Film Posters Analysis - Part 1

Film posters are form of advertising that help to raise awareness of an upcoming film release. Posters often follow a variety of conventions including having a striking image, the film title, actors/actresses names, the release date, age certificate, and director or production company names. These details provide viewers with all the information they need to know about the film, and the style and appearance of the poster will help audiences identify what the film’s genre is. Film posters can be displayed in a variety of places from being on street billboards, and buses to featuring in magazines and online.

 Thor Analysis

This film poster gains our attention by putting the antagonist in the center of the poster. His body language is very eye-catching as it looks like he is coming to save the viewer, this is shown in the way he looks directly at the camera, and audience. The film poster also refers to the popular movie 'Iron Man'. This is done so people will be more eager to see Thor as they know that the same director made Iron Man; which was really good. This film is an obviously an action film. The protagonist has a massive weapon in his hand. The target audience for this would be teenagers and most probably mostly directed towards males. This is because there are three men on the poster and only one woman. The tagline of this film poster is 'Courage is immortal'. This links with the genre of the story as we know that to fight you need courage. The main colours of this poster is dark blue and red. They are stereotypically  masculine colours and this links in with the strength of Thor and his power to defeat anyone. The poster has different characters behind Thor who are wearing metallic clothing. This symbolizes that they are superheroes. This lets the audience know some extra information about the film, and is a convention for all film posters.

Alice in Wonderland Analysis

Alice in Wonderland is a fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton.  Alice, the main protagonist is front and center in a light blue dress making the audience be drawn immediately to her. Having her in this position and costume makes her the main focus of the image, and tells the audience she is the main protagonist. Also she is the main light in the dark poster maybe symbolising that she is the hero or saviour of the story.
 People around her are shown differently for example the twins (tweddle dee and tweedle dum) are only shown half of there bodies, it could be connoted that together they make a whole person. The red queen is shown on the right, her dress is dark, and her make-up is vibrant. This represents her character as being evil (the black and red denoting blood and death).
The white queen is shown at the bottom in bright white, this shows her innocence, gentleness and kindness, as well as planting her firmly on the side of 'good'. Her being marginalised at the bottom, however, could mean that she is not an important character.
The background of the image is dark, in all grayscale colours representing an dark difficult place, but the front of the poster is lighter and brighter showing it as a more pleasant place by having bright vibrant colours.
The tagline "Were all mad here" fits with the genre and style of the film, and the world Alice travels to is more like a fantasy than a reality. Also the use of the word "mad" plays up the character the mad hatter. The producers may choose to do this as he as the most famous actor within the film. 
The font is consistent throughout the poster,  Alice in wonderland shows a fading around the ages making it look like its moving forward or maybe shining. This could mean that the film is jam-packed full of adventure. Having the directors name above shows that importance of him. This means that the audience will know who he is and want to go see it because he is the creator of the film. 

1. Woman in Black Analysis

1. The most noticeable part of this poster is the choice of colours that have been used. By using only grey, black and white, a negative atmosphere is created as the poster appears dull and ghostly. This instantly allows an audience to be able to identify that the film is of the horror genre and implies that the supernatural will play a significant role. This is shown through the white and black shadows that form a ghostly figure in the background. Furthermore, the lack of colour can be seen to reflect the Victorian era that the film is set in as the greyness suggests that this is set in the past. The image used for this poster is a close-up of the main character that features in the film. The choice of using a close-up shot allows an audience to see the characters emotions which here appears serious and quite distant as he shows little expression. Lighting on this poster is successful in creating an eerie atmosphere. The light highlights the character which not only makes the eye go to him but portrays an idea that he is quite pale and drawn from the shadows that are created which is fitting to the ghost story. Similarly, the darkness in the background suggests danger and the unknown as the mist makes it difficult to see anything that may be coming. The text used appears simple yet bold as the capital letters and white colour allows the writing to stand out against the grey background. Furthermore, the white emphasises the ghostly theme in the style and colour as the reflection of the text creates an eerie atmosphere of feeling cold and haunted.  The use of a rhetorical question, “do you believe in ghosts?” creates the feeling that the poster is directly talking to the consumer. By placing this text next to the faint outline of the ghost in the background of the poster enforces that ghosts and the supernatural will play a significant role in the film.  The placement of the image on the left hand side of the poster makes the character have very little breathing space and creates a feeling of claustrophobia and unease as a sense of entrapment is created. By having very little in the background connotes that this character is alone and this is fearful for an audience as they are aware of the ghostly figure forming whereas the character is not.

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THE INTERNSHIP

The full length shot shows the audience the full characters that they are going to be dealing with. It also allows consumers to see the clothing they are wearing which is very basic, and a slightly older middle class look. This says a lot about the characters before the audience even go and see the film. 
The lighting is very bright white which tell the audience the genre of the film, comedy. It also links with Google, the real life company that the film is based about and set in its headquarters.
The poster uses very basic colours, telling the audience that this film won't challenge them, it is just a genre film. This is a convention of comedy films, it shows the genre through this simple styling. The white background contributes to this as well as making the two protagonists stand out. This links to the film where they are outcasts and stand out again the other characters. Their confused expression also reinforces this idea to the consumer. 
The computer mouse, the tag line in the search box, and the Google colours used all link this film to the company in a very obvious way. Even if the audience isn't sure in what capacity yet. The props and costume of the older peoples clothing and lanyards indicate again a corporate link, along with the characters maybe being out of place or breaking a mould. 


BLACK SWAN 

A close up has been used to show her dark expression. This creates mystery as we don't fully know what to expect from her character. The right side of her face is in the light which symbolises the white swan, or the sane lighter side of herself. She is a very pure character and that is why she is a good portrayal of the white swan. The left hand side of her face, however, is darker, representing the black swan, and crazy darker side of herself. This is also the side of her face with the crack running down it, suggesting that the cracks in her sanity only occurred when she tried to be the black swan.
The black background has connotations of ominous mystery and from this we can tell that the film content will be hard-hitting and more than likely disturbing. The white feather on the light (right) side of her face, further emphasizes her character purity and connection with the white swan. Contrasted with the black background and shadows though, we can conclude that because of her pure character she cannot cope with the dark demands of being the 'black swan'. The main image is most dominant feature of the poster contains a quote praising the film 'An extradordinary intoxicating masterpeice'. Excessive use of syllables creates emphasis and also communicates the fact that this film is aimed at people educated in art  and ballet and less so aimed at children. 

 From this I have been influenced to carefully consider how I arrange the elements of my short film poster as analysing these posters has shown how everything can communicate a message to the audience.