Colour and Text

The implementation of colour in posters and magazine covers is of vital importance, most notably because of the psychological power colours have on the human psyche. When analysing which particular colour to use, it is important to understand the effect it is meant to have. Here I am going to analyse the meaning of colours to allow me to give a more emotive feel to my text.
Red: Red can be used to symbolise extroversion and anger, giving it a somewhat double meaning. The use of red can be used to symbolise blood, romance and rage, and so it's use must be made deliberately obvious using shades of red for different feelings. In some cultures, red can also tell of different emotions, i.e. the Chinese view red as the colour of prosperity and in others it is seen as a more angry colour.
Blue: Blue is generally used to show purity and youth, but also with fluidity, sincerity and also as somewhat conservative. Blue comes in a variety of shades, with dark blue symbolising knowledge and wisdom and light blue symbolising youth and enthusiasm.
White: White is often said to symbolise purity and energy. Most cultures see white as also symbolising love, with  many cultures wearing white wedding dresses.
Black:  Black often seen as a darker colour but it can also be used to represent elegance and sophistication. In films black is most often used to present the 'bad' guys.
Green: Green is the colour of nature and life, with it's use symbolising balance and harmony. In films, green can also be used to represent envy and mistrust, but like other colours, the symbolism is dependent on shade.
 Purple: Purple is often viewed as symbolising royalty and intelligence, with its use lending more to stability and calm. Purple is a favoured colour by pre-adolescents, and it also has much use in Drama films.

Investigating Text Styles

From my analysis of film posters has found quite a similarity in text style. Depending on the theme of drama the text can alter, but in the realms of emotive drama are most almost completely characterised by handwriting style script (See opposite).
From my analysis of posters and magazines, I have found that the typeface has to be connected to the films story, so for Slumdog Millionaire they used the script from the 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' franchise, and so on and so forth. For my film I have decided on the broad area of script or hanwriting style fonts, which will be used to reflect Grace's handwriting, but to gain a proper insight I have chosen to do a survey to find the most expressive 'Emotive Drama' script.

Analysis of Magazine Content

Analysis of Film Posters (Part II)

Slumdog Millionaire:
Analysis - The piece has a canivalesque feel to to, with the streamers and the two characters shown placed to make a happy feel to the piece. The background is exceptionally simple, with the white spelling purity and innocence but also giving the titles and characters more clarity and emphasising the happiness in the piece.
Colour - The use of colour in this poster is exceptionally bright, with the orange, yellow and pink colours all lending to the carnival atmosphere. The colour could also be said to be rudimentarily Indian, with Indians usually wearing bright and somewhat gearish clothes - and the colours reflect this.
Composition - The composition of the poster is simple, with the text and the two characters the only focal points. The people are placed at the side, suggesting them to be a secondary figure of importance - with the text and quote being the main features for the audience to read and then look at the characters. The millionaire question graphic below the title is poigniant only when taken in the context of the film - the film is based in a series of Who Wants to be a Millionaire questions - the graphic then becomes totally obvious.
Lighting - Lighting is used little in this piece, with very little 'real' content ligting is not neccessary. I will instead use this section to discuss the brightness that the poster generates. Not only is the background white, but the lighting used on the characters gives then a natural brightness, giving it a youthful purity.
Text - The text in this poster is very similar to that from Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but using colour to give it a less severe feel. The text is also simple and unstylised, giving it a natural, somewhat friendly feel to the film.

Film and the Internet

The film industry, like all others (i.e. games, music and newspapers), was revoloutionised by the growth of the internet - but has also been given new threats. Video, DVD and even Digital piracy are still a bigger threat than ever to the industry, and with the internet, anyone can log on to the internet and download illegal films or television programmes. The scale of internet piracy has tripled in recent years, with an average of 1.67 million people a year watching illegal content - as opposed to 570,000 in 2003, the increase is massive, and it is still growing. To put these figures into context: the average DVD on release costs an average of £13, with the DVD prices ranging from around £8 to $15 - if you multiply £13 by 1.67 million, this equates to £21,710,000 (bear in mind this also includes television piracy with most TV box sets selling at anything from £18 - £50). The threat on the industry is massive, and the internet is a double-edged sword; giving new areas to advertise, but also giving film pirates new areas to give their product away.

The History of Film:

The film industry was first born in the 1860s, with what we know as cinema coming into existence in the early 20th century. In the 1970s the first revoloution to the world of film came into existence, VHS or Video Home System, giving consumers the oppurtunity to watch in the comfort of their own home, and for almost 50 years they served their purpose - with the last main supplier of prerecorded VHS sending out their last order in late 2008.

The next revoloution was that of DVD, with their first appearance coming in 1993, in two forms; The Multimedia Compact Disc (MMCD or CDi) and Super Denisity Disc (SD). Eventually the two products converged, creating what we know as the DVD (Digital Verstatile Disc or Digital Video Disc).

Current Film Practice:

The film industry is still split into two markets; Digital and DVD. Digitally the main supplier of major release films, and a large variety of Niche, is iTunes. iTunes sells movies from; 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, Walt Disney Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, with iTunes also offering some 1,000 films for rent.

Analysis of Film Posters

The Curious Case of Bejamin Button:


Analysis: The poster is exceptionally symplistic, so as to not reveal depths into the film, but just entrance the audience to view the film simply. The poster has only two main points of focus in the form of the eyes of the two characters - with no background instantally highlighting the eyes.


Lighting: The lighting in this poster focuses on the faces of the two characters, showing the light in this piece is used to highlight the encentricities of their faces, highlighting the males more aged aspects - as the film is about his backwards age. The black background, as I said earlier, draws the eye to the only features - the faces.


Contents: The poster shows only half their faces, portraying them to be hiding part of themselves, and also generating an enigmatic feel to the piece. The poster also features the distributors, producers and marketers; as well as the name of the film and major or big name actors and actresses.

Text: The text in this piece is exceptionally indicative of the films content. The text is layed-over a stylistic pattern, giving it a victorian fluted design, which on closer inspection, reads 'Life' twice, with one being back to front. When applied to the two characters, the back to front 'Life' applies to Benjamin living his life backwards.

Research Into Distributors

Universal Studios:

Universal has a large, diverse and quite frankly, universal back catalogue. The studios are responsible for various big names such as; the upcoming 'Wolf-Man', King Kong and Bridget Jones' Diary. Universal Studios also owns NBC, making them a partially self-advertised.

Drama Releases: Universal has published various Drama genre films, including; Fried Green Tomatoes, Billy Elliot and Pride and Prejudice.

Paramount Pictures:

Paramount is a corporate media giant, encorporated with both Dreamworks and MTV, is a large scale film distributor, and so comes with a high level of the all important 'purchasing power'. With it's vast media catalogue spread across many genres, it is not a highly specialised drama veichle, but comes with the advantage of a large name.

Drama Releases: Paramount has distributed; The Weatherman, Breakfast at Tiffanys' and Angela's Ashes.



American Empirical Pictures
Being a rising film distributor, AEP comes with a still slightly niche status, even when dealing with big name stars such as Gweneth Paltrow and Ben Stiller. It has made Drama films and Comedy films, giving them a depth in the drama field.

Drama Releases
AEP has released Drama in the form of; The Royal Tennenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited.