Analysing Posters
Example Annotation:
The Forest Teaser Poster
The Forest Official Poster
Analysing Film Poster - Night At The Museum 3
1. What is the purpose of a film poster?
The purpose of a film poster is to advertise an future film, by making audiences aware that a new film is due for release. This in turn raises awareness and in turn aims to generate excitement for fans/audiences. A film poster provides a range of information on an upcoming film such as the name of the film, the release date, the stars/actors and actresses who are in the film etc. This information is used to interest the audiences/fans by naming the stars who are popular and well known, as well as a catchy film title. Film posters also tell audiences different pieces of information about the film such as the release date and the rating (E.g. U, PG, 12 etc.) that immediately tells the audience whether it is a family movie, or an adult film not suitable for children. Also it's not only the written parts of posters that give information for the audience. The images and graphics of the poster suggest the genre and a possible storyline of the film may follow. This gives an even bigger insight into whether or not the audience is interested in going to see the film.
2. What is the difference between a teaser and an official poster?
There is a significant difference between a teaser poster and an official poster.
Teaser Poster |
Official Poster |
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3. How are film posters split into 3rd's and what information does each section contain
Teaser:
Official:
4. Analyse the main image and mise-en-scene on the posters (similarities and differences) - what do they suggest may happen in the film?
For both the teaser and the official poster, an extreme wide/wide shot is used in order to capture the characters in full body as well as establishing where the film is going to possibly take place. The teaser poster shows Big Ben as the set/main image which could suggest the location of the film is set in London. Whereas the official poster only shows the characters on a staircase which could be significant in terms of set, but doesn't give much information as to the location of the film.
The mise-en-scene in the teaser poster is very vague as there is only a silhouette of two possible main characters of the film so we cannot tell what kind of costumes, facial expressions or hair and makeup. The prop is a torch in the characters hand, as his positioning suggests, and his positioning suggests him looking for something, discovering, which ties in with the use of a flashlight/torch. Also his positioning suggest dominance with him standing with his legs wide apart, which could mean he is THE main character displaying power/dominance. The colour and lighting is high key with a bright light (sun?) making the two characters into silhouettes and brightens up the location/set of Big Ben and could be part of the Palace of Westminster? Further back in the poster, it is a dark shade of blue connoting that it is out of the darkness and discovering something new.
The mise-en-scene in the official poster is a lot more clear as each character is displayed clearly and it gives the audience more of an idea of the characters as well as the possible narrative. The characters costumes are a mix of historical clothing from different eras such as caveman, medieval, Egyptian etc. This connects to the title of the film involving a museum possibly as museums have years and years of history stored in them. Also one character is dressed in an Americans guard uniform and then there is a female guard in a British uniform which could suggest also where the film may be set in maybe the UK or the US. For props, it ties in with the costumes as a some of the characters like the caveman have bones or the some of the different ears will be carrying swords e.g medieval, Edwardian etc. Also the character in the center is dressed as a guard and his prop is a flashlight which also ties in with what was depicted in the teaser poster with the flashlight/torch.
The narrative/plot and characters could be, created and the way they are positioned on the poster, based on Todorov's narrative theory or using Vladimir Propp's character codes.
Todorov's narrative theory was created in 1969 and he believed that his theory could be applied to any type of film. He also thought that each and every film followed the same narrative pattern all time. His theory was that every films narrative fell into five different parts/stages:
Propp created a character code theory in order to study characters behaviors in media and productions. He studied 100 tales and found eight identifiable character types that could be applied to all media characters.
The teaser poster establishes the equilibrium of the narrative in that it shows that the possible main character is male and could have a monkey sidekick throughout the film and because this character specifically been featured in this poster shows it has some big significance to the film.
The official poster establishes the equilibrium of the narrative and character codes. In this poster we are immediately introduced to all the characters of film, or as many as we can, so we already see the equilibrium of the film. We can clearly see the main center character is the protagonist.
A lot of the characters facial expressions are plain which makes it harder for us as an audience to evaluate whether or not some characters are either protagonists or antagonists, or if one of the females is a love interest etc.
We could interpret the collection of snakes in the top middle of the poster as antagonists as their stance with their mouths wide open with teeth glaring suggests evil intentions. The snakes maybe 'evil intentions' could give us an idea as to what the disruption is in the film
5. Analyse the typography for title
6. What is the difference between genre, sub-genre and hybrid genre? How is genre established in the examples I have studied?
