Erol Jacob Oscar Advanced Portfolio

Wednesday, 9 November 2016

Snatch is a UK independent Guy Ritchie Film which was released almost 17 years ago, Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond. So without hesitation lets get started.
The First thing I noticed is the Hazardous sign next to the title, I suppose the sign could be interpreted as danger which would go very well with the whole plot and how dangerous the diamond is for all characters in the story.
There is a way we can tell the story is to do with diamonds. Cockney slang is used in a phrase underneath the title, "stealin' stones and breakin' bones" stones rhymes with bones so the use in this phrase makes it flow nicely but it also links perfectly with the plot of Snatch as stones means diamonds and breaking bones means hurting people which is basically the synopsis of the film.
'Snatch' is all in lower case which is unique in titles making it noticeable and eye catching to the public but it also seems quite laid back which in a way suits the film. Snatch is cockney for stole therefore links with the film very well and I also like the fact its connected to the hazardous sign as if its implying 'steal this diamond at your own risk' its a nice touch.
Now lets move onto the people on this poster. They cover the majority of the Poster itself and have a nice dark red tint over them which can be a representation of blood, violence and anger. Their facial expressions are all scrunched up and looking menacing and 'hard'. They all have modern day jackets or coats on allowing you to realise its set during the modern day. I would also like to mention how they have identification above them, this and the plain white background creates the effect that they're criminals being identified in a police line up.
There is a nice quote from The Sun saying "movie of the year" this is very important for sales as the sun is a popular newspaper in Britain and this type of reference on the film will be very beneficial for Snatch.
Several aspects of mise-en-scene tell us about the characters personality and time period. The costumes on the characters tell us its set in the modern day and suits with long coats combined with the facial expressions looking fearce and hard is a clear indication that these are gangsters. If we join this with the title and quote beneath the title we know that these are british gangsters further helping us understand the origin of this movie.
When you link everything together the genre of the film starts to become clear, yes its a form of thriller but the title and the sign are slightly comedic, also the quote "stealin' stones and breakin' bones" is almost humorous if you think about it, but thats not an error, thats intended, the film is exactly that, an action packed thriller with a lot of very funny aspects, making it a very good and enjoyable film.

Stardust is a UK independent Matthew Vaughn film which was released in two thousand and seven almost ten years ago.
Its very hard to write about the synopsis of Stardust without writing half a page due to the load of things going on but its basically about a fallen star which turns out to be a person and a man who falls in love with her whilst those who want to kill her or take something from her pursue them. There is a lot going on in this poster so without further ado lets dive in.

The first thing I see is the women in the top right corner, she has the facial expression of a mysterious and sexy women whilst staring seductively at the viewer. This is a perfect example of sex appeal or as I like to call it eye candy.
Although many would argue saying this is bad publicity and representing women in a sexual way is wrong you can't say it isn't effective.
Lets move more central where we begin to see the two main characters, the reason how I know they are the main characters is simply because they are central of the poster which is stereotypical of many posters, also I've seen the film. Another way you can tell they are the main characters is through the fading sun in the background. It acts as a spotlight highlighting the two characters whilst the other characters are circled in shade.
The sun is also a star which links nicely with the title 'Stardust' and the sun is fading which is a foreshadow to the film itself and what begins to happen to the star.
The costumes are unusual, they don't look like the type of outfits people in any of the historic ages would wear especially Ricky Gervais' costume concluding the audience into thinking this must be an alternative world or reality.
The lighting on the poster of the sun and the darkness around it is as if the light is consuming the two main characters, this along with the gold stardust title below and sparkle indicates a romantic film. We are not done there, sword props, pirate ship in far left (which we will get too) and fantasy characters makes this a romantic fantasy.
Facial expressions and body language are different on each character with the main protagonist in the middle turning his head whilst facing the girl in the middle shows hes protecting her along with the pirate looking fierce etc...
Now its time to talk about sales and a sneaky input on the poster which would increase sales.
These will be the use of Ricky Gervais in the poster and the size of Robert De Nero's picture.
Ricky Gervais is only in Stardust for around five minutes, its a hilarious scene but does it change the story? Does it impact another character significantly? The answer to both those questions are no therefore he doesn't really deserve a spot on the poster. Those who haven't seen the film yet don't know this and using Ricky Gervais on the poster is very good for publicity as he's very popular.
Robert De Nero deserves a place on the poster as he has a big role in this but he should swap places with Mark Strong as Mark's character had more screen time and was quite important yet he is on the far right of the poster looking rather small.
Robert De Niro is an iconic actor who is known for his roles in films like 'Good Fellas', 'Heat' and 'The GodFather' so being in a romantic fantasy is a very alternative role for him attracting not only his personal fans but those curious to see him in this type of film this will bring in a lot of revenue and is very smart of the poster publishers. I must say he is brilliant in Stardust.
Stardust also has a little quote below the title saying "this summer a star falls. The chase begins" which is exactly what the film is about.

