A N C I L L A R Y T A S K SA 2 M E D I A S T U D I E S

FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

Lauren Cook and Vicky Squires

MAIN CONVENTIONS OF A FILM POSTER

• Shows the potential target audience

• Form an ideology of a group of people

• Forms context of the film

• Create denotation and connotation – giving an insight in the preferred reading of your film.

AVATARAvatar (marketed as James Cameron's Avatar) is a 2009 American epic science fiction film. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the mineral unobtanium a room temperature superconductor. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na’vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.

LAYOUT AND WRITTEN TEXTBright blue blocked font has been used in order to link to the genre of the film. The tone of blue matches the colour of the Na’vi characters to highlight that they are the main focus of the film. The font is blocked in order to give that mysterious edgy connotation to the poster in order to reinforce the genre sci-fi. The edgy look to the block capitals represents the genre by reinforcing the idea of alien species and things that are out of this world being eerie and strange the text therefore reinforces the genre and can correctly attract the target audience. The text is bold and clear in order to enable the audience to easily understand the concept of the poster.

The layout of the poster is very clustered. This is to form a representation of the films genre. A representation of Sci-Fi is created through the concept of the clustered layout the conventions of sci-fi are highlighted; it highlights that a major convention of sci-fi films is that they are very futuristic and so the clustered layout creates the view that futuristic nature creates a busy and compelling viewpoint of the film. The layout also shows the alternative viewpoint of earth supporting this futuristic and scientific aspect of the film genre.

IMAGES AND COLOURBlue has a connotation of sadness and sorrow. The two characters are blue. The human has a colour effect in order to show a link between himself and the Na’vi. The colour blue gives the impression there is tension between the two groups and therefore is used to represent a divide/separation between the two groups.

Orange has a connotation of danger. The colour orange is spread over the land of the Na’vi. This creates the representation that it is a dangerous and aggressive place. However the orange softens towards the sky so there is also a connotation formed so it creates an idyllic like atmosphere.

The genre sci-fi is established through the hazy visual effect that is created though the blending of colours across the poster. The visual of faded planets in the background also reinforces the genre as it is then apparent that the film contains things that are ‘out of this world.’ A faded effect creating a hazy mystical effect to the poster is used on several images in order to create the connotations of ‘realism’ as the film is based on a planet away from earth the attempt of the poster is to make the poster appear realistic however as the ideology of aliens is that they are a made up source the hazy effect contributes to this viewpoint.

http://www.slideshare.net/Nikchik89/science-fiction-conventions?related=1

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, the Dark Knight is forced to return from his imposed exile to save Gotham City from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman.Despite his tarnished reputation after the events of The Dark Knight, in which he took the rap for Dent's crimes, Batman feels compelled to intervene to assist the city and its police force which is struggling to cope with Bane's plans to destroy the city.

LAYOUT AND WRITTEN TEXT

Bold block capitals in white font have been used for the title of the film. This is to grab the attention of the audience. The font used is sans serif this is to make the poster look bolder and stand out more. By using this font style the poster looks clear and comprehensible as a result the reader can easily understand the poster.

The layout of this poster consists of the main character Batman stood in the foreground in front of a large explosion surrounding tall buildings. The layout goes to show the film is action packed and fast paced. The idea of explosions suggests the film contains elements of danger and destruction, and therefore fits the concept of the conventions of action/drama films which is what the poster intends to represent.

IMAGES AND COLOUROrange and white has been used as in order to create an explosive effect, it briefly resembles the outline of the batman logo. Orange and white have been used in order to create connotations of danger and destruction. The idea of something being white hot forms a representation of something to be very intense. Thus linking back to the genres connotations of being, dramatic and action packed. Dark colours have been used as the main theme of the poster in order to create a representation of the film and genre. Black and a variety of grey tones have been used to fill the poster. These dark colours create a representation of mystery forming the connotations the film will have elements of surprise throughout.

The colours link to the genre of the film; action and drama. The intensity of the colours being both ends of the spectrum i.e. extremely dark and extremely bright links to the concept of drama. This is because the intensity links to the conventions of a drama; exaggeration, tension and thrilling.

The images used on the poster are intended to represent the genre. The purpose of the explosion is to form a representation of action and drama due to the connotations of danger and tension which is frequently associated these film genres. This also links to the concept of conflict between good and evil within these chosen genres as the fire expresses the conflict and danger associated between the two groups reinforcing the conventions associated with action and drama films.