Year 10/11 GCSE Media Studies

Textual Analysis Coursework Assignment One (Print-based)DRAFT

Only main actor’s name shown, wide on top.

Tagline in the middle, dark sky, small font.

Clearly shows another successful film by the same director, drawing in attention.

Film title in red, clearly displayed, contrasts rest of poster, prominent.

Rough date of released is slightly more prominent, presented in a tagline-esque manner.

No information on ratings, reviews, or accolades, which some other films may have. Does not explicitly advertise the movie.

The director himself and other details (production credits) are less obvious than the rest of the poster.

Slight silhouette effect from bright background, highlights character

Similar font used throughout, except title. Intertextuality demonstrated.Flooding water, contrasts

city image, adds to mystery theme.

Website is advertised, contains more information online.

Character’s face not shown, building on mystery theme, a unique selling point.

Only one pistol, no other weapons, explicit action, gore or clear violence etc.

Businessman in suit with gun is a common convention in action/spy films

Dark skies, but bright landscape, awkward weather

‘Depth-of-vision’ effect, unclear landscape beyond buildings, builds on “spooky” effect.

“Inception”, directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was an action-thriller science-fiction released in the summer of 2010. The movie was another joint production between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, after other films such as “Batman Begins” in 2005, and “The Dark Knight” in 2008, also directed by Christopher Nolan.

In this poster, it is actually very hard to figure out what the movie is about. The poster is of an abstract, mysterious nature. Nothing is clearly presented to the audience, instead prompting them to think and wonder about the movie for themselves. This contradicts the typical action and science fiction conventions. The emphasis of the enigma and mystery of this poster are the unique selling points of this poster.

The poster was produced with desktop publishing (DTP), and the advanced use of computer graphics and editing seen in the poster (vanishing point effect, contrasting colours, sky is photoshopped to look unnatural etc.) already suggests a high production value, and thus a high budget film, which is often attributed with high quality, drawing even more attention to the film.

The main font is a smart, plain white font, which varies in size throughout the poster. This font is intertextual, and as mentioned before, is also used in other media texts, such as the film’s website, downloadable media (such as computer wallpapers), and the trailer. However, the title uses a flashier, and much larger font, and also utilizes a dark red instead of white, standing out from the rest of the writing in the poster. The same format of the title is also used in other media texts, and other versions of this poster, thus seems to be almost like a logo, that viewers can quickly recognize.

Although void of any reviews, ratings and accolades information, the poster does include a website. This works well in conjunction with the lack of information in the poster. The uses and gratification theory comes into play. The viewers already have a lot of interest for the movie, and because there is very little revealed, the audience would naturally want to know more, and providing a website will allow them to satisfy their interest. The website for this film includes a lot more information and media. It functions in telling more about the film, as well as supplying other means of advertising (most importantly, an online forum, which can facilitate in magnifying the effects and the rate of word-of-mouth marketing).

It is not easy to choose a genre for “Inception” when just studying the poster, since there is so much fluidity in the icons and genre conventions. We can study the icons first (Buscombe’s theory of iconography). The location itself, a modern developed city, does not seem to be a conventional science-fiction icon, but can be seen in some other action films, such as “Die Hard” and consequent sequels. The character himself does not appear to be a conventional science-fiction character nor action character. However, as previously mentioned, the character carries the conventional spy character icon (business suit and pistol). There is a lack of tools too, save for a pistol held by the character. Despite this, the unrealistic weather, flood, and overall unnatural environment, is not a conventional action film image, but rather, a science-fiction related one.

We can further study the genre of “Inception” with levels of classification. The mode of the film can be determined as myth, as romance and comedy are not suitable in this case, tragedy is not a core idea in the plot, and it is hard to find any ironic elements in the poster or film. Furthermore, myth seems to be a suitable mode for a science-fiction film.

Focusing on the specifics, the genre can be classed as science-fiction, obviously due to its visionary and imaginative plot based around dreams and thought-stealing. Going one step further, we can say that the sub-genre is crime-mystery, for it revolves around the idea of the gradual resolve of an unsolved mystery, which happens to be completing a complex criminal act.

Film reviewer and analyst Roger Ebert states in his review of “Inception” that the film was “structured with action movie basics”, but didn’t clearly outline the genre of the movie. In a separate review, Nev Pierce of Empire Online describes the film as “great sci-fi” with “brain-frying, subconscious-spelunking, time-dilating structure”. Other reviews also seem to agree with the blend of an action and science-fiction genre, with a hint of thriller genre, emphasizing on suspense and excitement through building up mystery.

Breaking down the posterPoint Description Comparison

Layout, Barthes codes and conventions of narrative

The layout of the “Inception” poster, however, is not entirely original, and in some ways, it follows the genre conventions of science fiction films. When comparing with another science fiction/action film (with a somewhat similar plot), “The Matrix” (1999), one should be able to recognize the similarities in the layout of the poster.

