Textual Analysis of For Colored Girls

Here is my textual analysis for a feature length film poster, my textual analysis will include what conventional and non-conventional factors that they have used and follow, the different elements to the poster and how well they have adapted the conventions to make a well produced feature length film poster. What I will get out of this is the things that I will want to include and how I could possibly take some small ideas form them to make a poster that will be easy on the eye and show the film on an a4 page. The poster that I have decided to analyse is For Colored Girls which is a feature length film that I have not yet to watch. This feature length film poster caught my eye and stuck in my head as I had never seen a feature length film poster like this before and therefore when it came to analysing a feature length film poster I straightaway decided to look at this in detail. I also wanted to look at conventional posters so I could get a range of ideas for my own poster. Although I am not going to create a feature length film I still wanted to look at a poster that has been created by a well established production company. When I scrolled though google images this instantly caught my eye even though I didn't realise that it wasn't a short film, the simplistic look that it has really interested me as it is an idea that I had, also as there is no image of the actual characters from the film intrigues me more which I would like to do however in my case I don't think I would be able to do that as it will be hard to understand what the film is about. In addition because this is a well established company who have very specific and professional equipment to make it I think that my poster will look amateur compared to this. 

Firstly I will look at the main picture that takes up the most of the page it is non conventional as it is not of an image of a character from the film, therefore it makes it more engaging for the audience and makes it more intriguing. It catches your eye as it is the first thing that you look at however it does not obviously show what the film is about. It does denote the title of the film as the different colours of the picture are basically colours for the title of the film. The watercolours make it look very artistic and allows the audience to want to pick the film to watch. In addition the paint that is running down the page connotes that the woman is upset and crying so maybe the film is emotional, I would like to try and show the type of feelings in the poster as I think that that is a good idea. Also only having half of the face on show makes it look effective as well as not giving a lot away, as it is about colored girls the dark eyes and eyebrows goes with the type of characters in the film also the watercolours run out like an afro. The splashes make it look unique and the darker paint around the eye also connotes how they could be treated, to add to this the month is not smiling so again it could be sad.

The next thing that I am going to look at is the block of actresses and actors that are in the film at the top of the poster. Conventionally you have them all at the bottom of the page in a block of text however here they have decided to put them at the top of the poster as you can instantly see who is going to be in it. As this movie has stars such as whoopee Goldberg and Janet Jackson they wanted to make them a bit bolder. I don't think I will be using this idea as I will not be having as many actresses so I will just out their names in the block at the bottom of the page.

I am next going to look at the title of the film. I don't think that this is very special and it doesn't really catch your eye, they may have wanted to keep the title very neutral as the picture had so much detail. It is quite conventional as it is at the bottom of the page in the middle however it doesn't give a lot away for the film. They are also all in capitals so it seems that it is very important and that there is a message behind it, it seems to be more of a statement rather than a title which I like but I don't think I will be using that idea. In my opinion I think that they should of made it different colours as the title states that however it could go with the type of culture that the film is about. 

There is a tag line as well which most conventional feature length films have however it again is a statement. The two short and snappy sentences adds effect and makes it personal, it adds to what the story is about and makes it seem as though it is a true story. In addition the way that they have said about it being a poem allows the audience to know what it is about and how it has been adapted. As my short film is going to be a comedy I don't think that having this sort of tag line would be appropriate. 

Lastly I am going to talk about the bill block at the bottom of the page. It is very small s it is not very significant but in this case you can't see anything and I think when I make mine I will make it a bit bigger as it will be easier to see, also because I am not having the actresses names at the top I think it will be better for me to keep it bigger to make sure that the people find who is going to be in it. In this bill block they have put the production logos which I think is a good idea and to make mine look ore professional I might consider making a logo for my short film. They have also written the date that it is in theatres which in my case I will not have to add but I could put a film festival that it is going to be shown at to make it look more professional. 

I have also found the trailer for the film just incase anybody is interested about what the film is about and how the poster has adapted the film into just a picture.