On The Brink - Audience Feedback

Erol: 

Do you think the ending is successful? How does it make you feel?

Yes, it leave the audience in suspense and made me feel very tense.

Do you think John's motives are clear enough?

Yes, definitely. It is clearly represented though out the film. 

Did we use appropriate settings in the film? 

You have chosen great locations, for example, Beachy Head as it is so iconic and sadly meaningful to the kind of message you are putting across. 

Does the music reinforce the mood of the narrative?

The music is very fitting to the narrative and adds an emotional response to the situation.

Any other comments or improvements on our film?

I think the acting is really good and very genuine. I also think many people can relate to it on some levels as mental health is such a common thing. 

Title development

After many discussions during editing, we have included just a couple of simple titles at the start of our film to show the production company name "Henn Productions" followed by the title "On The Brink" in the following shot. After testing the use of further titles, we decided that it was necessary to keep it simple as any more titles such as cast names would detract from spectator's engagement in the plot and would be unconventional for a short film.

The first title is well integrated into the centre of the establishing shot, as it introduces the time of day for the film as well as introducing our company name. The film's title in the following shot was then animated to be growing apart, which foreshadows the splitting apart of the characters which comes the next day. The font matches what we have used across our poster advertisements, which generates one coherent theme between the different elements of the film and its marketing.

On The Brink - Final Completed Short Film

Editing - The Flashback

The Flashback

• We decided to film 20 minutes of editing the flashback. During this time period we discussed many decisions, for example: we decided to include cross dissolve transitions in which emphasised the flashback as if it is in Rebecca's mind when she is reading the note John left her and her family.

• With the colouring we decided to make the filter on the flashbacks slightly brighter to reflect the past and the happiness of this location which is especially meaningful to John and Rebecca as they always use to go there to talk or just enjoy the sunsets on clear evenings.

• We really wanted to make this flashback effective as it holds very important context towards the film, as it gives the answer to why Rebecca would know where to go and find her Father, at his 'happy place'. 

This is a time lapse showing the process of post-production on the flashback scene which is extremely important to understand the context within the films narrative:

 

Editing - Sound trial and error

During the editing process we have come to many obstacles, however, not too major which has been great. This reflects how thorough planning during post-production. We had Lauren come into the editing suite to listen to a piece of music that we had chosen for the mean time over our interior meal scene. We wanted to make sure that people knew where the dietetic sound source was coming from and if they even knew it was diegetic. This video clip reveals Lauren's opinions on this and also the style of music we temporarily placed into this scene. 

Editing & Animating the cliff scene

This is a short video showing Nathan editing of Adobe After Effects. Nathan is very confident using this software therefore he was the best person to do this job. However, we all observed him doing it and learnt a lot from after effects. Therefore, next time we will be slightly more confident when coming to use Adobe after effects again.

Harry McHale - My draft for our short film poster

My draft for our short film poster

The poster design is based around a screenshot from our short film of a extreme close up of the protagonist. The facial expression doesn't suggest anything that would spoil the film as such. He has subtle look which means the audience could foreshadow that he is concealing or hiding something like he is in the actual film.

The other half of his face is partially hidden which creates enigma but also makes the poster eye-catching and stand out which is equally as important as film posters are used as a form of advertisement. The typography has a almost stair like effect in terms of alignment with the 'b' in brink having a diagonal cut through it. This represents the edge which he stands on in our short film.

The short film poster is done in grey-scale as this is a convention of thrillers; the genre of our short film. The lack of colour is another way of making the poster stand out.

Conventions of short film posters are included here such as the awards and nominations from film festivals that support/raise awareness of short films. Various details at the bottom such as 'funded by lotto' seen in many short film posters.

Reviews were added to the top to attract people to see the film. I didn't use star reviews as I felt this is more common in feature length film posters and I wanted to create a poster which was distinct from generic film posters.

One the aspects which had positive feedback on is the poster's clever design however a point to consider is that the poster doesn't reveal a lot of about the film and from an initial analysis; the film could almost be anything based on the poster alone. These points will be important to consider when making the finalised poster.

Neve's poster draft

ON THE BRINK

Why I made the decisions I did

Throughout my poster I was careful that I stuck to the conventions of a short film poster however i still made it different to other posters.

