The Theory of Everything (2015)
Although this film can be argued as mainly being a drama, it also has a heavy focus on romance. A convention of romance film posters, is that they show two characters (lovers) in close proximity. In this poster we see a stereotypically pair of lovers (heterosexual) holding hands and dancing. Therefore this informs us instantly that the film's narrative follows the two characters. It's very important to consider how much of the narrative is revealed through a poster. In this one, we see the backdrop of a grand building (Cambridge University) and written in a faded scrawl, above the image of the two characters are scientific calculations, informing us that the romance revolves around science, beginning at the university.
Subverting the conventional 'template' for theatrical posters, the tagline can be found at the bottom, written using a formal font, in white, where it reads: "His Mind Changed Our World. Her Love Changed His". The simple declarative sentences have been capitalised at the beginning of each word to create the effect of pronouncing the importance of each word, as if to suggest that each small, seemingly insignificant event leading up to Hawkin's 'condition' was very important and that his love with Jane was extremely important in how he grew to cope with it. The actors' names are labelled at the top of the poster to show that the two can be paired and that this is a romance film. As for the title, rather than being positioned at the bottom of the poster, the promoters of the film designed it so that the image is rotated 90 degrees to fit the title between both characters. This is ironic for it gives reference to the one of the focuses of the film: science. By therefore rotating the image the poster gives the reading that the film has some relevance to science and gravity. Formal typography broken up with italics gives the reading that the characters in the film are intelligent and eloquent. This is used to support the subject of the film, Stephen Hawking and his intellectual abilities as well as the articulate and prestigious air that surrounds the university. Furthermore, in romance films it is conventional to see elaborate graphology; thus the poster is conforming to the romance genre because it implements this.
The colours used are extremely vibrant. It's also worth mentioning that the background is blurred. Soft focus is used as an editing technique in romance trailers to show that the character's are infatuated with their partner. Together with the bright colours, which suggest euphoria and positivity, we therefore get the reading that the film comes under the romance genre.
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