7. Language and conventions features of a poster
Movie posters are basically advertisements and their purpose is to obviously sell the movie, so they need to make it appealing to the audiences; to make us want to see us. The main features that draw in audiences are the movie title in clear, big and bold font, the large images of the films attractive actors and clues as to narrative and the coverlines/credits containing the movies big names and actors in the film. Other features such as the official website, production company, tagline and the release date are also imperative as they also draw in the audience.
For these posters the official poster is a lot more informative than the teaser. They are both consistent in that the title is the same font but differs a bit in size, the release date gives the exact same vague information, the website link is the same and placed at the bottom of the poster and the production company is the same size and almost exact position. However the coverlines, containing the actors/directors names, are not in the teaser poster and the teaser poster doesn't contain a movie rating either. They both contain a tagline of the film but they are both different giving the audience, more/different clues as to the narrative and genre.
8. How are the stars represented on the cover?
How the stars are represented on the cover also links to positioning. We would typically expect the more popular and well known actors who are the main line up to be in the centre of the poster. In a lot of scenarios this main characters/actor is very we'll known and often attracts the most attention for the film. For example in this poster the main actor is Ben Stiller who plays the main character Larry Daley in the film. Fans of Ben Stiller's acting such as Zoolander, Madagascar or The Watch may be more interested in the film if he is starring as the main character. This is also the same for the other two; Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, How to be Single) and Robin Williams (Aladdin, Hook, Mrs Doubtfire). This is supported by the Richard Dyer Star Theory. His theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are created by institutions for financial gain. He believed that stars are made to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions. Stars are produced by the film industry to serve a purpose. That purpose is to make money out of the audience, who respond to different parts of a star’s personality by buying their films and becoming of their acting/work.
The mise-en-scene in the official poster is a lot more clear as each character is displayed clearly and it gives the audience more of an idea of the characters as well as the possible narrative. The characters costumes are a mix of historical clothing from different eras such as caveman, medieval, Egyptian etc. This connects to the title of the film involving a museum possibly as museums have years and years of history stored in them. Also one character is dressed in an Americans guard uniform and then there is a female guard in a British uniform which could suggest also where the film may be set in maybe the UK or the US. For props, it ties in with the costumes as a some of the characters like the caveman have bones or the some of the different ears will be carrying swords e.g medieval, Edwardian etc. Also the character in the center is dressed as a guard and his prop is a flashlight which also ties in with what was depicted in the teaser poster with the flashlight/torch.
The positioning of the characters in this poster is very precise and aligned. In the green, there are three possible main characters, with two slightly behind the middle one suggesting that the front character is the main character of the film; there are very vague clues as to whether they are all protagonist or if one or two are antagonists. In the blue are characters positioned in the same way both sides which could be significant to the film, but they're not the main characters, in that they do not feature in every scene. In the yellow are characters that could be reoccurring if in a movie franchise or they could be new characters that are featured but not as important at the main characters or specific significant ones. In the red there are there are extra characters, which are mainly non-human or object characters e.g here it has two skeletons of dinosaurs, snakes, a monkey and a broach that looks like a scarab beetle which could relate to the Egyptian characters.
The narrative/plot and characters could be, created and the way they are positioned on the poster, based on Todorov's narrative theory or using Vladimir Propp's character codes.
Todorov's narrative theory was created in 1969 and he believed that his theory could be applied to any type of film. He also thought that each and every film followed the same narrative pattern all time. His theory was that every films narrative fell into five different parts/stages:
Stage
|
Name | Define |
1
|
Equilibrium | Where we first meet the characters of the film |
2
|
Disruption | Where something occurs which affects the characters lives |
3
|
Realisation | When the characters realise that something needs to be done about the disruption |
4
|
Dis-equilibrium | Where the characters are urged to sort out the situation and try to fix it |
5
|
New Equilibrium | Where everything is back to the way it was originally or at least better than before |
Propp created a character code theory in order to study characters behaviors in media and productions. He studied 100 tales and found eight identifiable character types that could be applied to all media characters.
