Film Poster's Analysis
For the first task for On the Screen ii, we have to choose 3 film movie posters in which we not only like the look of, but interests us in a photographic perspective. I always go and watch films and always take a look at the various posters for the film before I actually watch it so being able to choose just three was very difficult to do. The first poster I always get automatically drawn to is the two 'Glass' posters that are very similar yet are different in many ways photographic wise. Glass is the part of the unbreakable series and follows the life of people or a person with a personality disorder and holds so much mystery and shock that you always get drawn into the films. What I like about the posters is the fact they have actually used glass as part of each individual section and actually separated all three actors that are the main roles within the film but the first poster is slightly different as James Mcavoy is on the poster 3 times and 3 of his personalities that are shown in the film 'Split'. They have chosen to use glass as a way of breaking away the characters not only because of the name of the film, but to show that they aren't all the same person and each of them hold their own personality and is also used to slightly focus on a character a little more. In this case, I have notices that in the first poster, Samuel L. Jackson's character has a shatter right across his face which suggests danger is coming his way as well as him being in the very middle of the second poster with the shards surrounding him. The use of colour throughout both posters are very saturated and even though it focuses on the darkness behind the film, there are areas such as the use of purple and yellow that are brighter and makes me believe that there is a sense of mystery about the character in which the colour has been placed on as well as making them the main focus that the audience needs to take into consideration. What I did realise about the posters was not only the difference in the release date, but the way the star billing has been displayed is a little different to what I believe it could be but I feel like they have done this because of the amount of money each actor makes rather than the placement of the character. In the second poster James McAvoy is inline with his name but the other two are not and I feel as if it would've been a good idea to swap them around and draw the audience in further.
The second poster that I have chosen is the 'Girl On The Train' which is based on the Thriller book by Paula Hawkins and shows a woman who gets on the same train every single day watching the world outside until she sees something that changes her life forever. Emily Blunt plays the main role throughout the whole entire film and is the only one that is not only on the featured poster but is also on the star billing that is near enough always on posters. I actually really like the way they have done that because it makes you understand that you need to focus on the story of that character for the whole story to actually come together and make more sense as the film moves along. Her facial expressions show not only shock but the horror and confusion of what she is seeing out of the window which is how the film starts to create the mystery and you can see the house in the reflection of the train mirror. The house is blurred so it doesn't give anything away but you can get the sense that it plays a part in why she is so focused and within her eyes you can see a white light which could possibly be the slight image of the house that is the key to it all. The use of rain brings darkness and emotion to the poster and blends well with the blue and grey that has been used as the train as well as the contrast that the details hold and also suggests that something dark is what she sees. The question 'What did she see?' is featured on the poster just before the release date which gets the audience thinking before the film is even out and could possibly make them read the novel before seeing the film in the cinema. The only problem is that the novel could give everything away and sometimes nobody wants to know what happens in the book so that they can be surprised rather than disappointed sometimes (Depending on the person).
The final poster, in which is rather different from the other two in which I've looked at is the romance film 'Me Before You' which is based on the best selling novel by Jojo Moyes. I wanted to choose a different film poster that I liked because I didn't want everything to be the exact same as well as understanding how different genres create emotion and meaning. Straight away, you know that the film is based on love and romance due to how Lou Clark (Played by Emilia Clarke) and Will Traynor (Played by Sam Claflin) are looking at each other with such passion. You can see the light in both actors eyes even if it isn't as obvious and even though there is tragedy within the film, the memories are what makes them happy. The use of grainy looking clouds as a background allows you to focus purely on the two actors taking up the most space within the poster rather than the space around them which is actually important when it comes to romance films as the storyline is the glue and the actors are what makes it. The two actors featured within the poster are the only two that are on the star billing which creates the simplicity rather than making the poster busy and less romantic which is what I liked about the poster as you know exactly what characters you need to follow throughout the film. The characters are show diagonally rather than straight in the middle which could relate to the thought that they are falling in love as well as taking a screen grab of a single part of a film that is believed to class as a teaser. Red seems to be the main colour used for the poster which is knowingly associated with love and romance but could also relate to tragedy if you know exactly what film is about which makes me think that the colours relate to whatever part of the film you believe is the most important rather than just being a romantic film.
