Ancillary Tasks

Poster Research and Analysis (Major Films):

Black Swan:

Black Swan (2010) directed by Darren Aronofsky, released this poster as part of their advertisement for the production. The main protagonist taking up the majority of the poster, contrasts massively with the background and the title of the film. She is an extremely pale white suggesting her innocence and purity. Alternatively it could suggest she is a part of a dream, a figment of another's imagination. The black background and the use of the oxymoron in the title "Black Swan" (swans are typically associated with being white, although you do get the occasional black one), suggests a sense of foreshadowing that something dark is lurking around the corner. Also, the crack down the side of her face suggests she is vulnerable, or a breakable piece of China that should be kept safe at all times. I could implement this kind of look for  my poster by portraying Christina's innocence in this way, with contrasting colours.



The Sixth Sense:

The Sixth Sense (1999) directed by M. Night Shyamalan, released this poster as part of their advertisement for the production. Firstly, the darkness/pitch-blackness of the poster at first sight suggests nothing positive. It primarily suggests the audience are set for a bumpy ride watching the film and that its not going to be very pleasant, but it still draws us in. The orange light shaped like the number 6 and the dark figure suggests a fiery narrative with an evil antagonist watching the protagonists every move with an extra sense. The font is very interesting and mysterious as it looks almost handwritten which provides the audience with an element of wonder. The tagline "Not every gift is a blessing" suggests that this extra sense the protagonist has attributed is doing him/going to do him a lot more harm than good.

The DaVinci Code:

The DaVinci Code (2006) directed by Ron Howard, released this poster as part of their advertisement for the production. The first thing that stands out for me are the two protagonists in the poster. This is because you have the male protagonist in the foreground and the female in the background looking rather worried. This suggests to me that the female protagonist in the background is the damsel in distress that the male in the foreground will be saving - making him the hero. This is stereotypical to the film industry and supports dominant ideology. The title/font and the numbers in the background for me, provide the support for the mystery side of the film genre, and the aspect of the code that they have to figure out in order to reach their desired goal. The shadows suggest a sense of foreshadowing and that reaching said goal isn't going to be an easy process.

Poster Research and Analysis (Independent Films):

The Disappeared:

The Disappeared (2016), a short film directed by Evan Loye Derrickson, released this poster as part of their advertisement for the production. Firstly, it is the open sea, suggesting a missing protagonist and the element of mystery. This is supported by the light blue colour of the whole poster. Also, the sun at the top of the poster suggests a glimmer of hope for the characters within the film. The title/font is in black suggesting a certain darkness that will occur during the film at some stage. It is also bang-smack in the middle of the poster suggesting the disappearance is the sole focus of the narrative.

Film Poster (First Draft):

Film Review Research:

So this is honestly quite an unnecessarily long and boring video about what makes a good film review so I don't blame you for scrolling straight past. HOWEVER, she does make some good points throughout regarding the introduction of the plot, structure,  explicit wording (although she does make a point  about not swearing), consistency and guidance of your readers in terms of expressing your opinions so it did help me with what to look out for when researching other film reviews and writing my own:

Son of Saul review written by Craig Williams

The Pearl Button review written by Glenn Heath Jr

Demolition review written by David Davidson

Eye in the Sky review written by Clarisse Loughrey

Disorder review written by David Jenkins

As all of these reviews are ones I have pulled out of the same magazine "Little White Lies", they all follow the same structure/layout. I like that the reviews have been set into columns as it allows an easier read for the readers and the ratings are nice and clear to the left of the reviews themselves. I also like how they have broken down the ratings into three categories: anticipation, enjoyment and in retrospect. Rating the film this way allows for a more in depth critique as you are able to critique based on three areas as opposed to the film as a whole. However, each of them are very dull in terms of colour and font. They are written in black with a standard document font of which is very small making it difficult for readers to actually read, despite the layout. Personally, I would add a little more colour to the reviews and use a more enticing font to engage the readers rather than them dosing off halfway through even if the content is accurate. They have even used pretty dull pictures in terms of colour/setting too (I know the shots will be relative to the genre of each movie, but I'm sure they could have forked one or two more vibrant ones than those - that's if they even used an image at all!) which is disengaging to readers to begin with. It is arguable because we read the majority of fiction with no pictures so why do we need pictures on a film review? But I believe readers would like to envision the characters/settings whilst reading the review before they go and watch the production itself so they are able to decide whether the film is worth watching or not.

Film Review: