I, Daniel Blake - Teaser Poster (BBC Films)

I, Daniel Blake - Teaser Poster (BBC Films)

PRODUCT CONTEXT:

• I, Daniel Blake is an independent social realist film directed by renowned filmmaker Ken Loach
• A UK/French co - production, it received funding from the BFI and BBC Films
• It became Ken Loach’s largest grossing film at the box office (taking over $8 million), was highly critically acclaimed and generated much debate due to the contemporary social and political issues addressed in the film
• I, Daniel Blake was exhibited at many film festivals, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and was nominated for many awards including several BAFTAs

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXTS:

I, Daniel Blake addresses contemporary British social issues such as poverty, the welfare system and the Work Capability Assessment. The film portrays a group of traditionally underrepresented characters in Newcastle struggling in poverty to gain benefits and support. I, Daniel Blake conveys a clear left - wing political message and criticises specific government policies. Much of Ken Loach’s work has addressed similar issues and he is a social campaigner, known for his socialist political views. This is important to consider in terms of film production and maintaining audiences (arguably the intended audience for this film is educated, media literate and socially aware). 

ANALYSIS OF THE TEASER POSTER:

• The teaser poster is an illustration instead of a modern day film poster which might be due to economic factors including funding which is extremely significant to this independent British co - production. The funding bodies are the BFI (through National Lottery Funding) and the BBC
• The poster uses dark/dingy colours with a grey and brown colour palette to reinforce the genre of social realism
• The director and producer names are at the bottom of the poster which further persuades the audience to watch the film however, because it is positioned at the bottom and uses generic font, it could imply it isn't important and is therefore irrelevant. This is because the producers want the audience to focus on the film and the issues relevant within the film. However, the names associated with the film might be important to a media literate audience as noticing Ken Loach’s name would automatically let them know this is of the social realism genre and that it will be dealing with the harsh realities of real life because that is what most of his work is renowned for
• The central image reinforces the dull, sombre genre and through the use of no supplementary images creates a character enigma for the audience 
• The relatively simple layout and design is different to the official film poster, focusing on the central protagonist only. The fact Daniel is the only person pictured and is paired with the use of the pronoun 'I' conveys to the audience they will be following the journey of one man with perhaps a lot of pressure on his shoulders to influence change; the fact that he is not in a group makes the issues at hand even more personal and the fact he is fighting them alone makes him even more brave and compelling. As well as this, with the use of the title being a statement, this gives power and meaning to the film and links well to the storyline 
• The typography and choice of font style for the film is quirky and uneven like graffiti, suggesting the style of the film and this contrasts with the official poster which uses a bold font style 
• The use of the direct mode of address makes it persuasive for the audience to watch and gives an eerie sense of atmosphere 
• The use of the tagline 'appeal and change' is a memorable phrase or slogan that has become associated with the film and appears on the marketing material - except it isn't used on the official film poster 
• On this poster there is no use of quotes and reviews, perhaps because it takes away from the essence of the poster and what it is really trying to portray
• This poster reinforces the ideas that I, Daniel Blake is a low budget social realist film, funded by the BFI and BBC. It was filmed largely on location (hospital, job centre etc.), features lesser known actors and does not rely on special effects
• The protagonists mise - en - scene in the form of costuming is very casual and ordinary; this reinforces the hints of the social realism genre as it is very genuine, average working class clothing. Furthermore, because of this he looks quite dishevelled and unkempt therefore supporting themes of poverty and the struggles those of the working class face
• At the bottom of the poster is the billing card. This is produced on a white background in a bold, black font making it stand out but is also still small allowing the focus to be on the rest of the poster