Analysing Film Posters

The whole idea of using film posters to promote the film, is that it has to automatically grab the audience's attention when they're for example, just walking down the street. Film posters are designed to become eye catching, as film posters are displayed around various places such as on a side of a bus, on walls, or on a bus stop. Therefore they have to look interesting to be able to draw attention to them.

Sin City (2005)
The first thing you notice about this poster is the blood red colour of the typography, which connotates danger, passion, love, sex and lies. This is indicating to the audience about what the film is about already, and the bright red automatically grabs your attention, and is the first thing that draws you to the poster. The typography is also very bold and thick, which makes the title of the film stand out to the audience, so the name of the film sticks in their head.
The symbol of the guns on the film poster connotes danger, and again suggests to the audience that the storyline and genre of the film is action and thriller. The use of guns also makes the film seem like it will have a tense storyline, which will appear to, for example teenager boys and young men walking down the street. The way that the rest of the poster is in gray scale compared to the bright red typography again makes the title stand out, and everything else seem more gloomy and dark in comparison, suggesting that the storyline will be quite mysterious.
The low angle camera shot portrays an image that the characters in the film are strong and powerful, compared to long shot of the one man walking down the street which is lit up by blinding light toward the bottom left of the poster. This suggests that the characters portrayed standing up strong and powerful in the poster are all together fighting against the one guy walking down the street. However, the blinding light surrounding him is very catching and draws the readers attention. One of the men holding a pistol gun in the poster is directing in an angle which portrays it as if it's pointing almost outside of the poster, creating a very clever 3D effect.
There are three male stereotypes on the poster, and it suggests that the film has one strong male lead by the way that one of the male protagonists is standing before all the characters looking stronger and more important, as its clear the camera s focusing more on him. One of the female characters on the poster is however in some ways stereotypical of a "slutty" female fatall, as she is wearing quite revealing clothes as her stomach is on show, yet she is also portrayed as being very strong by the way she is posing in a manner which portrays her as looking fearless. The other woman is shot furthest away from the camera, suggesting she is less important manner, yet from what you can see of her she is wearing very black, Gothic clothes, which goes against the girly, female stereotypes in thriller films. The way every character is wearing black connotes danger, mystery and a storyline of darkness to the audience. The mise-en-scene of the rain is quite effective to the audience as it stands out and technically looks very eye catching, and the dark background suggests to the audience that the film is shot in darkness for quite a majority of time.

I Am Legend (2007)

Straight away the mise-en-scene catches the audience's eye, as it's obviously the setting of almost a broken city. Therefore this suggests to the audience that the storyline involves devastation and action. The broken city scape behind the male protagonist looks very lonely, yet the brown, white and overall pale colours connote almost calm yet also creates tension in the atmosphere. The yellow typography for the title matches the colour scale of the mise-en-scene which makes the typography shine out above the ground, yet the lettering is very thin and stylish, suggesting to the audience that this isn't going to be a full on action film with loud gun shots and bombs. The word "LEGEND" stands out particularly to the audience, which will then stick in there minds and catch there eyes straight away.

The phrase stated upon the poster "The last man on earth is not alone," entitles the audience to gather what the storyline is about, which is obviously that the male protagonist displayed on the poster at some pint becomes the last man on earth and that the entire human race is killed. Again, the typography is simply laid out in the poster and blends in delicately with the mise-en-scene - quite a contrast compared to the Sin City poster. The name of the actor "Will Smith," is blatant set out at the top of the poster in quite big lettering so it stands out to the audience and Catches there eye as Will Smith is a well known, popular actor. Therefore, this film would appeal more to the audience as they know Will Smith is obviously the main actor, as he is the only human portrayed on the page.

The medium camera-shot of the male protagonist portrays the character is being quite lonely, as he obviously the only human around the world. The type of clothes he is wearing and the macho way the character is walking makes him look quite strong, and not afraid of anyone else. In the poster, you can also see that the male protagonist is accompanied by a dog, suggesting that he is the male characters side kick throughout the entirety of the film.
Overall, the whole mise-en-scene is portrays an image of a deserted picture, suggesting to the audience that film will contain quiet scenery's, yet contain plenty of tension, even though you can tell by the writing that the film wont star many characters.