PLANNING YOUR OWN PRINT PRODUCT: FILM POSTER

In order to assess how well you have understood the concept of genre and audience appeal in print media, you are going to be designing and producing your own film poster for a genre of your choice. You will be assessed on two areas:

1. How well you communicate the genre through your choice of images (inc camera shots and angles), fonts, colours and genre signifiers
2. How well you appeal to a specific targeted audience

Before designing your media text you need to answer the following questions:
1. What are the purpose of film posters?
2. What makes an effective film poster?

Bearing those points in mind, you should now start planning your text, answer the following questions to help you with your planning:

1. What genre is your film poster going to be advertising?
2. What is the name of the film?
3. What age certificate is it?
4. Who is starring in the film?
5. What films is your film similar to?
6. Who are the target audience (be as specific as possible)?
7. What gratifications will the film offer the audience (why would the audience enjoy watching it?)
8. What three main colours are you going to use on the poster? Why?
9. What type of fonts are you going to use? Why?
10.How are you going to grab people’s attention through your design?

Shot Types

AUDIENCE GRATIFICATIONS

The term gratification refers to the enjoyment which audience get from a particular media text. When thinking about film different genres of films offer audiences different gratifications. Think about what pleasures the following genres offer their audiences:

Romance
Horror

Comedy
Action
Family
Thriller
Sci-Fi

Analysis of Film Posters

In today's lesson you will be using the guidelines in the post below to analyse two of the following film posters. Remember you must cover all of the points on the guidance sheet, and include all of the terminology on the sheet.

Mark Scheme- The marks are split between these four areas:

Analysis

Terminology

Representation

Institution

A*/A- Your analysis is detailed and confident and clearly idenitifies the genre signifiers in the film poster as well as the audience appeal. The target audience is clearly identified with evidence to support this, and the gratifications which the film offers are discussed. You have talked about how the design of the poster grabs audiences' attention and communicates the genre. Your use of media language is detailed throughout the analysis. You have talked about how the poster respresents the genre of the film, and how gender is represented. You have clearly identified the production company and explained how this impacts on the production values of the poster.

B/C- Your analysis identifies the genre signifiers and explains how it appeals to audiences. The target audience is mentioned with some understanding of the gratifications which the text offers. You have talked about how the design of the poster grabs audiences' attention and communicates the genre. You generally use media language in your analysis. You have attempted to talk about how a group is represented. You have identified the production company and explained whether it is a major studio or an independent.

D/E - Your analysis points out some genre signifiers and explains who you think the target audience are. You have made some points about how the poster appeals to the audience, and a have tried to identify the target audience. There is some media language however this is limited. There are not any points about how groups are represented, or which company produced the film.

Analysing a Film Poster- Guidelines

Key points to discuss:

· The use of colour (what are the connotations of the different colours on the poster?)
· The use of fonts (connotations)
· The use of props (what do the objects signify?)
· How can you tell who the target audience are for the film?
· Audience appeal (what gratifications are offered to the audience in this poster- why would they want to come and see this film?)
· What are the genre signifiers? (How can you identify the genre of the film)
· The use and position of actors (what genre do they usually work in? Where are they looking and why? What are they wearing, why are they wearing these clothes?) How do these actors represent their gender- are there any stereotypes in this poster? Why?
· Facial expressions (what do the facial expressions signify about the characters?)
· The use of company logos- who produced the film, are they a major studio or a small independent studio (this will dictate how much money they would have had to put into producing the film poster)
· The title of the film (what does this suggest about the film?)

Key Media Terminology to include:
· Connotations
· Signifies
· Genre signifiers
· Audience pleasures
· Audience gratifications

Analysing Film Websites

Aim- To understand how film websites:

1. Communicate the genre of the film and

2. Engage the audience and make them want to see the film

Assessment Criteria

1. Skilled use of MEDIA LANGUAGE/TERMINOLOGY

2. Using EVIDENCE from the media text to support your analysis

Bigger Picture- this will improve your analytical skills and communication skills to allow you to improve the quality of your media coursework (and support you in reaching the next level in your work)

Websites to analyse:

1. Fast and Furious 5 (http://www.fastfivemovie.com/)

2. Toy Story 3 (http://disney.go.com/toystory/)

3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

(http://www.tinker-tailor-soldier-spy.com)

KEY MEDIA WORDS TO INCLUDE:

A*/A Grade- Signifies, target audience, audience gratifications, connotations, audience profile/demographic, represents, genre signifiers

B/C Grade- Signifies, target audience, audience pleasures, connotations

D/E Grade- Target audience, connotations, genre

Written Task:

Write two paragraphs explaining how the website which you analysed communicates the genre to the audience and entices the audience into wanting to watch the film

A*/A Grade- Analysis is detailed and uses a variety of specific media language, points are supported by detailed reference to the media text.

B/C Grade- Analysis uses some media specific language and refers to the text to back up their points and provide evidence.

D/E Grade- Analysis has little media specific language and rarely refers to the text to support points made.

Analysing Film Trailers

Analysing Film Trailers

Film trailers encode their texts with signifiers so the audience will know what type of film it is in a short space of time. You are now going to watch a selection of film trailers and explain how they have been encoded to communicates the genre. You should make notes as you watch them, then write a paragraph explaining how you know what genre the trailer belongs to. Remember to use the word genre signifier throughout. You should think about:

1. Music
2. Setting/location
3. Costumes
4. Props
5. Pace of edit (how fast the shots are put together)
6. Shot selection (what type of shots are in the trailer)