Introduction to Film Language: Poster Analysis

Overview: The main impression that the audience receives from this poster is that it has both a theme and storyline based in the future. The large angled towers that fill up half of the poster make the audience think that human kind has advanced in architecture. In addition to this the xenon lighting projects it's beams into the background which could signify power and leadership. Furthermore, it is more clear that this film is set in the future due to a flying car above the buildings. However more importantly the main characters on the top of the poster are seen: the woman appears at smaller scale and the man appears larger which suggests that he leads the story and has far more authority than the women. This may be an example of gender stereotype that males are better than females.
Genre: Sci-fi/Thriller/Adventure
Target Audience: 15-35

Overview: From a first glance the poster appears very simplistic and highlights characters that star in the film. A use of a black background is very common in the horror genre which this poster clearly identifies by the title 'Scary Movie 2' However the facial expressions on the people imply a comedic sense to the film - as if they are mocking the actual idea of horror films. Furthermore, the media quote 'Absolutely Hilarious' lets us know that the film will mostly focus on comedy.  
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Target Audience: 18-30

Overview: This poster presents a man looking outwards onto the landscape. The weather, his position and the fact that he is alone gives an impression that this film is based around the story of loneliness or some sort of crisis. The dull colour pallet on the image makes the reader feel a sense of sympathy even though we don't know anything about the character. By using this clever photographic framing of the man looking towards the landscape let's us know that he feels lost and abandoned and therefore waits until he finds some sort of solution to his problem. Also the extensive use of media reviews is on the poster because the film was created by an unknown director therefore it needs this in order to create attention for it's release.

Genre: Drama

Target Audience: 22-40

Overview: We are presented with the exposure set on the sky and the boy who is the main subject. Half of the poster is covered by what appears to be a hole in the ground. It has little to no detail except the edges which make us believe that it is something in the soil. By the boy's body position we can tell that he is leaning into the hole. This suggests that he is discovering the unknown. To back this up his facial expression seems confused/scared which links well to my previous point. The title is a double exposure of white and several faces which are most likely characters in the story. Also the media reviews on the top tell us this is a film made by foreign director.
Genre: Drama/Adventure/Horror
Target Audience: 12-22

Overview: The whole poster appears as a silhouette. It is completely desaturated and uses low key lighting. The characters faces are exposed with the light to give a dramatic effect and therefore let us know that this is a gruesome type film. Furthermore, the main title 'SIN CITY' appears in a bright red. This connotes that there a murder in the film as the colour red is associated with blood and death. At the bottom middle of the poster we can see a white spot with a silhouette of potentially a criminal. This is because the main characters that appear larger are looking 'down' on the villain of the storyline and that's why it would make sense to position them there.

Genre: Thriller/Action/Crime

Target Audience: 18-45

Overview: By glancing just at the poster we can already identify a vintage genre to this film. From the top we are introduced with the 3 main characters in the storyline. This is important because it is the 2nd film which is important for the audience so that they can easily identify the characters for the 2nd time and create potential excitement. Moreover, the character Jack Sparrow has a red cloth around his head which is the same as in the title banner at the bottom of the poster. The only difference being that on the title it is around the skull. This could be used as a way to represent the character as the one who murders the most people or is just more dangerous.
Genre: Adventure/Action
Target Audience: 12-25

Overview: This poster appears very bright in colours and slightly over saturated. From this image it can identified that the film is about a man and woman (Bride & Prejudice) and this is usually linked with drama and romance. The poster presents it self with celebration and happiness. This is suggested by the confetti in the air and the happiness of the people in the background. Additionally, the positioning of the main characters connotes that they are challenging each other because they are facing back-to-back instead of towards each other.
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Target Audience: 25-40

Overview: The poster is presented with low-key lighting. Only highlighting the muscles of the woman's body makes it clearly identifiable that it will focus on sport and fighting in this film. The  poster is dark and the faces are very hard to see which suggests that the film needs to seen in order to uncover the identities of these characters. 

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Sport

Target Audience: 18-28