In conclusion stardust has a detailed and good poster with some good techniques to make the poster shine as much as the film intended too and I must admit the film is an underrated gem and a must watch.

2 UK independent Films

Short film poster analysis

Mixtape

Something which is noticeable right away with this short film poster is obviously the brightly coloured, yellow background. The simplistic design of the poster could be representing the era at which the mixtape would have been used - up until the 90's era. Perhaps this is why the graphic designer chose to use a bold background colour alongside bold white text. Mixtapes were normally homemade by people themselves and this poster gives the same impression that it was 'homemade' which is what I think they were trying to achieve.
Furthermore the text is right at the top of the poster so it would normally be the first thing a consumer would see, the singular word 'mixtape' alone is enough to give you a clue about the narrative of the film. The typeface is bold much like this poster itself, it is chunky and takes up a large proportion of the poster; this helps to show the audience what the title is at first glance.
The main image itself of a mixtape is iconic, simplistic and is central in positioning of the poster, which shows the importance of the image to the relevance of the title and poster. The layout of the poster seems to be full of space, this would would have been a decision by the graphic designer and director due to the space adding a simple but bold design.
Below the picture of the mixtape are the name of the actors with their surnames capitalized, this shows importance of their names and perhaps the director thought that this would attract more people to know the actors names, perhaps they thought people would be more likely to watch it.
Below the actors names are awards which have been given to the film. The iconic virgin logo would be something which their audience would recognise, which most likely would encourage people to go see their film. Alongside another iconic logo, which states that this film was 'nominated best short film', this is another attribute of the poster which would likely persuade people to go see their film.
At the top of this poster there are other types of awards, such as 'best short film' and grand prize winners'. Having these types of awards right at the top of the poster shows that it was important to them that they included these, especially right at the top as this shows the importance of the awards.
Lastly something else to consider would be how they have included 'in cinemas nationwide from 2009'. This piece of information is informative towards the audience letting them know when the month of the film is going to be released, this shows how they want people to watch it and if anyone is interested they are aware the date it will be released into the cinemas.
The audience for this film would most likely be people who enjoy are into their music and culture. Due to the style of the poster I imagine the target audience age to be between 17-25. This age range are well known for being influenced and cultured by their music and are likely to enjoy a film about music. Mixtapes were commonly made by teenagers and young adults so that they could listen to all their favourite music without changing the tape too many times, this is another reason why the age range is 17-25.
The title and image both suggest musical genre. Something which is iconic in relation to music is the imagine of a cassette (or mixtape). The image of the cassette is well recognised all around the world which helps to suggest genre.

2 Short Film Posters

The Pig Child is a short film about a scientist who performs illegal surgery on herself. I chose not to watch this movie as I wanted to judge the poster with no knowledge whatsoever, so without further a do lets dive into it.
The first thing we see is what looks like a green silhouette of a pregnant women. Linked with the title 'the pig child' this indicates that perhaps this is about the birth of the child instead of just about a child we need to bare in mind this is only a short film, because this is a short film there is no bold writing of actor names or out of place pictures just to increase publicity its a simple picture with a title but just because its simple doesn't mean it doesn't tell us a lot. When a poster is bland the little things like colour, text size and format can be very important.
The human mind is amazing and colour can trigger emotions making colour in my opinion one of the most important aspects of identifying the genre of a film, this is why the background is grey and dull, it creates a visual aspect of mystery, sadness and sometimes isolation. In media each colour can mean a different thing and this is my interpretation of the colour grey.
Moving onto the text size and its format. The short films simplicity with white bold font, spaced out letters and all capitals are very common of thriller films with the title for the major movie with Ben Aflek 'Gone Girl' looking almost identical some may link them two together and that could always spark an interest.
The last thing I'd like to bring up is the picture inside the the pregnant women. Its clear as day now its been mentioned but its also very easily ignored. I believe the image to be of an embryo being spliced with two separate DNA components and linking with the title one half of the DNA could be human and one of a pigs, either way I think this is a simple but effective poster showing that not all posters need to be full of detail, to have great detail, I for one will defiantly check out this film.