Picture/background

I choose to use this photo from the shoot because it doesnt foreshadow much or any of the narrative. The character is standing on the edge of a cliff or hill, however as the colour of the sky is blue and calm it suggests that the actors is at peace rather than thinking of commiting suicide. The mise en scene also suggests that the actor could be stressed or at peace. for example the font is simple yet eye catching however the title which is one of the main elements that is eye catching, it is bold but there is footprints over the text which suggests that there could be a search for something or someone. it also connotes a crime scene or murder because often this font is used in crime genres because of the footprint texture. I used black and white on the black and blue background because this blends in more with the subtlety of the rest of the poster, its bold yet simple.
The picture I used is an extreme long shot of the character, I chose this because it shows some of the seting as well

Layout

My poster is very simple with the layout being symetrical and neat, I played around with placing the font in different positions and making the title more central however this didnt work as it created messy and busy look to my poster it also didnt look very proffesional as its an uncommon convention of film posters to have the text not in a straight line. if the text was jagged and placed less symetrical it may suggest more about the narrative. I decided to place the rating stars directly above the male characters because this captures the viewers attention being directly above something that stands out.
A lot of the conventions of a film poster are placed at the bottom of the poster and the top so that the sky and male character create a sense of wonder and curiosity. however the bolder text and title suggest that the film is a drama or thriller. I've made the layout simple so that it doesnt portray much of the narrative however as its not portraying much of the narrative it coulde be an inferred reading of the poster.

Conventions I have used:

1. Laurel leave award - Shows that the film Is successful.
2. Sponsers - Shows that the film is well known.
3. Star Ratings - Shows that the audience liked the film and rate it highly.
4. Reviews - Foreshadows the narrative.
5. Billing block - Shows who was involved in the making of the film.

Evidence of Editing

This is a discussion between Nathan and Harry talking about whether or not to include an extra shot when filming the family walking down the stairs in the morning. This decision was important as we were trying to keep continuity within this scene making it flow better, allowing spectators to understand and keep engaged with the dialogue that gives a lot of context to the narrative.

Nathan poster draft

When creating my poster draft, I used a shot of a flashback from On The Brink where John and Rebecca are sat down on Beachy Head. I edited the background to give even more vibrant colours to generate a pleasant image through pathetic fallacy, giving an interesting twist on the title. This generates enigma for people who see the poster, as they could think that the characters sitting 'On The Brink' peacefully demonstrate an upbeat tone to the short film. This is contrasted by the subtle hints of a darker side to the film within the poster, such as a silhouette of John on the cliff edge replacing the 'i' in brink. The darker colours and hidden body language of the characters suggest a negative tone to their relationship, which is also demonstrated by the title placement which divides the two of them.

I made sure to include many conventional elements of short film posters in this draft so that spectators, especially those who watch Dramas, will instantly recognise the genre and tone being created. These elements help to market the film in a professional and identifiable manner, ensuring that we will cater to these audiences needs. The use of a billing block, large title, reviews and festivals all conform to these conventions seen in other short film posters.

After receiving feedback, I made minor adjustments to the poster to produce this final draft which is better aligned. People said that this final draft works better as one whole piece, with better spacing between each component.

FINAL POSTER DRAFT

On The Brink Film Poster Draft - Emily Ferguson

My Poster Design for On The Brink

When I first started to picture my film poster design for On The Brink, I really wanted to generate emotion to attract audiences effectively. I believe it is very important to have a clear message through the design in some ways, however, not too much context to give the story away, but enough to capture audiences attention to watch our film. All the elements I have included with my poster design all anchor a certain meaning or representation. 

Representations:

Image: Represents the genre of our film e.g. - drama and social realism.

Title: Represents the intensity of the narrative and what audiences should prepare themselves for.

Laurel Leaves: Represents the success of our film influencing audiences to watch and review it.

Colour: Represents the faded vision which John has of his life as he becomes closer and closer to taking his life.



CONVENTIONS USED:

Within my poster design I made sure to imbed many independent poster conventions. This helps me understand the design and reasoning behind these decisions to include these conventions for independent films. Studying many independent short film posters also allowed me to gain understanding with what I need to pursue when coming to my own poster design for On The Brink. 

Conventions I used:

• Laurel Leaves for film awards
• Billing block to show credits
• Reviews
• Sponsors
• Company logo

MAIN IMAGE:

I began designing my poster with a vertical design and similar image, however, I felt that this horizontal image fits perfectly to reflect our narrative as we are immediately introduced to our main character 'John'. Shallow depth of field is used purposely to slightly reveal the person behind him; his daughter Rebecca. I believe that this image generates an enigmatic response, this is because this image raises questions about why she is behind him and who is she. Our main actor's facial expression symbolises his character deep in the film where we begin to find out his personal struggles with life and himself. His frown and darkness under the eyes creates frustration and sympathy for John, making audiences wanting to watch the film. When I finally decided I would use this image I had one point that I argued against it. This was whether or not it revealed too much of the narrative, however analysing it thoroughly you cannot notice John is standing on the edge of a cliff and we do not know any context about the girl to the right of him in the background. 