Character
Type
|
Define
|
Example: Night at the Museum |
Protagonist
|
The main character who the reader will generally associate with most strongly and the key character within the story |
Larry
Daley
|
Antagonist
|
The character is typically morally bad which accentuates how good the protagonist is and is the one who struggles directly against the protagonist |
Cecil,
Gus & Reginald
|
Princess/Love
Interest
|
She could be the woman who the protagonist falls head over heels for, maybe has to rescue from the antagonist |
Rebecca
|
Helper/Sidekick
|
This character helps the protagonist in their quest and is supportive in critical moments |
Dexter
|
The
Donor
|
This character gives the protagonist something special like a magical object or clothing or words of wisdom |
Theodore
Roosevelt
|
Dispatch
|
This character has an early role of dispatching the protagonist on a mission e.g James Bond |
-
|
False
Hero
|
The characters whose intentions seem good at first but as the story progresses we find that they have an ulterior motive. Perhaps working for the antagonist or can actually be the antagonist. e.g Sky High |
Cecil,
Gus & Reginald
|
Princess's
Father
|
A character who constrains the princess or can be the dispatcher who send the protagonist to save the Princess |
-
|
The teaser poster establishes the equilibrium of the narrative in that it shows that the possible main character is male and could have a monkey sidekick throughout the film and because this character specifically been featured in this poster shows it has some big significance to the film.
The official poster establishes the equilibrium of the narrative and character codes. In this poster we are immediately introduced to all the characters of film, or as many as we can, so we already see the equilibrium of the film. We can clearly see the main center character is the protagonist.
A lot of the characters facial expressions are plain which makes it harder for us as an audience to evaluate whether or not some characters are either protagonists or antagonists, or if one of the females is a love interest etc.
We could interpret the collection of snakes in the top middle of the poster as antagonists as their stance with their mouths wide open with teeth glaring suggests evil intentions. The snakes maybe 'evil intentions' could give us an idea as to what the disruption is in the film
5. Analyse the typography for title
6. What is the difference between genre, sub-genre and hybrid genre? How is genre established in the examples I have studied?
| Type | Definition | Example |
| Genre | Each piece of media is separate by genre. Genre comes from the French word 'types'. It can apply to all types of media like a 'horror' film or a television 'drama/soap opera'. Genre can be distinguished by style, setting, characters, props, colours and lighting etc. | Horror, Sci-Fi, Romance, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Swordplay, Crime, War, History, Musical, Documentary etc. |
| Sub-genre |
A
sub category in a specific genre
|
Vampire Movies are in the genre Horror (Dracula) |
| Hybrid Genre |
2
or more genres in the same text
|
Romantic-Comedy
(Breakfast at Tiffanys) Comedy-Horror (Shaun of the Dead) Comedy-Romantic-Horror (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) |
7. Language and conventions features of a poster
Movie posters are basically advertisements and their purpose is to obviously sell the movie, so they need to make it appealing to the audiences; to make us want to see us. The main features that draw in audiences are the movie title in clear, big and bold font, the large images of the films attractive actors and clues as to narrative and the coverlines/credits containing the movies big names and actors in the film. Other features such as the official website, production company, tagline and the release date are also imperative as they also draw in the audience.
For these posters the official poster is a lot more informative than the teaser. They are both consistent in that the title is the same font but differs a bit in size, the release date gives the exact same vague information, the website link is the same and placed at the bottom of the poster and the production company is the same size and almost exact position. However the coverlines, containing the actors/directors names, are not in the teaser poster and the teaser poster doesn't contain a movie rating either. They both contain a tagline of the film but they are both different giving the audience, more/different clues as to the narrative and genre.
8. How are the stars represented on the cover?
How the stars are represented on the cover also links to positioning. We would typically expect the more popular and well known actors who are the main line up to be in the centre of the poster. In a lot of scenarios this main characters/actor is very we'll known and often attracts the most attention for the film. For example in this poster the main actor is Ben Stiller who plays the main character Larry Daley in the film. Fans of Ben Stiller's acting such as Zoolander, Madagascar or The Watch may be more interested in the film if he is starring as the main character. This is also the same for the other two; Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect, How to be Single) and Robin Williams (Aladdin, Hook, Mrs Doubtfire). This is supported by the Richard Dyer Star Theory. His theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are created by institutions for financial gain. He believed that stars are made to represent 'real people' experiencing real emotions. Stars are produced by the film industry to serve a purpose. That purpose is to make money out of the audience, who respond to different parts of a star’s personality by buying their films and becoming of their acting/work.
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