You are on page 1of 5

Jaws Film poster analysis- Theatrical

poster
The title of film
is Jaws as suggested by the big and bold red font, the effect of
this is that it makes the title stand out from all the other texts on
the poster such as the stars name. Through the poster the
information about the stars in the film are given. Furthermore
it also provides name of director, music composer and the novel
its based on. The purpose of this is that it could possibly attract
more audiences who could perhaps be fans of John Williams (the
famous jaw music composer) or maybe audiences who have read
and enjoyed the novel before. As a result of this more audiences
could be interested in watching the film.
There is only one key image and that is of the shark underwater
and the oblivious women swimmer. In this image the idea that
the shark is potentially going to kill or rather eat the swimmer is
put across, therefore suggesting that the shark is dangerous
and possibly the villain of this horror film. Alongside this, another
important feature of this image is the sharks sharp teeth which
again connote the idea that swimmer could be eaten alive,
furthermore the shark is deliberately drawn bigger that the
swimmer to show the power between the two. As well as this the swimmer is in
between the title Jaws and actual shark jaws, which ironically implies the fact that
she is trapped in between jaws.
The setting of the key image is in the sea/water. The artist could have purposefully
chosen this setting because in water sharks obtain the most power, as they are
quicker and more dangerous. Furthermore the setting gives clues to where the
narrative could be set. Apart from this the combination of the colour red, blue and
white used in the key image are able to contrast each other well as the red and blue
stands out against the white. Furthermore the use of the colour red is an
iconography of horror films; therefore the use of this colour is able to signify the
possible genre of this film. Moreover the use of the word terrifying connotes the
same idea of the genre and narrative. As well as this the colour used to draw the
shark and the water are similar which makes the shark more adaptable to water and
survival is all about adaptation, therefore through this the same idea is reinforced.
From key image and the title, the clues given through the use of colour red and the
image of the shark suggests the genre could potentially be a horror and thriller.
Moreover the a little bit of the plot is revealed through the hint that the shark in the
image is being portrayed as if he is going to eat the human swimmer. As a result of
the fact the fact that this is a horror film, the prime target audience is likely to be
younger/older teenagers but also adults.
The facial expression of the swimmer cannot be seen however the position and the
lack of clothing does suggest the human characters vulnerability and insignificance
to the shark. Alongside this the difference of the size of the two characters indicate
the relationship of predator and prey in the image. The theme of danger, vulnerability
is portrayed in the poster. In this poster there is some enigma presented, for example
is there going to be a shark attack? If so how do the events in the film lead to this
sort of scene? Apart from this the poster looks painted due to the fact that this is
from the 1970s.
There is no official tagline or catch in the poster, apart from the text above the title,
which states that Jaws is a terrifying motion picture from the terrifying No.1 best

seller. The use of the word best seller suggests that the film has a good
narrative/plot. This word also builds high expectations for the potential film
audiences. The poster has been made attractive to target audience due to the use of
an
effective key
Frankenstein film poster analysis image, and a
title, which
connotes that it
is a horror film. I also consider this the USP of the poster, as it is
simply able to connote many ideas from just the key image, title, setting
etc.
The title of the film Frankenstein is clearly suggested through the big
font and unique colour scheme used. The colour used for the title is
orange and yellow with a gradient effect. The orange colour is used again
as a background for the images of the two characters and is contrasted
with the dark blue. The yellow is used as lighting effect on
Frankenstein. The title is above Frankensteins face, which could
suggest that the monsters name is Frankenstein; moreover it is
peculiar name, which is able to draw audiences attention to the
poster. The title is arching over the monsters face, which could
suggest that the monsters name is Frankenstein. Furthermore near
the title is the text the original horror show which immediately
implies that the film is a horror film. The poster gives further
information of the stars in the film such as Collin Clive, Mae Clarke; these were
well-known names in the industry during the 1930s.
The key image of this poster is the face of Frankenstein, which takes up half the
poster. Due to the size of this image it implies that this character is important and
significant to the narrative of the film. Furthermore the tagline the man who made a
monster indicates that the key image of the character could possibly be the monster
as the facial expression is not similar to a human expression. Therefore the tagline,
title and key image work well together to give hints to the audience about the films
narrative. The image gives the impression that the monster unemotional, in a sense
the monsters face looks as if it lacks a facial expression, as a result of this the
monster looks inanimate and lifeless which it is. The 3 key images may have been
laid out in this certain way to show the power between the 3 characters, or maybe to
show the importance of certain characters. It could also be purposefully laid out this
way to show a link between these characters. Besides this the way its laid out does
help with knowing the a bit of the plot and theme.
Other images are of a scientist who is shown to be making something. This image
implies that maybe the man who is referred to in the tagline is the scientist in the
poster. Due this the audiences are able to make links within the different features and
texts provided by the poster designer. Furthermore the body language of the scientist
suggests that the character is focused and determined to make something e.g. the
monster. As a result of this the impression the audiences could the potentially get
from this image is that the character is potentially ignorant. Another image is of the
women lying on the bed. This could potentially be suggesting that the monster is
dangerous and could harm people. The body position of the women suggests her
vulnerability as well as the fact that she is wearing white suggests she is pure and on
the good side. This portrays women as weak and like damsels in distress and men as
evil. This important as the novel which the film is set on was by a female writer Mary
Shelley.

