evaluation

In my written coursework I analysed Notting Hill and The Holiday. This helped me
as I was able to find out the generic conventions of a British romantic comedy, as
well as the mise en scene in the films. I was able to use this information to
influence my movie posters. For example I was able to use the generic
conventions of a British rom com in my movie posters by adding a well-known
setting for example in my film poster for that day in London I used a picture of
London south bank as the background image. Also the mise en scene helped me
as I was able to include some of the typical British colours in my movie poster.
For example in both movie posters my characters are dressed quite formally and
are wearing white and blue which are two main colours in the British flag. I also
made some of my text red so my movie posters have all the colours of the British
flag. My movie that day in London is about someone who comes over from
America to London on a business trip for 6 months. He finds himself falling in
love with a girl hes just met from London but when his girlfriend flies over to
visit him he has to make the decision of being with his girlfriend or his newly
found romance. My movie is targeted at females as its quite a romantic movie
and its also is going to have a dramatic climax this will create a lot more
emotion in the film, therefore attracting the female audience. I chose the name
that day in London as I wanted to show its a British romantic comedy and I
wanted the name to have a comedic and sarcastic element to it. My movie Now
What is about a man from London who is goes out with his friends, he meets a
girl and decides to go on a date with her, later on in the movie he is introduced
to another girl he falls madly in love with. Whilst his friends make fun of him
unknowing how in love he is, he ends up dating both of them at the same time.
Once they find out he is forced to pick between them. My movie is targeted at
male audiences as its going to be quite a comedic movie with elements of
romance towards the end of the movie, as I am going to add the generic
convention of having comedic characters (his friends) to make it more comedic. I
chose the name Now What as again I also wanted the name to have a comedic
and sarcastic tone, and I wanted it to foreshadow the characters confusion later
on in the movie.
Before drafting my movie posters I analysed a few different romantic comedy
film posters to find the generic conventions, and the selling techniques of the
film posters. Some generic conventions I found are that the protagonists (usually
love interests) are smiling or laughing with open body language in the centre of
the movie poster. This can be seen in The Holiday, Love Actually and About time.
Also another generic convention I found was the mise en scene it normally
includes the dim British weather in the background this can be seen in the about
time film poster. The most common generic convention is using the colours pink,
red, white, and blue are used; this can be seen I many film posters such as The
Holiday, Love Actually and Bridget jones diary. I used these conventions in my
movie posters for example I tried to add the colours pink, red, white and blue in
the text and images in my movie poster. I did this as red and pink connote to
love and romance and red, white and blue represents the British flag this
represents the Britishness in the movie. I also tried to add the convention of the

British weather in the images on my poster, as it also represents the Britishness

in the film. Another convention I used was having the love interests close and
smiling or with open body language as it represents the genre and ideology of
love well. Some techniques used to sell films are, putting the title and actors
names in a big bold font. Aswell as a catchy tagline, another good selling
technique I found is having designs, images and colours that represent the film
well. I tried to add these techniques as I think putting the actors and titles name
in bold catches the audiences eye and attracts them it also attracts fans of the
actors/actresses in the movie and entices them to watch the film. Also by adding
designs and images that represent the movie well again attracts the target
audience and by adding a catchy tagline it interests the audience and entices
them to watch the film.
I produced 2 mock up film posters that both represented Britishness, I used
stereotypical London backgrounds in both. For example in my Now What movie
poster I had images of parks in the background as Britain is known for having
parks, for example Hyde park. My other image has a picture of Britains rainy
weather. Also for my That Day In London mock film poster I had a image of the
London south bank where all of Londons famous attractions can be seen in the
background such as the Big Ben and the Houses Of Parliament. I used these
images as it represents Britain well and its also a generic convention of British
romantic comedy film posters. I also used well known British actors this also
helped me make film posters that represented Britishness. For example in my
Now What movie poster i used Cara Delevinge and Orlando Bloom, also for my
That Day In London movie poster I used Kiera Knightley and Henry Cavill. I used
these actors as they have all been in romantic comedies or movies with
elements of romance; this therefor helped reinforce the genre. They are also all
well-known British actors; this uses the stars as a selling technique. In addition
all the actors being British, highlighted where the film is set.
In my Now what movie poster I used an image of a park in the background with
dim weather. I chose this image as the background image as Britain is known for
green parks. It also connotes to romance as a generic convention of British
romantic comedies is having a romantic scene in the bad weather. For example
when the male protagonist gives the female protagonist his jacket or they could
kiss in the rain. Also it could be a part of the comedy, for example in the Holiday
the mise en scene is in LA and when it starts getting windy, something gets in
Iriss eye Miles then goes to help her. This adds to the comedy of the movie and
the romance. (i also did this in my That Day In London movie poster) On the
other hand this could be seen as an oxymoron as in most romantic comedies the
weather is sunny and bright this would connate to happiness and the characters
having fun. The two female protagonists are facing the male protagonist with
closed body language and angry facial expressions. Whereas the male
protagonist has a cheeky yet nervous facial expression which adds to the
comedy and gives the audience an idea of whats going on and foreshadows the
storyline, this would attract the target audience. Also in my That Day In London
movie poster I used a picture of Southbank in the background. I used this image
as its a very well-known area in London and helps represent the Britishness in

the movie. Its also known for being quite a romantic area as couples normally
walk down the Southbank to view the scenery and some of Britains famous
landmarks. This could foreshadow the genre of the movie and could attract the
target audience. Another thing I did to show the Britishness in the movie is by
adding the colours of the British flag throughout my poster. For example I had
blue and white in the images and made some of the text red. I also had my
female protagonists face each other and look into each others eyes to show they
are love interests I also made them smile and laugh to not only show the
romance in the movie but also the comedy.
I think my strengths of the posters is that you can tell their British romantic
comedies because of the images, colours and fonts I have used. Another
strength of my movie posters is that I have everything that would be needed on
a movie poster such as the age rating, the title and the credits. However some
weaknesses of them would be that some of my characters have different lighting
as I took them at different times although I tried to fix this by altering the
brightness and contrast on Photoshop I still wasnt able to get them to fit the dim
background. Another weakness of my movie posters would be that they arent
cut out as cleanly as they could have been. This is because werent taken behind
white backgrounds and the eraser couldnt detect the background from the
person so I had to erase some of the background sing the eraser tool.
Comparing my posters to the Notting Hill movie poster I think that the Notting
Hill poster was much more professional because the actors fit the background a
lot more and it doesnt look as obviously photoshoped. I could have done this by
taking my characters to London and taking my pictures there rather than taking
them separately and photoshopping them together. Also the font was a lot more
professional and it stood out against the dull coloured background whereas in my
now what movie poster the title kind of blended in with the background however
i needed the white font so I could include all of the colours of the British flag.
However i could have made the title better by adding a shadow under the text to
make it stand out more. If my film was professionally produced i would have
working title produce my film as they are known for British rom coms so the
audience would be more likely to watch a working titles film. Also the movie and
the movie poster would be of a very high quality.
My essay helped me complete my movie posters as it helped me identify things
that represent Britishness. For example I could have had my poster indoors and
with a cup of tea in the background and this would represent Britishness well.
And also show many British stereotypes like British people always drink tea, or
that British people cant have very big problems if they can be solved with a cup
of tea. Finding out about these stereotypes and ideologies helped me represent
Britishness in my movie posters. For example the use of a well-known British
landmark in the background, or even including Britains dims weather helped
foreshadow that my genre was a British romantic comedy.