RESEARCH AND PLANNING - How I won the war

How I won the war was made in the late sixties, the film is mostly known for John Lennon's involvement with it especially as "The Beatles" had just announced that they were no longer touring. Critics have often said that this film does not compare to other like "Oh! What a lovely war", and the TV series "MASH" but it has remained somewhat popular (probably because of Beatles fans). I found two posters for this film, the first one I think is the main poster which was widely released, the other I think was released to show Beatles fans that Lennon was in the film.

This poster shows the comic side of the film and it's tongue in cheek attitude. Quotes from the films are put in a balloon, kite and medal, all of which are brightly coloured. The one in the blue medal says: "There have been far to many unwounded prisoners taken in this war!" The green balloon says: "What we want is more humane killers!" The yellow kite says: "There's been some marvelous advances in surgery thanks to the war!" These are all quotes from the film and tell the audience that this film is about the war, the first too quotes are meant to be funny and the last quote is meant to show 'good old British optimism' also the use of the word 'marvelous' suggests that the person who says it is posh and therefore the film could include issues of class divide. Michael Crawford and John Lennon's faces are printed on an army helmet, there are bright colours around them (pink and orange) this shows that the film doesn't take itself seriously and that Crawford and Lennon are the main characters (although Lennon actually has a minor part). There are three soldiers climbing the helmet as if it was a hill, one is pink, one is green and one looks normal apart from he is wearing cricket shin pads. The pink and green solider look like toys and they are helping the 'normal' solider up the 'hill' - this shows the comic side of the film again and tells the audience that it will not be a serious war film. The green solider is dragging behind him a roller, the roller and the cricket shin pads suggest some of the narrative to the audience - however the solider does look injured so the audience can guess that fighting will be in the narrative also. The pink solider has a British flag on the end of his musket, this shows the audience that it is a British film and not from America. There is then a unique selling point of the directors name (Richard Lester) before the title of the film. Underneath that there are the names Michael Crawford and John Lennon, they are both given the same amount of space and this suggests that they are both main characters. This shows that the people who made the poster knew that Lennon would be a good selling point for the film and therefore used his name and his image on the poster. The font looks like a comic strip and is in bright red and blue, with the white background this makes up the colours of the British flag. There is the credits at the bottom and the words 'colour' stand out as they are also in red, this shows the age of the film The background is very simple, it is white with an orange border.

This is another poster for the film How I won the war. I think this is the DVD poster, John Lennon is the main focus of this poster as no other character is shown, he is a very unique selling point and will attract a lot of people to watch or buy the film even though he only has a small role. It is clear from his army helmet, costume and gun that this is a war film, the explosion in the background and the large amount of smoke also tells that to the audience. However Lennon's facial expression and the fact that he has a bird lying on his helmet tell the audience that this is probably an anti-war comedy. Lennon looks as if he is whistling, this would attract Beatles fans to go and see the film as Lennon and the others sometimes whistled on their records. At the top is the title of the film, the directors name, Michael Crawford's name as well as Lennon's. These are all unique selling points for the film. The title and Lennon's outfit clearly show the genre of the film. Lennon is the main selling point as he was the most famous, that is why in this poster there is only him on it.

Rach.