COLOUR:

When designing the colour of my poster I made sure to keep colour rather than black and white as I feel it would represent this film in too much of a heavy and dark way. Therefore, in photoshop I lowered saturation and hieghtend the brightness to generate a slightly faded effect to the image to create a certain mood. I wanted to generate a mood of spine-chilling feelings, as this faded light colour resembles the chilling and shock value twists that are imbedded in our narrative. If I made this image too contrasted and dark I believe this would have given too much away with the choice of image, therefore designing the faded colour reflects Johns unclear vision of his life, therefore using this colour scheme it contrasts well with the plot of the film which in turn manipulates spectators to create more effective shock and surprise. 

TITLE:

Choosing a fitted font for the image was very challenging and I went through many trial and errors gathering different opinions from various people with different tastes. However, using this font I believe works best as my group have all used the same allowing us to use this for our titling sequence in our final product. The title is clear and bold, expressing the focus of the film 'BRINK', this work holds a lot of context as it connotes how John our main character is on the brink of taking his life. I chose this image with care and thought ahead to titling and positioning, this was important as I needed to allow myself enough room to have clear text and independent poster conventions. The way in which I placed the text it to represent the meaning of the titling. As you can see from the screen shot I have design the text to be towards the right so that there is a drop from the O to the T and then to the B, acting as a cliff in which John is located before he tries to jump off of Beachy Head. 

INTENTED AUDIENCE:

When looking at my poster design I feel as though I have successfully targeted our intended audience for our film which was 15-25 year olds. The poster expresses many social realism genre elements which I feel will attract people within that age gap to watch our film as they has experienced issues or struggles in their life in which they can relate to the image used. For example, our main character John's facial expression truly extinguishes that he is suffering from some sort of mental health illness, or even just reveals that he is hurt and depressed. These emotions can be transformed in a way of attracting people who have or are experiencing similar moments in their lives. This allows this audience to relate or produce empathy as they may no of someone who wanted to take their life. This poster represents a middle class status through the use of mise en scene micro techniques. John's shirt and jacket creates social assumptions such as it represents his middle class character, however, a deep hidden message from this and the film is that no matter how wealthy he is, money can't help his depression and addiction, indicating that money cannot bring you happiness, only kindness. 

 TONE:

When glancing at my poster draft design, you can gather a certain tone that is expressed. A chilling, cold and eerie tone is felt when analysing the tone. The micro techniques used within the poster including conventions all convey these tones. I personally feel that my poster draft successfully reflects the correct and fitted tone to the narrative we have created. 

Overall I am very pleased with my poster draft design for our film On The Brink. There  are small things I am not 100% with such as: whether or not the girl in the background gives too much away about the twist in the narrative, but I feel this poster authentically reflects our film in the correct way and will persuade target audiences.

Short film poster research- The Gravediggers son.

The Gravediggers son

Media language

Mise En Scene

Audience

Genre

The Gravediggers Son is an American short film written and directed by Jake Yard. The film has won a couple of American awards, Ouchy film festival, Los Angeles cine fest and Fest new film directors festival. Los Angeles film festival is a large and popular film festival that has alumini with celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson,Courteney Cox,Jessica Biel, Kirsten Dunst, Ralph Macchio, Ricky Gervais.

The Mise En Scene of the poster suggest that the film is a horror or thriller genre. The lighting is low key and very dark, this creates a scary feeling and a sense of danger. The male character is positioned in a long shot of him digging, the connotations of the prop (shovel) along with the other aspects of Mise En Scene are murder or a death? and the male is digging to hide or to find someone. The smoke around the character also creates a creepy feeling, is something beyond that? The title is positioned at the top of the poster and other information is at the bottom this allows us to focus on the image. The title gives more information than some short film posters. With this title I can connote that the film is about a man or boy, the title also sounds quite sinister as in the picture the grave has already been closed so it would suggest the man is digging up graves rather than making them.

One of the semantic codes is a prop of a lit candle, this creates a feeling of being lost or stuck as that candle is the characters only source of light. the candlelight is also a symbol of the time period it is set as is the males costume.These both suggest that the film is set before war time in America.

