Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Analysis of 2 Film Posters


This is the first film poster I have chosen to analyse; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. This poster is simply excellent in the techniques that have been used in order to advertise the film. The poster depicts the main protagonist (Harry Potter) and the main antagonist (Lord Voldemort) facing each other while the "Elder wand" is central. This is a technique used to create a feeling of a final confrontation between the two characters with a significant object from the film being the main factor. The appearance of the two characters that is shown is excellent in showing us the intensity of the film and the battle that will enuse presumably following this image. The text at the bottom of the poster reads "It All Ends." This short and simple collection of words works perfectly in its use of creating excitement and curiosity in the general public. It does not reveal any information about the film that could potentially ruin the story, yet lets the audience know that the story has reached its dramatic conclusion. The colour scheme used is particularly effective as it depicts perfectly the dark nature of the film, as opposed to the earlier films of the saga. This poster relies heavily on the audience being able to realise what the poster is showing. For example, neither Harry nor Voldemort are identified in any way, shape or form. Their pictures are merely shown facing each other with the same confrontational expressions. Also, there seems to be no mention of the film's title to be found, which again is an effective example of the poster assuming that the public will already be aware of what they are looking at. Overall, this poster has been superbly designed and achieves its objective of enticing an audience to go and see the film without revealing too much information about the story.



This is the second poster I have chosen for analysis; The Mechanic. This poster is a magnificently subtle yet informative design. The imagery almost immediately will make an audience realise the films action genre due to the smoke, fire and what appears to be a destroyed vehicle of some description. The caption at the top of the poster reads "Someone has to fix the problems." This is an effective use of wording as the somewhat sarcastic tone of the words mirrors the gritty nature of the film. The character depicted is played by action star Jason Statham; he is named only in small text above the title at the bottom. This is once again an example of the designers reliance on its audience being aware pretty much immediately of what is being shown. Statham's character is depicted showing the typical traits of an action film protagonist; rough appearance, serious expression, dark clothes and armed with weaponry. Keeping in connection with Statham's characters appearance, the colour scheme of the poster in general generates a dark and serious feel (with the exception of the title and actors featured). Overall, this poster has been designed perfectly in terms of achieving its objective of enticing an audience without revealing too much information regarding the story.

No comments:

Post a Comment