Shutter Island Poster Analysis

The very first thing you notice about this poster is the red that floods the poster. The excessive use of this colour signifies that maybe he is an evil character, or there is danger involved as it could be a symbol for blood. Another main colour is black, which also ties in that maybe he is an evil character. The dark shadows take the edges of his face away making him a 'sketchy' character. As this isn't a sequel to any films, there is no foreknowledge needed, so everything you see in the poster will make you question what it has to do with the film.
The main figure in this poster is clearly the medium close up of Leonardo DiCaprio. They have framed this so that the camera is positioned more to the left, showing the background. the background consists of water and a cliff with a lighthouse shining. This could suggest that Leonardo DiCaprio is on the run from someone or has escaped, and that people are out looking for him. This adds to the questioning of what type of character he is and whether he is good or bad. I would say that this image is represented more photographically. I think they have used Photoshop to add the red fill ins and enhance the dark shadows on his face. These shadows are quite harsh, and you gradually lose the edge of his face.
The messages in the poster are mainly visual as there isn't much text apart from the title of the film, cast name and production companies. This is clearly an early poster as even the release date isn't confirmed yet. I think a mixed gender or audience would be attracted by this poster. I think males would be attracted by the genre it is portraying, and females because of the main star, Leonardo DiCaprio. I think the age limits would be aimed higher from young adults and above starting at around 17.
Genre conventions used to portray its genre of drama is the expression on the main characters face. He looks serious and quite intense. He also has a plaster on his forehead which makes you question what happens to him for him to need that plaster. Also the cliff in the background has some significance as to his where abouts and whether he is in hiding.
The use of Leonardo DiCaprio's face being the main image is a huge selling point as he is a big star and easily recognised. As there isn't much else on the poster that counts for being the only unique selling point. You can expect that from this film you will get dramatic scenes and story lines with thrill and tension. I find this mainly from the expression shown on his face. It grabs your attention because it makes you wonder and puts questions in your mind .
Overall I think this is a good poster because it is very eye catching, and the fact that it isn't straight forward or a sequel to another film makes you want to see it even more to answer all the questions its put into your head. There isn't much communication with this poster as it doesn't give away anything, which in a way is good because its another reason to go and see the film so you can try to work it out for yourself.


DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

108,004 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 8.0 / 10

Demographic breakdowns are shown below.

Votes	Percentage	Rating
24,221	22.4%	10
27,448	25.4%	9
29,303	27.1%	8
14,988	13.9%	7
5,950	5.5%	6
2,362	2.2%	5
1,192	1.1%	4
724	0.7%	3
524	0.5%	2
1,292	1.2%	1

Arithmetic mean = 8.2.  Median = 8
Ranked #250 in the top 250

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/ratings

The Dark Knight Film Poster Analysis

The main colour used in this poster are black/dark blue, orange/red and white. The darker colours represent Batman as the 'Dark Knight'. It makes you question whether he is actually the hero or whether he is evil in this film. The dark surrounding also sets the setting, with the white lights you can tell that he is in a tunnel. It also shows a sense of movement as the lights are slightly blurred. The orange and red colours represent the explosion that is in front. There are sparks from this explosion that move along the 'batmobile' also adding to the movement effect. The audience would need foreknowledge of Batman to understand the symbols in this poster such as the cape, helmet, logo as they are all signifiers of Batman.
The main objects in this poster are Batman's bike and the weapons that are pointing forward. Also the explosion in the near bottom corner of the image is also a main part of the poster as it is the only bit of dramatic colour in the poster and most eye catching. Around the explosion there are objects also flying around, which suggests that this picture is a still taken from the film. I think the editors would have used Photoshop still on this image for enhancement and adjustment.
The messages in this poster are mainly visual as there is not much text involved. As it is a teaser poster it shows the action and makes it eye-catching to draw you in from the very beginning. This is an early poster so there isn't much information written on or any reviews/comments included. from this poster I would think that the audience intended would be for males, or previous Batman fans.
As this film is an action/thriller, they use genre conventions such as explosions and fast vehicles which are big give away factors. The use of the tunnel shows that it is in an urban setting and modern.
The main selling points of this poster are the cast names, as the fans would look out for that as it is the only bit of information on the poster; and the information that states that it is being shown in IMAX theatres.
You can tell that you are going to get thrills and excitement from this film. The poster makes you feel as if you are going to have 'on the edge of your seats' moments as things get really tense and the most important parts in the film are most exciting.
Overall I think this is a good poster because even though it has little information written on it, it is still exciting enough to sell the film and make people want to go and see it. It may be a poster but it gives you the same feeling you have when you've just watched a cliff hanger, wanting to know more, see what happens next and find out as soon as possible. It communicates effectively with the intended audience as all the codes and signifiers are enough for the Batman fans to know that this is going to be a big film, and the genre conventions used are good enough to draw in the males.

