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My Film Review

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Film Poster Analysis of 'Ray'

The only colours used in this poster are black and white. This connotes as being extremely basic as linking with his blindness. By using only these colours it allows us to feel sympathy for the character shown in the poster due to how basic it actually is. For the character he can’t see anything so even by using these two colours for the audience doesn’t come close to what he can see. We don’t see any bright colours that’s because the story is a simple one showing the life and struggles the man goes through. Using bright colours would take away from the story and portray it to be an upbeat lively film which it is not. By using the white tells us, the audience that although the movie is one of a struggle there is light through all the hardship. As represented by using white on black, the black represents the suffering with the contrast of the white being used as the ‘light.’

The one and only object we see is the silhouette of the man himself. We can only clearly see half of his face which shows immediately tells us something is missing. As related to his loss of sight, something is missing with him which is shown to the audience by showing us half of his face. The image looks as if it has been painted. We see him smiling which again, shows us there is something good to look forward to after all the hardship.

The message in the poster is entirely primarily visible as all we see is the image of his face. There is only a little amount of verbal and that would be the phrase which says ‘A man who fought harder and went farther than anyone thought possible.’ This is a very strong sentence and allows the audience to wonder what he went through and how far he went. Therefore drawing the audiences’ attention with them wanting to watch the movie.

The intended audience for this film is adults aged 25 to around 50. This is because the subject issue is quite a sophisticated one, which would interest slightly older generations instead of teenagers.

The film is almost like a biography, it tells the story of Ray and how he has struggled with his tasks day in day out. The fact that its in black and white adds the mysterious element which would draw in the audience even more wanting to know what its about.

The film would relate to drama, music, and biography. It would relate to the genre of music as it’s about a famous singer. It would relate to drama as its real life, relating and based around everything Ray goes through. And finally, it would relate to biography as it’s as if Ray is telling the story himself. It goes through his life story, what he’s been through and overcome.

No star is used as the USP to attract the audience. The image and name of the film is what attracts the audience the most.

No critics are quoted either. This doesn’t sell the film very much as it doesn’t tell the audience the film is a ‘must see’, or a ‘film of the year’. Therefore giving the audience nothing to go on but their own choice to go and watch the film rather than any reviews about it.

There aren’t any gratifications promised to the audience. This suggests the film doesn’t need any of this to build it up. As if it expects the audience to have prior knowledge of the character and be interested in seeing this film about him.

As mentioned before, the thing that attracts the audience to the poster is the element of mystery. That the poster doesn’t give much away yet tells the audience what the film is about. By putting glasses on him shows some sort of blindness and the title is the name of the main character ‘Ray’ which is who the target audience will already be aware of. The attention is gained through the mysterious element of the poster, not giving too much of the story away. Almost giving an ‘if you want to see the film then go, no extra things need to be done to draw the audience.’

The tag line is “The extraordinary life story of Ray Charles, A man who fought harder and went further than anyone thought possible.” Its highly informative and emotive and does draw the audience attention. Immediately they wonder about the word ‘fought’ and how/what he had to do in order to succeed to where he is now. No alliteration, humour or pun is used. It is purely the story summed up into one short sentence. 

Film Poster Analysis of 'My Sister's Keeper'

The main colour used in this poster is a turquoise/teal colour. This represents self-centeredness and communication. As relating to the film, about a girl who is only born for the sake of keeping her sister alive. The self centerdness comes from the parents who thought it would be fair to bring up a child for solely that purpose. Therefore the main colour used is one which relates directly to the narrative.

The main figures in the poster are the photographic image of the girl and the woman. This shows them as being main characters throughout the story and makes them primarily visual. By this being the main image of the poster, the poster suggests that the audience should have prior knowledge to the film before going to watch it. We can tell this because the poster gives nothing away, it is quite simplistic. Therefore expecting its intended audience to have prior knowledge. Saying this, I think the target audience for this film would be adults aged 25 – 40. I say this because the narrative is very sophisticated, and not one that would be aimed at teenagers or young adults. There are no stars used as a unique selling point, nor are there any “expert witnesses” quoted to persuade the audience any further. 