Emotional Fusebox is about a women named Anna who despite what her mother says wont leave the shed in the garden where she lives and makes videos with he thumbs (IMDB synopsis.)
This poster looks bold and happy so lets jump into it.
The first thing you notice has to be the giant writing of the title, its white on light blue and very hard to miss. The light blue can be associated with comedy, joy but also sometimes freedom (I personally think this one if we link back to the synopsis) as blue contrasts with the vast sky and sea but going back to the title its so big its controlling and almost silly, it takes up the whole poster. I think it wants to be silly, instantly without looking at anything else I don't think this film wants anyone taking it seriously at all. On the flip side it could be seen as controlling but I'll talk about that later for now lets move onto the image. Here we see a women in underwear, coat, bright blue socks, bright blue trainers whilst holding a steaming mug. Without looking at the quotes surrounding each object we can tell that this is an unsusal women just by the fact she has no trousers on, its making us laugh and smile.
Before we indulge on the core of this poster lets talk about publicity. This short story has clearly won two awards they are reasonably big and located at the bottom of the poster this is an example of publicity to increase sales as people will tend to trust the quality of a film if its one awards.
Now lets talk about the core of this poster where we start to see what the true nature of this film will be before we watch it, look at the words surrounding her, "fear of dying alone, existential crisis, fashion malfunction, in explicable anger, bad hair." Three of the five sentences doesn't even involve physical appearance but more a mental perspective.
You may of laughed before as you expect this to be a typical tragic comedy but with the colour meaning freedom and the big title in my opinion being controlling its about a women who feels controlled by society and wants to break free, I still think there will be comedic aspects but overall will have a more spiritual meaning about not caring how you look breaking out of these social norms society has placed upon you. The facial expression on the women seems emotionless which is another reason why I think there is more to this film than comedy but thats just a theory.
Overall its a compelling poster with decent features for specific effects, its eye catching and spiritual with aspects of comedy, I would defiantly check it out.

Independent film poster

This is England

The brightly coloured text covers a good majority of the poster and I believe it stands out more than anything else coloured brightly on the poster. The colour red, white and blue are bold which helps the text to stand out to the audience and it also represents the colours of the Union Jack. The style of the writing conveys a bold statement which ties in with the stereotype of these characters shown below, their body language is shown to be of an aggressive type - much similar to the style of the writing.
As mentioned before their body language is of an aggressive manner and this is shown through the use of crossed arms and glares at the camera. This type of body language shows to the audience how they are protective of their territory and their friends. This film is clearly based in the 1980's due to their style of clothing and hairstyles. Groups of society were heavily against Margaret Thatcher especially like this stereotypical group of people, the average skinhead was seen as racist.
Dr Marten boots, high rolled Levi's, acid washed jeans and even gingham style shirts were all common features of the classic skinhead. As well as skin-short hair, which is something this group of people can be identified by.
The background colours are of dull greys and washed out blues with tall council house buildings in the background. This could be conveying their attitude to society and council houses are commonly associated with this type of subculture.
The audience for this type of film, I believe to be teenagers who are keen to learn about perhaps what it was like for their parents to live in the 1980's. The 1980's is a famous point in time where people discovered who they were and what part of society they were from. Many groups like these in the poster, were seen as the working class side of society who caused trouble and lacked societal contribution.
'The best film of the year' is given as a review with a five star rating. The positioning of this rating is right at the top of the poster which shows they are proud of their achievement. They have placed it at the top so their audience can see that it is the best film of the year, 'deeply impressive' and 'the directors film yet, this is brilliant', is also positioned either side so that people can see that this is 'brilliant'.
Above the ratings and reviews are crescents of film awards like 'winner best film' and 'special Jury award'. This shows the audience how the film is definitely worth watching and supports the reputation and quality of the film. It allows the audience to get an idea of whether or not it is worth their time to watch.

Poster Analysis - Jacob Knowles

Short Film Poster Analysis

Notes On Blindness Poster Analysis:

Image result for notes on blindness poster

Audience: The audience that this poster targetted is more likely to be an older audience of an age between 18-35. This is because the film present a fairly mature theme that is most likely to be well understood by people within this age range. The poster also has a certain amount of depth to it which is most likely to be understood by people within this age range.