  
DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

467,784 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 8.9 / 10

Demographic breakdowns are shown below.

Votes	Percentage	Rating
246,928	52.8%	10
93,891	20.1%	9
58,453	12.5%	8
27,394	5.9%	7
11,093	2.4%	6
5,794	1.2%	5
2,969	0.6%	4
2,519	0.5%	3
2,523	0.5%	2
16,220	3.5%	1

Arithmetic mean = 8.8.  Median = 10
Ranked #11 in the top 250


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/ratings

Law Abiding Citizen Film Poster Analysis

 The main colours in this poster are black, white and red. I think they have used the white for the background colour of Jamie Foxx's face as he is supposed to be the good person in the film, and the red for Gerard Butler's as he is meant to be the bad person. The white and red could be used as if to show who's the angel and devil. You wouldn't need any foreknowledge to understand this poster or the film.
The main figures in this poster are the faces of the two main characters in the film, Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. They are placed one on top of another and have been photographically and slightly illustratively presented. The messages are mainly visual as the images take up the whole poster, and there isn't much text. This could be one of the early posters as later posters tend to have reviews and more information.
From this poster I would think it was more aimed at males as it is and action crime genre film and you can get that from the colours and images used. The USP's used for this poster are the cast names and the images. They are two big stars and having their faces portrayed everywhere is a big selling point.
I think this poster can promise you excitement, mystery and tension in the film. I get this from the expressions on the characters faces, the tag line and the bold colours. The colours really grab your attention and draws you in wanting to know more about the film, as to what makes one character bad and the other good.
The tag line is 'Justice at any cost'. This works as it doesn't let you know whats going on so it adds to the mysterious feel you get from the poster.
This poster looks like it would have cost a fair bit to produce but not an extreme amount. The costs would include having the pictures of the characters being taken, editing the images, getting the text edited and placed, and then getting the poster distributed. You would see this in places such as billboards, bus stops, buses, cinemas, taxis etc.
In conclusion, I think this is a good poster as it doesn't give anything away, and as it is a new film and not a sequel to anything, no one knows anything about it. It leaves you wondering and encourages viewers to go and see the film and find out what happens and the story of each character. I think it has a positive effect on the audience and for the film itself.

DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

46,264 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 7.2 / 10

Demographic breakdowns are shown below.

Votes	Percentage	Rating
6,052	13.1%	10
6,687	14.5%	9
12,262	26.5%	8
11,556	25.0%	7
5,314	11.5%	6
2,062	4.5%	5
903	2.0%	4
530	1.1%	3
288	0.6%	2
610	1.3%	1

Arithmetic mean = 7.5.  Median = 8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1197624/ratings

Sum up of teaser trailers

None of these 3 trailers give away the main story of the film, the part that makes the film most exciting, or evokes the most emotion.
The Dark Knight's trailer had no visual, but was all dialogue based, so that was all that viewers could rely on to find out about the film, whereas Inception's trailer was the opposite way round; all visual but no dialogue. Toy Story 3 had all of it combined, but the trailer was separately made and had no clips from the actual film. From these teaser trailers you learn a little bit about the main characters and the roles they play in the film, and you can also understand the genre from the small bit of information your given.