In this poster for “The Matrix”, the main actors’ names are put on the top of the poster, and although there are more main actors in the film, only the two most prominent ones are written. Similarly, in “Inception”, there are many actors in the film, but only the most prominent actor is written, also on the top edge of the poster, in relatively small font. Also, in both posters, this font style is consistent with the rest of the poster, and in other versions of the posters and other media texts (trailers, websites etc). By having the main actor’s names on the top, the viewers should be drawn immediately to the poster when reading it, as people have a tendency to read from top to bottom, and the actors in both posters are well-known celebrities.

Like “Inception”, “The Matrix” features the main characters in the centre of the poster, followed by the title of the movie, which is in a different format and font, thus stands out from the rest of the poster. Below this, both posters have it’s production credits, website, and also its release dates presented in a tagline-esque manner (i.e. “On March 31st the fight for the future begins”).

It also seems to be a good idea to use a portrait format with the poster, as it aims to show both the glooming skies above, and the

The poster for Matrix (1999) share many similarities in layout and overall design. Both are sci-fi action films.

flooding ground below at the same time, building on the contrasting colours and shades.

Since the presentation of the poster for “Inception” is already quite different, adopting this familiar layout from other science fiction/action films seems to be a good move, so that the audience is not completely lost when looking at the poster, and can still be able to identify that this film is roughly in the science fiction/action category.

Both posters also lack any sort of review, rating or accolades information, which contrasts many posters of the same genre and category, not “explicitly” advertising the film like other films may be doing, and both actually tell very little about what the actual plot is about, or what the theme of the movie really is, building on the “mysterious” feeling, encouraging the audience to think about the film deeply, although “Inception” does this up to a greater extent. Instead of presenting the poster and related information straight to the audience, it creates an enigma, which challenges them to think, building up their interest in the film. It particularly emphasizes on the Hermeneutic Code and the Proairetic Code of the Five Codes which Roland Barthes described (Hermeneutic code referring to elements which are not explained completely, causing an enigma and mystery, and the Proairetic code builds tension, and prompts viewers to keep guessing what will happen next. In conjunction with each other, these codes can keep the audience interested in the film).

Narrative, Icons, Theories

Similar to other science-fiction/action films, the poster of “Inception” is actually an adaptation of a scene in the movie. In this poster of “Aliens” (1986), an acclaimed science-fiction/action film directed by James Cameron, a similar approach is used, and alien eggs, which are a core idea in the plot of the film, are shown in the scene.

Both posters appear to use identifiable icons and symbols from important scenes of the movie (the glooming city in “Inception” from the first dream level scene, the alien eggs in “Aliens” when protagonist Ellen Ripley destroys most of the eggs). Additionally, in science-fiction/action film posters, these scenes are typically taken from the third and fourth stage of the narrative, according to Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory (the recognition of the disruption of the equilibrium, the attempt of repairing the disruption.

By using these icons and recognizable scenes, many effects are generated. For example, they are perfect items for audiences targeted to discuss, and influences and opinions about the movie will cultivate, leading to a two-step flow effect on the audience, and if effects are strong enough, the cultivation theory will apply (long term advertising effects on population).

Aliens (1986), a critically acclaimed sequel to Alien (1979), directed by James Cameron

Themes, images, contrast with conventional images

We can analyse this teaser poster of “The A-team” for comparison. It was also released during the summer of 2010, around the same time as “Inception”. Similarly, it was an action blockbuster, but their plots and themes differ in various aspects. While the plot in “Inception” was twisted, mysterious, and complex, the plot in “The A-team” was relatively straightforward and simple. It was a plot that most people can easily take in and understand completely.

In most action movies, just like this poster of “The A-team”, the main characters (sometimes including both antagonists and protagonists) are shown facing the viewers, carrying flashy weapons, striking a pose against a background from the movie. The background is also often easily recognizable as a ‘battlefield’, like a desert or a warehouse. More often than not, the targeted audience is usually the younger, male audience. The viewers are able to easily recognize the action theme instantly, at the first glance of the poster.

In “Inception”, it is clearly a different story. Firstly, it contrasts the typical action genre convention by having only one main character in the middle of the poster, and instead of facing the viewers, he has his back turned to them. He is not striking a pose that action characters would usually adopt (i.e. aiming down the sights of the gun, looking strong and muscular etc.), and seems to be relaxed, yet lonely. The character is not represented as a typical action character.

Because of the contrast with typical action movies, the viewers looking at the poster would not be able to instantly recognize it as an action film, and this would catch the attention of all audiences, not just younger males.

The A-Team, an action film released on June 11, 2010, around the same time as Inception.

Building on themes and images

The mystery of the poster for “Inception” catches people’s attention well by “standing out from the crowd”. It takes various images that viewers may be exposed to in daily life and other movies, but puts them together to form a scene that doesn’t make sense. For example, a common science fiction/spy film genre convention would be the classic ‘mysterious man in the business suit with a pistol’. This feature is very typical of a spy film, and is an instantly recognizable icon for films in this category, made famous by “classics” like the James Bond series, and ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ (1956).

In addition to the “spy in business suit” image, the tagline also helps build on the idea of stealing and thievery. It is short and to the point, but does not reveal too much, just like the rest of the poster.

The James Bond series was a driving force behind the trend of “business suit spies” in movies.

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