Narrative: This poster is giving a certain amount of narrative to whoever observes it. We can see that this man is blind, as described by his face being shrouded in darkness and his glasses combined with the title of the film. We are also told through this poster that this is the main character of the film.

Genre: The moody tones that the poster sets indicates a 'slice of life'/drama genre of film, these are also the genres that apply to the film. The simple font is also indicative of a modern day drama.

The layout of this film poster is very simplistic, with the majority of the poster being taken up by an image of the main character. This is very typical of short film posters, with the title and informative text being small and the imagery being prominent. The billing block is featured in the footer of the poster, unfortunately, I cannot make out the companies in this billing block ad cannot find an image with greater clarity. The directors are listed under the title in smaller text but with the same font. An award/feature from the sundance film festival is also featured at the top of the poster.

The title uses a very thin typeface which remains consistant with the simplicity presented by the rest of the poster. The title is also positioned towards the top of the poster just under the awards (of which there is only one), the award is very small taking up little room at the top of the poster. The title is also very small in proportion to the rest of the poster, however it is still very readable. The font is very simple and smart, keeping theme with the rest of the poster.

The main image in this poster is a medium shot of the main character's upper body with his face shrouded in darkness. I think that having his face covered in darkness is to indicate and emphasize the fact the character is blind. This image of the character is on a blue tiled background which shows a heavy contrast between him and his surroundings, further emphasizing what was indicated earlier.

There are no taglines, reviews, certifications, websites or wider cultural references featured in this poster, I believe that this is done in order to maintain the simple theme that the poster presents. There is a credit block just under the title, stating that who created the film. There is an evident relationship between the main text and the main imagery, the font fits very well with the theme of the poster. The font has a small spacing and a medium size.

The presentation of the directors names is immediately underneath the title, this means that the viewer's eyes will automatically skip to this after reading the film title. I think that it is well positioned because of this, it is included because the directors are recognizable and therefore it is effectively advertising the film.

The Imitation Game Poster Analysis:

Representation: The first major element of representation featured in this poster is a representation of class. We can see the main character, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, in a suit; this represents a high-class status and also is indicative that the character is a businessman through his costume. His hair is also neat and his skin unblemished, which is another representation of class present in this poster.

Narrative: The narrative in this poster is mainly shown through the slogan which is spread across the page, 'BEHIND EVERY CODE IS AN ENIGMA'. This slogan is based around Alan Turing: Enigma Code, a book by Andrew Hodges. This slogan expresses the initial narrative of the film, showing that it will be related to the enigma code, or more specifically the Andrew Hodges book which it's based on.

Audience: The audience that the poster is targetting is an older audience composed of people between the ages of 18 and 35. This is because it is for a mystery based drama which is likely to be best understood and enjoyed by people within this age range.

This poster's layout is very clever, there is an image of Benedict Cumberbatch in the background, while the foreground consists of many circles each one containing a letter for the slogan, and some being empty. The title, actors, and billing block are all at the bottom of the poster.

The title is positioned at the bottom of the poster as mentioned earlier, it is in the same simple, easy to read font as the slogan and all other text on the poster. The title 'The Imitation Game' has a double meaning, the original meaning as presented by Turing was that the imitation game was a means of investigating whether or not machines might one day be able to think. The actual film presents the main character imitating his colleagues in order to gain their respect and make them like him.

The tagline in the poster is "BEHIND EVERY CODE IS AN ENIGMA". This slogan is in reference to the Andrew Hodges book: Alan Turing: The Enigma. This quote will allow anybody who has read the book to recognise what the film is about, however, it also shows people that haven't read the book that it's related to the enigma code.

Above the title are the names of the two main actors; Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightly, showing these two reputable actors are in the film in the poster is likely to encourage people to go and watch the film as they already know these people.

The spacing of the font is large throughout this poster. This gives an effect which makes the text look like it may have been printed with a typewriter, setting a possible time period or setting for the film which is consistant with the imagery on the rest of the poster.

There is no certification, credit block or reviews contained on this poster. I think this is because the poster would have looked too cluttered with them and it is not necessary information.

