It would be useful if you listed a number of British and Hollywood films and briefly analysed HOW the posters helped market the films. What is crucial here is that you make some kind of comparison between the different ways that posters are used for British and Hollywood movies - certain types of films are more reliant on quotations from reviews and awards, whilst others use stars and genre to sell the film to audiences.
It would be useful for you in the exam if you had at least two detailed examples of posters for British films and two detailed examples for Hollywood movies - feel free to use the examples on this post and the next one on Hollywood posters OR choose examples of your own. What is important is that you outline the different tactics used on the posters and the reasons why these tactics are used. An excellent site to use to find posters can be accessed by following this link:
Below are a number of posters for British films, with brief notes. Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of the poster (this will make it much easier to analyse!) and make notes on the techniques used in the posters to attract audiences. I have also included links to various websites for each of the films in case you want to use one of the films for your own British case study.
Look out for a similar post on Hollywood movies, which I will put up shortly.
A Field in England, released in 2013, is a British film without globally recognisable stars. Typical of many British films it is also difficult to classify in terms of genre. Therefore, the distributors have to use different techniques to encourage audiences to see the film - these include reference to other successful British films made by the same director and reviews (and star ratings) from mainstream film magazines (Empire and Total Film), respected directors and journalists. With a limited marketing budget, these elements can often be crucial in swaying an audience and persuading them to see the film. I recommend that you click on the Film4 link and read about the innovative release strategy that the film had - released simultaneously at cinemas, on TV, on blu-ray and DVD, and on video on demand.
Welcome to the Punch, released in 2013, also uses quotations from reviews to help market the film and makes reference to the producer to help sell the film (Ridley Scott is the well-known British director of Hollywood films including Gladiator, American Gangster, Thelma and Louise, Alien and Blade Runner and, even though he did not direct this film, he is significantly better known than the director Eran Creevy). Welcome to the Punch is a useful film to make reference to because unusually for a British film it includes at least one globally recognisable star (James McAvoy, whilst not exactly a-list, has starred in succesful Hollywood films including X-Men: First Class, Wanted and the globally successful British film Atonement) - significantly, he featured heavily in all of the marketing elements of the film and this highlights that a British film will stand a much better chance of reaching an audience if a it has a star attached. The film also belongs to a recognisable genre - the action movie. Belonging to a genre that audiences instantly recognise makes it much easier to market - notice that the distrubutors of the film have chosen a quote for the poster that explicitly references genre. Have a look at the dedicated Facebook page (the link is above) - this should indicate the importance of social media and viral marketing when it comes to promoting low-budget British films.
The posters for Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, released in 2013, also use quotations from reviews BUT significantly foreground the importance of social media when it comes to promoting low-budget British films with a limited marketing budget. The second poster is entirely made up of tweets, whilst the third poster emphasises twitter and facebook links. Again, the film becomes easier to market because it belongs to a recognisable genre - comedy. As we have discussed before, many Hollywood movies are based on existing source material (which makes these films much easier to market because there is already a fanbase) - this film would have certainly benefited from being based on a well-known British comedy character (just look at the facebook link above to see the amount of likes the page got).
Why not look at the other posters for British films below - you will see similar patterns emerging in terms of the ways in which they are marketed.
Wiki Site for Four Lions
Attack the Block (2011)
Wiki Site for Attack the Block
Submarine (2010)
Wiki Site for Submarine
Looking for Eric (2009)
Wiki Site for Looking for Eric
Wiki Site for Attack the Block
Wiki Site for Submarine
Wiki Site for Looking for Eric
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