The document analyzes movie posters for Shutter Island and Orphan. For Shutter Island, the poster uses dark colors and mysterious imagery to highlight the isolated and secretive island. Leonardo DiCaprio's frightened facial expression creates suspense. For Orphan, the poster depicts the title character Esther with a demonic facial expression to suggest she is evil, while the tagline hints at her being unstable.

1. POSTER ANALYSIS
SHUTTER ISLAND & ORPHAN

2. The colours of the poster
are very dark and
mysterious. The island is
in sharper focus to the
rest of the images, which
makes it stand out. There
is also a white glow
around the island which
highlights it from the rest
of the poster.
The island itself is made
up of a montage or
pictures, which makes it
secretive and intriguing.
This could suggest that
the film is reflecting a
puzzle as it does not fit
together correctly.
The title font is sketchy
and looks like it has been
distorted. The bright red
stands out against the
monochrome
background. It
symbolises the danger
that the island will
inhabit.
The close up of
DiCaprio’s facial
expression creates
suspense as he looks
frightened yet concerned
at the same time. The
low-key lighting on his
face creates a shadow
which hides part of his
face which is mysterious.
It connotes that he may
be hiding something and
it is covered.
The level of the tower
brings your eye line up to
the match. This is the only
colour that the image
features. It could suggest
a link to the storyline, a fire
possibly.
The weather in the image
looks very bleak and
stormy. This adds to the
narrative as we associate
storms with negativity and
problems, so this could be
foreshadowing the
storyline.

3. The use of the medium
shot enables us to be
able to see her facial
expressions clearly.
Her demonic facial
expression is
unnerving. She is
staring harshly at the
camera suggesting
primarily to the
audience that she is
evil and deviant. The
image looks
symmetrical which
suggests superficiality
and it being unnatural.
The title looks like it
has been written by a
child as the
handwriting is very
basic . The name of
the film leaves much
to be desired, as it
only gives away one
character. It is up to
the audience to decide
about the storyline.
The tag line insinuates that the
character is unstable. It pulls
the audience in as they will
want to find out what is wrong
with Esther.
The low key lighting creates
shadows on her eyes which
makes them look dark and
mysterious. They are hard to
see which could connote
that she has something to
hide. The majority of the
poster is dark colours which
is contrasted with her pale
face, she has thick black
hair and a maroon neck tie
which is associated with her
evil/darkness.
Esther is wearing a blue
checked, collared dress. It
looks school like which
reflects her young age. She
looks neat and proper, which
contrasts with the generic
stereotype of the ‘evil’
character.