Film Poster Research

For the next stage of our coursework, we are required to research film posters, their influence in selling a film to a target audience, how the aesthetics of posters can be used to connotate symbols and create a poster for our film trailer. 

Fight Club 

The film poster for Fight Club is one which is of interest when approaching the poster for Blind Mans Buff. The poster is designed to denotate the two main characters of the film,portrayed by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton and show the genre of the film. As seen, Brad Pitts is larger suggesting he is the primary protagonist of the film and the mise-en-scene depicts his character as rough, possibly a rebel e.g. the blood on his face, the red coat which symbolises danger and the dirty look of his hair. Likewise, Edward Norton is smaller yet still a dominant image of the poster and his mise-en-scene is a juxtaposition of Pitt e.g. formal clothing, combed hair however he does have a speck of blood on his colour suggesting he may follow a similar path to Pitt. Norton's character is also looking at Pitts denotating a hierarchy or a relationship between the two characters. The backdrop is also murky which can show a lack of clarity of the plot or that all is not what it seems. The overall feel of the poster suggests that the genre is that of action and drama. The poster for Fight Club intrigues me as the same template can be applied to Detective Abbeline and More as seen by a poor attempt by me below 

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 

The film poster for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is another poster with certain elements which could be used when approaching the poster for Blind Mans Buff. Whilst the Lord of The Rings is fantasy and not Steampunk, the poster for the second film of the trilogy opens up the possibility of more characters. Like the poster for Fight Club, the main characters are the most prominent in the poster however unlike Fight Club, The Two Towers poster has many characters of relevance to the story with the inclusion of antagonists. A feature of this poster regarding character which interested me was the image of Gollum. Gollum is not as large as Frodo or Gandalf but the mise-en-scene has Gollum to be dark and only his eyes can be seen with light over darkness. This draws the eyes of the audience as it conveys mystery and his placement is above mist suggesting the character does not wish to be seen. Also unlike Fight Club, the Two Towers are literally in the poster showing they are of importance and the characters in the center of the poster are linked with these two towers. The element of the Two Towers poster which I PERSONALLY would be interested in replicating is the use of many characters. I would give the detectives prominence but include the rippers using similar mise-en-scene from Gollum as the idea of mystery and unknown identity would be conveyed effectively to the audience.