'Kidulthood' Film Poster Research - Mae Webb

Conventions:

• Title - The title is the largest font on the poster and is also in bold so it stands out the most. In addition the title is in white and is placed on a darker background further enhancing it. The title of the film combines 'Kids' with 'Adulthood' suggesting it is about the years between being an kid and an adult, and the 'i' in the title is in lower case compared to the other upper case letters
• Actors Names - The names of the actors don't appear on the poster although they are all in the main image, this may be because it is a fairly low budget film and the actors are not that well known, therefore putting their names would not draw people in. The film also has a genre of social realism so using unknown actors and not advertising their names on the poster in keeps with this genre as it makes them appear as normal people and not 'celebrities'.
• Main Characters - The main characters are all in the main image of the poster and take up the majority of the poster, this suggests the film is based around them and their relationships, they are also placed in different levels suggesting their status.
• Review/rating - There is one review placed in the middle at the top of the film poster which includes a rating of 5 stars, this makes the film
• Age rating - The age rating is tucked in next to the title telling the audience that the film is suitable for people over the age of 15, they may have stuck this out of line with the rest of the text so it is noticeable as the prop of a baseball bat may make people think it would be an 18 on first glance because of violence, therefore by showing it is a 15 it won't stop under 18s from wanting to watch it.
  
• Production Block - the production block has been placed at the bottom of the poster which shows the names of the people who were involved in creating the film (a legal requirement) 
• Website - There is also a website at the bottom of the screen which allows people to go and find out more about the film, the fact that they have their own website shows that the film has been quite successful. (www.kidulthood.co.uk)
• Tagline - The tagline 'before adulthood comes' refers to another film showing there is a sequel to this film.

Layout

• All of the text has been justified to the middle of the poster which means it all aligns up with the rest of the text making it look tidy and more bold as it is not all over the poster. I like this layout at it looks tidy and has a more professional feel. I also like the way that the Characters are placed in different positions and heights and go across the poster crossing the vertical line of text As is shows the way that the characters may break boundaries in the film and go against set laws and regulations.
• The production block has been placed neatly at the bottom of the poster so that it does not disrupt the design 
• The 'dead space' has been filled on the poster as the text is across the setting with the review filling the space at the top over the sky, which is in black to contrast against the white sky and make it stand out, and the title and production block etc has been placed at the bottom over the ground underneath the characters in white to contrast against the dark background. They have thought carefully about where to place these conventions in order to not cover any of the characters.
  
  Representation:

• Age - the poster shows that the film is representative of young adults as all of the characters costume is typical of teenagers in the city in modern day. The title also suggests that these characters are stuck in the transition of being kids and adults, and the 'i' being lower case shows this further as it is similar to how some teenagers write in slang, it may also suggest that at this stage in people's lives they are trying to fit into the adult world and this 'i' represents the kids trying to be amongst the adults but not fully being able to think and act like them. They are represented as quite stereotypical teenagers as they are depicted as quite aggressive and dangerous. Teenagers are often described as 'yobs' and 'hooligans' in the media and in some shops large groups of teenagers are not allowed to enter because of the fear the media has caused, this poster has gone for this stereotype dressing the characters in hoodies to make them appear intimidating and as if they have something to hide and their facial expressions also look quite angry and the low angle makes them appear more intimidating. An article in the Independent says:
  

  Figures show more than half of the stories about teenage boys in national and regional newspapers in the past year (4,374 out of 8,629) were about crime. The word most commonly used to describe them was "yobs" (591 times), followed by "thugs" (254 times), "sick" (119 times) and "feral" (96 times).

  

  Other terms often used included "hoodie", "louts", "heartless", "evil" "frightening", "scum", "monsters", "inhuman" and "threatening".

