Fonts Focus Group

As I have to use a font throughout my marketing campaign, it is vital that I choose the perfect and ideal style for it. I printed out ten copies of each font with the film title on an asked my peers and teachers which one they find the most suitable.

Charlie Don't Surf

HVD Poster

Louis Cypher

Stamp

 Paris Old Style

 Old Typography

 Stamp

After conducting my research, I found that they thought Stamp, Old Typography and Louis Cypher would be the most appropriate fonts for a police themed thriller. Once I had narrowed down my research to those three fonts, I applied the fonts with the chosen colour scheme and decided that Stamp would be the most appropriate font for my poster and teaser trailer.

Analysis of Thriller Trailers - The Adjustment Bureau

• There is the stereotypical action movie voice over man
• Very quick and rapid editing
• Not a lot of information given about the film 
• The non-diegetic music increases in pitch and tempo until finally cutting out near the end
• There are plenty of impact sounds
• There are plenty of montages 

Analysis of Thriller Teaser Trailers - Inception

• The non-diegetic music is bass heavy and comes in as thuds whilst there are strings which are increasing in pitch which suddenly cut away at the end whilst the thuds from the bass continue
• There is very little footage from the film shown
• Of what footage is shows, there are clips of a fight
• The only sound is the non-diegetic music
• There is reference to the director and what he has directed
• There is virtually zero information given about the film
• There is only reference to the biggest actor in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio

Analysis of Thriller Teaser Trailers - The Cabin in the Woods

• There is very little information about what happens in the film but there is plenty of action, screaming and bloody faces
• The editing is very faced paced
• Plenty of impact sounds
• The taglines which are split up in the trailer seem old and eerie with the background of them being related to this film
• Whenever the tagline is on there is slow creepy music which contrasts the rest of the clip
• The tone of the teaser trailer suddenly changes from a cheerful spring break to screams and action
• The later tag lines and references to producers use a scary and creepy looking font and a red background
• The non-diegetic music picks up in pace and that even has screaming in

Analysis of Thriller Teaser Trailers - The Silence of The Lambs

• There is a deep and unsettling voice over which says a few key points as to what the film is about but says very little information about it
• There is a high pitched, string sound in the background which increases in pitch and tempo and suddenly stops near the end
• Only the actors names, the director and finally the film title are shown in the teaser trailer
• No actual film is played
• The only imagery shown is the skull made up of humans and the main image of the woman with the wasp on her mouth
• There is reference to the source material

Fonts

I would need to use one type of font throughout my marketing campaign and I had to make sure that it would be appropriate for the genre and type of film I'm making. Using dafont.com and the eroded section, I found a variety of fonts that I can use.

Louis Cypher

Stamp 

Press Feeling Eroded

Old Typography

Paris Old Style

HVD Poster

Charlie Don't Surf

Potential Poster Designs

After researching both general film posters and genre specific posters, I now have a good and developed understanding as to what film posters should look like and what they should consist of. Using this information I have sketched four layouts for my potential poster. I have drawn inspiration from both thriller posters and other genre types as to what my poster looks like. There are also a number of factors that I had to have in mind whilst creating these posters such as what type of film it is, if it is a mainstream or independent film and the target audience. 

Analysis of Thriller Posters - Shutter Island

• The colour scheme is black and red which signifies death and the unknown
• The image of Leonardo DiCaprio is half lit which shows that there is more than there appears to be and adds mystery to the character
• The lone tagline away from all the other texts shows isolation
• The rain and stormy seas are a pathetic fallacy
• The title is written in bold but smeared red paint
• the island is made up with the use of multiple pictures but is untidy which can signify confusion 

Analysis of Thriller Posters - Memento

• The colour scheme for this poster is black with a yellow and orange hue on the people. This can signify death and danger
• The pictures are repetitive and endless which is confusing and unsettling
• The font is handwritten in a messy and sketchy way that is unnerving for the audience
• The tagline is creepy 
• The actors have previously been in films similar to this genre
• The main images are at a canted angle which makes the poster seem unusual

Analysis of Thriller Posters - Seven

• The colour scheme has a sepia tone to it. This aged look adds mystery to it
• The actor's faces are half lit, again adding to the mystery and suggesting that they could be untrustworthy
• There are the seven deadly sins, hinting at what the film is about with a red slash across them which could signify blood
• The title is written in a scrawly handwritten font which sends off a fearful message
• The tagline talks about the seven deadly sins which is a bible reference