This film poster has  many conventions of short film posters for example:

• Billing block that tells us who was involved in the- This is positioned at the bottom of the poster like other posters however on some posters they position it elsewhere.
• Name of the director- 'A film by Jake Yard' many short films have the director and writer on their poster however showing the actors names is rare due to the low budget.
• Film festival awards- At film festivals the producers are more likely to get their film noticed- This poster shows that its won awards at the American film festivals. Showing the awards is also used as an advertising technique because short films don't get the media coverage big labels get.

What's different about this poster?

• Focus on the image rather than the title.
• No star ratings or reviews- This means the audience can't see what other viewers think of it and foreshadow aspects of the film.

I think the target audience for this are likely to be an older audience of 25-40 rather than 16-25 like many of the films i've looked at. The mise en scene is very professional that suggests its targeted at a specific audience.It appeals to this audience because of the Mise En Scene and the iconography of these they suggest its a dark film. older audiences tend to like thrillers or dramas more as they have to work out whats going on a lot more than in comedies.

Poster research- Harper Finch

Harper Finch

Media Language

Audience 

Genre

Mise En Scene 

The Mise En Scene of the poster at first glance suggest that the film is a romance/thriller this is otherwise known as a hybrid. The poster would suggest that the film has romance incorporated. I can connote this because of the male and female on the front, they are naked and are holding each other, however the positioning of the actors and facial expression suggests its more of a sexual nature than romance. The female looks relaxed and in love, in contrast the male looks worried and confused.

The title has some letters turned the wrong way round, however its not as bold as other film posters which suggest the editor wants to draw attention to another feature. The title suggests confusion or danger because it disorientates the viewer at first look. The poster is made to look like broken glass, this could suggests love loss or pain. However there is blood splattered on the female and the males hands.

The semantic codes of the poster e.g the blood, suggest that there has been a fight or someone got hurt, the preferred reading is that there relationship is emotionally painful rather than the op positional reading that the audience are likely to read it as. ( The blood is real blood from a fight or murder) The syntactic codes suggest that the couple would've stared their relationship like any others, this is shown through the body language and facial expression. although this is how their relationship started the iconograpgy of the blood and broken glass suggest that their relationship is breaking.

The conventions of film posters have been used in this poster however they are used slightly different to other posters for example, the title and billing block are usually placed differently and made the center of attention. in this film poster the actors are the center of attention and main focus point because they portray more than the title does. Actors names aren't mentioned either which suggest its a lower budget film. The poster hasn't got any star ratings or reviews that usually give us an indication on what the film is about.

The lighting is low key on the actors, however  its black around them which suggests there is danger and secrecy. it seems that the couple are stuck, this is shown through the broken glass over them which suggests a broken relationship also the dark light suggests a sense of being lost or stuck.

I think the target audience is 16-25, I think it would be best suited to an older audience compared to the other films because of the sexual and violent connotations of the image. Also the film seems to be about relationships the ups and downs and the mental strain they can have, this may not interest younger viewers. they are likely to want a Rom/Com or horror something they could relate to better. An older would be able to relate to this film better and the poster as many of the younger audience wouldn't be in or have been in an intimate relationship

Monsters - Poster Analysis

The British low budget film 'Monster', directed by Gareth Edwards, has a film poster which reveals many themes and messages through the micro elements that are applied. These poster conventions are very important for successfully promoting the film and appealing to appropriate audiences.

The title, Monsters, is very large and is emphasised near the top of the screen. The sharp, sans serif font is common of Thrillers and Sci-Fi's, and is dented at the top of each letter. These slight breaks in the font look like scratches, possibly caused by the monsters. The poster tries to convey many key points within the narrative, such as the opening sentence which introduces the world they live in, where the monsters are now 'residents'. This suggests devastation, as they have taken over the planet, as shown by the destructive imagery.

The setting is full of smoke and broken props such as a helicopter on the ground. The dark, cloudy colours reinforce the theme of an apocalyptic world, where there is also a billboard showing that the two characters are in an "infected zone". This danger imposed on the man and lady generates excitement for spectators, as we question how they will escape from this horrible situation. Things have become so dire that the man is wearing a prop of a gas mask in order to protect him, but this also generates enigma as to why the woman isn't following his actions, as she instead holds hers in her hand.

This poster includes many conventional Sci-Fi elements, such as flying vehicles and explosion effects. This will meet the needs of current Science Fiction fans, as well as attracting new ones with the exciting imagery and fonts used in the poster.

