An analysis of 3 film posters for A2 Media Studies coursework.

2. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
The names of the main stars of the film are
shown at the top of the poster, with their last
names being larger in font style. The font chosen
is quite simple and formal, while the stars names’
being in all capitals makes it stand out. The
names themselves are quite recognisable, with
the lead actors being Christian Bale (who has
starred in films such as American Psycho),
Michael Caine and Heath Ledger.

3. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
The main image is the largest element of the
poster and shows the film’s antagonist, The Joker.
The character is staring directly ahead, which acts
as a form of direct address and connotes that he
is assertive and perhaps aggressive. His identity is
hidden by dark make-up which gives the poster a
sense of an enigma code; a mystery to intrigue
the audience. He also holds a Joker card, further
demonstrating the nature of his character, which
has an image of Batman on the front. This
connotes that the villain has the protagonist of
the film in his clutches and is a threat, while the
red graphic on the card connotes danger and,
possibly, blood being spilled.

4. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
At the bottom of the poster, the film’s title (The
Dark Knight) and logo (the Batman symbol) are
shown. I find it quite interesting that the title is so
small, as it means that the poster’s creator has
consciously decided to have the image of the
antagonist be the largest item on the page, which
could connote that he dominates the film and is
threatening and powerful. The logo is a symbol of
a bat, which, to any fans of the series, is instantly
a signifier of Batman himself, and has a light blue
glow around it along with scratches and small
holes as if it is damaged, where the ‘light’ behind
the logo is at its brightest. This could be hinting at
the state of Batman and how his reputation is
becoming tarnished by events in the film’s plot.

5. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
Additionally, the poster’s film colour scheme is one
of white and varying shades of blue, with the
exception of the muted red on the Joker card. This
gives the poster a cold, melancholy feel, while the
fact that the antagonist is appearing from a black
background suggests that he is lurking in the
shadows, and may be aiming to bring darkness and
depression upon the city of Gotham (the mythical
city in which the film is set). Interestingly, the
poster subverts conventions somewhat by its lack
of a tagline, perhaps suggesting that its creators
thought that the mystery of the antagonist and its
plot was enough to interest their target audience,
who would likely be fans of the franchise due to the
previous instalment in the series, Batman Begins
(2005).

6. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
At the top of this poster for Captain America:
Civil War is text that reads, “From the studios
that brought you [The Avengers Logo]”. This
essentially works as the replacement for a
tagline, as rather than make the film
intriguing with a short, memorable line, it
uses an association with the successful
Avengers franchise to communicate that this
film will occur in the same ‘universe’,
therefore making its storyline fairly obvious.
This association with the already massively
popular franchise acts as the film’s major
selling point as a mainstream film, along with
the guarantee of the same stars such as
Robert Downey Jr and Scarlet Johansson.

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
The main image of the poster shows the main
protagonist, Captain America, standing
amongst rubble and debris in a city,
immediately signifying a mass conflict. The
image’s colour scheme is quite cold and rustic
in tone, as it is made up of dull reds, white
and blues (which matches his identity as the
superhero Captain America, as these are the
colours on the national flag) and connotes a
dark theme. He is surrounded by smoke in
the wreckage and we can also see multiple
planes above him, including one that is the
largest and in the forefront, which may
suggest that the other ‘Avengers’ are involved
in the conflict.

8. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
The title of the film and logo are combined
into one element and conform to the colour
scheme of the rest of the poster. Slightly
above the title is the logo for Marvel, the
studio backing the film. Again, this
association with the studio helps to generate
the interest of an audience who enjoys other
franchises such as X-Men and The Avengers,
and hints at their ‘universes’ converging,
meaning popular characters from all
franchises can interact. The title is the largest
piece of text on the poster so it is the first to
catch the audience’s attention.

9. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
At the bottom of the poster there is an extra
line of text that advertises the option of
seeing the film in 3D or in IMAX, implying that
the audience can get a better experience by
seeing it in a different format: IMAX cinemas
offer curved screens which better fill your
field of vision, making films more immersive.
Essentially, this portion of the poster tells the
audience that they can get something ‘extra’
from seeing this film as opposed to another
which may only offer a 2D or standard 3D
experience.

10. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
This section of compact text contains the
names of the main stars of the film along with
the director and a second, smaller Marvel
Studios logo. The audience is less likely to
take notice of this because the font is so small
compared to the title and other pieces of
text, but if they were interested in who is in
the film, they could read this. Additionally,
there a promotion for the film’s Facebook
page and hashtag ‘#CaptainAmerica’, which
could be aiming to appeal to the younger and
tech-savvy part of its target audience,
prompting them to engage and keep up with
the film’s production via social media.

11. FROZEN (2013)
At the centre of the poster is the studio’s
logo, the title of the film, and the text ‘IN
CINEMAS SOON’. The studio is Disney, who
are famed for their expertise in creating
children’s films (which are mostly
animation, although they have made live-
action films such as Tron: Legacy [2010],
which was aimed at an older target
audience). The title of the film is in bold,
white font and stylized to give the
appearance and connotation of ice or snow,
as well as to help establish a brand image
and possibly make any merchandise they
produce more recognisable.

12. FROZEN (2013)
As well as showing the studio logo, the poster names two
of its recent successes, Tangled (2010) and Wreck-it Ralph
(2012). I think this has been added to the poster because
it may persuade children to see this film due to its
association with these previous productions. These films
may have also been selected because Tangled’s target
audience would, perhaps stereotypically, be made up of
mostly females, while Wreck-it Ralph’s would be made up
of mostly males, which makes the poster more inclusive
because it implies that Frozen can be enjoyable for all
members of their chosen demographic.

13. FROZEN (2013)
The main image shows the main characters of the film (from
top to bottom and left to right): Elsa, Olaf the snowman, Anna,
Kristoff and Sven the reindeer. The background shows an icy
castle and mountains, along with a town below. Elsa is in a
sweeping blue dress which shrouds the town and gives the
illusion of a harsh winter. The characters below her look as if
they are running through a blizzard that Elsa has created
(implied by how she is raising one hand, holding glitter and
snowflakes) and all have expressions of excitement and
determination, suggesting to the target audience that the film
has thrilling events in its plot. The castle of ice at the top serves
to give it an element of enigma, as the poster doesn’t reveal
much about the film’s plot and lacks an explicit tag line. The
snowman and reindeer give connotations of a Christmas
theme, and as the film’s positioning was for a release on
December 6th in the UK, it can be assumed that this was the
intention.

14. FROZEN (2013)
This poster, like the one for Captain America: Civil War,
offers a 3D experience (but minus the IMAX, possibly
because it might not be suitable for such a young target
audience). The options for this film are regular 3D and
‘RealD 3D’. The difference between these two options lies
with how they are projected, with RealD said to be newer
and more digitally advanced. Below this line, the poster
also has a link to the Disney website for Frozen
(‘www.disney.com/frozen’).
Unlike the previous posters, it lacks the names of stars and
a director, mostly due to the fact that as this is an
animation, the stars are not as relevant, and even voice
actors wouldn’t have much significance to young children.
Actors likely wouldn’t influence their choice (or the
parents’ decision to take them to see this film) because
they would be more interested in characters’ appearance
than voices and who acted them and the plot.