Poster Evaluation

Poster

Another media product I was given the challenge of producing was a poster for my trailer. To start my research I analysed three existing posters from a variety of genres, I annotated each poster pointing out there varieties of conventions, after having decided my genre was horror I then analysed and annotated five existing horror posters. By doing this I could see the difference between Horror posters and posters from other genres, It also made it clear to me what conventions I would have to include when producing my very own poster. After I had completed researching different poster by genre and convention, I decided it was time to start planning how my poster will look. To do this I sketched layouts of posters from similar genres to mine, doing this helped me and educated me on how posters, in particular Horror film themed posters went about there layouts. I was now ready to sketch my first poster drafts as by this time I was better educated on Horror posters. I went out and shot several potential images that would appear on my poster, having already looked at conventions and genre conventions of posters I had a better understanding of what type of pictures would fit and be suitable to use on a Horror poster.

I also had to come up with a tagline, so I listed many taglines, all from the same genre -  horror, I then wrote a paragraph on the similarities between the taglines, doing this gave me the confidence to come up with my own, so I did that exactly, I thought up sixteen taglines, which I felt would be suitable for my film, that also shared similar conventions to other horror taglines. By analysing billing/credits from other films I understood what conventions were needed, which would go on to help me produce my own poster billing. My poster had to be classified, so I researched the BBFC and found useful information on how films are classified, after having read all the information, I came to the conclusion that my film was going to be a 15.


Looking at other posters I noticed that nearly everyone had billing/credits, so I looked at other posters billing conventions such as what they included in there billing and what font billing uses, and where on posters are billing and credits normally placed. After doing this I was ready to create my own billing that would appear on my poster. I used photoshop to create my billing. Below there are three billing pictures. one of them is my billing draft, before it was re edited and positioned on my poster, the other on is my final billing on the poster, and the third is a billing from another poster. by looking at other billings you can compare the similarities and judge the authenticity of your own billing/credits.

Billing Draft 

Complete Poster Billing

Example of existing Poster Billing

Whilst looking at other posters I also picked up on several necessary conventions, one of them obviously was the title. I realised that most of the posters from my chosen genre used big bold font, with basic colours such as Black, White or Red. I made sure to use these conventions in making my poster as authentic as it could possibly be. Below is an the title on my poster and also a title of another poster from the same genre as mine.

My Poster Title

An existing Title from a poster of the same genre

A few other conventions I felt were crucial to include were Release Dates and Taglines. Looking at other posters, I noticed that they all included some reference to a release date, whether it was coming soon, or this summer, or an exact date. I also noticed most of the posters included taglines, especially the posters within the Horror genre, therefore I included these conventions in my final poster. Below are examples from existing Film posters sitting next to screenshots of my Release Date and Tagline for comparison.

An existing Posters Release Date

My finished Poster Release date

An existing Posters Tagline

My final Posters Tagline

By this point I had researched and understood all the conventions that were necessary to include in a Poster, and what factors would improve its authenticity. By incorporating all these new factors and conventions I had learnt into my poster, I feel I have created an eligible piece of Film marketing that would be authentic enough to actually be used in the process of marketing a film.

Draft of final Produced Poster

My final Poster in its Entirety