Film Poster - 127 Hours

From looking at this film poster you can instantly tell that the genre is some sort of adventure film with some high energy experience attached. The poster has one main image that fills the whole poster and has been constructed very cleverly. The image has been constructed to convey an hourglass with the two canyons coming in either side in a triangular shape to form the hourglass. The main actor is placed in the centre of the poster with a boulder just below him which is very significant in terms of the films narrative. This part of the image with the main actor and the boulder below is actually in the film so that is where it has been taken from. The main actor (James Franco) is a recognisable character and has been in a lot of films with achieving his international fame with the portrayal of Harry Osborn in the spider - man trilogy.

The different pieces of text on the poster are different shades of brown which goes with the main image (Canyons). The title being the biggest sized font which has been placed towards the bottom part of the poster with the main actors name just above. With "127 Hours" being the film title it gives the audience something to think about in terms of what it actually means and what these hours represent. Below the title is the tagline which reads "Every Second Counts" which anchors the audience into believing that the time is crucial. The other noticeable piece of text which is located at the top of the poster reads "A Triumphant true story" which majorly helps with selling this film. When an audience see's those two words "true story" it becomes of very high interest to them as people are more interested in films that are true. Just below this the text in a slightly smaller font, it reads "from the academy award - winning director of slumdog millionaire". As soon as the audience see the title "Slumdog Millionaire" as it is in a slightly bolder font, from this they will know that this film is going to be good as Slumdog won eight academy awards including best director which is the director of this film. When a poster mentions the previous work of a director you know that the film is of very high standard and also helps yet again with selling the film. 

At the very bottom of the poster is all the information about who was involved with the film. This ranges from the distributors, production companies, actors, music, editor and right down to the director. When mentioning these jobs the font size is very small but the text beside the jobs is a lot bigger and clearer which tells us the person who does the job. Most film posters use a diamond formation to present the information whereas this poster has used more of a rectangular shape. The text is small but is still in capitals like every other piece of text on the poster. Below the billing block is a website that you can check to gather more information about the film. This film poster is in the form of being released at the cinema soon as it has "Coming soon" at the foot of the poster.

Film Poster

A film poster is used to advertise a film and many studios often print several posters that vary in size and content. The posters that are printed are for various domestic and international markets. A poster will normally contain an image which will often feature photographs of the main actors. You can get a set of character posters which is for a film with an ensemble cast, each featuring an individual character from the film. The text of a film poster will usually contain the film title in large lettering which is mainly the biggest font on the poster. The text will also contain the names of the main actors that are starring in the film, along with the director's name and release date. From the three, title, actors, and director the film title is usually the one that sells the film. The actors who star in the film and who directed the film also plays a big part when selling the film. A film poster will also have a tagline which is a slogan that will anchor the poster. It is a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of the film. The audience is not encouraged to stray beyond the fixed layer of meaning that the tagline creates.

A film poster contains other elements to it such as stylized graphics which are usually used to create a background to form something that is significant to the film. Film posters also contain a montage of images which are usually individual images of each of the characters if the film has well known cast. It could also have a montage of images centred around the main character showing a number of images from the film. The credits on the poster are also centred usually in a diamond formation at the bottom of the poster below the main image. Mimicry is another thriving element to a film poster as it could be mimicking another film poster with a humorous version of the film which we have seen over the past decade with the scary movie franchise. Mimicry has other styles to it such as simply having two main characters opposite sides of the poster. Film posters also use images and characters to mimic a specific object that relates to the film. This use of mimicry can be very effective and eye-catching towards an audience.

Film posters are displayed in cinema's across the globe and outside of the cinema as well. You will find film posters on billboards in the street and at bus stops. These posters can also be found on the side of buses and in shops. Film posters can be used on DVDS as well on the internet, whereas the main film posters we see usually are coming soon posters which you will find at your local cinema. You can get other types of film posters such as a teaser poster which is an early promotional poster, containing a basic image or design without revealing too much information such as the plot, theme and characters. The purpose of this poster is to generate hype for the film. There are also remix posters that are posters that have been altered to change the intent of the original film poster. This poster often contains a political or comedic message, using the credibility of the film poster format to deliver the message of whoever is creating the remixed poster. Another film poster that you would see around would be a motion poster which is a more recent type of poster in which the poster is animated. Whatever type of film poster you see it can always suggest what the film genre is.

Title Sequence

We decided to have the opening titles play through the opening sequences of the film. This means we see the titles over the top of the opening scenes. We felt that if we did it this way it would be a very unique approach and challenge conventions of a real thriller film. The phone messages are also being played in this opening sequence which adds to the very effective opening sequences. For the end credits we used a typical classic sequence in having the white credits onto a black background. These credits included the director, Cast members, and screenwriter etc. I feel that with these titles being placed in with the phone messages it has made the film a lot more professional.  

Sound Addition

As we decided to not have a specific soundtrack playing throughout our film we decided to play the phone messages of Alex trying to get into contact with Melissa. As a group we placed these phone messages over the opening scenes such as when Alex is in his living room and when he is writing the letter. With this dialogue being played straight from the start it sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film. After adding the sound in we watched it back and found that it was really eerie with it suiting the film genre.

Finalised editing

After discussing and going over what needed to be changed in the previous meeting, the group and I changed the mistakes. After we done this we put the scenes together which did not take any time at all as it was simple. This was because our film was in chronological order anyway so we did not have to play around too much. We then watched the film again to check if there was anything else needed to be changed but everything was fine. We then came to a decision that the sound that we were going to use in the film was the phone messages being played in the opening scenes.    

Editing rough cut meeting

As everybody in the group has finished editing there sections we thought it was time to discuss what we could improve on. As a group we watched each other’s sections one by one and commented on them. When I say commented on them we discussed what changes could be made to the scenes in order for improvement. We talked about what techniques we could be better of using and what parts to add them in. After this we then started to discuss where the titles could be placed in the film with an idea of them being seen when watching the beginning scenes.

Editing

When it came to the editing process of our project we decided that everybody in the group will edit their own sequence. The software we used to edit our programme was called Movie Pro 11.

The first sequence I edited was the scene where Alex is posting the letter at Melissa’s house. The first shot seen in this sequence is an ECU of someone holding a letter and from this I used a dissolve to show Alex standing there looking at the front. Then simple actions match edits were used for when Alex was posting the letter. When the letter was posted a jump cut was used to see the letter drop and hit the floor. This was the part where I used a number of dissolves to show the different letters being posted with considerable time passing. This then faded out to show it was the end of the scene.

My second sequence that I edited was for the Park scene and I started off using edits that dissolved into each other as Alex walked up towards the bench. Once Alex was sitting on the bench I made sure that the edits were longer to suggest him becoming bored. These long takes continued until Alex decided to get off the bench and walk out towards the park to see if Melissa was coming. The editing technique I used he was with Alex walking towards the camera until it is black. Then straight away the camera is behind Alex to aid the continuity. When Alex is looking for Melissa the edits became a little shorter to emphasise the fact that he is becoming stressed. In this scene I used slow and fast editing to signify boredom and stress.

The last scene that I edited was the scene with Alex and his best mate at the pub. For this scene the first shot I used was an establishing shot to set the scene. Then I used consistent shot, reverse shots to show the reactions and responses in the conversation. This was all I needed to do for the editing in this scene as it was just a conversation. At the end of the scene I faded it out with Alex saying the line “And she’s still mine”.

The edits I have used in my scenes are very subjective with them positioning the audience into taking the side of Alex and sympathising with him.