““In what ways does In what ways does your media product your media product

use, develop or use, develop or challenge forms challenge forms

and conventions of and conventions of real media real media products?”products?”

Our Film Poster for: Our Film Poster for:

‘‘SAY IT TO MY FACE’SAY IT TO MY FACE’

Conventions of Film PostersConventions of Film Posters - A Film Poster must have conspicuous - A Film Poster must have conspicuous

typography, iconography, lasting appeal and typography, iconography, lasting appeal and recognisability.recognisability.

- There must be prominent use of photography.- There must be prominent use of photography. - The typography is inventive, recognisable and - The typography is inventive, recognisable and

suitable.suitable. - Institutional Information is displayed at the - Institutional Information is displayed at the

bottom of the poster.bottom of the poster. - There is usually reviews from outside - There is usually reviews from outside

companies. companies.

““A Film Poster must have conspicuous typography, A Film Poster must have conspicuous typography, iconography, lasting appeal and recognisability.”iconography, lasting appeal and recognisability.”

I believe our poster is appealing for our audience through different ways. Our photo is shocking, with a very literal message of suicide, which is likely to capture the audiences attention and makes the genre more recognisable. The photo stands out with edits used on photoshop such as ‘outline’ which attracts the audiences attention.

Also at the top of our film poster, the rewards are iconography of film posters, also this will gather interest as it suggests the product is commendable as it is worthy of winning such respected film awards which would influence the audiences respect for the film.The title has recognisability as it is used in our documentary. This helps achieve brand identity and allows the audience to distinguish how all products are linked.

The Channel 4 logo is iconic to the audience due to its excellent reputation for exhibiting challenging subjects and being the home of documentaries.

The use of glow behind the writing on the poster helps to emphasise its meaning and makes it stand out which should capture the audiences attention. We feel this is effective as it would cause the audience to look closer at our poster which is helpful when trying to convince the audience to watch your product.

We feel we have followed this important convention as one of our aims when producing this product was to ensure the audience is interested in our documentary to increase the likeliness of them watching our film.

The use of laptop is iconography of the cyber-bulling genre, establishing the genre and making the poster iconic.

The blue background has iconic links to Facebook as the colour is the same as the logo. This creates recognisability for the audience, and suggests the online genre.

““There must be prominent use of There must be prominent use of photography.”photography.” Using a laptop we are

exploiting the cyber-bullying genre and displaying iconography of the internet and advancing technologies. This helps to educate the audience on the content of the documentary, and helps them realise whether it is a product they would be interested in.

We believe using long shot, we have captured the audiences eye by displaying themes of isolation and seclusion on the subject which will make the audience think.

Despite the black and white colour connoting distress and suffering we feel it may not capture the audiences attention as much as a picture with colour, and believe our poster may have drawn the eye of more audience members had we used colour.

We have met this convention conclusively, as we feel our picture is the focal point of our poster and the photography helps to establish the genre and have strong connotations of cyberbullying and the effects of it.

Using Natasha has helped create brand identity within our products as Natasha is used in our documentary, review and film poster. This will increase recognisability with our audience.

-“The typography is inventive, -“The typography is inventive, recognisable and suitable.”recognisable and suitable.”

We feel we have challenged this convention slightly, as our title is not of a large size, which is conventional for We feel we have challenged this convention slightly, as our title is not of a large size, which is conventional for film posters, however we feel it is inventive and is recognisable due to its brand identity.film posters, however we feel it is inventive and is recognisable due to its brand identity.

The font size is not large and overpowering on our poster, however we feel the size does not matter as it is still large enough to recognise and appreciate. We have accomplished this through use of ‘KEYBOARD FONT’ from DAFONT.com, which will become recognisable to the audience as the font is brand identity used in the documentary.By adding in a glow behind the font we have made it stand out and emphasise its meaning adding connotations of how important the theme of the documentary is, establishing the documentary Channel 4 conventions, that their documentaries usually tackle difficult issues.As the keyboard shape acts as iconography to the internet, it becomes more likely that this will catch the audiences eye, due to increasing prevalence of internet use, the audience will be able to identify the topic of the documentary and capture the interest, establishing the cyber-bullying genre.

However,most digital natives today now access social media on their converged devices, resulting in a keyboard not appearing to be a traditional keyboard anymore. – This is something we could have considered when choosing font, as if we considered a typography that would be recognised as the text used on an iPhone, it may appear more recognisable to digital natives.

““Institutional information is displayed at Institutional information is displayed at the bottom of the poster”the bottom of the poster”

We followed this convention using a conventional film poster font, ‘SF FILM FONT’. We followed this convention as we feel it helps to inform the audience of as much information on the production stages of the film, also crediting all the work that goes into the product. This also makes our poster look more professional and realistic and establishes the documentary genre.

By using this font, it helps make the information clear and easy for the audience to read. It is conventionally cinematic, suggesting our production would have other distribution channels as well as Channel 4, such as ‘art-house cinema’, before feature length documentary showings, suggesting our production has worked with successful companies which may suggest it is worth watching.

Positioning the text at the bottom of the poster is not only conventional, but also effective. I believe this is true as it does not become the focal point of your poster, but if the audience desires to read it, they know it is there, this will help to increase their confidence in knowing the production is impressive as they have access to knowledge on who has produced it, and whether their work is of good quality.

By using a white font, with a black outline, I feel has helped to make our font striking and appeal important. This is good as it is still noticeable, but kept other elements, such as our picture the prominent part of our poster.