From analysing these three teaser trailers I have learnt that the teaser is all a dramatic hype for viewers, and always leaves you wanting to know more about the film. They usually start out slow, and the pace speeds up until you get to the most dramatic part of the trailer where all the shots move quicker, the soundtrack/dialogue gets more intense and the visual (if any) is more dramatic.

Inception Teaser Trailer Analysis

This trailer makes good use of fading in and out, and cut to shots. At the beginning it is a mix of shots from the film with cast names. It then goes onto graphical scenes of building with panning and zoom effects. There is no dialogue in this trailer. The slogan is shown in this trailer "Your mind is the scene of the crime". I would say that this film is action/adventure from the trailer, mainly because of the shots they have chosen to use and the dramatic music. The slogan gives the suggestion that it is to so with mind games.

The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer Analysis

This trailer is more graphically made, and has no visual of the film at all. It is a black background with blue lights flashing out randomly, hinting towards the outline of the Batman logo. Eventually a white light is shown behind it making the logo visible as it starts to break up. As this happens the camera shakes as if there is some sort of explosion going on behind causing it to break up. At the end there is use of black outs and fading to show the title of the film and also the release date. 
You can tell that this is an action/thriller by the dialogue voiced over the visual production. It gives away the typical good guy/bad guy theme. You can also get that Batman is up agaisnt a villain, the Joker, which tests Batman's stregnth. I think you can understand that by the way the Batman logo breaks up as the Joker begins to talk over.

Toy Story 3 Teaser Trailer Analysis

 
In this teaser trailer there aren’t many camera shots as it is quite a simple basic animation. It uses a high angle to show Woody’s height and how small the army men are, showing Woody’s legs in the corner of the shot. It uses a wide angle to show everyone in the scene as all the characters are walking from left to right, walking out of the shot to somewhere else.
From this trailer you can tell that this is a light hearted comedy that would interest children but also humour the adults with the Potato Head’s attitude to each other.
You can grasp from this that in the film everyone will be working as a team as usual, Woody being the team leader. You can also tell that Buzz will outshine him without meaning to on purpose while Woody is always out to impress.

Individual Schedule

I have constructed a schedule that will help me to meet all of my deadlines and keep organised throughout this project.

Primary and secondary research into similar products - 11th October
Teaser Trailer analysis' - 24th September
Film Poster analysis - 30th September
Magazine Cover analysis - 1st October
Mixed Media Campaign analysis - 3rd October
Use of new media and software - 5th October
Questionnaires and analysis of results - 11th October

Planning deadline - 5th November (extended to 19th November)
Treatment - 20th October
Storyboard - 3rd November
Shot list -  3rd November
Possible cast list - 4th November
Final cast list - 5th November
Possible fonts - 8th November
Script - 11th November

Trailer - 17th December
Film poster and magazine cover (ancillary tasks) - 4th January
Final Evaluation - 17th January

Initial Deadlines

This is my initial time schedule of deadlines each sections of my work should be in for. I plan to keep to this schedule as it will help me with my time management and help me pace myself correctly.

HAND IN DATE 17TH JANUARY 2011

Research deadline : 11/10/10
Planning deadline : 5/11/10
Main task (trailer) deadline : 17/12/10
Ancillary tasks (poster and magazine cover) deadline : 4/01/11
Evaluation deadline : 17/01/11

Introduction

For my A2 project the brief says that my group and I have to create a cross campaign advertisement for a genre of film. My group has chosen youth culture as our genre so we will be creating a:

• film trailer
• poster
• promotional magazine cover

I will get to this point by doing primary and secondary research. I will research and analyse film trailers, magazine covers and posters and find out how they are structured and what features are used the best. Using this research will help me and my group to make our project successful.