Film Posters Analysis - Part 2

Mean Girls

The colours of this film poster fit in with the target audience of this film which is girls, this is because the title, the outfits and the name of the main character are all pink which is associated with girls. The colour of the background also makes the rest of the colours stand out from the rest of the page as the background is such a plain colour. The images of this film poster have the conventions of a chick flick because the images of the characters are only of females and this tells the audience who the film is aimed at. The main character on the left of the poster is also larger than the rest of the characters and this shows that she is the most important character of the film; it also shows that she is an outsider because she is wearing a different colour and style of outfit than the other characters. The position of the character also backs up what is said in the tag line, “watch your back”, it shows that she is the character that needs to be careful and there will be conflict with and the image shows her looking over her shoulder in a scared facial expression. These images suggest a narrative as well as the tag line. The title of the film, “Mean Girls” stands out from the rest of the context of the page as it is bright pink and this colour represents the target audience of the film.  Underneath the title there is also another short tag line and this also tells the audience that the film is a comedy and a romance. The tag line “Watch your back” tells the audience that there will be conflict between the characters that are on the film poster. It also has the release date underneath it in bright pink and this makes it more visible to the audience. This film poster also has a billing block that tells the audience a variety of different technical information, such as the media institutions the director are the producers. However, it isn’t as large as most billing blocks and is more spread out on the page because it has a longer length. The billing block on this film poster also doesn’t follow the conventions of a typical billing block as this also follows the style of the title; it is vertical rather than horizontal. This leaves more room for larger images and more detail on the film poster. On this film poster there is no commendation from any media institutions (for example, a quote or a star rating system) and therefore this does not back up how good the film is to the audience because there is no one telling them how good the film is. 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

This poster has clearly been very carefully composed, and is no where near as simple as a still from the film. The colours of the poster clearly show that it is a Scifi film as the black background is vastly contrasted with the bright neon colours illuminating the darkness. This juxtaposition creates intrigue as it is dramatic. It also has other conventions of a scifi film in that the poster shows spaceships, lasers and ray guns. It also references other film sin its series as it shows the franchise weapon of choice , the lightsaber. As this is a new era for the brand however they have updates this icon to have extra parts forming a handle. The main character is the centred and has the second largest presence. (The first being the films main villain). This allows the audience to identify Rey as the main protagonist.  
Going against convention, the poster doesn't have a tag line, any actors names, or any reviews/ star ratings. This could be because the franchise is so iconic that they felt it was unnecessary. It does, however, have a billing block that tells the audience the finer details of the film, including who worked on it and when it will be realised. The typography of the words Star Wars are in the film's normal font, and this logo serves as another reminder that the film is within the same franchise as the others before it. The poster allows the target audience to identify the film as something they might want to see. 

Inception

The dark colours show that Inception is a film with darker themes and happenings. The bright red stands out against the dark background, and almost shouts the title at the viewer. This red could also cannot blood, as the other parts of the film poster elude to the film being of the action genre. Although the picture contains the characters they are only within the bottom half of the poster, the rest being devoted to the amazing SFX of the road where they are standing being warped and turning to be vertical and opposite the viewer. This eludes to the narrative as this is not a normal phenomenon, and as so much poster space has been devoted to it. You can tell that it is an action film as two of the characters on the poster are holding guns. This is a common iconography for a action film, and helps fans of the genre identify the film as something they want tom see. All of the men on the poster are wearing suits, this shows their higher class and high profile jobs. This may interest the audience as they want to find out what these jobs are. The picture could be a still from the film as the rules of verisimilitude have not been broken. The horizontal poster would allow for it to be used as a DVD/ Blue-ray cover as well. This would help the audience make the link between still poster image and the film. The tag line "Your mind is the scene of the crime" is very interning to the audience as it doesn't make any logical scene. This would encourage them to go and see the film to find out what they mean.  The large billing box tells the viewer more about the film, this may have been done as famous filmmakers worked on the film which would create interest. As well as this the actors names are placed at the top of the poster, with the most famous, Dicaprio's, in the largest font. 

Pure Love

For this next poster I decided to go out of my comfort zone and analyse a Korean romance film. This poster is quite clearly from a romance film, as the bright colours and happy vibe emirate from it. The two protagonists on the cover also show this from the way that they are looking at each other. The text is light coloured and looks hand-written. There are little clues to the narrative except for the fact that there will be romance as part of the storyline. The picture of the main characters is very close up, its very intimate for them, and for the audience. Although I have not seen the film, I happen to know that the male actor is a very famous Korean singer, and the female actress started her career early and was a famous child actress who grew up and stayed in the trade. It was important for the filmmakers to have these two celebrities front and centre on the poster to attract their fans to the film, and to create buzz around them working together. The billing block in this film poster is especially small and compacted. I do not know if this is more of a Korean thing to do, or if this poster is an anomaly. 

Stardust

The contrast in colours creates a powerful poster, as it is eye catching and different. They also show the genre of the film to be fantasy as the vibrancy could connote adventure and magic. The poster is dominated by pictures of the characters, in varying degrees of size. This is helpful to the audience as it tells them how important the characters are, and who the main protagonists are. In this case it is clear that the male and female duo who are front and centre fill this role. Although they are not the biggest in size they are clearly the main focal point of the poster. The clothing the characters are wearing date the film to be set in the past. The title, slogan, and billing block are all together at the bottom of the poster while the actors names are in a line at the top. The colour of all the text is a light mutated yellow, to fit with the title and logo of the film. Of which has creatively been made so that a shooting/ falling star crosses the A to form the letter. This is a hint to the film's narrative as fallen star is the one of the most vital part of the film's story.