FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

FILM POSTERS - TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Poster One : Slumdog Millionaire

The construction and placing of this poster i done in such a way that the idea of the film is instantly delivered  Firstly, let us observe if the poster is following all the technical conventions of film posters or not. The film title is highlighted in a very prominent way. This gives identity to the entire project, and also, to some level, creates meaning of the film. The word 'slumdog millionaire' instantly provokes the audience into thinking and gives and idea that this film has something to do with a poor personality turning into a millionaire.

The poster simultaneously draws attention to the guy in the center  in front. Once the audience's attention is drawn to the guy, it is instantly understood that he is the lead character and that probably the title is referring to him, that he was once poor and belonged to the slums but somehow turned into a millionaire. The link between the title and the guy automatically provokes the audience into thinking, what could possibly happen in order to transform him into a millionaire from a kid on the streets. The poster is using both the conventions, the rule of thirds, the icon image. We can examine the city view in the background and the guy in the front as the combination of these two conventions  Even though the city is in the background, it gathers much of the space and attention in the poster and instantly delivers the idea that the main location and ideology of the film revolves around the happenings of a metropolitan city, and that the guy belongs to that particular city.

At the same time, there are five small pictures aliened at the bottom of the main picture and each picture reflects a separate ideology and story within the film. The first picture shows the guy sitting in front of a computer screen  and it seems like scenario of the famous show 'kon bane ga carore pati'. This gives the audience an idea that, maybe the guy signed up for the 'big game' and that is how he became a millionaire. The second picture shows him hugging a girl and the hint of a little romance is given, and it is then understood that the film has some sort of a love story within the main story. The third picture shows kids belonging to the slums that gives an idea of his previous life and the last two pictures shown the girl and the Taj Mehal, that instantly tells the audience that the film is probably shot in India. The star names and the name of the director is mentioned.however there is no production brand name mentioned  and in this case, most of the stars are unknown so no promotion and marketing has been done by taking use of the star names or the institution, it is mainly all in the appearance and characteristics of the poster itself.

Lastly, the title name, and the images let us know that the film belongs to sub-genres of art, drama, adventure and romance.

Poster Two : Behind Enemy Lines

This poster, unlike other is different as it has not used some of the poster conventions, like the star names, production brand name, however, still manages to deliver meaning the moment it is looked at. The first thing that pops into the audiences' minds when looking at this poster is 'action' and 'war'. This meaning is transferred by the use of the icon image and the rule of thirds as well as the film title.

Firstly, the film title is placed exactly in the center of the poster, and is written in white that contradicts the colors used in the rest of the poster, hence becomes prominent  The character shown in the center in front is in an army outfit holding onto a gun, and there are a few men behind him in the same attire  Their dressing and the location ( barren land with spiky bushes ) show that they are soldiers in a matter of major crisis and are off on a mission to fight off their enemies ( that is also made obvious by the film title ).

                                                                                                                                               

The use of icon image is done very well in this case. Despite being completely in the background, an hint of the American flag is given which automatically tells makes clear to the audience that the men are probably american soldiers off to an expedition, fighting for their country. The colors used in the entire poster, shades of red and orange represent the genre, emotion and personality of the adventurous, dangerous and dramatic characteristics of the story. Therefore, it is easily understood that the film caters to a sub-genre of action-adventure.

Another meaning of placing one guy ( the lead ) in the center and the rest at the back could be that he's probably leading the expedition  or if not, he has to be the one who does something outstanding during the main arrival of the conflict. In other words, it is made obvious that he's the 'protagonist' whilst his enemies, whoever or who all he will eventually fight off will be the antagonists.

In this particular poster, their is an additional convention used, the phrase at the bottom of the poster. The phrase states, 'framed, abandoned, but never defeated'. This gives a slight idea of the character in front who happens to be the protagonist. framed and abandoned could mean that he was blamed and looked upon for some crime he hadn't committed which lead him to being abandoned, left alone. But despite the circumstances, he managed to stand steady and eventually win and prove himself as the 'good guy' or in better, more typical words, the 'hero'.

Overall, the poster, despite challenging some conventions of film posters, has managed to deliver the concept and synopsis of the film as well as the genre it caters to mainly along with the sub-genre and also managed to create the poster in such a way that it gave complete idea of the character sketch of the protagonist as well as the story-line.