Operator Poster Analysis:

Media Language: In this poster we see a close up shot of the main character in the film. It is a side on shot with dark lighting and highlights on the front of the main character's face. This makes the scene very intense. The character's costume consists of a headset that an emergency phone operator would normally use, the look of urgency in the character's facial expression is also indicative of this.

Genre: The intense nature of the colours and expressions in this poster indicates that it's a drama film. The name of the film, 'Operator' further indicates this as the term operator generally refers to telephone operators for emergency services.

Narrative: The narrative of this poster suggests that the film is about an emergency services telephone operator and their response to calls.

This poster primarily has the title on the bottom right side of the poster, with the left and top sides of the poster containing awards from many different film festivals and film awards. This includes very reputable film associations such as BAFTA and BFI. There is also a list of actors and directors at the bottom of the poster.

The title is in a thin simple font, white with heavy spacing and a slight feathered glow. This creates dramatic effect and is effective in emphasizing the mood of the poster. The title positioning is very different to usual as it is at the bottom right of the page, this is likely to make space for awards and suchlike around the edges of the poster.

The Credit block of the this poster shows the names of a few actors and directors, the film has some big names such as Kate Dickie which will have encouraged people to see the film since it has well known names.

Subconscious Password Poster Analysis:

Image result for subconscious password poster

Narrative: This poster gives the viewer a small amount of narrative relating to the film. It shows and represents the inner subconscious of the main character as a person inside of his head. There is also french on the poster which suggests there are elements of french culture and a french setting in the film.

Audience: The audience for this film is likely to be between the ages of 18 and 35 as it tackles more mature themes and discusses the deeper meaning of the subconscious and other hard to understand topics.

Representation: One of the main features of representation in this poster is the costume of the main character and how it represents a middle class man. The suit and glasses are indicative of someone working an office job, both of which are present here. His scruffy haircut and beard are also indicative of this.

The layout of the poster is dominated by the primary image, filling most of the space. A large amount of space is also taken up by the title which is positioned at the central bottom of the poster. Underneath the title is the credits box and the billing box. In the top right corner there is an award that the film has won.

The title is in a big top style circus font, with a red and yellow colour scheme and text covered in bulbs. This style of font is also heavily present in stereotypical representations of game-shows, of which this film features. The position of the title heavily emphasizes the image that's present above it, making both the image and the title the collective main focus of the poster.

Underneath the title there is both a credit box and a billing box. The credit box lists actors, producers, the director, and the animators. The billing box lists contributors to the film. There is also an award in the top right corner of the poster.

independant film poster analysis

The King's Speech

The King's Speech is an independent British film directed by Tom Hooper. The main picture of Colin Firth is shown to be standing up tall, clothed in royal-style clothing with a navy suit and gold cuffs. This style of elaborate clothing and a tall, strong posture demonstrates common attributes of a king. However, he is facing away from the crowd of people - which also suggests that he is perhaps not ready for his famous 'speech'. His facial expression is anxious looking , something which is not commonly seen in someone of high authority, perhaps this could be an attempt to show his speech impediment.
The other character shown on the poster is shown to be facing the away from the audience but instead towards the King - which helps to establish the king is on this poster and the importance of Firth's character. The background behind shows him to be standing upon an audience of people, much similar to the one seen at Buckingham palace - this helps to suggest royalty.
To extend the title 'The King's Speech' is coloured in a golden yellow which stands out against the background, the colour gold is also associated with royalty which helps to support the title itself. Furthermore the title is positioned centrally within the composition and is lined vertically parallel with the other
The background itself appears to be a crowd of people who have most likely gazing upon the balcony as they wait for the King to do his speech. Also contained within the background stands a tall white statue tipped with gold. These two colours are commonly seen present amongst possessions of the royal family which helps to suggest wealth and power, which ties in with the title of 'the king'.
The clothing itself is a good indicator of what type of character Colin Firth is playing, the smart style clothing suggest that he is an important man who takes pride in his appearance - something which is commonly seen amongst royal figures. Keeping up a good appearance helps to give a good impression to people how you are as a person and what you represent.
The dull grey and blue undertones in the background perhaps convey to the audience something which could be holding this character back. Grey and blue are both commonly associated with depression or sadness so perhaps this could reflect how the King feels. Although blue also represents hope, this could be a sign that although the character is struggling there is still hope for him.
The text at the top shows the ratings the film has achieved. They are positioned right at the top of the poster against the pale blue background so they stand out, this shows they are proud about the ratings it has received.