Graphics Font Samples

Since we are using complicated backgrounds for our graphics, we will replicate the convention of simple fonts like other trailers that we have seen. These are some fonts we have tested out.

Revolutionary Road/ Like Crazy use a very basic font, similar to Arial or basic fonts like that.

As most trailers use capitalisation we will also use this, but I do like the change from lower case to upper case in Revolutionary Road, which we will use.

Calibri:

From

WILLA MARSTON

THEA HOPE

GEORGE EDWARDS

I think this looks too amateur and not as professional. Therefore I think we need to use a more sharp edged font rather than rounded. Also it is such a widespread used font over Microsoft that I think it becomes too over-used and is not very interesting. 

This is a lot nicer as it is quite classy. Its also very similar to Revolutionary Road, so echoes the feel of that trailer. However, we have to be aware that this must also be the title font so need to make sure that this would not be lost on the poster due to the thinness of the font and also that it doesn't look too simple.

This is very similar to Avenir Light but words slightly better as it is thicker so won't be lost on the poster. However, it also retains the classier style than that of Calibri.

This is very similar to Avenir Light but is slightly rounder and more compressed.

This is a bit too sci-fi/modern for what we want. It slightly looks like a modern typewriter and I think this creates a different feel than that of what we're looking for.

W.H.

Poster Audience Research Results

We interviewed 10 people - 6 girls and 4 boys. We interviewed more girls as this is our target audience. They ranged between 16-18 years.

1. What genre do these belong to and what do you think the film is about? 

All of our respondents agreed that these were posters for romantic films, heavily due to the pictures of couples close together, and the use of words like 'love' etc.

2. Which title font do you think is most effective and why?

All of our female respondents said that they thought the title for 'Like Crazy' was most effective due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the colours suited the image and were warm and inviting. The layout of the text was original and created more impact. Others also noted that it gave context to the film which made them want to know more.

However, many of the boys did not like this film poster because they could not tell which was the actual title. Others said that there was too much going on and that they preferred simple fonts such as the font for 'The Lucky One'. Another thought the font for 'The Lucky One' was more timeless and traditional so worked with the genre of the film. Only one boy liked the 'Like Crazy' poster because it was 'eye catching and effective'.

3. How does the use of text affect whether you want to see the film? For example in 'Like Crazy' they use a lot more text than 'The Lucky One' - are you more likely to want to see 'Like Crazy' (LC) or 'The Lucky One' (TLO)?

This was a very varied response. Some girls liked LC the best because it was more interesting to look at, and gave more context to the film, whereas others felt that the messages were too cheesy which resulted in them becoming less likely to go and see it. Others also noticed this in other posters such as 'Dear John' (DJ) and one girl said there was 'too much writing at the bottom' which drew the eye away from the subject of the poster. Overall, the girls generally did not like TLO. This was because they did not even notice the tagline and they did not like the composition of the text down the side of the picture. However, the boys seemed to prefer this minimalist approach and thought less text was more effective. Most girls thought the poster for 'Love Happens' (LH) was too boring to comment on. This suggests that the film is aimed at an older more middle-aged audience.

The boys did not like the amount of text on LC because they generally could not tell which was the actual title to the film and thought it was over powering. However, one thought that the text on LH (Love Happens) and DJ was not powerful enough to make them want to go and see the film. One liked the composition of DJ with lots of text at the bottom as they thought the colours worked with the image.

4. What do you notice about the use of colour in the Blue Valentine (BV) poster in comparison to the other posters? How does this change the mood of the film if indeed it does? What do you notice about their costume in comparison to the others - what mood is this trying to create? Do you like this poster?
Across both genders, everyone agreed the colours used in the poster for BV created a much more dark and depressive feel than that of the other posters. This created a divide in audience of those who wanted to see it and those who didn't as many thought it would be too depressing and therefore would not be enjoyable. However the majority of people preferred this as it was completely different from the other posters and therefore reflected a completely different style of romance, 'not necessarily set in America', which made them want to watch it more. Many noted on the effect of the costume which accentuated this difference in subgenre - the characters in BV are dressed in darker clothes, the girl is wearing less whilst the boy is wearing leather which seems much more serious than that of the posters for DJ and TLO where they wear tshirts and very simple clothes.
The majority of people liked the poster due to how it was different, however a couple of people objected to the font choice. One girl said that the blackboard font was too 'innocent' for the poster, which was clearly quite serious and adult. Another boy said that the heart used in the 'V' for the title didn't work as it was misleading to the genre of the film which was far more serious than the font.

5. How do the awards on the posters of Blue Valentine and Like Crazy affect you as an audience? Does it make you want to see it more or less?
The majority of our respondents said that the awards did not affect them at all, it would be more likely that they would see a film for the actors involved rather than the awards. However two girls said that the actual presence on the poster was not important to them but they liked the use of awards as confirmation for a good film. Those that said the awards did affect them, said that the use of the shapes on the poster for LC seemed more professional and important than that of BV. They argued that the headline on the top of the BV poster was easily overlooked and therefore did not make much difference to the audience.

W.H. B.M.

Poster Audience Research

To find out what our audience is looking for, we showed a number of people around our target age group some romantic film posters and asked them a set of questions. These were the posters and questions:

 

1. What genre do these belong to and what do you think the film is about?

2. Which title font do you think is most effective and why?

3. How does the use of text affect whether you want to see the film? For example in Like Crazy they use a lot more text than that of the poster for The Lucky One - are you more likely to want to see Like Crazy or The Lucky One? Does it affect you?

