Linking Texts Together

Links between texts are important because they are able to convey the same message strongly. If the theme is the same throughout texts then it is clearly aimed at a target audience, as well as portraying the message of a product. If the texts link then it is better advertising for the product and would give a stronger message, because it would all look better.  It also avoids confusion, for example if a film poster came out with flowers and bright colours, and then another film poster for the same film that came out and was dark with a graveyard on it, then it would convey completely different messages about the film and it wouldn’t sell effectively.

Alice in Wonderland (Trailer)

Things the stand out in the trailer:

• Surreal colours
• Fantasy characters
• Key characters
• Actors (Johnny Depp)
• Music
• Dramatic
• Director (Tim Burton)
• Typography

This Alice in Wonderland poster reflects what is seen in the trailer. For example, it shows Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter who is a big selling point for the film as he is a famous and liked actor, and is also a key character. The bright and bold colours are represented in the background and in his makeup/clothing, which also shows the fantasy and surrealism of the film. The darkness of the colours predominantly at the edges makes it look dramatic which is also a key element of the trailer. The typography of the poster is the same as what is used in the trailer, and is also the well-known font used for Tim Burton’s films, so there is again a big selling point as Tim Burton has a lot of fans so they would want to watch the film. The iconography of the character’s hat in this poster is eye-catching and gives it a ‘mad’ sort of look, again representing the character but also the whole atmosphere of the film.

Independence Day (Trailer)

Things that stand out in the trailer:

•           Science Fiction – computers and the typography used
•           Will Smith
•           Dramatic events
•           Famous landscapes (Washington/NY)
•           Alien spaceship
•           Explosions – action sequences

From watching the trailer I created a poster for this film, without looking at the real posters used for this film, to see if I could understand the way posters link with films and their trailers. This is what I made:

 I first thought I would have lots of buildings in the background as most of the destruction in the trailer is on buildings, and also it shows a landscape, which is another element I saw. I decided to put a spaceship at the top of the page looking like it is over the city causing the destruction, as this is what was shown in the trailer. I put the title of the film bold at the body with Will Smith’s name under it, because he is one of the well-known actors in the film so I thought it would be a good selling point. I also chose to put green in my poster, as I assumed the spaceship had something to do with aliens, however looking at the actual posters that were made for the film, the colour scheme is a deep orange colour, which is now understandable because aliens were never actually shown in the trailer, even though the film includes them, so therefore it adds to the mystery of the film. Furthermore, in some of the real posters all 3 main actors (also famous) are shown all together, so I learnt that Will Smith isn’t just the key character in the film and that all 3 of them are good selling points.