RESEARCH AND PLANNING - Harry Potter Posters 1-3

In these posts I am going to look at the Harry Potter posters, as it is such a big brand I expect to find some similarities between the poster. The first poster will probably be the most different as although the books where huge the whole brand of Harry Potter had not been formed yet, the last poster i also expect will be different as it is a teaser poster for a film which will not be released for a while, also the last film is split into into two parts and so the teaser poster for the 'deathly hallows' so it cannot give away to much about the narrative.

This is a poster for the first film, the name Harry Potter is already well known therefore it makes sense to have it as the biggest text. There is no mention of actors of directors as they are not needed, Harry Potter is enough to attract an audience to watch the film. The poster assumes that most people who will see the film will have read the books and therefore the background will be familiar. The big castle will tell the audience that it is Hogwarts however for people who haven't read the books it insinuates fantasy and magic. The boats heading towards the castle again will be recognised by people who have read the books and it is photographed so the audience may feel as if they are traveling to Hogwarts to. For people who haven't read the books the boats might symbolise that the castle is hard to get to and only a certain number of lucky people are allowed, this again adds to the fantasy genre. 'The magic begins' as a tag line is effective as it will excite the audience who have been waiting for the film to come out for a long time. It also is another genre and narrative indicator. The poster overall does not give away much about narrative, this could be because of the books and so they feel as if they do not need to mention much about narrative also it adds enigma to the poster as the audience does not know, even if they have read the books, what parts will be included in the film and what will be left out. As the books where so big and this film has been long awaited they are able to put a date at the bottom of the poster instead of just 'coming soon'.

This is a poster for the second Harry Potter film, as you can see the font and colour of the title has been kept the same, this is so the audience can recognise it straight away especially the lightning part of the P. The title is surrounded by a blue glow, this makes it stand out and also looks like blue sky this links with the lightning on the P. The huge success of the first film started the Harry Potter brand and that meant on this poster they could show the three main characters and even without the actors names they will be recognised. Hermione with her wand tells the audience that there will be a lot of magic in this film, Ron with her broken wand and facial expression shows the comedy aspect of the film and Harry holding a sword shows the action parts of the film. the sword also insinuates that the characters are in danger and it is up to Harry to save them. The light shining behind them show that these are the good characters and the edges of the poster show part of an old wall, this would tell the audience that most of the film will be set in Hogwarts, like the last one. Again at the bottom is a date in which the film will be released, this is in white so that it stands out. The characters are all shown wearing their school uniform, this tells the audience that they should still be treated think children.

This is the film poster of the third Harry Potter film. This poster again shows the main three characters however this time they are in their own clothes, this tells the audience that they are no longer children but teenagers or young adults and also that they may be given more responsibility in this film. The tag line 'everything will change' gives away part of the narrative as well as the wanted posters. On the same side as the wanted posters is a man who is almost hidden, he is the same man on the posters, this insinuates that he is the prisoner who has escaped and that he could be the reason why everything changes. The circular background looks almost like a spiral stair case - this could show the confusion the characters will feel in this film and also that they may have to run away or that people will be chasing them. The flowers round the edge suggest that they will be outside a lot and also maybe that other settings will be used instead just Hogwarts. The hand in the left corner shows that the characters are in danger and the shrunken heads suggest that new strange characters will be introduced in this film. Harry is holding a wand which shows clearly the genre of the film, he also holds a map which people who have read the books will recognise. Again at the bottom the month and year is given for the films release this could suggest that the poster is being shown a while before the film will be released.

Rach.