Marcus Pelham Film Poster First Idea

First draft of poster design

Narrative: The narrative of the film is insinuated in the poster through the use of mise en scene. For example, by choosing the broken glass with blood on it as the prominent image (in size and through depth of field), the theme of violence is instantly communicated to the audience. However, it also establishes the link to the narrative 'twist' of our piece, with the connotations of a wine glass being that of parties and social events. This double-meaning offers depth to the poster, with the audience's expectations being undermined through the film and thus, developing the multiplicity of the objects and images used. The thriller-esque feel to the poster would be further developed through the desaturation of the image; this would provide a darker, harsher image associated with murder and violence, key ideas in our film. In contrast to the desaturation, we would draw more attention to the blood on the glass by increasing the colour of the blood to a bright, high colour red. This manipulation of where the audience's attention focuses first will help establish the narrative. So far, this poster has proven successful with early audience surveys showing that the narrative of our film is communicated clearly through the poster.


Representation: Although the main focus of the poster is the broken glass (and the insinuated violence), the audience will also be aware of the distorted character behind that image. This is important as it introduces the main character who, from the blood on his hand and the rip in his shirt, the audience assume is the antagonist. The distorted nature of the image restricts the audience's ability to understand his identity, creating audience intrigue and suspense. In a similar way to the glass, it will also reflect the twist of the narrative, with the haziness of the image reflecting the theme of alcohol and the main character's understanding of the previous night's events.

Genre: The genre suggested by the poster is thriller. This is achieved through the audience's inability to identify the character, creating enigma and suspense. The imagery of violent materials also helps convey this, with the glass and corkscrew (potentially a knife?) providing a sharp hint to the homicidal tendencies the character appears to display. In addition, the use of a single or simple image is a convention of thrillers, again as it restricts the audience's understanding of the narrative and creates intrigue.


Audience: We also believe that our target audience of youth would be attracted to this poster because of it's obvious theme of violence. This idea that 'the more shocking, the more people are intrigued' is evident in The Human Centipede's success and would be something we could try and emulate. It is also important to include review sources that appeal to a youth audience; for example, a 5 star review from The Times might be a great accolade but it will lack the effect that the same review but from MTV would offer.


Points of Development: title - design of logo? 
                                          tagline
                                          reviews - which sources?