Test shots and evaluation of our poster shoot

I like this one as the graffiti on the back really stands out highlighting the area that he lives in. The only thing I don't really like in this photo is the way Seyi is positioned. I don't thinking having him crouched down is the right position to have him in. Instead I think we should have him stood up with the camera facing up toward him making him look the superior character highlighting the fact he is the protagonist of the film.

We decided that these weren't urban enough for what we wanted the poster picture to be like. We then went to another location to try and get some shots with a block of high rise flats. Here is what the picture looked like 

I think overall the picture for our poster will be effective as we have the urban location and our protagonist. I like the way that Seyi is not in the middle of the photo but it is visible that he is the protagonist. I think the vertical composition is effective because it look almost like he is fading in to the block of flats showing that he is being sucked in to the life of the gang and their surroundings. The only thing that could be changed in this picture is the colour. I think we could make the photo slightly lighter to enable us to see Seyi a little better. We will be retaking this photo though due to the fact that we have cropped out the top of the flats. When we retake this we will have to be really careful to focus on framing.

Kidulthood Poster Deconstruction

The lighting used in this poster is low key. It is mainly dark and dim which is an indications of the darkness in the film and their lives as a whole. however you can see a bit of sun in the background shining through. This reflects them trying to breakthrough in to adulthood. 

The antagonist Sam is holding a baseball bat which is a prop conventionally used in urban drama. this connotes that there is clearly going to be violence i the film. His character is also made to look important my having him stood up.

The rating and quotes of the film by a magazine to entire the audience to watch the film, the quotes use emotive language and the star rating speaks for itself.

The tag line 'Before adulthood becomes kidulthood' appeals to the target audience of 18-25 year olds as it evidently shows what stage the characters are in life.The 'i' in Kidulthood is in lower case this signifies how young and immature the still are.  The tag line is bold and easy to read as the white effectively makes it stand out. 

Having the cast in the poster shows the audience that it is a character based poster and that the story of the film will be centred around the characters of the story. 

The location of the poster is a stereotypical location for an urban drama and reflects the realities of inner city life in London.

The facial expressions of the teens in the poster are serious as though they have a lot to deal with but the but on a hard expression as if they are not bothered. The hooded tracksuits, baseball jackets and caps that the are wearing again conform to the stereotypes of rough London gangs.

Poster deconstruction

In the background of the poster, behind the protagonist, there are blocks of flats. This is another stereotypical feature of gang related films reinforcing the gang culture side to the audience. By having this in the background it means it links with the dominant gun and the protagonist (even if the link is subtle).

The words 'Harry Brown' is placed over the main picture forcing the audience to look at it. The contrast of the white writing against the black of the coat the protagonist is wearing makes the title stand out even though the majority of the background colour is white as well. The title is slightly fading in to the black of the coat making it clear to the audience that the person in the poster is Harry Brown.

The shadow behind the protagonist is the main focus of because it is the only bit of colour on the poster. The shadow is a blood red connoting blood shed and passion meaning that there may be some kind of deranged passion about the character. Not only is  the shadow read it also has a scene of destruction showing that violence is something of his past and maybe he is trying to walk away from it. 

A quote from a critic summarising the film as mesmerising written in a red font to mimic the shadow of the charachter suggests to the audience that the film is worth watching. It also means that it stands out against the white background of the poster making the audiences eyes automatically read it.

The title of this movie is placed in the middle of the poster focusing the audiences eyes towards it. The word 'ill' is presented bigger than the word 'manors' to show that it is the dominant word of the two. By have the title a bright white it makes it stand out from the dull and dark colours of the rest of the poster once again bringing the audiences focus towards the title. By having the gun placed over the word 'ill' it indicates the effect and impact guns and violence will have on this film. It is also one of the first things you see again highlighting the importance of it in the film.

The tag line however is placed at the top of the poster in a smaller black font. This is so the audience has to really search the poster to find it meaning they have a good look at the rest of the poster whilst doing so. By making the tag line black it means it blends in to the poster unlike the bright title showing that the tag line isn't as important.

