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 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.