Purpose Statement and Design Plan

Abby Persicketti

Dr. Wielgos

College Writing II

Purpose Statement: The purpose of my rhetorical analysis is to show the audience how the creators of the posters of several Audrey Hepburn movies get across the plot of a movie using different elements such as the position of objects and words, color, and facial expressions. I want my audience to watch the movies after reading my analysis. I want them to also have a better understanding of why the posters were such a large part in making the movies successful.

Audience:  The audience is romantic movie lovers, Audrey Hepburn fans, and hopeless romantics.

Context: I am going to focus on three different parts of the posters. First, I will focus on how the text and typeface can relay a message about the movie. Second, I will focus on the facial expressions and body language of the characters on the poster. Third, I will focus on the colors and placement of everything on the poster.

The medium I will use is an academic paper on Microsoft Word with large images of the posters so the audience can see the details that I will be talking about.

The arrangement of the posters will be wrapped in the text that is speaking about them. The audience will be able to view the poster easily after they read the words talking about it.

Strategies:       Ethos: I will focus on the credibility that each designer of the poster has. I will research his or her history in art or school or the movie industry. This will help the audience know exactly who the creator is and what makes them qualified to make something as important for promoting a movie as the poster. The ethos the audience will be able to trust me and see that I am credible because I have seen all of the movie and I will also do my research on the creators of the posters as well as the time period.

Logos: I will analyze why the creator of the poster would do certain things on the poster. Such as, if it is logical to make a certain actors name larger than the name of the movie title just because he or she is friends with that actor, or if they did that because the popularity of the actor will draw in an audience to see the movie.  

Pathos: I will write about the effect that the certain color choices and words may have on the audience and why they will be drawn to see the movie. Many of the choices the creators of the posters make are to strike a chord in the audience to make them feel a certain way. Whether it’s a longing face because of forbidden love, or a smile because Audrey Hepburn is happy in the movie. There are plenty of ways the creator tries to make the audience feel using different elements of the poster. The audience will feel the love and the emotions of each story that I will be talking about through my use of imagery. 

The poster from the movie "Crazy Stupid Love" is based a lot on the faces of the characters of the movie. This movie looks like it was made a few years ago because the clothes are very current and so is the way the photos look. They look like they were taken with high definition cameras. The genre of  the movie that is being publicized by this poster is a romantic comedy for older audiences. The evidence I used was the title, of course, but also the photos. The people in the line of photos are smiling. Also, the largest photo with Steve Carell and the woman's heel on the table shows a sense of romance that is in the movie, but you can tell it will be comical based on the confused/shocked expression he has on his face. I think the designers used the colors they did to make it look sophisticated. There are not any super harsh, in your face colors. The visual path my eye follows through the poster is first Steve Carell's face in the large picture because it is in focus. Then it leads to the heel because you want to be able to see what Steve Carell is looking at. You could also say that your eye leads then to the title because it is in the center and goes from a thin to bold text. My eyes then follow the photos of the characters from left to right at the bottom of the screen. The eyes then go to the date at the bottom of the poster. The designers "ask" you to see the elements of the poster in this order because it first introduces you to the main character, then to the title, then to the rest of the cast, and then the date it hits theaters.The overall effect of this poster is to show that the movie is funny and inviting, but it also shows that it is not a movie that children should watch because of the mature tone of the colors and pictures.

Abby Persicketti

Dr. Wielgos

College Writing II

Purpose Statement and Design Plan

My purpose for this essay is to open the eyes of my generation and generations to come and show them that while Technology (mostly phones), while they may have benefits to society, are also hurting the social part of society when people are focusing on their technology rather than the people around them. A majority of mankind is becoming less social because they connect through a screen rather than sitting with one another in conversation. This can be harmful because when it comes to a time that they need to interact with others in person they may not be able to do it effectively. I have heard many times that people miss the “old days” of no cell phones where people got work done and were out and about with their friends and family instead of staring at meaningless things on their phone. I would have to agree that I miss my younger days of not having a phone. That is why this purpose is important to me, because I miss the sense of closeness I used to have with people when scrolling on one’s phone instead of talking was not an option. The people I will be targeting in particular with this photo essay is anyone who uses their phone regularly, specifically teens and young adults. I want my audience to see the things they are missing and to become aware of how they are when they are on the phone. Some people are so used to having a phone with them that they may not realize how much they are on it. I think the statement will come across strong because the audience will be able to relate since I am sure they have a phone. As a whole, I believe if we all become more self- aware of our phone usage we may become more productive and look at the world differently. This time with our head up instead of looking down at a screen.

The approach I am taking to this design plan is that I am using the Mesh slides PowerPoint provides as a nice background that looks techy, but will not distract too much from the pictures shown on the slide. The font I will use is SimSun because it looks very stiff and structured, and it reminds me of technology. The typeface is not warm or inviting and, therefore, this will cause a cold feeling while looking at the slides because the feeling I am trying to convey, is a sense of coldness that comes with using technology rather than having human interaction. The photos will show different scenarios where technology can distract the users such as playing a game of cards, eating breakfast, studying for a test or simply having a friend try to talk to you. The photos will be in color so they can stand out against the gray background. The captions of the photos will help the viewers to understand a little more exactly what is happening in the photo. I believe they will be able to tell the scenario without the captions, but the captions help the audience to see what the people in the photos are thinking or saying.

Ethos: I want my audience to see that I am someone who has experienced the distractive qualities of a phone. I took photos of real situations I have been in before and I think that makes me a credible source. My font is very professional looking and looks like an authoritative font, which will help the audience to take it more seriously.

Pathos: The photos look like they could be anyone’s friends who might not be paying attention to them. The audience will be able to feel what they have felt before when they have been in that situation.

Logos: The photos will show the ways that people can be distracted by their phones in a very logical way. I believe the audience will look at the photos and be able to make sense of what is happening in the specific example.

My Photo Essay

Reflection

My experience with this photo essay has been mixed. I enjoyed creating the essay itself and coming up with the purpose statement. I also think that I had a good, relevant idea for this photo essay. However, I am not extremely pleased with the quality of my photos because the camera on my phone is an older version. I think they are clear enough to get the point across, but it would have helped my credibility if the pictures looked a little more professional. Other than my photos not meeting my liking, I enjoyed the creativity I was allowed with this essay. Usually when I hear the word "essay" I get stressed out, but if every essay could be like this one I would not mind doing them more often. When we were first told about the photo essay I was apprehensive about how I was going to make my thoughts concise. Luckily, Dr. Wielgos was very helpful during each class and on Blackboard explaining the steps we needed to take to successful relay our purpose statement to the audience. Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this essay thoroughly and would gladly do another, with a different camera next time.