Typography Conventions in Social Realism Films

Deconstruction of the Typography used in Social Realism Films

Social realism film posters follow conventions within the genre. I will be deconstructing the use of typography in the posters i.e. colour, size and position.

Fish Tank

• The majority of the typography is an electric blue colour. Although, due to the use of a baby pink colour in the photograph used on the poster, there are also uses of the same pink colour within the typography.
• The colours work well together, the title and reviews stand out, due to being bigger than the other parts of text. The star reviews also stand out, as they are the only pink writing on the poster.
• The less important text, i.e. the actors (given that these are not the selling point of the film) and the billings block are in smaller black text, which do not stand out as much, and therefore not drawing the audience’s attention
• All of the typography is within the left two thirds of the poster, with the main character filling the right third of the poster. This conforms to the golden rule as there is nothing in the centre of the poster, instead the title is slightly to the left, drawing the audience’s attention around the poster.
• All of the typography is the same font. All text is in capitals. This font is commonly used for social realism films. There is no special element to the text, it is quite basic and blocky. Instead, the typography is incorporated in the image, with peeling wallpaper effects being used.

This is England

• The title of the film is in bold colours. This is different to the rest of the text on the poster. The red, white and blue used represents the Union Jack, a symbol of patriotism. This conforms to the title of the film, allowing the audience to relate the two.
• The rest of the typography on the poster is black, making it seem less important than the title. The black stands out well against the light blues used in the poster, making it easy for the audience to read in the short time they are looking at the poster.
• The title is the largest text on the poster which fills the whole width of the landscape poster. The other text is smaller, again making it less important. The direction is the second largest text, showing the main selling point of the film as the audience are likely to enjoy this film is they like the director’s past work.
• The ‘This is England’ is slightly above the centre of the poster. It is above the characters in the photography used. The awards and reviews are at the top of the page, drawing the audience’s attention all around the poster. This billing’s block is in the conventional place, but very small and white, making it barely noticeable against the grey floor in the image.
• The same font is used throughout, apart from the director. The text stating the director of the fil is ‘spray painted’ onto the fence the characters are standing against. This incorporates it into the image, making the typography standout against the other text.   
• The rest of the typography is in al capitals in a bold, blocky font, common for the social realism genre.
• The ‘This is England’, has an effect on it, which incorporates it into the image. It looks as though it is on the corrugated iron fence the characters are standing against.

The Selfish Giant

• The title of the film is a light red colour. This contrasts to the neutral coloured image used for the poster and the brown typography used for the reviews.
• The red font is continued for the director/writer of the film. This highlights that this is the main selling point of the film as it stands out against the other text.
• The title of the film is very large compared to the other typography. It fills up half of the height of the poster and two thirds of the width. The rest of the space, minus the image, is filled with reviews including bold stars. The stars allow the audience to quickly see the reviews of the film – the more stars, the better the review.
• The position of the title is slightly off centre, fulfilling the golden rule. It is slightly left and above the centre of the poster. There are reviews written above and to the right of the title, making effective use of the rest of the space available. There are ratings of the film (stars) below the title is rows, this allows the audience to see a summary of what different critics think of the film, without spending too long looking at the poster. The billing’s block is the conventional place.
•  The same font is used throughout. An all capitals, bold and blocky font, a common convention of social realism film posters. The title of the film has a slight gradient, with the colour being a dark red at the bottom of the three words. There is an image incorporated into the title – electricity pylons.