Poster Research

 

BLUE VALENTINE

This poster for 'Blue Valentine' works for a number of reasons. Firstly, the colour blue is an obvious part of the image and works with the title. The dark blue lighting reflects the solemn mood of the film whilst also connoting to images of youthful glamorised San Francisco nightlife. The couple pictured look young and exciting, and their body language suggests passionate romance.

The title is simple and white. The font used almost looks like handwriting, which perhaps hints to a young couple who are still immature and have a childish relationship. The title is also very large so shows the audience what the film is called straight away. The love-heart shaped 'V' for valentine and the tagline 'A LOVE STORY' make certain the audience cannot miss the genre and idea of the film.

However, although the poster clearly shows the film is about a romantic relationship, the poster does not give away too much. This could be seen as a positive because the audience is left wondering what happens in the film, but also as a negative because the poster is somewhat misleading in the fact that the audience may not expect the film to contain violence and the deterioration of a relationship, which it does.

Across the top of the poster it says 'accademy award nominee  - best actress - Michelle Williams'. This is obviously to show the audience that the main actress is worth watching, and thus attempt to persuade them to go and see the film. Ryan Gosling is also an obvious attraction, predominantly to the female members of the audience due to his good looks.

The positive quote at the bottom of the poster reads A FILM BY DEREK CIANFRANCE, THE MOST PROVOCATIVE FILM OF THE YEAR'. Although this does not actually seem to mean very much, it does it's job in getting the audience to the cinema to see the film.

DEAR JOHN

This poster for dear John is similar to the poster for 'Blue Valenine' in the way that the image is obviously of a couple which insinuates that the film is largely about their romance. However, the setting of the photograph is different. The couple are on a beach and the lighting is very bright, with beautiful scenery in the background. This gets across a different mood than the Blue Valentine poster. A more happy and springy mood, however the couple's body language is slightly less passionate but in a way, more loving.

The title 'DEAR JOHN' is in capital letters and a simple font. The colours white and orange work because they are warm and stand out from he dark colours of Channing Tatum's hoodie. The tagline underneath the title reads 'What would you do with a letter than changed everything?' although the writing is rather small, it is in white so captures the audience's attention and is a rhetorical question so makes them think about it. The credits are in small orange font, which means they do not stand out too much and retract attention from the poster.  However, the word 'FEBRUARY' is in bold white print so that the viewer notices it. This is important because it will stick in the viewer's mind and they will remember when the film will be shown in cinemas and perhaps make them more excited to see it. Above the title it sas 'From Nicholas Sparks, best-selling auhor of THE NOTEBOOK'. 'The Notebook' is capitalised because it was a very successful and well-known book and film which the target audience of this film will probably have seen, as the films are of the same genre and directed at the same sort of audience.

LOVE HAPPENS

The poster for 'Love Happens' is very similar for the poster for 'Revolutionary Road'. The image is in the centre of the poster, slightly towards the top, and shows an intimate picture of the couple touching noses (how sweet). The colours in the picture are mainly greens whites and yellows, so bright and airy (very similar to the colours of 'Dear John'). The colours represent organic sunshine and happiness, and get across the notion that the film is clearly about the romance between the couple depicted.

The credits 'Aaron Eckhart' and 'Jennifer Aniston' are in green font against a white bar at the top o he poster which makes them stand out. They are deliberately bold and stand out from the rest of the poster because the names will generally make the audience want to see the film as they are famous actors. The title is also in the same green and the same font, but slightly bigger than the actor's names.

B.M