4. What do you notice about the use of colour in the Blue Valentine poster in comparison to the other posters? How does this change the mood of the film if indeed it does? What do you notice about their costume in comparison to the others - what mood is this trying to create? Do you like this poster?

5. How do the awards on the posters of Blue Valentine and Like Crazy affect you as an audience? Does it make you wan to see it more or less?

W.H.

Main Poster Research 2

Blue Valentine:

This poster for 'Blue Valentine' works for a number of reasons. Firstly, the colour blue is an obvious part of the image and works with the title. The dark blue lighting reflects the solemn mood of the film whilst also connoting to images of youthful glamorised San Francisco nightlife. The couple pictured look young and exciting, and their body language suggests passionate romance.

The title is simple and white. The font used almost looks like handwriting, which perhaps hints to a young couple who are still immature and have a childish relationship. The title is also very large so shows the audience what the film is called straight away. The love-heart shaped 'V' for valentine and the tagline 'A LOVE STORY' make certain the audience cannot miss the genre and idea of the film.

However, although the poster clearly shows the film is about a romantic relationship, the poster does not give away too much. This could be seen as a positive because the audience is left wondering what happens in the film, but also as a negative because the poster is somewhat misleading in the fact that the audience may not expect the film to contain violence and the deterioration of a relationship, which it does.

Across the top of the poster it says 'accademy award nominee  - best actress - Michelle Williams'. This is obviously to show the audience that the main actress is worth watching, and thus attempt to persuade them to go and see the film. Ryan Gosling is also an obvious attraction, predominantly to the female members of the audience due to his good looks.

The positive quote at the bottom of the poster reads A FILM BY DEREK CIANFRANCE, THE MOST PROVOCATIVE FILM OF THE YEAR'. Although this does not actually seem to mean very much, it does it's job in getting the audience to the cinema to see the film.

Dear John:

This poster for dear John is similar to the poster for 'Blue Valenine' in the way that the image is obviously of a couple which insinuates that the film is largely about their romance. However, the setting of the photograph is different. The couple are on a beach and the lighting is very bright, with beautiful scenery in the background. This gets across a different mood than the Blue Valentine poster. A more happy and springy mood, however the couple's body language is slightly less passionate but in a way, more loving.

The title 'DEAR JOHN' is in capital letters and a simple font. The colours white and orange work because they are warm and stand out from he dark colours of Channing Tatum's hoodie. The tagline underneath the title reads 'What would you do with a letter than changed everything?' although the writing is rather small, it is in white so captures the audience's attention and is a rhetorical question so makes them think about it. The credits are in small orange font, which means they do not stand out too much and retract attention from the poster.  However, the word 'FEBRUARY' is in bold white print so that the viewer notices it. This is important because it will stick in the viewer's mind and they will remember when the film will be shown in cinemas and perhaps make them more excited to see it. Above the title it sas 'From Nicholas Sparks, best-selling auhor of THE NOTEBOOK'. 'The Notebook' is capitalised because it was a very successful and well-known book and film which the target audience of this film will probably have seen, as the films are of the same genre and directed at the same sort of audience.

Love Happens:

The poster for 'Love Happens' is very similar for the poster for 'Revolutionary Road'. The image is in the centre of the poster, slightly towards the top, and shows an intimate picture of the couple touching noses (how sweet). The colours in the picture are mainly greens whites and yellows, so bright and airy (very similar to the colours of 'Dear John'). The colours represent organic sunshine and happiness, and get across the notion that the film is clearly about the romance between the couple depicted.

The credits 'Aaron Eckhart' and 'Jennifer Aniston' are in green font against a white bar at the top o he poster which makes them stand out. They are deliberately bold and stand out from the rest of the poster because the names will generally make the audience want to see the film as they are famous actors. The title is also in the same green and the same font, but slightly bigger than the actor's names.

B.M.

Main Poster Research

Like Crazy:

This poster is reasonably different in layout in comparison to other typical romance film posters. Although it follows the same colour and lighting as that in other posters, i.e. happy, sunny daylight with a lens flare, the taglines overtake the poster and become the centre of attention. This is very different to that of 'The Lucky One' (below) which only has one small tagline which is not very noticeable. Therefore in this poster, the audience is drawn into the text and then into the title rather than reading it as an afterthought. This means that the audience has more of an understanding of the plot of the film. It uses the yellow colour for the title to separate itself from the taglines, but the white and yellow follows throughout the rest of the poster allowing it to look like a professional format. It also replicates the colouring of the image. The audience is also able to find more about the plot also through the background of the image as it uses the typical Brighton beach, so gives it setting.

The Lucky One:

This poster is very similar to 'The Vow'. It is quite minimalistic and focusses solely on the two main characters and their relationship. The centre-point of the poster is the lighting behind the couple's silhouettes connoting an atmosphere of hopefulness. It also emphasises the actor's shapes against each other and so also allows the audience to understand more about the relationship of the two main characters. The close up shot of them also creates a sense of familiarity and intensity between the actors and the audience, drawing them into the story behind the characters. The text echoes the lightness of the picture with the colouring. The title also grabs the attention of the audience through the block, bold font. The eye is then drawn to other key pieces of information like the actors and release date. Therefore the audience has taken in the key information with only a glance at the poster.

W.H.