Film Poster Research

Colour & Tone = Upon first glance, this poster is aesthetically striking because of the contrast of the moody black and grey background lit up by the almost violently bright orange flame. This poster suggests to me that this is a film whose subject matter is dark and gritty, with the explosion of fire against grey skies connoting themes of conflict and perhaps destruction 'overhead'.  Alhough our films subject is not as grim and hopeless as "There Will Be Blood", I like the way colour suggests a variety of (at times) contrasting themes.

Imagery  = Character is established in the left hand side of the poster (immediately influencing our gaze upon the order of the images), and the fact that he has back turned creates a sense of mystery around the individual. Furthermore his  hunched stance upon the chair asks contrasting questions; is he worn out and withdrawn from the chaos he sees before him, or is he about to leap into action. Or both?

Text & Font = The main titles are in the style of calligraphy, and this automatically suggests that this is period film, so thus establishing genre. Our film's font will proabably be a bit more ambigous but still try to deliver a simple message that it is, for example, not a chick flick. There are minimal credits, only the main actor and the writer/director, and our film will probably have a similar lay out because it is a documentary, and so relies less on big name stars, and more upon the prestige it recieves, as highlighted by the film awards placed centrally on the poster of "There Will Be Blood".



Colour & Tone = The obvious inference to make about the colour palette is that the bright red text is symbol of spilt blood and other themes of violence and crime. Set against the conrasting black background, it is strong and striking as aposter, with a dark and sinister to feel to it. However our film is not going to be 'sinister', but I like the way you can immediately tell its genre as a thriller, and is bold in its motives.

Imagery & Layout = I particularly like this layout for our film poster because the main image of the prison-tattoed head is not only visually impressive, but motivates the viewer to questions the themes and ideas it represents. For example, the appearance of the tattoes alludes to the idea of criminal gangs and wrong doing, especially with reference to the provocative tagline 'every sin leaves a mark'. A suit sleeve is visible, as well as an expensive watch, suggesting that it is centered arond high-stakes organised crime rather than just any criminal gang, and definitely a reference to the Russian Mafia with the appearance of a cyrillic tattoo. The hands are distinctly masculine, and this could be a reference to the kind of audience and genre this film is representing, which is mostly males watching crime and action thrillers.

However, to stop it from being a bit too obscure, some more visuals are added in the form of character action headshots beneath it, just above the title. This gives the poster more depth by not only well establishing two main characters but also have them in alarmed and urget poses, connoting that conflict is going to be everpresent in this fast pace film.

SL.