The poster is for the science fiction film "The Martian" starring Matt Damon. It follows the principles of poster design by having areas that guide the eye across the poster. The primary optical area at top left contains the tagline "Help is only 140 million miles away" in white text over Matt Damon's face, drawing attention. The top right contains color and design elements. The bottom left shows the red landscape of Mars and film credits. By the time the eye reaches the terminal area at bottom right, the viewer has learned this is a science fiction film about being stranded on Mars and questions are raised to intrigue the audience.

1. Primary Optical Area Shallow Fallow Area
Weak Fallow Area Terminal Area
ReadingGravity

2. Genre ofthe Poster
The genre of the posterisveryspecifictoone genre,whichisscience fictionandthere isalotto
back up this evidence.Forexample,the protagonistiswearingaspace suitwhichsymbolisesthe film
as a science fictionandshowsusthe viewerthatthe filmissetwithinspace/marsdue tothe
orange/red barondesert.MattDamon himself hasalsobeenassociatedwithanotherscience fiction
movie before this(Interstellar) whichmakesreference toThe Martianas the character that Matt
Damon playsinInterstellaralsogetsleftbehindbyhiscrew members.
Mode of Address
To start, the poster is visualised as a direct form of address as the protagonist of the filmis
looking straight at the viewer as the actor looks like he has lost all hope. As the poster is a
direct form of address, it feels like the actor is asking for the viewers help specifically which
will interest viewers into watching to see if he is rescued or not. As well as the poster being
a direct form of address, the poster also is using a formal style as the poster does not
contain any form of slang (Non-Standard Words) or jargon and have kept the wording
simple and minimalistic so the viewer would focus more on the poster than the wording as
too much would bore the audience.
Primary Optical Area (Top Left)
The first thing to notice about the primary optical area of the poster is the tag line that
stands out, “Help is only 140 million miles away” which as a poster is directed towards the
viewer to get their attention. It is informing the viewer that the protagonist (Who is played
by Matt Damon) is stranded and the only way to be rescued is only 140 million miles away.
Another thing to point out is how it is phrased, they mention the word only in the sentence
to make it sound as it would be an easy job and that it could be much worse for the
astronaut who is stranded on another planet. The next point would be about the text, the
font stands out and is easy to read and it stays with the genre of filmwhich is science fiction,
without needing to look at the poster, the font tells us that the film is going to be a futuristic
science fiction film and that white will be one of the primary colours within the film. The
colour is definitely a good choice as it goes well against the background and makes it easy to
read which adds to a more successful movie poster. Another thing to point out is how the
actors face is in dead centre of the image, which would be one of the first things the viewer
would notice when they look at the image; the actor is looking directly at the viewer as he
looks lost and hopeless in the baron world all by himself. Lastly is the director’s name (which
is Ridley Scott who is most known for his science fiction films such as Prometheus and Alien)
can be seen above the tag line but is more difficult to read in comparison to the tag line,
though as it is not that noticeable it allows the viewer to focus on the main aspects of the
Primary Optical Area which would be the actors face and the Tag are the main appeal and
the directors name which is being promoted and advertised but is not the main appeal of
the poster.

3. Reading Gravity
The reading gravity is where the eye naturally scans from the top of left of the page down to
the bottom right and back to where it started at the Axis of Orientation, this is seen as a way
to point out the main features of the poster which will appeal to an audience. Like for
example, there is the tag line which is designed to stand out to the audience and get their
attention
Strong Fallow Area (Top Right)
At the top of the image is where the colour tone is at its strongest, this is where most of the
colours have their effect on the poster to make it powerful and stand out. The Strong Fallow
Area is intended to work with the Primary Optical Area to create a blend that will attract the
audience and get them interested. With the positioning, the Strong and the weak Fallow
areas are outside the reading gravity, so nothing too complicated is required. This is why
there is only the tag line and the director’s name which fall within it, any more and the
viewer would just drift and focus more on the terminal area. The Strong fallow area is only
intended for design purposes and to receive minimal attention from the audience.
Weak Fallow Area (Bottom Left)
The weak fallow area is where the design is intended to be at its weakest with the least to
offer in design but still something to offer with information, though with the weak fallow
area it re-informs the audience that it is under the genre of Science Fiction with baron
wasteland of mars and the poster keeps to the point with there only being the red sand and
the rocks there to support the evidence that the film is based on mars. With the weak fallow
area we have all the credits that go towards the film, for example the director and the
companies that have helped support and produce it. This is done as it is their work and they
are entitled to credit. Though, the credits don’t stand out in comparison to the credits of the
main actor as they are targeted to bring in the audience whereas the Main Actor is.
Terminal Area
According to the Guttenberg design principle, with the axis of orientation and the reading
gravity. The observer would start on the primary Optical area and work their way down to
the terminal area where the audience would be finished reading the poster in which point
the audience would have learned the key aspects of the film, for example what genre the
film comes under. Though a poster is intended to leave the audience questioning, “How did
he get stranded on Mars?” and “How will he get home?” these sorts of questions will attract
the audience to watch the film.