Behind the title there is a man (presumably the protagonist). By placing him in the middle behind the title it means he is also the focus of the poster. The clothes the protagonist is wearing are stereotypical of a gang member symbolising that the film will be centred around gang culture. The protagonist is wearing black and so blends in to the background showing that he is a part of his surroundings and that he fits in however he is wearing a white cap of a similar colour to the title showing that there may be something different about him that will stand out in the film. 

Film Poster Inspiration and Roles

• Mollie will be manipulating the title that includes selecting the correct typography that will be effective for our urban drama.
• Ella will be taking many pictures as we film with her camera and selecting the most efficient image.
• Shay will be manipulating the image that we will select so our genre is obvious to the audience.
• As a group we will come together to add the specific details to our film poster. 

Inspiration from previous film posters (include the conventions that are met)

Mollie

• The dark colour scheme used connotes the genre of the film, and the red makes the poster and film seem dangerous and connotes blood.
• The golden rule is used as Shank's typography is very structured, allowing the eye to go down to the characters that are recognisable from other films, and then we  go back up to the tag line.
• It's effective having a poster that is horizontal, as many urban drama posters have this common convention, allowing them to recognised, as it's of the minority of posters that are horizontal.
• The text has been manipulated so the gap in the A features a character with a clear knife in their hand. This clears up any misinterpretation about what 'Shank' means.
• By having the manipulated text, this relates to the film's tag line that is used, making the film's main plot known to the audience.
• The large amount of people in the background are very dark and dismal, and the main protagonists are running away from them, reflecting an element of action within the film.
• The sky has pictures that have been manipulated into grey and white, like dark clouds over the characters, but on a close look, we can see that these are characters within a picture. 
• A common convention of Urban Drama film posters is that it will often state the previous films that the directors/producers/distributors have made (or helped to make). In many poster's the critically acclaimed Urban Drama's Kidulthood and Adulthood are mentioned, grabbing the audiences attention. If they liked those films, they will enjoy this film.

Ella 

- this poster shows many conventions of the urban drama genre and stays very close to the stereotypes around it.

-The main focus of this poster is the picture that has a red film over it in the brain part of the protagonist s head. This connotes many things to the reader. One of these is that because it is a red film used it lets the audience know that there maybe blood shed in the film. Due to this image being in the back of the head it also may connote the violence in this film is physchological to the protagonist in the poster.

- Another thing to look at in the brain of the protagonist is that the picture being shown is actually of two children, one playing with a gun. This shows that his childhood was obviously not very good and so it caused him physiological harm. Having a bad childhood conforms to a major convention in the urban drama genre. Also by having a gun in the picture it links to the red film over the picture again implicating blood and death.

- the light on the facial features of our protagonist also shows the audience that the film conforms to another major convention that the protagonist is a bad guy trying to be good.

- apart from the brain part of the protagonist there is a dark colour scheme to the poster. this show the audience that the film maybe dark and dangerous. it also connotes the genre of the film as being an urban drama.

- All of the text is in the middle of the left hand side of the poster meaning the audience has to look around for the name of the film forcing them to look at the whole poster not just the name.

- the tag line 'you only get one shot at life' links the whole poster together. By using the word shot it's emphasised and confirms the ideas of violence, guns and death within the film.

- the actual typography if the text is white with little black lines through it. This could be interpreted as a jail bar effect implying that the film maybe be centred around or include prison in some aspect. Although I think that the colours are more significant than what the lines actually mean. By having the white text (innocence) being cut through by black lines (death) it shows the audience that maybe death and bad experiences are what is holding the protagonist back.

Seyi

• Shifty moves rather far away from general sterotypes that are used with urban drama film posters
• The colour scheme is the main aspect that moves away from the conventions of urban dramas, yellow rarely connotes anything sinister or law breaking as the colour is too bright and catchy for the eyes, so this doesn't match the usual posters which use a dark background to show the danger surrounding the protagonist.
• The I in shifty is the part of the title that stands out, the I stretches all through the poster and this has a subtle effect; it separates the two characters but it is less blatant as the I is behind them.
• The tag line gives the viewers a brief insight into the storyline, "24 hours to deal yourself out" is effective as it puts a time limit on the amount of time they have to 'deal themselves out', the phrase deal yourself out can be interpreted in some sort of drug deal way.
• Finally, the poster uses reviews at the top to reinforce the merit of the critics comments.