Ancillary Tasks

Posters and Magazine Reviews
Romantic Drama


As part of my research into my genre I came across a number of trailer posters and magazine reviews that help advertise the product and genre the producers are using. Below are a snippet of examples that I thought were enjoyable to look at and represented the genre used.

1. Charlie St. Cloud (2010). 


Aesthetically this poster stands out because of the images that are used throughout the piece. Immediately it would stand out because of this famous actor (Zac Efron) that we have seen through the cinema world. However there is a major negative with this as not everyone likes this actor because of his entrance in the highly popular High School Musical.

On the other hand what grabs my attention is the effect that the advertisers have used to allow the sky blue t-shirt to blend into the serenity of the calm and relaxed bay. As we can see one half of the poster is of the actor and the lower half is showing us a tiny insight into the narrative of the film. I love the use of green grass in background that has been faded out to show the main character and tag line "Life Is For Living". The green grass compensates the tag line for the outdoors, in the fresh out living your life, which matches the narrative of the film.

In many respects you could ideally connect this tag line with representation of youth as this is what you expect teenagers and young adults to say in day to day life. In my opinion it is a wonderful tag line because that this is what life is for, Living! The poster oozes this phrase because of the use of soft colours and the use of the pier at a long shot which shows the surrounding background and the shadows of these two characters that form the narrative.

A brief plot of the film revolves around a young and passionate sailor Charlie St. Cloud (Zac Efron) who if grieving due to the loss of his brother in a fatal car accident when a juggernaut ploughs into the side of their car. The story unfolds as his special bond with his brother results in him still being able to be scene in one specific location in the woods. His brother enjoyed catch which releases a promise that he made during his brother was alive to help him train. In comes a girl of his dreams, Tess (Amanda Crew) and they begin to fall slowly in love which means that he must choose either between his brother or the girl he has fallen in love with. But who does he choose?

With a deeper knowledge of the poster I can see that this plot adds up with the imagery that has been carefully placed into the poster. The pier shows a level of isolation and freedom but also adds strong emotion as it appears to a romantic and stunning location. On the water to the right of the page is a sailing boat that Charlie loves and pursues in life, while he and his younger brother are standing at the end of the pier while the sun lingers low in the sky, which is stereotypical of this genre. We can also visualise that Charlie is looking down to his brother which shows the lasting connection they they have as a family.

2. Dear John (2010).


From first viewing of this poster I can see that it doesn't immediately show what the narrative is about unlike the previous poster that I have analysed. However being a romantic drama the image is somewhat expected and does not have the same flare than the poster before.

Although on the other hand I still enjoy the simplicity of the cover with the neutral colours and the medium close up of the main characters used in the film. The cover is need and modern featuring a warm orange and white font that compliments the plot and image perfectly. The sharpness of the blue hooded top adds a clean cut effect that allows the font to be visible and helps attract the eye to the title.

What helps the image send its genre is the location that the image has been photographed, somewhat stereotypical to any love story because we foresee a romantic date along the waters edge with the sun slowly setting. Although stereotypical it works because it makes you feel something unspeakable inside and anyone who has experienced such events will know what the feeling is. The beach location is perfect for the genre with the grass growing from the sand and the sky blue air adds to the attraction of the poster.

The two main characters cuddled up allows us imagine what the plot is about, it shows love, warmth and most importantly security. The title of the film also allows us to see that  there is a plot and motive to the narration as we know that we use the word Dear to announce the name of addressee that the letter is being written to. Then what changes the whole opinion of the films narration is the tag line which reads "What would you do with a letter that changed everything?", it helps create an enigma and moves the narrative forward but featuring this question to help us stimulate and connect with the film and try to get into the heads of these characters portrayed in the film.

3. Titanic (1997)


One the most recognisable and iconic films ever produced is Titanic, it is a fictional romanic tale based on a real life event on HMS Titanic falling below the waves on her maiden voyage on 1912. The majority of the population will know the Titanic and her fateful night on one evening in the Atlantic after striking an iceberg.

The poster that was launched to advertise the product was somewhat soft and innocent. It doesn't follow the usual tradition that you would see in a romantic drama. HMS Titanic feels the majority of the page which shows that this is one of the main props for the narrative to revolve around. The two characters are foreseen above the ship in a soft warm glow which suggests love and lust, but the rest of the poster suggests an impending doom.

An audience that does not know about the factual sinking of the Titanic will create an enigma of what is going to happen, as the water is one of the most dangerous and volatile substances on earth. However people who know about the sinking of the Titanic will be able to predict some of the narrative, but with the two characters above it creates an enigma of who, what and why are these characters there.

The overall poster is quite rich and overpowering due to the large bow of the vessel taking the majority of the page, which as we know was the largest ship in the world in the early 1900s. The tag line reads "nothing on earth can come between them", this allows the potential viewers of the film to gain an idea on what the narrative suggests as yes it does provide a small answer but we do not know the other events that are going to occur including jealously, hate and romance.

The costume of the characters are somewhat invisible but we do have a glimpse at their hair style which on the other hand does not show much of the generation that the film is based on. The only possible way of being able to determine that the ship is from the 20th century is the actual architecture of the ship via the rivets and the paint scheme of early White Star Line Ships. From ones angle we are unable to see the four chimneys of the ship that show that it is from the industrial revolution run by coal.