GUIDE TO AN ANALYSIS OF A POSTER

ACTORS - Why have they chosen these people to appear on the poster? Eg: A beautiful
actress will attract fans, a famous comedy actor like Jack Black signifies to us it will probably
be a comedy etc.
FACE / BODY - What does their facial expression and body language suggest about the
characters / story? Eg: a man who looks angry and aggressive signifies that it might be an
action film.
COSTUME - What are they wearing and what does it suggest about the film or their
character? Eg a person wearing a silver space suit suggests the film will be a sci fi film. f
they are wearing a hoodie it might signify the film is about teenagers.
ACTIONS / PROPS - What do their actions / props suggest? f they are holding a baseball
bat it signifies that there will be violence. f someone is holding a rose it signifies there may
be love involved.
COLOURS - What do the colours suggest about the film's story line? Blues / silvers / blacks
signifies sci-fi and action, red and orange = action or love. Do they tell you if its target
audience is men or women, young or old? multi colour = kids, pinks = girls etc
LIGHTING - Where is the light shining and why? s it highlighting a particular aspect of a
person or place? What mood does it create? (dark shadows signify that it might be a scary
film, soft lighting signifies that it might be romance etc
TITLE / TAG LINE - What does the title of the film suggest? Do the words used in the title
tell you something about what will happen in the film? Eg Toy Story literally tells us it will
feature a story about Toys. Monsters nc suggests there will be monsters and some kind of
company. Do the words in the tag line tell us anything? s the tag line catchy or memorable?
How and why?
FONT - Why have they used certain style of font / writing on the posters? What does it tell
you about the film? (big bubble writing suggests kids films, elaborate writing suggests love or
old fashioned stories, stamped writing suggest action films etc.. Where and why have they
used bold writing, different sizes of font, italics, effects on the writing like glow, sparkle etc..
What does this tell us about the film?
OTHER IMAGES - What scenes have they chosen to show you from the film on the poster?
Why have they been chosen and what do they tell us? Cars exploding signifies action,
people kissing signifies romance etc..
IMAGE SIZE - What size images have they used and why? Close Ups show detail and
emotion on people's faces. Medium shots show us more info about a person and their body
language; wide shots show the background too and allow us to set the scene.
IMAGE ANGLE - What angle shots have they used and why? High Angle shots look down
on people and make them look small and weak. Low Angle shots look up at people and
make them look tall and powerful.
CREW - Which crew names have been included on the poster and why? (producers and
directors) Certain directors make us think of certain genres eg Wes Craven = horror, Peter
Jackson = epic adventure. They will draw fans of their previous work into see the films.
CERTIFICATE - What does the certificate (age rating) tell us about the film? U = for kids, 18
= probably violent etc
RELEASE DATE is there one? Has a particular date been chosen for a reason? Eg a
release date on Halloween suggests a horror film. A date saying "n Cinemas now makes
the audience want to see it now.
AWARDS Does it say anything like "Winner of 2 Oscars or "starring Bafta nominated
actress etc.. Why do they put this on a film poster? (suggests quality, success, worth going
to see etc)
REVIEWS / QUOTES Are there quotes about the film? How might the audience be
impressed by them? Does who they are by make a difference?
CREDIT BLOCK / COMPANY LOGO Does any of the information in the credit block make
the audience want to see the film more and if so why? A famous company might give the film
a sense of quality and make it impressive etc
WEBSITE f a website address has been included, comment on why companies might
decide to do this. What might it encourage the audience to do?
DESCRIPTION
A/A* 1he analysls ls exce||ent and very deta||ed and d|scusses every part poss|b|e of the poster ]webs|te eg
why lL was used or deslgned LhaL way 1he analysls glves |ots of deta|| about the way the genre |s
represented the way characters are represented and the reasons |nst|tut|ons (compan|es) do th|ngs
key words are used correct|y throughout
B/C 1he analysls ls good qu|te deta||ed and d|scusses most parts of the poster ] webs|te eg why lL was
used or deslgned LhaL way 1he analysls glves qu|te a |ot of deta|| about the way the genre |s
represented the way characters are represented and the reasons |nst|tut|ons (compan|es) do th|ngs
key words are used most|y correct|y throughout
D/E 1he analysls of Lhe posLer / webslLe ls bas|c w|th more descr|pt|on or |abe|||ng of the d|fferent parts
rather than d|scuss|on of why they have been used or des|gned that way 1he analysls glves some
deta|| about the way genre |s represented the way characters are represented and the reasons
|nst|tut|ons (compan|es) do th|ngs Some key words are used |n the ana|ys|s
A GRADE COMMENT: "The font is scratchy and dark and in a deep red colour.
This signifies to the audience that it may have been scratched in by someone in a
fit of rage or terror. t represents the genre as horror and suggests there may be
some violence or fear in the film, as well as some blood or wounds.
B/C GRADE COMMENT: "The font is scratchy and dark red. This tells the
audience the film is horror and suggests there will be some violence in the film that
leads to blood.
D/E GRADE COMMENT: "The words are red which mean horror and blood.