This document provides definitions and examples of denotation and connotation for several symbols: - Snake: Denotation is a limbless reptile, connotation is cold-hearted and untrustworthy. - Flag: Denotation is a British flag, connotation is power, hierarchy, and unity (bringing together multiple flags). - Gun: Denotation is a handgun/pistol, connotation is death, power, crime, and violence. It then analyzes posters and trailers for The Dark Knight, Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Shining, and Scary Mary based on techniques, colors, props, costumes, actors, locations, lighting

1. Theory- Meaning
Your Name

2. Snake
• Denotation
– A snake is a limbless, scaly,
elongate reptile.
• Connotation
– The connotations of the
snake are that they are
cold-hearted and
untrustworthy.

3. Flag
• Denotation
– the flag is a British flag
• Connotation
– The picture of the flag is shot from
below (looking upwards) and it
represents power and hierarchy. It
also brings 3 flags together because
it’s made up of flags.

4. Gun
• Denotation
– It’s a hand gun / pistol
• Connotation
– The connotations of a gun
can be death, power, crime
and violence. This is because
hey can be used to kill
people.

5. Colors
The colors are dark which
means that bad things
happen in the city such as
death, crime and violence.
The fire batman logo shows
dominance and power. The
color red represents blood,
crime and power. With the
background setting being
really dark, it means that
they city has been destroyed
and gone to a darker color
scheme.
Props
There isn’t that much to
show about props in this
poster, but certain props
would have caused the
building in the background
to look like it is.
Costumes
The only costume in this
poster is batman's costume.
The costume is black which
is good for keeping hidden
in dark places. He’s around
at night majority of the
time, so his black costume
helps him go undercover.
Actor
The actor Christian Bale
plays Batman in The Dark
Knight. In this poster he is
stood like he owns the city,
the city being Gotham. The
Batman logo above him
shows the power that he
has and shows it throughout
the film.
Location
The city the film is based in
is Gotham. The location
from the poster is a building
probably used in the film.
Lighting
The lighting isn’t used as
often in this film because
it’s all the scenes are at the
late hours of the day.
Framing
The framing in this poster is
used really good. The shot is
facing upwards towards the
top half of the building with
batman / actor in front of it.
The shot of batman looks
like a hero shot making him
look superior and powerful.

6. Colors
The colors in the film Avatar
are fantastic. They are bright
and looks different to any kind
of film. However from the
poster majority of the colors
are dark and some parts are
bright such as the sun. The
colors of the characters are
bright but are good for when
in the dark in the film.
Props
From the poster there isn’t
that much props to look at.
However there’s a creature
that they use to ride on in the
poster and that is something
they use to get around.
Costumes
The costumes aren’t really
costumes, but looks like most
of it is painted on. Either way
the costumes are outstanding
for color and for the species in
the film. Normally different
species made up or not seen
before have a different color
scheme. Anyway the costumes
look good for the characters.
Actor
The actor in the film Avatar is
Sam Worthington. He plays the
character on the right hand
side. Whereas the character /
avatar on the left hand side of
the poster is the women avatar
in the film.
Location
The location of the film starts
on earth and remains on earth.
It looks like the world they are
in is on a different planet, but
it’s a massive jungle area with
floating bits of land and other
amazing sculptures like a
gigantic tree that’s the main
attraction of the area. That’s
where all the species live and
are kept safe. From the poster
there are like said previously
floating bits of land and other
live forms.
Lighting
The lighting is used in both
dimensions, giving both
brightness and darkness. It
shows brightness by showing I
think to be the sun and
darkness by showing a moon
Framing
The main two characters are
positioned at the top of the
poster and the world they live
in is at the bottom.

7. Colours
There are a variety of colours in
this poster that makes it a good
film and for people to look at.
All the characters have a
different colour scheme to
them which makes the
characters different from each
other.
Props
The main props used in the
poster are weapons, guns, and
futuristic guns. The use
futuristic guns because they
are in a different kind of
universe with a different kind
of species.
Costumes
Each and every character has a
different costume, whether it’s
the colour or the look of it. The
costumes really suit each
character and really helps
people understand which
character is which when all the
costumes features are
different.
Framing
The characters are stood in the
middle of the poster making
them look superior and
powerful during a battle. The
title is underneath them to tell
people who they are.
Actors
The actors in the film and
are named on the poster are
Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and
many more. They play two of
the 5 main characters of the
film and are very good at
getting the best out of each
character. Vin Diesel plays
the voice of Groot and
Bradley Cooper as Rocket.
Location
The location on the poster is
probably on a planet from a
different universe. And the
characters are probably in a
situation where they are
being attacked by enemies
and the location is cramped
so they have to stick
together.
Lighting
The lighting is mainly dark,
but behind the characters it
shows a bright light. That’s
the only bright light shown
on the poster and the rest is
mainly dark / dark coloured
scheme.

8. Soundtrack
• Clip 1
– Clip 1 is from a horror or maybe a action genre. The
connotations made are tension and suspense, making
the viewers feel paranoid. Towards the end it sounds
like something bad is going to happen.
• Clip 2
– Clip 2 is probably from a fantasy film in my opinion.
The music sounds like there’s a lot of freedom into it
and makes the characters in the film feel great and
relaxed.

9. Shining
• The techniques used to make this a romantic/comedy are the music, scenes, shots, settings and clips used
in the trailer.
• The music in the trailer is calm, makes people feel emotional and cheerful. The music is used and edited
decently. The music goes quieter in the middle of it to show something is going on. This wants people to
find out about the situation that the kids in.
• Mainly the clips shown are of the kid and the father. The kid playing and running around, whereas the
father stressed and without anybody. This represents romance because it finally comes to a conclusion
that they like each other.
• The sound of the trailer is positive and doesn’t have anything that sounds negative. Only if the father is
angry and throws something in a temper.