Common in feature film posters, 'Monster' comes with a tag line which captures the meaning of the film. "Now, it's our turn to adapt" is a thrilling tag line which summarises the exciting narrative which is unconventional of a Sci-Fi taking place on our own planet, as it is now as if humans are the anomaly surrounded by many of these monsters. This tag line, along with billing block and large title, are conventional elements of feature length film posters which aim to attract fans of the particular genre it portrays.

The Blair Witch Project - Poster Analysis

This low budget film of only $60,000 was a huge success with audiences all over the world, indicating that it is not always about how much money you put into the film, but the way in which you promote it. The title of this film is unusual, and longer than a typical short film, leaving audiences wanting to know more about the 'project' as it is said to be based on a true story.

The main image of the woman is blended into the dark forest, connoting where the film is set, in the woods. The composition of the poster places the woods higher up, suggesting that it is the more powerful force with the woman laying below, inferior to it. The low key lighting helps reinforce the typical horror conventions seen in feature length films, generating enigmatic shadows. The fearful facial expressions are illuminated by a torch, and could represent that she is hiding from something. The restricted narration used in the poster leaves audiences wanting more, and desperate to find out what is happening to her.  The almost greyscale effect of the image is typical of Horror films, using a red, back and white colour scheme. These colours can represent many different meanings. Red often suggests blood, black connotes darkness or death and white implies ghosts or paranormal activity. The use of these elements could be to draw in audiences of higher budget productions, as it matches the conventions they have come to expect.

This poster includes many conventional elements of a standard Horror feature film, such as a focal image, tag line/plot line, film title and billing block. The small text that surrounds the image helps to emphasise the important picture which has become famous and representative of the whole Horror genre.

The target audience for this film seems to be all genders 15+ who enjoy Horror. The producers were looking for people to be excited about this new technique in filmmaking, where the film revolves around 'found footage'. The Blair Witch Project has set the pace for these kinds of films, despite starting out as a small independent production. The poster helped to generate these new and fresh ideas about a new direction for Horror films as it shows the woman at an unflattering, unprofessional, and badly lit angle. This suggests authenticity, which was used to generate a more thrilling response from spectators in the film itself, as it feels like a more realistic POV as the terrifying events unfold.

This poster influences me to create a more powerful and enticing poster for On The Brink through the use of minimal key pieces of imagery which have significant meanings within the film. I must ensure to stick to short film poster conventions in the creation of the piece, therefore staying away from some of the feature film techniques used above.

Short film Poster research - Fish Tank

Fish Tank 

                                                                   Mise En Scene
                                                                     Representation
                                                                   Media Language
                                                                   Audience
                                                                   Genre
Fish Tank is an English produced short film by Andrea Arnold. The film has won so far two awards at the Cannes film festival (Jury prize) and Edinburgh international film festival (Winner). The mise en scene of the poster suggests that the film is a romance or drama/social realism.The positioning and facial expression of the female suggest that she is sad or angry or worried? The colour of the text is a baby blue and there is also baby pink in the poster however the choice of colour suggests there is a male and female influence together or a baby involved because stereo-typically baby blue and pink are used for a girl or boy.
Some parts of the text are bigger than others this suggests the editor wants to push forward an aspect such as 'POWERFUL and POIGNANT' this size of font captures the audiences attention to the interesting and good parts of the film, however the billing block is a smaller font because this won't sell the film or capture the audiences attention as its a convention that is incorporated in every film poster. The editor has also brought attention to the actors names, this isn't as common in short films because of the low budget however Fish Tank was produced by a well known producer. 
The positioning of the girl shows her looking out the window this suggests that the character is unhappy with her life and wants what is beyond her window.

The setting appears to be a run down house that suggests the character lives in a poorer area? there is graffiti over the walls and peeling paint which also connotes poverty and lower social class. However the colour's on the wall contrast with Mia and her lifestyle (grown up in a poor estate) as her costume is black her hair looks a dyed colour black/brown and her jewelry is gold, all of these together suggest that Mia doesn't act her age and she is living older than a 15 year old should be, they seem quite harsh compared to the scribbling on the wall and bright pastel colours that suggest she is still a child that needs a good upbringing. The mise en scene represents a poorer life style, one that a 15 year old wouldn't want to be living. They represent the lower class society that live in poorer parts of London and take part in gang culture

In this film poster there are many short film poster conventions incorporated such as:

• A billing block - Used to give information about the film- who owns it etc
• Actors names included - Not all short films include this because of the low budget, they cant afford famous actors.
• Captions of reviews- This is common on short film posters to see reviews from newspapers or magazine. they do this to sell the film as well.
• Awards that the film has won at film festivals- e.g Cannes film festival.
• A tagline that anchors the image e.g 'live, love and give as good as you get' this is used to foreshadow some of the narrative to the audience.
• Star ratings- These are also common because they show how good the film is.

