ANCILLARY POSTERS RESEARCH

MARCUS THOMAS

•Our silent comedy needed to have a poster and a double page spread to help advertise the film to our target audience. I needed to market the film to the intended target audience (people of Afro-Caribbean origin) whilst using the techniques of the codes and conventions which original silent comedies used for their posters. 

•I believed that because our short film is based on the sub-genre silent comedy its only right for me to research silent comedy film posters. This will help give me a deep understanding of the mis-en-scene of a poster, e.g. what the character’s facial expression should look like, what font should be used for the title of the film.

•Whilst planning to make a silent comedy short film, I researched films on high-profile silent comedy actors such as Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy. I thought I should do the same and research two posters supporting Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy’s posters.

The first silent comedy film poster I researched was “Big Heist in Venice” by Laurel and Hardy…

This is the selling used in the poster promoting Laurel and Hardy’s “Big Heist in Venice”

The selling line uses speech marks which possibly indicates that somebody or a group of people (possibly journalists or critics) has written a review judging the film. This was done to influence the audience to believe that this film is “epic” and a “must watch” resulting to see the film in the cinema.

This technique will be helpful in creating the poster of my ancillary products for my short film as my intended audience will be intrigued into watching my film due to the way it has been promoted as a classic.

The font stands out from the rest of the text typed on the poster as it is written in an italic style. This is done to make the reader know that the selling line is important and that they want the audience to take it seriously.

The positioning of the selling line is another key factor in making the poster work effectively. It is right beneath the masthead which is going to be the first piece of text seen by the audience. The designers of this poster knew that if they put the selling line in this position, the chances are that the readers will acknowledge it since they’ll read the masthead first. Due to observing this poster, When it comes to creating my own ancillary, I will aim to position my selling line in a place where I know certainly that my reader will scrutinise so they could feel as though my film is worth watching.

The masthead is short yet detailed. It briefly explains what the silent comedy is going to be about which is a “big heist” a robbery (which presumably Laurel & Hardy will be committing) and where the film will be set in Venice, Italy (which relates to the selling line where it says “…Italian Film Weekly” This masthead is effective as they are letting to the audience know about the film without consuming acres of the page space.When it comes to creating my poster, I will want to make the masthead stand out by making it quite large and bold and positioning it in a good location for it not to be overlooked. I f eel that the masthead should be done in this way through researching this poster.

Like the selling line, the masthead is positioned in a very good place. It is the first piece of text underneath the picture of Laurel & Hardy. The picture is arguably going to be the first thing seen by the audience and once they identify the picture they will then identify the masthead because it is the next piece of text on the poster after the picture.

The font size of the masthead is quite large so will immediately grab the attention of the reader. This is done so that the reader could know a little bit about the film at first glance.

The actor's names appears atThe top of the page and it is written in a large font. Because Laurel & Hardy were well known actors in those times, the readers will be automatically attracted to watching the film as they know that Laurel and Hardy are going to be featured. Making their names noticeable on the poster will attract attention and will enlighten the reader and they read every single word on the poster.

The colour used in the poster is black and white which is relevant to the silent era where films were in black and white. Because our film is going to be in black and white it will probably be best for us to make our poster black and white to make our audience know that the film will not be in colour.

The colour of the poster works out that the text written in black sits on a white background whereas the text written in white sits on a black background. The colour coordinates to create a simplistic effect on the poster which is for people to read and anticipate rather than making it look artistic.

The banner addresses the audience with an exclamation mark to emphasise that the film is coming out really soon. In addition to this, the banner sits at the bottom of the page as the designers of the poster expects you to have read everything above gathering all the main pieces of the information. The designers has possibly placed the cover line at the bottom of the page so that the readers could rush of and make arrangements to see the film after reading what its all about.

The main image in this poster is a medium shot of Laurel & Hardy so that the reader could notice the body language portrayed by the duo. Hardy has a posture which shows that he is suspicious with Laurel with his hands on his hips and eyes glued on to Laurel’s face. Laurels face looks innocent which could mean that he is the main culprit in the “Big Heist in Venice”. You could see that the facial expressions are emphasised which makes it comical meaning it complies to the codes and conventions of a silent comedy. I will need to make sure that my poster has images with emphasised body language because it follows the codes & conventions of a silent comedy so the audience would know what to expect when they go and watch the film.

The second silent comedy film poster I researched was “THE KID” by Charlie Chaplin…

This poster of “THE KID” is different compared to the one used for “Big Heist in Venice” as the poster uses animations to appeal to their target audience. Because this silent comedy involves a child, I believe the designers used animations to appeal to children as well as adults because they know that children are interested in reading/watching cartoons so they will be attracted to this poster immediately.

The familiar face of Charlie Chaplin and “The Kid” appears on the poster as the main image in a medium shot. Their facial expressions suggests that the duo are worried or cautious about something which almost pictures what is going to be seen in the film. The clothes that the kid is wearing may also be an indicator of what is going to occur within the silent comedy.The clothes The Kid is wearing is similar to the clothes worn by Oliver Twist which depicts the Victorian era not so much the 1920s and we know that in those days children like Oliver Twist were poor and performed petit crimes to get by and The Kid may also be mischievous hence the worried face.

The clothes The Kid is wearing is similar to the clothes worn by Oliver Twist.

The techniques the designers used to make this poster appeal to their target audience is something I need to bear in mind. Because my short film is targeting a West Indian audience, the patty may need to be seen as it is a West Indian delicacy and will relate to their way of life. Facial expressions on the actors face will be a key marketing point as it will help the reader to know that the film is going to be a silent comedy as seen in “The Kid” and “Big Heist in Venice”

Charlie Chaplin’s name is written larger than the title of the film “The Kid”. I think this is a marketing strategy because during the 1920s, Charlie Chaplin was extremely popular and letting everybody know he is featuring in the film will attract a large audience. This technique is used for the last poster I researched on Laurel & Hardy, the names are visible to attract audiences to watch the film which includes their favourite actors. This technique is one I need to employ

The selling line for The Kid just like the selling line for Big Heist in Venice , they both use speech marks. In this case, the producers of the film quoted “Sure we took a year to make!” in a cockily manner emphasising how they made such a good film in a short space of time. This could make the reader feel that they need to watch the film to see if the producers comments are true which is a good marketing strategy and its quite unorthodox.