Film Poster Analysis of 'Blindness'

The colours we see in the poster are mainly white. White represents purity, innocence and in some ways, guilt. This is good when representing blindness as people with no sight are seen as carrying a burden of guilt. Whether from themselves or someone else a sense of guilt is always felt. This poster in particular represents more purity and innocence. This is because of the face that is shown. It shows the audience that there is perhaps help at hand, and the person shown isn’t on their own by showing the hands around their face. The image is entirely photographic, there aren’t any illustrations, objects or figures in the poster. The most important and iconic element is the face. It’s introducing the character to the audience, showing us she is the main one. This makes the messages in the poster primarily visual as there is no other important text or image that we are first drawn to.

I think the intended audience for this film are adults aged around 25 – 40. The poster represents the film as being quite non fictional nearing a true story so it would be more intended for an older audience. We can immediately tell it’s a drama which wouldn’t attract the younger audience, for example teenagers.

The main persuasive techniques used by this poster is the expression on the face of the poster. As this is the main thing we see the expression isn’t an ordinary one. She almost has a shocked look on her face which draws the audience in, making them want to watch the fim to find out why she does look so shocked, and what has happened. Another persuasive technique is the tagline. It reads ‘in a world gone blind what if you were the only would who could see?’ Comparing this to the title ‘Blindness’ the tagline contracts by not referring to an individual’s blindness but referring to a world of blindness. This would make the audience think that this is far from the average story of blindness, and that it clearly has something to do with the ‘world’. Also by using the term ‘world’ makes the poster have an almost sci-fi element to it, the complete opposite to a drama.

There are no stars used as a unique selling point, not are there any “expert witnesses’ used to promote the film even further. There are also no pleasures promised to the audience through the poster.

Evaluation of My Film Review

The reason I chose to use Empire magazine was because it is one of the most renowned magazines around. It’s famous for its film reviews so I thought it would be ideal to include our film as a feature in there. If you look at the layout I have used it is an exact replica of Empire magazine. The black border around the edge and the ‘IN CINEMA’ on the top left corner is also the same. I tried to find the same colours when using Adobe Photoshop and it looks like I’ve managed that quite well. With the text, I read quite a few reviews from Empire magazine and looked at the way they spoke to their audience. It seemed as if they spoke to them in a formal way yet spoke as if they were well acquainted with each other. I tried to replicate this as well as I could but as our film had such a different and unique story line it wasn’t easy to get the same tone across to our audience. I used phrases such as ‘a tear jerker’ to make the audience feel as is they were already familiar with the magazine. The image I have chosen to use is of the main character Kieran sitting on his bed looking up as he was talking to his mother. I chose this shot because this image has a lot of messages in it. Firstly, the audience will wonder why he’s wearing tinted glasses indoors so even before they’ve read the review they’ll be able to note that he has some sort of sight problem. Also, the fact that he is sitting down looking upwards shows he is quite weak and unconfident. It portrays him as being vulnerable and defenceless to his situation. Also, he is wearing a white shirt which represents him as being a simple and straightforward character. This again, relates to his loss of sight as he isn’t dressed up in fancy clothes and such, he appears basic and minimal. His facial expressions immediately show him as being slightly agitated and perhaps even slightly hostile. Again, showing his un-confidence and weakness.

Film Review Research - Total Film

When analysing ‘Total Films’ layout the main attraction was the image of the man stuck between the rocks. The layout is similar to Empire magazine; the image is placed at the top and is key in catching audiences’ attention. Underneath that is the important information – the review. The layout is very simplistic; the only thing we see is the one image relating to the film, no other images such as adverts or promotion of other films. Not even a bit more of an insight into the film. The main colours used are red black and white. Again the same as Empire magazine. The titles are in black and the slogan for the magazine in red, along with the start of the review, star rating and other smaller articles. The font is also very simplistic, the font isn’t exactly eye catching, it looks basic, in a normal font which is used throughout the entire page.