My poster analysis on The Departed

1. IMAGE: The image is very
ambiguous and is only an extreme
close up of the actors which tells
the audience near to nothing. The
audience relies on the facial
expressions of the actor which
shows tension and tempestuous
relationship between the three.
The fact that Leonard DiCaprio’s
character is at the top could relate
to the hierarchical status.
MISE-EN-SCENE: No props or setting are
shown in this poster at all so it is
difficult to tell the genre or even the era
of the film. Due to this, the audience
rely on the text for the genre and plot.
ANACHORAGE OF TEXT: There is an
anchorage of text as the image
doesn’t tell us much therefore we
must rely on the tagline to give us
extra information. Although the
title also doesn’t give much away,
the tagline gives us an insight on
the genre of possibly a crime
thriller where the audience are
made to decide who they will side
with; the cop or criminal.
DIRECTOR AND STARS:
This film features big
cinematic stars such as
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt
Damon and Mark
Wahlberg which is used
on the poster to draw in
fans of this film. The
director is mentioned by
his name (Martin
Scorsese) is barely
visible although he is a
widely recognised
director. This could be to
draw the attention to
the actors and the huge
audiences they could
bring in.
POSTER TYPE: This is a full poster that
includes full credits included actors and
directors names which would be seen on
bus shelters, train stations and magazines
are the public have time to read it.