Ancillary Research: Poster - Consolidation of What I Found

The most significant feature I found during my poster research was that each design used a strong colour scheme. The most notable use of this can be seen in the 'Palo Alto' poster. The pink colour wash over the main image made the entire poster more visually striking, thus creating a strong marketing campaign. This is something I will be considering using in MY own product, as the colour can also reflect aspects of the narrative. For example, the pink colour scheme of Palo Alto reflects the themes of femininity and relationships that are prominent within the film.

During the filming process of our own short film, we shot a scene of our character in front of a sunset. From my analysis of the 'King Jack', I have found that sunset lighting can connote themes of happiness and suggest a pleasant atmosphere. As we are trying to convey a positive perspective of youth and growing up, I may consider using footage from this filming day in my poster.

Another prominent feature within coming of age posters is their use of the colour green. Green typically connotes growth, and thus is a fitting colour to promote a coming of age film. Therefore, this may be something I should include in my own poster as there are clear references to growth in our title, 'Growing Up'.

Critical acclaim is also present on almost all of the posters. This has the effect of enticing the audience as they see that the film has been well received and therefore it is likely that they will enjoy it too. Positive reviews may also be used to provide an insight into the narrative of the film. For example in the 'King Jack' poster, one of the reviews references it being a 'rite-of-passage movie'. Thus allowing the audience to identify the genre of the film immediately.

It is also clear that the key image of most of the posters is the protagonist of the film (often with their friends or partners alongside them). This is something I am very likely to include in my product as it introduces the main character immediately to the audience and displays them as a younger person. Often the character will be using their facial expressions to suggest the tone of the film. For example, in the 'Palo Alto' poster the main character looks vulnerable thus suggesting a darker element to the narrative.