• Social Class - the fact that the poster is landscape rather than portrait allows us to see the setting behind the characters which appears to be the skyline of a city, which tells us that these characters live in an urban area rather than rural area. The graffiti on the wall they're sitting on suggests that perhaps they are in a less expensive part of the city they live in and the prop of the baseball bat backs this up suggesting there is violence where they live. Their costume is also not very high end or glamorous, all of this makes us think they are of a working class background as urban areas tend to have more poverty in them in the UK and there are higher crime rates in the working class areas of cities.
  
  
• Gender - they have used the stereotype of a male antagonist in this film poster as the male character on the far right is holding a baseball bat and is the highest making him appear above the other characters and perhaps controlling, this is common in thrillers as men as seen as more dangerous than women, however they have also gone against the stereotype of women being damsels in distress as all of the female characters have got fierce facial expressions and are not wearing revealing costume making them look like sexual objects.
  
  Genre:
• The genre of this film is a hybrid of crime/thriller and social realism. The prop of the baseball bat reveals that the genre will include crime as it shows that there is violence in the film that the characters get involved in. Their stern and aggressive looking facial expressions also makes them appear like they may be up to no good and the fact they are all together suggests they are in a gang and may commit gang crime.  
• The low key lighting on their faces and around them makes it appear that the genre is thriller as it shows that there is a dark atmosphere in the film and that something bad is going to happen. There is also very dark colours and everything looks quite grey showing that the happiness has been sucked out of the characters lives and that they are living in a dull and unhappy place.
• The fact that the main image has not been distorted or have any noticeable special effects on it makes it look like a photograph that has been taken with all of the characters together, in addition there is no drawn imagery on it which shows that the film is about normal people's lives and sticks to reality as they look like normal people and not ridiculous characters. The fact that they are just placed in an urban setting and there is not much else going on in the image shows that the aim of the film is to show the audience what life is like for these characters and how some people do actually live in these areas facing violence and gangs. The use of unknown actors also shows it has the social realism genre as they are not seen as celebrities and more as normal people, therefore it is more believable to an audience that this is their real lives and they are not acting because they have not seen them before.
  
  
  Narrative:
• The tagline 'before adulthood comes...' is referring to another film which tells us that this film is a prequel to another film, therefore people who have seen the film Adulthood might be able to predict the narrative to a certain extent as it may similar to that of Adulthood, giving them an insight to the film.
• The setting gives us an idea to the narrative as the dark clouds in the background often symbolise that something bad is going to happen and there will be a 'dilemma' that the characters have to deal with, they seem to get darker in the distance which tells us that maybe the film with start as normal life but will progressively get worse for the characters and they will have to deal with these problems.
• Restricted narration is used as we do not see any images of the characters from the film and these images have clearly been taken separately as the characters are looking into the camera and therefore none of the story is really revealed to us because they are almost out of the 'film world'. 
• Strauss' theory of Binary Oppositions comes into this poster as the theme of 'Strong' and 'Weak' is shown in two of the characters. The male character on the far right is shown to be strong as he is standing up tall and towering over the male character next to him who is hunched over on the floor making him appear weak, this gives us an insight as to what their relationship might be in the film.
  Audience:
• The age rating on the poster immediately signifies that the target audience is for people over the age of 15 as that is the age in which is is suitable to watch. 
• The characters age and costume suggests that the film is targeted at young adults from the ages of 18-25 who understand the life of youths in the modern world and the violence and gang crime that goes on in big cities. This is because they will be able to relate to the characters lives and understand the way they behave. 
• The reference to another film 'Adulthood' would make the film appeal to people who have seen that film and enjoyed it as it would make them want to watch this film as it is the prequel and would follow the same sort of storyline. 
• The review and rating at the top of the poster would also draw in the audience as they would see the 5 stars which suggests that it will be a film worth watching, as it's at the top of the poster it would probably be one of the first things the audience sees which gives them a positive look on it. The words 'powerful moving and unforgettable' don't give too much away about the film are quite strong words which would make the audience intrigued.
• The website at the bottom of the page would engage the target audience as it is aimed at young people who are surrounded by the internet and social websites so they would be more likely to look at it and get involved by sharing it with friends etc.