Looking For Eric

Task:• In our recent lesson we looked at the posters and photographs from ‘The Looking

For Eric’ film. We done this so we could be provided an understanding of different genres, hybrid genres and sub genres can be represented in posters

• By each poster being different, the film can attract a broad audience including the primary audience, secondary audience and tertiary audience. Also each different person can attract people of a certain demographic and psychographic.

• By doing the task I also learnt how posters can be made differently but still keep a key aspect of your film present. In this case it was Eric Cantoa’s stern facial expression and a sign of football.

FIRST REACTION TO THE TITLE: Even though I had heard of the title of the film, I had no understanding as to what the film was about. My initial guess was that it was about a man named Tom, joking Eric, who faces many implications in his life, which he eventually overcomes. He is on a life journey and eventually finds his true self in the end. MY GUESS WAS CORRECT :D

Reactions to picturesAfter we were shown this picture I immediately agreed with my first initial reaction. His facial expression shows him to be lost but disheartened also. He seems like a man who has succumb to many issues; possibly a divorce.

One of my peers assumed it was the film was a drama. I definitely agree with this decision because the film seems like it tells a sad and realistic tale; something expected of a drama film.

His clothing makes it apparent that he is a postman. This possibly could be part of his struggles as it is a low status profession.

Reactions 2This is one of the other pictures that we were shown. From this picture I noticed a female companion who appears to be quite fond of Eric. I understood this through the close positioning of the characters.

In this blurry picture (my apologies) Eric seems like a new man. His formal clothing portrays him as smart and well presented. It seems as if he has turned a new leaf.

What I also noticed is that as soon as this new character made an appearance, he turns his life around or so I imagine. This suggests some romance.

Reaction 3

This picture is extremely different to the previous two. Despite wearing his work attire, Eric appears to be joyous and festive. This is a complete contrast to the previous picture to the first. The film could be a comedy.

The location in this screenshot makes the film look like it was set in a council estate. Due to this, the film can also be a British comedy.

Reaction to Film Posters

I immediately assumed that this was the Ken Loache film. The black and white colours suggested to me a serious tone and this is something I expected from a Ken Loache specific poster. There is also no evidence of football connotations. They possibly took this way because they didn’t want to detract from the serious aspect of the film.

The two characters also have stern, focused facial expressions which makes this poster appear even more serious and Ken Loache like. He’s also wearing black clothing; black symbolising mystery. His body posture also symbolises some mystery as he is looking behind as if someone is lurking behind.

The man on the left and Eric on the right are very oppositional characters. The man on the left appears to be an adult and the man on the right seems quite childlike. This tells a story.

I also think this is the Ken Loache film because of the way the titles are positioned. They are slightly slanted to draw the audience’s attention. It also contrasts with its high key lighting.

Reaction 2

I assumed this was the romantic poster because of the high key lighting and the non serious tone the white background exudes. Also, the colour of the text is red. Red symbolizes love and passion, I assume is what the poster attempted to convey.

This image of the couple also suggests to me that this film is going to revolve around a ‘hopeless romantic’ narrative. The woman’s body posture suggests this; her arms are tightly crossed suggesting she ‘wears the trousers in the relationship’. She also looks straight into the camera, which again implies that she is in control of the situation. He appears to be quite clueless as his less compact arms suggest. He is also holding flowers which could mean that he is trying to impress her. He is also looking away from the camera, again reinforcing the idea that he is clueless in love.

The tagline of this film is also different to that of the other posters. This implies that the genre of this poster is different to the others and taglines usually suggest a form of the narrative.

Reaction 3

This film poster doesn’t use imagery as much as the others and in turn, they want to address our attention towards the title. The title is a bold and red dramatic colour, which is immediately set to catch our eye.

Linking in with the red colour of the title, the poster designers again use the colour red to draw our attention. I believe they are using the colour red to glorify Manchester United (the team Eric Cantona played for

The fact that Cantona is looking away suggests to me that he doesn’t want to be in the spotlight anymore or possibly wanting to be know for the antics, footballers stereotypically get up to. However, he points to his football shirt which can connote that he is proud of his work and the time he spent being a footballer