““There is usually reviews from There is usually reviews from outside companies”outside companies”

We have followed this convention in our film poster by using the convention Gold Feather style awards, given by ‘Sundance Film Festival’, and ‘Cannes Film Festival’.

Using these prestigious film awards, it is likely the reputation of our documentary would be respected, as these awards tell the audience the product is of good quality . Our poster then tells the audience that it is worth watching, as it was worth awarding this title. Our primary audience of teenagers will be influenced to watch the production as they will notice it has been credited, this proves our idea to use awards was successful.HOWEVER; we could have researched into more suitable awards. As specifically short film awards would have been more conventional for a short film. An example we could have used is, BAFTA’S British Short Film, or the ‘Best Short Short’ by Aspen Shortsfest. These could have been more suitable due to the duration of our production and this is something we should have considered.

Institutional Conventions of Institutional Conventions of Channel 4 PostersChannel 4 Posters

Channel 4 posters have elements of recognisability that the Channel 4 posters have elements of recognisability that the audience can identify as Channel 4 products.audience can identify as Channel 4 products.

The LOGOThe LOGO

In print, the facia of the logo is invisible, so that it integrates with In print, the facia of the logo is invisible, so that it integrates with its surroundings. We see its distinctive shadow overlaying its surroundings. We see its distinctive shadow overlaying photographs, illustrations and textures. photographs, illustrations and textures.

Despite many brands placing their logo in the bottomDespite many brands placing their logo in the bottom right of their film poster, CHANNEL 4 place theirs right of their film poster, CHANNEL 4 place theirs in a centre-right position. This is unique to channelin a centre-right position. This is unique to channel 4 and therefore the audience can instantly recognise4 and therefore the audience can instantly recognise it.it.

Channel 4 uses only basic colouring on their logo,Channel 4 uses only basic colouring on their logo,they avoid using different versions of the same colour.they avoid using different versions of the same colour.Other colours may be used where appropriate.Other colours may be used where appropriate.

SAY IT TO MY FACE POSTER.SAY IT TO MY FACE POSTER.Our Channel 4 logo is placed just below the centre-right position, but still too high to be considered bottom right and therefore recognisable to an audience.

Our logo facia is invisible and integrating with the background, which is conventional for channel 4 film posters. We feel this makes our poster more professional and realistic.

Using a black logo looks sophisticated and is recognisable to the audience through its conventional simplicity of the colouring of channel 4 logo’s.

Visual IdentityVisual Identity At the heart of the Channel 4 visual identity is the belief that writing and design must work At the heart of the Channel 4 visual identity is the belief that writing and design must work

together. Channel 4 is innovative, independent and irreverent. Therefore, the tone of voice needs to together. Channel 4 is innovative, independent and irreverent. Therefore, the tone of voice needs to be bold, surprising and challenging.be bold, surprising and challenging.

Our poster’s writing and design works together to visually identify with the theme of the documentary, cyber-bullying.We feel we achieve this through the use of iconography, the laptop resting on the subjects knee. Also, this links in with our title font. The recognisability that the font is a keyboard helps the audience to understand the genre is based on new technologies.

To make our poster bold we used and underlay glow behind our text. This helps to emphasise its importance and outline the significance of the message of our documentary.

We were faced with a problem when realising we prioritized a film poster over a Channel 4 poster. This then resulted in the poster having the visual identity of a cinematic poster, rather than a Channel 4 poster. However were hoping for multiple lines of distribution, as we were inspired by ‘Blackfish’ – a documentary film who received almost simultaneous cinematic and Freeview release on BBC4 and was still successful.

ImageryImagery Channel 4 should always produce engaging, original, memorable Channel 4 should always produce engaging, original, memorable

and eye-catching advertising solutions.and eye-catching advertising solutions.The literal image displays the harsh reality behind the topic of our documentary. Using a gun to display a method of suicide will shock our audience. This method of captivating an audience always engages them, therefore we have follow this convention of Channel 4 posters, as we believe the imagery we use portrays shocking ideologies and will become memorable to the audience due to its horrific message.

However, the shocking ideology that ‘the internet is dangerous’ acts as Morley’s idea of a dominant reading. This creates a danger of promoting a rather one-sided, hegemonic ideology which could prevent young people from expressing themselves, which could decrease the popularity of the documentary as the audience may feel they are being forced into having an opinion.

Genre Poster ConventionsGenre Poster Conventions

Cyber-bullying and social media Cyber-bullying and social media products make use of various products make use of various conventions to portray their message conventions to portray their message on a poster advertising campaign.on a poster advertising campaign.

Our poster for, ‘Say it to my Face’ follow genre conventions when compared to ‘Cyberbully’.

1. Use of ICONOGRAPHY of the cyber-bullying genre. Both posters use the advanced hardware technology, laptops. Both are central to the film poster connoting power, dominance and informs the audience of its underlining importance in the products.

2. Using blue as a background helps to connote freedom and peace. This reassures the audience that despite cyber-bullying being a difficult and challeging topic to deal with, both have resolutions which are explored in the products.

3. It is conventional for cyber-bullying genre to use a ‘subject’. In this case, both posters use a distressed female, as stereotypically females are weaker than males. Both subjects are reading whats on screen and showing physical emotion. This connotes the seriousness of the topic and will emphasise its importance to the audience.

4. Our poster creates personal identity with the audience, as the audience put themselves in the victims position. Due to us showing the negative effects on the victim, it should increase the audiences awareness and help them to understand the dangers of online use.