Film poster analysis

CRIME/DRAMA GENRE

Gangster squad

Tommy gun connotes early 20th century mafia theme.

Vibrant red dress worn by an elegant lady portrays the possibility of romance in the film.

Colour of the dress connotes love & passion.

Smart formal uniforms could portray the three male actors are all police/ detectives or either members of the mafia, however the use of blue connotes the police force in America.

Gangster squadThe blaze/fire in the centre of the poster, gives the impression that there could be a lot of violence & destruction in the film.

This is supported by the fact the title is labelled ‘GANGSTER SQUAD’

Facial expression of Ryan Gosling, could be inferring that he is the charming one out of the three, and could well be the one who has a relationship with the lady in the bottom right hand corner. The lady is the only character seen in full, in order to highlight her seductive nature.

The title resembles the Hollywood sign

Gangster squadThe tagline ‘ NO NAMES. NO BADGES. NO MERCY. These few sharp words may be revealing that the film has a bad cop twist to it, who show no mercy, inferring that there could be a lot of shootout scenes, typical of a early 1950’s crime genre.

Hollywood sign in the background could infer the film is based in that area around Los Angeles.

Warner bros production, release date January 11, featured at the bottom of the poster.

Clouds situated above poster creates a darkness over all characters and symbolises a possible crime thriller theme

LAWLESS

Red title ‘LAWLESS’ suggest lots of blood & violence in the film.

Tom Hardy & Shia Labeouf, two main actors in the film, hardy is expressing seriousness, whereas Shia looks to be almost upset, conveying that the film may have an emotional touching twist to the American crime drama genre.Shootout

suggests a cop vs. outlaw plot, supported by the title and tagline.

Costumes of actors look to be typical of the early/mid 1900’s, possibly around the period of the prohibition in America.

August 29 release date.

Tag line at the top of the poster

LAWLESS

Shout out scene emerged into poster image of actors, typical convention of this genre of film, gangster squad has a similar effect.

Clouds above actors head, convention of crime 7 gangster genre, seen in other films such as gangster squad which is of a similar genre.

Red dress typical convention of female characters in this genre, shows love and passion, as well as evil in some cases.

This character is looking away, inferring that he has something to hide, possible two sides to him in the film.

Main actors are listed in a more visible way than actors that are less known, in an attempt to sell the film, typical convention of film posters in general.

THE TOWN‘welcome to the bank robbery capital of America’ infers films is about bank robbery's, ironic as you wouldn’t associate bank robbery's with the word welcome.

Use of the colour red to highlight important parts of the poster e.g tagline, title and release date, red stands out the most on the poster, highlighting importance of the info that is red.

The nun outfits and masks are the first thing to grab your attention when you look at the poster, the outfits create a shock for the audience, nuns are associated with church's not bank robbery's.