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Matthew Carballeira

Dr. Nelson

English 1301-102

10/16/2023

Star Wars the Last Jedi: A visual masterpiece

A movie poster is always an iconic thing, whether it shows your main characters, perhaps

a still shot from the movie, or even just the movie title in all bold letters. These things are meant

to create some sort of anticipation for the release of the new movie, to capture the attention of

people walking by a theatre, or while driving by a billboard. The artist of this particular poster

uses a lot of red and white, signifying good and bad. The two triangles in the center of the poster

are used to show the importance of the characters, helping to identify who the main and

secondary characters are. Meanwhile, its reference to the battle on Crait gives the audience a

sense of remembrance.

The artist uses red and white motifs as seen in previous Star Wars posters; however, he

incorporates earthy tones and an ombre of colors as he subconsciously portrays the personas of

the characters in the movie. The artists use various tones of colors in the middle of the poster to

bring contrast to the meeting of the battle of the good and bad. The white signifies the good, and

the red signifies the bad. The overflowing of red onto white dictates that the red, or dark side, is

taking over all that is good, or the white side. While the red and white have significant meaning,

the artist is telling a deeper story; how the bad over rules the good and is covering them in a

shroud of violence and killings. Therefore, drowning out the souls of those planets. The clashing

of colors also conveys the message of a fight.

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Secondly, the artist uses two triangle formations to display the connection with the

characters. A main character from most every movie can be seen overlooking the rest. The

positioning of characters on the poster also plays significance. In every movie you have your side

characters and then your main characters; the way the artist chooses to tie them in in this instance

is quite appealing. The use of the triangles and the filling in of characters around the main create

an awe appealing moment. On the left half of the poster he positions one of the characters who is

on the good side, and then to the right you have a villain who has always had it out for the Jedis.

When looking at the right side of your screen you have your villains, Kylo, the Chrome

Troopers, the chancellors’ guards, and an evil mode of the BB droid series.

Lastly, the artist uses the Assault on Crait on the bottom of the poster to build anticipation

for one of the big battles. The artist is using the deeper meaning of the power and hopes the

resistance is visible against large scale tyranny. It shows how even through the bad times there is

always someone willing to fight for the better tomorrow. The artist foreshadows the Siege of

Crait by showing Republic Ski Speeders heading towards a mob of First Order Forces on the

planet Crait. The Assault on Crait was very momentous because it was the biggest meeting of

Resistance troops and proved to be a large loss. The battle was led by two main characters,

General Leia and Kylo Ren. As they are led in they face the battle that we have talked about

before, the battle of good and evil. It creates anticipation about whether the Resistance will stand

up for what is right and fight to victory or if they will they crumble to pieces.

Through the artists use of color he portrays so much to the eye holder. The use of ombre

colors in the posters and the compilation of characters in order of importance gives the audience

a hint of what’s to come. Meanwhile the return of new and old characters captures the audience’s

attention and creates anticipation for the movie. His attention to detail in placement of characters
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gives the audience a sense of what is to come without use of words. The reference to the battle of

Crait through use of color and positioning throughout the poster provides insight to the battles

that will be fought.