The poster contrasts the blue background with darkened, shaded characters that are difficult to see, creating a sense of mystery. The dark colors of the characters imply they are immoral and doomed. The blue background draws attention to the main characters and signals this is a thriller, as blue is a common color in that genre. The poster features Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, renowned for crime films, to attract fans of that genre. It depicts a machine gun to indicate the film contains both crime and action. Val Kilmer is centered between the two actors to suggest conflict within the plot.

1. The poster primarily focuses on the contrast between
the blue background and the characters which have been
blackened and shaded. The technique of shading creates
a sense of mystery and deception as the characters are
hardly visible and the dark colour of the characters could
give the audience the impression that they are immoral
and ill-fated. The blue background is quite contemporary
facilitating the audience’s attention of the main
characters and also shows the audience that this film is a
thriller as blue is a colour that is quite frequently used in
thriller movies.
The title ‘HEAT’ connotes the
police as they are often
referred to as this in crime
films. The use of the colour
blue also connotes this. The
font used to display the film
title is very bold and in a
white colour to make it eye-
catching for the audience. The
simplicity of the title font not
only matches the simple title
of the movie but is also very
effective as it does grabs the
audience’s attention to the
poster. The film is called heat
yet, besides the red line, all
the colours featured on the
poster are cold colours,
possibly insinuating the cold
personality od criminals.
Two high-profile actors lead in this movie,
which both have a history of featuring in
critically acclaimed crime films i.e. ‘The
Godfather’, ‘Scarface’, ‘GoodFellas’ and
‘Carlito’s Way’. Both these actors would be
able to attract the target audience, which are
fans of the crime genre. The same font is used
to highlight the actor’s names and this is also
a very effective way of maintaining the
audience’s attention on the poster.
The machine gun connotes that
the film is not only crime but
will feature some action,
putting it in the crime-action
sub genre. Val Kilmer being in
the middle alludes to a conflict
within the plot as he’s between
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Him being the only person with
a gun suggests that the
character might also be very
impulsive, ready for action.
There is no clear
anchorage in the
poster. Anchorage
has become more
prominent in film
posters of the
modern day, which
could explain why
the HEAT poster
doesn’t feature one
The names are placed at the top of the poster
to make it even easier to spot. This film
poster does not conform too many of the
other film posters whereby they will rely on
including a lot more content on the poster
such a tagline or ratings of the film. Heat has
kept is very simple but also very bold and
eye-catching.
The train in the
foreground
connotes the film
has an urban
setting, with the
film being set in
Los Angeles. Not
only this, but a
train can also
connote the life of
a criminal i.e.
always on the
move/run.
Close ups of the
characters have
been used to
highlight their
facial expressions
and convey their
emotions; this
immediately tells
the audience that
the tone of the film
is serious and will
definitely contain
violence and
criminality.