Research and Planning: Film Poster Analysis

Along Came Polly

Genre

From looking at the film poster we can tell that it is going to be a Romantic Comedy. Firstly because it says on the poster 'The new comedy from the co-writer of Meet the Parents' so it actually tells us its a comedy but it's also from the co-writer of 'Meet the Parents' which is a well known comedy film so you know that 'Along Came Polly' will be funny. But we can also tell that it is going to be a romance as well because of the main image. They are walking together in a park which is often seen as a romantic thing to do. Jennifer Anistons character has her arm around Ben Stillers character and she is adjusting his tie which could be seen as them being affectionate. Andrew Sarris' theory is apparent here because we can recognise what genre the film is and we are attracted to it, so the distributors know what attracts the audience.

Representation

The male character on this poster I think is represented as being a successful business man because he is well dressed in a smart suit and tie. But the female character on the poster is wearing very casual clothing so she is represented as being less successful than him.

Narrative 

Although both the characters on the poster are the main characters I would say that Ben Stillers character is the protagonist because he is stood up straight and his body is directer more towards the camera, he looks like the bigger, stronger character.

Audience

I think that the target audience for this film is aged 15 and above because the audience need to be old enough to understand some of the comedic parts of the film. I think that it is aimed at a mostly female audience because romance is stereotypically a genre more for females. They have also used a well known cast, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. I think that a lot of females might look up to Jennifer Aniston and idolise her so they will want to watch the film. But she will also draw in a male audience. I think the audience will fit into the D/E socioeconomic group, they are unskilled and semi-skilled workers and also students.

Media Language

The main central image is a long shot of the two main characters. Which shows us the whole of the character so perhaps we are supposed to notice the mise-en-scene of the characters clothing and realise that her is more successful than her. It is also an establishing shot of the park which shows the audience the romantic setting.

Research and Planning: Film Poster Analysis

Friends with Benefits
Genre

I think that from looking at this film poster you can tell that it is going to be a Romantic Comedy because the characters on the poster are a male and a female, which suggests there will be some romance between them, and the expressions on their faces show the comedy side of it. The title 'Friends With Benefits' also suggests that it is a Romantic Comedy because they are friends who have 'benefits', most people would think that this kind of relationship never works so we know that they will hit a few problems during the film which could be funny. I suppose this fits with Andrew Sarris' theory because we can recognise that it is a rom-com just from looking at the poster. I think that this poster could also conform to Steve Neal's hypothesis that 'genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations' because if you look at the poster for the film 'No Strings Attached' although they look very different they suggest the same things about the films. For example they both only have a male and a female character appearing on the poster. The 'No Strings Attached' poster also has a quote on it saying 'Friendship has its benefits' which is basically the same name as the 'Friends With Benefits' film, so we know they are going to be very similar. The film has also used well known actors as the main characters, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis which will attract the audience to watch the film. But this also gives us clues about the genre as both actors have been in Rom Coms before. For example, Mila Kunis has been in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' and 'Date Night' and Justin Timberlake has been in 'Bad Teacher' and 'The Love Guru'.
Representation
I think that the characters are represented as being young and carefree because having a friend with 'benefits' from the view of an older and perhaps more responsible person might not be a good idea but they both do it anyway because they are still young and can do what they like. But they also both come across as successful as they are both dressed in smart, possibly expensive clothes. However the male characters shirt buttons are undone and his tie is lose but this shows the comedic elements. I wouldn't say the poster conforms to Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' hypothesis because the poster doesn't look like it is from the males point of view, it seems to be balanced equally.
Narrative 
From looking at the poster for this film I would say that there are two protagonist characters. But from watching and knowing the film quite well I would say that Justin Timberlake's character is the protagonist because we get to know a lot more of his story. From only looking at the poster I don't think you can tell if there are any certain character types, but I would say that the female character has a much more confident look on her face, which might tell us something about her personality. I think that Todorov's theory of 'equilibrium, disruption, equilibrium resolved' is apparent in the poster. I didn't notice it straight away but the title is placed on a black banner running downwards in between the images of the two characters. The banner splits the characters up which suggests to us that somewhere along the film they encounter a problem were they split and are no longer friends. But the happy, smiley expression on the female characters face tells us that it will get resolved in the end.
Audience
I would say that the targeted audience for this film would be 15 to 25 year olds who are not regular cinema goers. I think it is targeted at both male and female audiences because of the well known and attractive cast which would appeal to both genders. I would say the audience fall into the D/E socioeconomic groups because they are young so they will be students, unskilled workers and semi-skilled workers.
Media Language 
I noticed that the poster uses two medium shots on each character rather than one two shot, this suggests to the audience that there will be something stopping the characters falling in love. This works well with the banner running down the middle which I mentioned earlier splitting the two characters from each other. High key lighting has been used on the poster as well as a three colour rule of light blue, white and black, this tells us that the film is going to be happy and funny.

Research and Planning: Location Ideas

What we need:

• Outside of Halls of Residence/University
• Countryside shot
• Dorm Room
• Parents Kitchen
• Parents Dining room
• Parents Guest room
• Parents Driveway
• Parents Living Room
• Parents Bathroom
• Ex's Living Room & Sofa

Outside of halls of residence/university(possibilities) 

 ‎

Manchester Metropolitan University - Cambridge Halls
41 Cavendish St,
Manchester,
Greater Manchester,
M15 6TT

Parkway Gate - Student Accommodation

50 Chester St, 

Manchester, 

Greater Manchester 

M15 6JH

 New Medlock House Student Accommodation,1 Wilmott street,
Manchester,
M15 6BD

Countryside Shot

Werneth Low,Hyde,
SK14 ‎

Etherow Country Park

George Street,

Stockport,

SK6 5JD

Male Protagonist's Dorm Room

We have not yet managed to take pictures of our dorm room location so these are some images off the internet to show you what our dorm room will be similar to.

Parent's Kitchen

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the kitchen so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parent's Dining Room

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the dining room so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parents Guest Bedroom

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the guest bedroom so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parent's Front Door

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the parent's front door so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parent's Living Room

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the parents lounge so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parent's Bathroom

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the parent's bathroom so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Parent's Driveway 

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the parent's driveway so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Ex Girlfriend's Living Room

Again we have not yet taken photographs of the ex girlfriend's living room so here are some I have taken from the internet.

Research and Planning: Storyboard

Research and Planning: Production Schedule

click to enlarge

Research and Planning: Treatment

After creating our proposals and getting feedback from them both we have decided to stick with the second proposal. We have chosen this one because we think it will be more practical to produce as we can use younger actors as the main characters rather than older ones. However we will be changing the plot slightly to compensate for our younger actors. Instead of the protagonist going off to work in the city he will now go off to study at a university in the city leaving his high school sweetheart back at home.



Original Plot
Plot: Male character moved from his family in the country a few years ago to go and work in the city. He comes back home one weekend to see his parents, he brings his current girlfriend. But his parents are good friends with his ex who was also his 'high school sweetheart', seeing and spending time with his ex brings back some good memories and feelings, they end up falling for each other again and when the weekend is over he decides he is not going back to the city and breaks up with his current girlfriend.

Research and Planning: Software list

This is a list of the softwares we will be using to create our trailer.

Research and Planning: Equipment List

Research and Planning: Production Company Logo Research

Research and Planning: Target Audience

Research and Planning: London - Photographs of the London Film Museum