Professional Film Poster Evaluations: ‘KIDULTHOOD’ ‘Kidulthood’ is a 2006 Menhaj Huda production, about a day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in west London. It is a social realist crime/drama lasting 89 minutes long and with an age rating of 15 (UK).

The film contains a lot of strong language and intense violence, so the poster should theoretically connote this tone to the audience, whilst being eye-catching and interesting.

Firstly, the poster tells the audience that it is directed by Menhaj Huda (“A…….film”), however it does not provide any previous credits or work of Huda. This could be because Huda hasn’t produced/directed many popular films before this; however he has still directed many episodes of Coronation Street, Emmerdale and EastEnders, which would attract the recurring fans of those shows to this film.

On the other hand, this poster does follow the rule in almost all successful movie posters, in which a positive quote is used from a

reviewing source - such as a newspaper, magazine, critic etc. This quote allows the audience to believe that this is a film that they should definitely watch, because a reliable source has giving positive feedback to the makers.

Not only this, but the language used in the quote is descriptive, complex and imaginative. This is so that it can appeal the qualitative demographics of social realist films, which is usually more intellectual and thought provocative. To elaborate; the words “powerful, moving and unforgettable” would not be that of a review in the more simplistic media outlets such as the Sun newspaper.

Next, the film’s style is needed to be presented within a poster for it to be successful at endorsing its product. This poster does this well in several ways. Firstly, there are two equal columns of space either side of the title, credits and review. This is done creatively so that the characters in this space, feel larger and therefore more intimidating, which is the intended nature of each of these characters. As well as this, the space is also indicative of the fact that these characters do not fit into normal society and they are slowly being pushed further and further apart as they grow up (film meaning).

Secondly, the font used for the title and tagline, is very smooth and rounded, which contrasts with the tone of the rest of the poster. This is suggestive of the fact that the characters within are still very young, therefore implying innocence, to create dramatic contrast.

The title of the film is positioned lower centrally in the poster, to not only appeal to the audience aesthetically, but to also create space for the characters in the centre of the frame. This brings more attention to the characters, but also highlights the tone and feel of the poster i.e. edgy, tense, dangerous etc.

Furthermore, the title is not very large and is solid white. This is to bring attention to the characters further, but to also allow for the very large amount of negative space given.

Colour and saturation is a very big part in the making of a film poster, and it has been used very effectively in this one. It is fair to say that, the low key lighting in the original image is being used to connote the darker tone of the film, as well as creating shadows on the characters to make them seem even more intimidating and possibly ‘unknown’. There is also a high amount of contrast in the lighting on the poster, especially at the top of the frame where the sun rays are shining through the clouds. This is used to convey the small glimmer of hope that the characters have, and it can also be suggestive of death which occurs in the narrative (i.e. heaven’s rays, symbolistic of afterlife etc).

The certificate of the film is also placed on the poster, however it is small and positioned off-centre and is the only thing in either of the two columns of space, to bring attention to itself.

Surprisingly there are no images of award winnings or nominations, even though the film won Best Screenplay in the Dinard British Film Festival, as well as being nominated for Best Independent Film Award 2006. This would therefore reduce the number of consumers that will be enticed by the poster, due to the fact that some may be picky on film value based on their awards.

The costumes of the characters successfully connote the intended tone and theme of the poster, and raise its overall value as a product for endorsement. Within the poster, the costumes are sporty and generally dark, which follows the stereotypical portrayal of violent and rowdy teenagers. As well as this, the character in the hoodie, carrying a baseball bat, is a very powerful use of props to signify danger and connote the meaning, themes and issue of the film; as well as foreshadowing an event in the narrative.

Finally, the film credits also follow the conventions of professional film posters. For example; the small writing has a tall and condensed font, using all caps for the accredited names, the text is aligned to distribute evenly between the margins, and any logos for funding or co-production organisations/companies are listed as well.

Overall, the poster is successful in conveying the intended meanings and connotations, as well as being aesthetically pleasing and memorable for any audiences.