By Lydia, Beth and Georgia

THE HELP VS. PROMETHEUS

• What is the genre and premise of your film? What in the poster supports a viewers understanding the genre and premise even if they knew nothing about the film?

• The Help: Comedy-drama because of the yellow that suggests humour and happiness. The viewers would have an idea about the film because of the characters costumes. The segregation of the women because of their skin colour suggests drama.

• Prometheus: Sci-Fi-Action because of the dark colour and the key art suggests an alien-like scenario. The audience find that it has a mysterious edge to the film and want to watch it, almost like the unknown and the audience asks questions, such as where is the ray of light going and who is the character on the poster.

• What characters if any are featured on the poster? What does the way they are represented on the poster say about the character and/or the actor?

• The Help: The lady on the far right suggests a haughty character who is superior and upper-class because she is white, a typical characteristic of white people in the early 1960s. The lady in the middle looks torn between the two arguments, suggesting she is a kind and fair character. The lady on the far left looks like she has a slight attitude and resentment towards the white people, whereas her colleague on her right seems sympathetic and concerned, which could suggest her helpful character. The two maids look as if they are gossiping about the two white women, giving the audience a clear idea of the films storyline.

• Prometheus: The explorer who is approaching the large statue suggests a warrior and hero, suggesting that the actor will be of a famous nature to depict the valiant character. The statue is above the human, this implies to the audience that the statue is a villain of some sort and has power over the human as it is of a higher position.

• What can you tell about the tone or mood of the film from the poster? Think about lighting, composition of the items in the poster, and the font of any writing.

• The Help: The poster is bright which establishes an energetic and positive mood, this corresponds with the title ‘The Help’ and could suggest a happy ending. The modern font also creates a light hearted tone.

• Prometheus: The poster is very dark which suggests horror and negativity, however with the knowledge that it is a Sci-Fi-Action, this means it could suggest the unknown and a sense of mystery and enigma. The small glimmer of light coming from the middle of the poster could represent there being hope and optimism within the film.

• How does the tagline add to the poster and intrigue viewers? • The Help: “Change begins with a whisper” – this tag line has potential to intrigue the

viewers. The fact that it is talking about change in regard to black people could draw in a mass audience as this is a hugely discussed issue. It says how it begins (with a whisper) which could also provoke the audience to want to know how the story develops and ends.

• Prometheus: “The search for our beginning could lead to our end” – this could entice the audience as it is rather cryptic and implicit and so automatically the viewers want to watch it in order to understand it. As it is talking about humans, this also provokes further interest since everyone can relate to it.

• Is the title large or small? Are any actor/actress names in a larger font? What does this say about the main appeal of the film?

• The Help: The title of The Help is large which makes it significant. If you know the context of the film then viewers will be aware that it is about black people and the change they have seen over time which is the main appeal of the film; how they got freedom.

• Prometheus: The title of Prometheus is quite small especially in comparison to the main art of the poster which your attention is generally drawn to. This could be to provoke a sense of mystery with the unclear picture so that people then look at the title and are more likely to remember it. The main appeal of the film could be its mystery or it could be because it is about humans which people will generally find interesting.

• Thinking about the terms from the web resource “Basic Strategies in Reading Photographs”, apply these terms to your movie poster. Talk about at least one term from each of the three main sections (general, visual elements, composition) on that website, and apply it to your poster. http://www.nuovo.com/southern-images/analyses.html

• The Help

• General: Direct approach – The poster confronts the scene in a straight-forward manner, without using unusual angles or distortion. This suggests that confrontation is going to be a key element to the storyline as the black people wish for freedom from the white people.

• Visual elements: Focus – The characters appear clearest in the poster, comparing to the background of the image that consists of trees that is very faint coloured yellow. This suggests that the poster wants the characters to be the main emphasis.

• Composition: Balance – The distribution of the characters in the poster are distributed evenly as there are two characters on each side suggesting that both sets of characters are good friends. An audience enjoy watching friends gossip so this draws them in.

• Prometheus

• General: Documentary photography – The posters main purpose is to present a place, person and event, the poster does this efficiently as the enigmas of where the character is, who the character is and what is going on intrigues the audience making them want to watch the film.

• Visual elements: Space – The poster seems shallow as the statue looks powerful coming towards the character, matching its evil-like demeanour. However the characters depth as they look towards the statue suggests the unknown as they look far away compared to the approaching statue.

• Composition: Contrast – The is a strong visual difference between the ray of light and the dark background. This suggests hope in what seems like a suspenseful story.

• What in your opinion in the main hook or USP in the poster that would encourage people to see this film? How is the hook highlighted in the poster?

• The Help: We believe that the unique selling point of The Help is the ability to relate to the characters, whether they are white or black and how this would encourage the audience not only to have an opinion on the segregation between white and black people but also the idea of a happy ending that all audiences enjoy. The hook is highlighted in the poster by separating the white and black women and also by the use of the joyful colour yellow.

• Prometheus: We believe that the unique selling point of Promethus is that the poster gives little away about the film. The audience are aware of the stereotypical hero and villain that are displayed and they are also enthralled by the mysterious nature of the tag line: “The search for our beginning could lead to our end” . This highlights the genre of the film, and also uses the collective pronoun ‘our’ to allow the audience to relate to what will happen in the film as it applies to everyone.