Analysis of one of the posters released for Captain America The Winter Soldier

2. The poster I am going to analyse is one of the posters
distributed to promote Captain America The Winter
Soldier. The film was released in April 2014 and was a
critical and commercial success, becoming the 7th highest
grossing film of 2014.
The story follows Steve Rogers (Captain America) who
after the events of The Avengers has joined SHIELD ‘to
protect people’. However, Nick Fury shows Cap Project
Insight, a plan to have three brand new Helicarriers that
travel round the globe constantly surveying the population
of earth stopping any threats before they can escalate.
After explaining this to Cap he is ambushed and attacked,
Barely alive, he makes his to Rogers’ apartment where he
shot by The Winter Soldier, a mysterious assassin that has
been killing for almost 60 years. As the story unfolds,
Rogers learns that SHIELD has been infiltrated by an
enemy organisation HYDRA and he and fellow Avenger
Black Widow go on the run from HYDRA agents in order to
survive and figure out a way to stop HYDRA from
conquering the planet using Project Insight, along the way
finding out the true identity of The Winter Soldier. The
film stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan,
Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Robert Redford and
Samuel L Jackson.

3. The title font is a bold sans
serif font that is very basic,
but it does make the title
stand out.
The font used has also
become recognisable to the
brand, as the font has
retained its core features
since the original film was
released, although it is lacking
the 3D effects that is used in
the trailer and in the first film.
I feel that 3D effect could have
been used in this poster,
however I think that it may
have taken to much attention
away from the main image. I
believe that we will stick with
a 2D font for our poster as we
want the attention to be
focused on the image we are
using.

4. The main image on this poster is of Captain America wearing his new suit taking cover
underneath his iconic shield. This poster emphasises the plot of the film as SHIELD has been
infiltrated by HYDRA and Captain America is be hunted by former allies and doesn’t know who
to trust. The image used really shows the character is under attack.
The photo used is actually
taken from another poster
that was also released to
promote the film, however
in the poster on the right,
the image of Captain
America fills the poster,
where as in the poster I am
reviewing the image
appears much smaller
alongside a collection of
other images. I like the way
that the main image is the
most eyecatching feature,
but it is still surrounded by
other features as it gives
the poster definition.

5. As well as the main image of Captain America taking cover
behind his shield, there are various other smaller images of the
films supporting cast and plot references.
The first of these images is of the second titular character The
Winter Soldier, whose image showcases his character design
with his combat suit and the iconic metal arm.
On the right of the main image is Scarlett Johansson reprising
her as Black Widow from the Avengers film. At the top of the
poster behind Cap’s shield is the three helicarriers from Nick
Fury’s Project Insight which is an essential part of the plot of the
film. In the top left corner of the poster is an image of Samuel L
Jackson’s Nick Fury and below that is an image of Alexander
Pierce, played by Robert Redford. The posters use of these
images can help to develop interest in the film as it showcases
new and returning characters which might interest readers of
the source material. Overall, I like the use of these images
around the outside of the poster as they make the poster more
detailed and showcases many members of the supporting cast.

6. The Billing Block is the large paragraph
of text that normally appears below the
title on a movie poster.
The billing block on this poster follows film poster
convention as the title does appear below and similarly
to other film posters it uses a small and barely visible
font, in fact the most visible part of the billing block is
the release date for the film which written in a bold
white font. The text just explains that the film is
produced by Marvel and it also lists the actors and
actresses as well as the directors, producers and some
other key members of staff.
Uniquely along with the title, the billing block appears
to be at a 45 degree angle. I don’t understand why the
poster designer had done this as it leaves some empty
space in the bottom hand corner, which could have
been filled with another smaller image, perhaps of
Anthony Mackie’s Falcon character.

7. The overall layout of the poster doesn’t
necessarily follow convention as lots of
posters offer one main image with some
detailed features in the background.
However, this poster is very unique in the
way that is feels layered with the smaller
images surround. Starting with the bottom
layer of the large red and white star pattern,
the same pattern from Captain America
shield . On top of the star pattern is some
the smaller images of Nick Fury, Alexander
Pierce, as well as the shots of the Helicarriers,
the fighter jets and Washington’s Capital
Building. Then on top of that is the images of
Black Widow and The Winter Soldier, the
next layer is the main image of Captain
America covering under his shield. The top
layer is obviously the title which overlaps the
main image. I like the way that these layers of
images are used on the poster as it provides
both eyecatching and detailed features.

8. One of the most noticeable features of this
poster is the colour scheme. The colour
used are red and white, the poster really
sticks to this as each image has been given a
drawing effect, which links the film back to
the comic book source material. But this
effect really works well will the colour the
colour scheme as the shading and detail is
all shown as a mixture of red, gray, black
and white. The colour scheme for this
poster is ultimately unique as the colour
really has an impact on how each the
images looks as conventionally, the
background would follow a colour scheme,
but would include images that vary in
colour. But there the colour scheme dictates
the posters whole appearance, and overall
this colour scheme makes a great poster.

9. Overall, the poster that I have analysed for Captain America The Winter Soldier is one
of the most unique film posters I have seen possibly the best poster released promote
to the film. My only criticism being the wasted in the bottom left corner of the poster,
but apart the individual design and original colour scheme make this a well crafted
poster.