Eat Pray Love

1. Describe the film including the genre, the style of film, the actors, the storyline (include synopsis if you can find one)

The film could be either a romance or a drama. Julia Roberts plays Liz Gilbert and other actors include James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem. The film is about a woman, Liz Gilbert, who seems to have it all – a husband, house and successful career – however, she finds that she is lost and searching for what she really wants in life, so embarks on a journey around the world to find her true self.

2. Separately discuss the overall feel developed for the film’s promotional material. Be as descriptive as possible, you could discuss the colours, textures, tone and use of movement in the website to create interest in the film.

The film’s promotional material is quite clean, crisp and bright. The colours are those of spring – bright pink, green, orange and blue with some white. There are lots of pictures which are set up in a slide-show format on the home screen which are of the different places that Liz visits in each of her journeys. Italy for ‘Eat’, India for ‘Pray’ and Bali for ‘Love’. All of these elements create interest in the film.

3. Reflect on how the film’s website is laid out. (Look at the links, font and how the information or promotional materials are presented).

The film’s website seems simple but in contrast is actually slightly confusing when you first visit it. First of all you go to an opening page, which you have to press the button, “Enter Site”. Then you are taken to the film’s site, which has a slideshow taking up most of the page. There are three tabs along the side of the slideshow, labeled eat, pray and love. Each tab had related pictures and quotes that played in a slideshow. Down the bottom are the links to video, about, downloads, photos, tweet your town, interactive trailer, scrapbook, word search and Sudoku. When clicked, a pop-up box covers the slideshow, which you then have to cross out of when finished. There is also music that plays when you enter the site.

4. Identify the Target Audience (who are they? What age, interests, etc.) and discuss whether you feel the website is effective in appealing to this intended audience.

The Target Audience is most likely middle aged women. They are probably feeling a little like the main character, Liz, and this film will make them feel better and help them find their feet again. The target audience could also be single women still in this age group. The target audience also likes a good romance film, that isn’t filled with much action or comedy. I feel the website is effective in appealing to this intended audience, however I think that the website also appeals to a younger audience than intended.

5. Talk about what you like/dislike about the promotional material. Why?

I really like the bright colours of the promotional material. They appeal to me and to a lot of other girls and women, I can imagine. I think that the photos from different parts of the world are amazing and very interesting and really create interest in the film. They make the audience wonder why Liz is in those places and what she does whilst she is there. I also like the pretty symbols used to represent eat, pray and love. I dislike the music that automatically plays when you enter the site. It isn’t very good music in my opinion, and it took me quite a while to figure out how to stop it, which was very annoying!

6. Find a Poster or Advertisement, save the images in to your folder and insert here. In as much detail as possible discuss the following:

• The colour scheme ; cool, warm, analogous, complementary, sensitive, calming, exciting, vibrant, simple, etc. and how it makes you feel

The colour scheme, even though composed of pink and orange as well as green and blue, is quite cool and calming. It makes me feel relaxed and fairly happy.
• The focal point: where do your eyes focus and why
My eyes first focus on the faces of the two people in the image at the bottom, then at the name of the film, then the face of Julia Roberts in the top image. This is because of the dark space in the bottom image, with the lines between the character’s faces leading me to the title of the film. The orange of the word ‘pray’ then leads me into the brown of Julia’s jacket and then the blue spoon draws my attention which leads me to her face, which stands out against the slightly blurred, unfocused background.
• Sense of Balance: Is the advertisement balanced in terms of line, tone, layout?
The advertisement is balanced. There is a balanced mix of natural and geometric lines within the poster and there is a mix of darker colours in the images with the light blues of the banners on the poster. The image on the bottom is balanced, with the two characters being centered. All of the text on the poster has been centered and Julia’s body on the left is balanced with the fountain on the right in the top image. The poster is balanced on the top and bottom with the title of the film in the middle, with an image on either side and then another banner above and below the top and bottom images.
• Harmony: Do all of the advertisements elements (line, tone, colour, texture etc.) work well together to create harmony or a sense of completion
All of the advertisements elements do work well together to create harmony and a sense of completion as they create a clean, crisp feeling when put together.
• Unity: which elements unite or make the advertisement effective eg. Use of a dominant colour scheme and high contrast to create unity.
The colours make the advertisement effective. They are quite bright in contrast to the natural, almost dark coloured images and appeal to women. The images are also effective as the bottom one gives a sense of love and romance while the top almost gives a feeling of freedom and enjoyment. Furthermore, the printing of ‘Julia Roberts’ across the top of the poster is effective because she is a well-known and liked actress, and some people will immediately want to see the film simply because she is in it.