Poster Photos

After analysing 3 film posters and handing out a questionnaire to some sixth form students, I decided to begin taking photos that could be used for my final poster.

At the beginning of this process I was still unsure of what types and styles of photos I wanted to take, therefore I decided to try different angles and shots to experiment with possible ideas. As my film is a drama it was important to only focus on using natural lighting throughout the photoshop as this is a common convention used.

I began by trying out mid-shots of each of my characters. They stood straight on to the camera without pulling any extravagant facial expressions due to the topic of my film. I believe these would connote more about the narrative. As seen below the photo on the left has darker lighting than the exact same photo on the right. I decided that having a lighter background and overall lighting would have more of an effect on the audience than having a grey/un-pleasing look. The light within these photos could also connote faith, understanding and hope similar to the colour white which connects with mental health.

The photo itself is not as effective as I intended and the overall image does not connote the narrative to the audience which is an important part of the codes and conventions. I wanted an image which represented my genre and plot more clearly to the audience in order to create more of an effective.

Commonly posters will have the protagonist on the front in order to introduce them ‘directly’ to the audience before the film is released. This is a clever tactic to get audience members familiar with characters beforehand so they become instantly recognisable.

In comparison to the top photo, the lighting was thought more careful about when constructing my image. The shadow that appears across Becci’s face was created using my body against the sun. This could connote to the audience that the darkness is apart of her life, in this case being depression and that it is over shadowing her actions etc. The shadow also clearly contrasts with the lighter background which makes it more prominent in the photo. From this shadow being there it can reveal more narrative to the audience as it is clear that something dark/dull has a huge part of her life.

Out of the two, this photo also works much better with Becci, the protagonist, as the mental health is affecting her life rather than Anya's character.

The next two photos are heavily influenced by The fault in our stars poster. This mainly being due to
the results of the questionnaire as well as it being my overall favourite image used.

The idea behind the two characters laying on the floor came from the plot itself. As Anya (right) who
plays Lola dies in a car crash it made sense to include an aspect that would connote the narrative to
the audience. This is also done through the two characters body language.
Anya's eyes are closed with denotes the death of her character, it also blocks off any contact with
the audience directly which helps give an impersonal feel and therefore more attention is drawn
towards Becci. Her eyes are opposite to Anya's and are wide open directly in contact with the
camera which in comparison gives a very emotional and personal feel to the character which is
important. The audience should feel connected to Becci early on and through the poster in
order to feel sympathy for her when watching the short film.

The dark colour of the road could also denote depression to the audience as this a common colour
associated with mental health. By the lighting being brighter and focused on the two, it represents the
faith and hope mentioned above. This was also careful constructed in their mise-en-scene for example
Becci was asked to wear all dark colour during the film to illustrate her state of mind whereas Anya
needed to wear brighter and softer colours to denote an angel like figure.

Other photos were taken such as ones influence by the ‘never let me go poster’ as I believed these
would work with the narrative of my film. However as seen below, the construction of the photos did
not work well and wouldn't be effective on an audience. These photos also seem extremely impersonal
due to the lack of direct contact therefore these were automatically a no in terms of using them for my
main focal image.