10. Scary Mary
• The techniques used to make this a horror are the music/sounds and the clips used.
• The music is original, scary and tense. This is shown with the clips and goes well together for a horror film.
The clips are fast, quick and full of suspense. This makes the audience feel frightened and think of these
clips in actual reality and dream of these scary clips. In my opinion it’s not scary, it’s just an original scary
themed trailer that is far from being scary. However some people that will watch this will feel scared,
especially younger aged people.
• The editing is pretty decent for a trailer that was made a while ago. However it’s fast, quick and tense. For
people watching they won’t be able to take their eyes of it because they will have no idea what’s coming.
The scenes/clips are in a dark setting making it scary for viewers and the clips are mainly clips of the main
characters either being scared or not. The trailer doesn’t give too much anyway, which every trailer
shouldn’t do because it would spoil the film.
• The sound/music is one of the originals used in horror trailers. The basic, old music that worries people
only a few seconds into the trailer. It’s used to a good use because the clips need to be as scary as the
sound/music so it’s fits together.

11. Stereotypes
Men
• Strong.
• Better driver.
• Dominant
• Aggressive
Women
• Weaker.
• Unaggressive
• Calm

12. Stereotypes
Upper Class
• Rich
• Better clothing
• Big house
• Owns many horses
• Owns a business
• Nice cars
Working Class
• Poor
• Small house.
• Normal car
• Normal clothing
• Have a decent job.
• Don’t have anything too
expensive.

13. Stereotypes
Old People
• Less active
• Unproductive
• Grouchy
• Sickness and disability come with old
people.
Young People
• More active
• No interest in politics
• Socialise more.
• Can do more things

14. Iconography- Western
• In a western film you normally see cowboys and them in their main
outfits. The have hats and revolvers to give an old school look. They have
guns just in case something happens and if something does they have
something to use.
• You will see plenty of wooden houses, barns and farms. They had wooden
houses to make the place look old and because it’s one of the only
materials they had at the time to make houses.
• Murder is also included in majority of western films. Sometimes one death
can make several more deaths happen.

15. Iconography- Sci-Fi
• The main features in a sci-fi film would be conventions such as aliens /
different species, spaceships, futuristic technology, futuristic weaponry,
different planets and many more conventions.
• They have aliens / different species in sci-fi films because it shows the
audience a different kind of species that are made up by the producers
and creators. They include them in the films because it gets people
thinking if there’s actual aliens and different species to humans out there
somewhere.
• Sci-fi films include futuristic technology and weaponry because people
want to see different kinds of technology, especially in sci-fi films. Also it
gives something different to the film. All this weaponry from the film can
be made in real life and people can buy there own copies of the weapons
from the film. For example Star Wars lightsabers are sold all over the
world making it more popular and entertaining for people.

16. Iconography- Fantasy
• In a fantasy film, the main conventions are new landscapes / different
lands, future alternative timelines, narrative development such as a quest
or a journey and more.
• Fantasy films have different kind of landscapes and worlds because it
something different for the audience to see.
• Some fantasy’s have future/alternative timelines, depends on the movie
plot.
• They include a quest or journey so the audience won’t expect something's
to come and appear.
• Imaginary characters that are made up by the producers.
• Avatar is a perfect example of a good fantasy film. It’s a different world
that includes different life forms.

17. Narrative
• Narrative Definition
– A spoken or written account of connected events; a story
• Linear Narrative Definition
– A storyline that is presented in chronological order; beginning, middle and end.
• Linear Narrative Film Example
– Shrek
• Non-Linear Narrative Definition
– A storyline that jumps to different times around the product’s timeline. It could include flashbacks,
flash forwards, out of order / sequences.
• Non-Linear Narrative Film Example
– Terminator Genisys

18. Clip Analysis
• From the clip, power is shown by using these features;
Costumes
• The costume of Darth Vader makes him look powerful because it is black and has power which make people feel scared and
full of fear. Majority of the dark side characters have costumes with colours of black and white and nothing to bright or
complex. However with some of the good side characters their costumes re
Dialogue
• There isn’t that much dialogue from the clip, however the words that they say sounds like it’s the end. Some of the phrases
said in this clip are phrases to do with teamwork and progression. One of the characters tells another “Good work” and
helps the character being positive and knowing to do the right thing.
Props
• The props used in this scene are lightsabers. There are two kinds of lightsabers in this scene blue and red. Blue is used by the
good side of the Jedi’s and red is used by the dark side. Red is a colour that represents superior, powerfulness and
dominance, that’s what Darth Vader uses in this fighting scene.
Lighting
• The setting is mainly dark and has no bright lights except the lightsabers that bring that brightness into the scene.
Camerawork
• The camerawork mainly focuses on the main characters that are Darth Vader and the Jedi’s fighting him. Mainly focusing on
the powerful characters shows their power and what they are made of. The different shots are quick and fast so it keeps
people to continue watching, ‘keeping their eyes peeled’.
Editing
• The editing is fast, snappy and tense. The editing is quick which makes the scene more tense for viewers.
Music
• The music is very dramatic and tense. This is included in the fight scene because it is an important situation for the
characters and for them to survive. Sometimes the music of a fight scene can determine who wins and who loses, if the
music takes a turn.
Colour
• The colour scheme in this fighting scene is dark coloured, until they bring out the lightsabers that brings the brightness to
the fighting scene.