also helpful to the film and helped position it as a must-see because it had become well-known. On the down side, the banning also made the film seem to be pushing more boundaries than it actually was. This shows how promotional campaigns are key to a film's success and can be tricky to manage.

It’s a very basic poster which shows two recognisable faces both from previous Judd Apatow film fame, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and creates comedy through the lewd act and almost explicit but funny title. I have also included the poster they were forced to create after the banning of its original as it still advertises the humour and movie well but is made just to annoy the film board. The hand drawn stick men depict Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in front of a camera with the long ‘tag-line’ ‘Seth Rogen & Elizabeth Banks made a movie so titillating we can only show you this drawing.’ This is clearly in response to the decision to remove said other poster and creates humour this way whilst posing the question to a new audience ‘what is it we can’t see?’ It fits well with its genre of comedy and I like it because it is clearly made out of in a playful spirit of mockery towards the film board but still manages to stay funny. It also illustrates a media truth that banning something often only serves to make it more popular and to bring it to the attention of people who might not otherwise have seen it.



 

Teaser and Theatrical Posters - Comparison

 

 

This is the first teaser poster for the big summer blockbuster movie ‘The Avengers’ which was in the UK later changed to ‘Avengers Assemble’ to cause no confusion between the Marvel universe and the old 70’s T.V show. It doesn’t show a lot except that it will ‘ASSEMBLE 2012’ which gives the presumption it will be released in 2012. It’s very much a teaser poster as if you are not a comic book reader you would not recognise the Avengers symbol but it’s most well known to the comic world and a way outsiders could make the connection is via the Marvel logo in the bottom corner. This poster was probably released while the film was still in production and therefore there were no images available.

The next poster is the full theatrical poster for ‘The Avengers’. Now the symbol is explained and used both for the title and for the released date as the ‘a’ in May. The differences between a teaser poster and a full theatrical poster which can be seen in this poster are that there is a full list of casting credits and actual characters from the movie in action shots, and indications of the classic superhero narrative. The choice of different action shots and a city which is falling around the characters fits with the genre of superhero/action movie and suggests that this film will stay true to the spirit of classic comic book superheroes. It has the cast assembled close to each other which links to the teaser, ASSEMBLE, and emphasises the main selling point of this film – the bringing together of several popular characters into one narrative. The main actors are recognisable to capture the audience that aren’t interested in comics but still can enjoy performances from Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L Jackson etc. The logo and release date are both featured in the theatrical poster as this is not known during the teaser poster stage.