The target audience for 'Fish Tank' is 16-25 men and women, I think this target audience would be best for 'Fish Tank' because of the connotations of the poster. The mise en scene also appeal more to a younger audience, and the teenager on the front would appeal to a younger audience because they tend to be interested in other teenagers lives more. The mise en scene appeals more to a female audience because of the use of colour and font,the main protagonist is also a female, all of these together would appeal more to women than men. However as Micheal Fassbender is involved in the film it it likely that the film will also appeal to men that like other work from Micheal Fassbender.

Lion - Poster Analysis

This bold and powerful poster for Simon. P. Edwards' short film, Lion, uses just a few elements to advertise the film. The main image which takes up two thirds of the frame is of the main character screaming with facial expressions showing his mouth wrenched open like a lion roaring. He is being set up as the 'lion' in this film with the title directly next to his mouth. 

The monotone brown colour scheme applied to the poster brings all the elements of text and imagery together, ranging across the scale from a dark shade on his face to the light background. The darkness around Ian Virgo's character seems to represent an angry side to him, again likening him to how we think of a lion as it roars. His head and face are covered by hair which matches this animal metaphor.

The tagline 'when the pride has gone' has a double meaning, which seems to suggest that his 'pride' or family has left him. This could also be leaving him lacking in dignity as the other meaning of the word suggests. The emptiness around him in the poster reinforces this idea of loneliness and isolation anchoring the tagline to the image. Other titles include a small billing block to match short film poster conventions as well as the main actors name above the main title. This is included in this poster, unlike many other short films, as this is an actor who has appeared in well known productions which could attract audiences to the film. 

The target audience for this short film appears to be middle aged males who may have been more attracted to Virgo's previous roles in actions like Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers, both of which were targeted towards this demographic. This target audience would be able to relate better to this character who is in a similar group, as well as the brown colour scheme which surrounds him. These characteristics would be typically associated with a male audience.

THE MACHINIST - Poster Analysis #4

THE MACHINIST

Media Language

Representation

Audience

Narrative

Genre

The Machinist a British film which was released in 2004 and was not successful in box office, was very successful with critic reviews and audiences. Although this film had a $5 million budget it is classed as a low budget film which has a very interesting and busy film poster. The layout of the poster can represents multiple perspectives on the narrative, conveying many meanings and messages that the poster designer wanted to reinforce and generate for audiences. 

The composition of this poster focuses on the films main protagonist, Trevor Reznik, played by Christian Bale where he is scattered and fitted along the top of the poster. Not only does this suggest he is the protagonists and main character but also could connote that the film is going to explore all the different sides to Trevor's fragile personality. This can be represented through his various facial expressions in his different images on the poster. They vary from the first face on the left looking bewildered and then the last face on the right looking very vulnerable. This unorthodox approach showing four images of Trevor's face implies that this film could have some physiological themes to engage spectators and to change their perception of reality. 

The light and dark colour scheme that is used generates a low-key light effect across the whole poster, however giving it some contrast with the lighter blues to create differences in the poster, otherwise it could be too plain and boring. These two contrasting colours may suggest that these images that we see on the poster are from flashbacks of Trevor, which is another typical psychological genre film convention. The unorthodox elements that are being applied in this poster generates enigma around this character, leaving many raised questions from spectators. The target audience from what I can see from the poster would be aimed at a mature audience of both genders, however I wouldn't say that this film was  targeted towards a younger audience, especially if it has heavy psychological themes. I have learn't how important lighting is for a film poster as it can reveal many hidden messages and hints to what themes and genres are involved in the narrative. I will definitely incorporate these techniques and ideas into account for when I come to design my poster for my film.

In this poster, a tagline is applied which is a tiny post note of an unfinished game of hangman with only two letters found at the end of the word. Next to the post note it quotes "Trevor Reznik is four letters away from the truth." This represents and can reveal some of the themes of the film, for example, he may be searching for something important and significant to himself. The title also uses the hangman effect, this continues to tease the audience by connoting that the main protagonist, Trevor is being shielded from finding out the truth, which can also be considered as having some genre conventions of a thriller. Therefore we are positioned to root for him and for him to find out the truth, although we still don't know the full context of the film, we only guess from the film poster.