Media Film Poster Analysis

By Ryan Thurgood

Batman: The Dark Night(Superhero/Action)

As you can see from this poster there is quite a lot going on in the fore and background, for example the fire in the building or batman looking down at the audience. This poster has some typical features of an action film poster, for example things being destroyed and there is a main character looking straight out at the audience. On the other hand it also has some bits within the poster in which challenge the normal conventions such as the main character ‘The Hero’ is dressed in black which gives off the impression he is a villain. More over another challenge would be the fire in the background, it is a totally different colour to the ‘Heroes’ costume which suggests there are 2 sides to him because it’s his logo which is on fire on the outside the building. As I said though it is fire so it still may suggest 2 sides to him but neither would be a friendly side. Another typical convention of the superhero genre would be the masked main character on the poster on his own showing that he will fight the crime/villain on his own. Unlike most Superhero genre posters this one is full of dark, dull colours and looks like he is a villain instead of a hero.

There are many typical conventions of film posters in this poster for example, the list of names of the famous actors which star throughout the film. Also the poster has the date in large typography to tell everyone when the release date is and make sure it grabs everyone’s attention. Another convention is the tag line at the top of the poster which helps the audience understand what might happen but also leaves it open and makes them want to know what happens because the tag line makes them question themselves. Furthermore another challenge towards typical convention is that the poster doesn’t say it is part of the batman franchise anywhere but it is so famous that the audience all know it is part of it. It is quite clear that the poster is advertising an action film from the explosion in the background and destruction. You can tell its not any other genre, for example it would not be a horror even though the dark colour the main character is wearing because it doesn’t hold the conventions of a horror in the poster with the light sky in the background and the logo having a bright flash of light behind it.

Shrek: The Final Chapter 3D (Animation/Adventure)

This poster is for the film Shrek which is of the animated/adventure

film genre. First thing you see when you look at this poster is the good use of the thirds rule which separates the two different sides (good & evil) but it doesn’t need to tell the audience they are the opposite because it is made obvious to the readers. This poster has some typical features of the animated genre, for example the bright colours and this is due to attracting the target audience. This is because the target audience is young children and families and the bright colours will get there attention and bring them in to watch the film. On the other hand all the characters on the poster do not make any eye contact with the audience which challenges the typical features of any genre. The poster may be doing this on purpose though to make the audience feel less threatened by the characters and more likely to see the film. This poster also challenges the typical film poster conventions by making the monster ‘Shrek’ the good guy and the human the villain when normally it’s the other way around and this can be clearly seen within the poster without any words needing to tell the audience. Even when the conventions have been challenged you can still tell it is an animated, fun adventure because of the way the characters come across. Of course it is obvious that it is an animated film because of the way the characters are drawn but you can tell it’s a light hearted film because the so called villain on the right hand side is throwing up his hand in anger but he facial expressions don’t make him seem that angry or evil. Also the large amount of different colours and crazy hair suggests it is a bit of a fun film and it is not to be taken serious.

The poster does follow the typical conventions of a film poster, for example the date of release is in big bold lettering and it has a tag line at the top of the poster so people will remember it. It also has the production company’s name on the poster so people will see it and recognise it, so in a way its advertising the production company. The poster also uses typography to make sure the audience recognise the writing in which ‘Shrek’ has been written in on other things to do with Shrek such as; kids toys and other media it may appear in.

Mirrors(Horror/Thriller)

This poster is about a horror film called Mirrors. It has some typical features of a horror genre poster but in some cases also challenges the conventions in one way or another. The colours follow the general idea of what a normal horror poster would have such as; the dark colours and the pale human face. Also the colour red is blended into the human face and is also the font colour of the main title ‘Mirrors’ which shows that they are connected within the film. It is a typical horror poster via the colour scheme because there is a little amount colours actually on the poster, looking at it you can only see 3 main colours on it white, black & red. This makes the red stand out more and catches the audience more but also the black makes the poster seem more scary and eerie. On the other hand the rest of the typography is in the colour white so it is the complete opposite so it stands out and will grab the audiences attention. Also throughout the poster they have generally kept the same typography so people will recognise the font across other media products for example a billboard or advertisement on the side of a bus. The producer of the poster has also been very clever and put reflections in the eyes which suggest that the face in the poster is looking into mirrors, hint the connection to the film title.

Something which does kind of challenge the convention of a film poster is that instead of a tag line, there is a line saying what other film of the same genre the director has directed as well. Another thing that stands out to the audience from the poster is the clever reflection in the ‘R’ of ‘Mirrors’ which shows it is about mirrors and the name doesn’t mean something else. Furthermore there is only one famous actor worth putting on the poster so they have spread it along so make sure the audience see who it is. As you can see the poster also has the date in bolder letters like every poster so the audience know when the film is released and in the cinemas.