The colour scheme of the poster is mainly orange, yellow and dark navy/black.
However the use of the colour green is important in that it indicates to the audience
that the film the poster is advertising in a horror film. This is because the colour
green is an iconography of horror films. The shadow effect created by the use of
yellow and black has made the face of the monster look sinister and terrifying, as a
result of this the audiences are able to identify the image as the monster and a
character that is dangerous. The setting isnt strongly suggested in the poster,
however the tagline and the image of the scientist suggests a laboratory setting or
somewhere dark and mysterious as implied through the use of the colour black.
Through the use of the colour scheme and the key images the genre of the film is
implied to be horror/thriller and sci-fi.
The features such as the key image, tagline, title etc. suggest that film is about a
scientist who is the man in the tagline created a monster, who is the key image and
the narrative is about making the monster and the monster possibly becoming evil
and a threat to mankind. The target audience of the film could potentially be
teenagers and adults. The enigma presented are about how the monster was created
and why is the female character lying on the bed and who is the monster.
The poster looks drawn or painted by an artist, this is suggested through the images
of the female character and the scientist. Furthermore the poster has been made
attractive to target audience through the use of light and dark colour scheme, which
makes the poster stand out but also is able to give a terrifying feel to the poster
through the dark shades and the effect of low key lighting. I think the USP of this film
poster is the size of the monsters face, it clearly allows the audience to familiarize
with the character and also analyse it in some ways but in doing so more enigmas
are produced about the film which therefore leads to more audiences going to watch
the film to find out!

Terminator Genisys poster analysis


This

film poster is the 2015 poster of the Terminator film


franchise. The colour of the title is metallic and the font style
is futuristic and therefore represents the sci-fi genre. Also the
use of the word terminator sounds robotic and the word
Genisys is not a real word, as a result connotes the dystopian
scientific world that is not the real world. Apart from this the
word Genisys sounds serious and very much suited for the film
title. Because of the graphics, the title stands out from the
background of the image of the buildings. However the title
Terminator is a lot bolder and bigger in size compared to the
word Genisys, this may because the film title Terminator is
well known therefore having that stand out more will mean
that previous target audience will know about the film and
instantly recognize the title and poster.

The key image of the poster is of the Guardian (Arnold


Schwarzenegger) however the other key images in
descending order are of Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor,
Jason Clarke as John Connor and finally Jai Courtney as Kyle
Reese. The reason behind the image of Schwarzenegger
being the largest in size is due to the fact that he is the face
of Terminator film franchise, in other words many would say there is no terminator
without Arnold Schwarzenegger. The key image of the Guardian is the largest

therefore can be seen is most detail. The side of the guardians face is burnt and as a
result the metal underneath the flesh can be seen. This suggests the guardian is
robotic character and therefore connotes sci-fi film genre. Another image that
portrays the same idea is the image of John Connor amidst the fire and mostly the
metallic parts are visible. The second key image is of Sarah Connor who is second
biggest image in size. The clothing shes wearing is a leather jacket and the colours
are mostly all black. Asides from this the character is holding a prop which is a robot
skull with red eyes. This could suggest that the robot skull and guardians skull are
similar since the guardians eyes are also red. The next character in the poster is Kyle
Reese whos holding a gun and pointing it towards the skull. This suggests the robot
skull is possibly dangerous or a threat to human kind. Apart from the clothes that
these three characters are wearing is black leather with army style/green trousers,
which imply a serious tone to the poster. Furthermore the image of John Connor in
the fire as a robot gives the idea that robots are unbeatable as they are able to
survive in fire.
One interesting thing that I noticed of the key images is that all the characters are
looking straight, eye level at the audience. It gives off the feeling that these
characters are looking at the audience. Due to this it makes the poster more eye
catching. All in all the combination of the key images and the graphics such as the
fire suggest this film is going to have an adventurous narrative.
The main colour scheme used in the poster is black and yellow/orange. These colors
used to show the fire effect stand out against the black background or the poster. The
use of the colour red as seen in the eyes of the guardian and the robot skull show a
possible significance of the colour red as being danger. Another colour that stands
out is the grey metallic against the bleak colours of the city. The effect of the colour
black is that it gives serious tone to the poster and works alongside the serious facial
expressions of the characters; the bright colour of the fire draws attention to the
characters especially the guardian and John Connor. Therefore suggesting a possibly
relationship between these characters.
The setting is not specifically identifiable through the poster as it is small in size
compared to the character images, however the setting is implied to be a city place
as lots of buildings can be seen below the characters, the setting could possibly in
new york or somewhere that is more of a modern setting. The modern city setting
may have been chosen to put the unbelievable (the robots) and the believable (the
city) together, as the most audiences would have familiarizes themselves with cities
and understands about them however robots are more mysterious as little is known
about them.
The target audience for the film could potentially be teenagers and adults, especially
the audiences who know the terminator franchise. The narrative of this film is little
more mysterious compared to Frankenstein film poster. The body language/position
suggests that these characters are ready to fight or on defense mode, especially
the image of Kyle Reese with the gun. The impression portrayed from the characters
is that the characters are about to face or are facing a problem, it sort of creates
enigma about what has made them so serious. Apart from this the colours used are
relevant to the sci-fi genre, the colours that the characters are wearing are all similar
therefore could suggest that they are in the same team or fighting against something
together. Although the colour black would represent evil but in this image the
characters dont look evil due to their facial expression. However the colour black
could have been used to create a mysterious aura around the characters, which
therefore attracts more target audiences.

The images could have particularly been laid out in this size order to show the
importance of the characters, furthermore the fire around John Connor secludes him
from the rest of the characters, which may suggest he is the villain/evil character that
causes disequilibrium in the narrative. As a result of this the layout of the images
does give little clues about the possible narrative routes of this film.
The poster has been created using DTP/ computer generated design. Due to this the
design of the poster different in media compared to the older posters. The facial
expression is much more recognizable and the texts are clearer. Therefore the poster
is made attractive to the target audience through the use of innovative graphics such
as the fire and robotic face which look realistic and more eye catching. I think the
USP of this film poster is the character key images, which help establish the
relationship and possible narrative between the characters whilst still producing
enigmas.

You might also like