Critical approaches poster analysis
In this assignment I will be analysing the audiences and the codes and conventions of the theatrical posters of A girl walks home alone at night (2014) and Beauty and the beast (2017)
Audience Profiling of Beauty and the Beast
As this film is a mainstream live action remake of a mainstream animation film, Beauty and the Beast already has a variety of established audiences. The typical gender of their audience is female and the typical age of their audience will be 10+; with younger children being taken by their parents, and teens wanting to go as they have grown up with the original film.
The members of this audience would be mainstreamers- as it is a mainstream, family film- and aspirers- as the female audience are likely to aspire to be a princess, no matter their age. As well as this they will aspire to match the elevation of Belle's social status. The socio-economic split for this film would be from A to E as it is aimed at everybody and would be commonly liked, mass produced and commercially successful.
Audience Profiling of A girl walks home alone at night
This film is an independent horror focused on Iranian culture, therefore will target a small audience. The typical age of the audience will be 15+ as it is rated as a 15 in the UK and similarly around the world and the typical gender of the audience would be an equal female/ male split as the film could be said to be quite feminist as the main focus is the girl in the title, however as the film is a horror; this typically attracts a male audience. The members of this audience would be strugglers seeking escapism by joining a different reality and explorers seeking discovery and something different. The socio-economic split for this film would be from C1 to E as these are likely to be the strugglers and as it is independent it would capture the attention of students more than adults.
Selection/Construction of content on the Beauty and the Beast poster
The first thing that stands out in this poster are the main characters- Belle and the Beast- as a spotlight is shone on them dancing. This is a throwback to one of the unique features of the original animation which combined hand drawn characters with computer generated camera sweeping to grab the effect of a panoramic view.
People familiar with the original film will be aware that these characters are the focus of the film and the use of the spotlight effect makes this very clear through this poster.
The title has the Disney logo above it for familiarity as everyone is aware that Disney is one of the biggest film companies in the world; and this is a pulling effect because many people will go see something Disney because they like the other work from the company, as well as the quality. The title has a regal look to it as it is gold coloured which is fitting since it is a princess film of the fantasy genre.
At the top of the poster the cast names are listed; something which shows that the film is mainstream as the cast are famous enough to each be pulling factors for the film, however the names are all the same size which shows that they are equally as famous as each other.
At the bottom of the poster, the film crew is listed and there is a release date for the film positioned centrally, as people are likely to want to see the film after just seeing the poster. Next to the release dates are the variations of how the film can be seen in cinemas which will interest people who enjoy 3D more than 2D.
Selection/Construction of content on the poster of A girl walks home alone at night
A girl walks home alone at night is a horror film and conventions of horror films include blood, darkness, threats and the colour red. The films title is red in colour which has connotations of blood and danger, and as well as this; one of the letters in the title has what appears to be a droplet of blood falling which relates to the vampire theme of the film.
The main image shows a character that at first we assume is a threat as the character appears sinister and shadowed. On further examination, we see that the character is wearing a chador (a large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head and upper body leaving only the face exposed, worn especially by Muslim women). The red lips on this character could indicate that the character is female, but could also indicate vampire blood.
The factors which tell us that this film is independently produced are awards from film festivals such as sundance on the poster, and the review which is centrally placed and gives away the genre- 'Vampire classic'- to attract interested audiences.
How film producers use audience feedback to improve their products
- Focus groups are used to get a variety of feedback from a mixed audience. The producers could show footage, read scripts or show posters to encourage a reaction from the group, whether positive or negative. The audience leave comments on products which then allows the producers to take these into consideration and make changes as necessary before releasing the products to the general public.
- Test screenings are similar to focus groups, however are done closer to release of the finished film, and the audience are asked for feedback so that producers know who they are targeting products to.
- Vox pops are short, random quotes from members of the public and are an informal way of carrying out a questionnaire. The producers would take the quotes and possibly the persons details (age and gender) to know who was reacting well to their product, again to know who to target the products at.
