Film Poster Deconstruction

The Dark Night

• Main protagonist is not in the centre of the poster, use of the ‘golden rule’ forces the audience to look around at the setting/ typography.
• Tagline – “Welcome to a world without rules” through the use of welcome it seems as if the audience is being brought in to the world itself and experience what it is like first hand. It addresses the audience almost directly enticing them to ‘come in’ and watch the film.
• The picture and the tag line are related to each other as you are able to see the chaotic setting and the tagline giving a small insight to what could have happened.
• The popular and well known logo is shown twice on the poster to ensure that the audience recognises the film instantly as Batman, this would quickly appeal to fans of the comics, childhood memories and previous films as they would know the symbol.
• The protagonist is shown in the poster trough a low angle image, this could portray his ‘power’ within the film, not only this it could also be foreshadowing the success of the hero as it places him in a strong position.
• The colour scheme uses mainly dark colours with only the burning building in the background, the red/yellows and whites from the fire suggest action and destruction which is again supported by the dark smoke behind it. Out main protagonist is seen in half lighting and wearing black, though black is the traditional colour of batman it could also portray the idea of the darker side or the mistakes which are made.
• The typography is white therefore standing out in the dark poster and making the important information easily visible from a distance. Not only this, information such as the title and release date are in bold which further accentuates the information.

Charlie St. Cloud

• The main protagonist is shown to take up most of the poster with a close up shot of his face. However below this image shows an almost silhouetted image of two characters standing together on a pier looking out to sea. This helps set the setting in which the film will be taking place.
• Tagline – “Life is for living” could be foreshadowing what will happen within the film as it includes death of family and loss of loved ones (I have seen the film). It could also be interpreted as an inspirational quote in which it informs people not to take anything for granted.
• This is not a series film, therefore does not include a logo such as the previous one. However the poster gives the main actors name “Zac Efron” clearly above the title. By doing this and having a large image of this character fans of the actor would be instantly interested in the film as he is a popular young actor who stared in the ‘high school musical’ films which were very popular with younger ages. The fading in to the lower picture could suggest romance as this effect is commonly seen within this genre, it gives ideas of the ‘hero’ of the film and what to possibly expect.
• The colours are very bright with use of greens and blues at the top, these are very calm colours and suggest little action and a pretty and serene film. The colours on the lower half are warmer and suggest connotations of a happy memory.

Harry Potter

• This is a poster from the last film in the Harry Potter franchise. Use of the ‘golden rule’ forces the viewer to look at the entire poster and not just the centre, this is due to the two main characters faces being on either side of the poster and only the wand down the centre.
•  Tagline – “It all ends” creates suspense and mystery about what is going to happen, it also creates questions and interests within people who have not and do not know about the film as it gives very little information.
•  The image and the words used suggest that there is a battle as both characters are seen to have blood and dirt on their faces, it all ends does not give away the ending and creates anticipation to see who will become the victor.
•  As this is a very well known film with having 7 films in total it does not give a title. This shows how popular the franchise is and how strong/ large the fan base is.
• The image shows the main protagonist and the main antagonist staring directly at one another sharing an equal amount of the poster. This does not give any hints in to who will be successful creating even more tension in to what will happen. Not only this but both character have the exact same lighting not giving any suggestions in what to expect from the film.
•  The colours have connotations of death as there is a mix of blacks and reds with very little light. Only around the centre of the wand is there white surrounding it in a spiral, this suggests magic as the motion of the light colours are ‘unnatural’.