This Is England - Film Poster Analysis

This Is England

Film Poster Analysis

Actors - Names

The names of the actors are not shown on the film

poster. This may be because the actors are not well

known and therefore won't make people want to watch

the film. Another reason could be that it looks from the

film poster that there are lots of main actors in the film

and if they were to put all of their names on the poster

it might look very cluttered and not aesthetically

pleasing

Actors - Pictures

Actors - Picture

On the front cover of the poster there is a

picture of almost every actor in the film. This

may have been actually photographed, but

more likely superimposed through a green

screen so that it is easier to deal with lighting,

weather and so on. All text is kept away from

the picture of the actors because it is the most

important part of the poster.

Text Placement

All the text is centered apart from the strap line and the

‘Directed by Shane meadows’ which are placed aligned to

either side of the title. These three pieces of test are placed

at the top of the fence, the credit block is placed on the

ground at the bottom and the critical praise is at the top

overlaying the sky. These are cleverly placed so that they

don’t cover up the background of the building estates.

All the text in the middle has been placed to make sure that

it is away from the picture of the characters but in the

circumference of the fence

References to Other Films

There are no references to other films. This may be

because this direct or producer have produced any films

yet which are highly rated enough to put on the poster. This

is then confirmed by one of the laurels which shows the

director has won an award for ‘Most Promising Newcomer’

which would suggest that this is one of her first films. This

is the same for my film poster because there are no films

that i have made which are well known or that would make

people want to watch my short.

Cultural references

Laurels

We can see from the laurels that this film has

been heavily praised by film festivals. It has

won very big awards such as ‘Winner Best

Film’ by the BFIA (British Independent Film

Awards). This will entice a big audience

because it is rated the best british independent

film of 2006.

Main Image

Main Image

The main image tells us about the film. For one

it lets us see that these characters are poor

because there are council estates in the

background and also because the corrugated

iron fence they are standing in front of is a

convention of lack of money. we can also tell

this from their hair and costume (Factors of

mise en scene)

Tagline

Tagline

The tagline ‘Summer 1983. A time to stand out

from the crowd.’ gives us a sense of what the

movie is about and links to the main poster

image. It tells us the date in which the movie is

set and by saying ‘stand out from the crowd’ it

links to the image of the characters due to their

odd clothing and shaved heads

Website

Website

Like almost all film posters, this one has a

website. It is to get the audience involved in the

film before, and leading up to, the films release.

It includes things such as the films trailer, the

release date and interactive apps

Critical Praise

Critical Praise

There are two different types of critical praise

on the poster. The first are quotes such as that

from the observer saying “The directors best

film yet. This is brilliant.”

The second is the five star rating system in

which total film gave 5 stars and empire gave 4.

Title

Title

Size: The title is

conventionally the

largest piece of text

on the poster and this

poster fits those

conventions.

Font: There is a very

basic bold font,

kerned so that each

letter is fairly separate

Title

Colour: The colours

used for the font are

Red, White and Blue

for the English flag.

This is why the

colours links in with

the name of the film

Style: The style of the

font is as if it is printed

onto corrugated iron.

This gives it an urban,

decayed feel which

links in with the theme

of the movie.

Credit Block

Credit Block

The credit block is a legal obligation for film

posters. It tells the audience who and which

institutions were involved in the production of

the film and credits them. In this poster it is

used conventionally; tucked away at the bottom

so that it does not attract attention

Age Certificate

There is no age certificate on the poster

although the film will have one because it is a

legal requirement. It is surprising however

because this might be a factor you base your

decision on to go and see the movie or not. For

instance if you are 17 years of age, you would

not go and see it if it was rated an 18.