Film Poster Analysis 2 & 3

Identity Poster

The identity poster looks, on first glance, to be a poster with a main image of a hand. But it isn’t; the hand is actually had up of five silhouettes and a face. These silhouettes make up the fingers and have no distinctive features and you cannot make out their gender or age. The poster has done this because the film is about hidden identity and has provided us with no real identities. This fits in brilliantly with the tagline ‘ Identity is a secret. Identity is a mystery. Identity is a killer’ much like the silhouettes, we known nothing about them, not to mention they are distorted and ‘grainy’ to help cover their identities. The only real features we can see is the face with makes up the palm of the hand. But yet again, we cannot identify the face and we cannot even see it clearly.
When you look at the main image as a hand, it signifies the uniqueness of a human because our hands provide the finger prints that make us exclusive. While the silhouettes provide no identity, the hand symbolises individuality.
From the poster I make out that this film is a thriller and mystery film. The colours red and black do usually connotate horror, however, the picture is mysterious and a very clever image which would you usually find on mystery film posters. Plus, the tagline does contain the word mystery, which is a big giveaway. The hand is mainly black maybe because the hand appears to have dipped in ink for stamping, like you would if someone wanted to record your identity. Or alternatively, it’s black to symbolise that something is hidden, as things are hidden better in darkness. The red could connotate danger, especially because the tagline contains the word killer-which would be fitting. The hand also begins out as black, but turns to red in the right of the image. This could mean that the secret which is black slowly becomes blood red, the danger. This would fit in with the tagline too because it begins with ‘Identity is a secret’ and finishes with ‘identity is a killer’. The title of the film follows the same ‘colour gradient’ as the hand, moving from black to red to tie it in with the main image.
The tagline is very good. It uses repetition to drill in it’s message and the constant use of ‘identity’ makes it difficult to forget. Plus, it provides some of the films narrative; there is a mystery, there is a secret to be found out and there is a killer.
Like with many posters, the names of the actors and actresses are displayed. This is to attract the fans of the actors, and when a film has a big star, generally people make the assumption that the film will be better because they are present. In this film you have Jon Cusack, who is relatively famous.
The poster also has a second tagline. This one says ‘the secret lies within’ which fits in perfectly with the image of the hand as the silhouettes are hidden in the hand. Plus, the audience are then left to wonder: what is this secret? The audience often want to figure out the mystery in a mystery film too, so this enticing for them.





Harry Potter: And the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 poster.

This poster is so simple but yet so effective.
The main image is of a burning castle. The many Harry Potter fans will instantly identify the castle as Hogwarts from previous films and the books. The castle is loved by fans and the characters in the film, so when we see it destroyed, we find it upsetting and a little devastating. The purpose of the image is to evoke that reaction within us so that we one, stop and look at the poster and two, wonder what on Earth has happened. The castle is also reflected in the water, which could symbolise two sides. One fainter than other could signify that one is weaker than the other.
The sky is stormy, much like in the Angels and Demons poster. Perhaps this could also signify a clash is to come just like in the other poster. It’s also dark and set in the evening which connotates evil and makes the poster that little bit scarier. Combined with the stormy clouds and dark colours, the sky appears to signify that ‘darkness’ or Evil is coming and that trouble lies ahead.
Which is fitting with the tagline: It all ends here. The tagline, as they should be, is simple, memorable yet effective because it leaves us wanting to know more. Does Harry die? Does good prevail? For those who are little confused with which book is which, this tagline also tells them that this one is the last one. It’s also in the famous Harry Potter font which ties it in perfectly and also makes the poster even more identifiable.
The title is simpler than the other posters before it, only displaying a H, P and a 7. Harry Potter is so well known that this is possible. Plus, for those who have read the books, which happens to be a large majority of the country, we can identify the film from the famous 3D lightning font. Quite often people ask me what film is which book, whether it’s the fourth or the third. This title isn’t like the others with the long name, it’s easy to understand and you can tell which book the film belongs too.
The last book is actually split into two films, so the poster has displayed this by putting ‘Part 1 2010’ and ‘Part 2 2011’ with the lightning of the ‘p’ from the HP7 splitting them. This could connotate the divide again between two sides.
At the bottom are no credits which is unconventional. The creators just wanted to solely focus on the main image to draw you in. There is however the logos of the companies faintly at the bottom and a small website.
This poster doesn’t really ‘give out’ much information. You would expect to see a more defined date, credits, perhaps actors and actresses in the film but this poster doesn’t do that. It doesn’t need to; the Harry Potter franchise is so big and popular that you don’t need to know the actors in it, especially because most already know. The purpose of the film poster is to make you aware that the films are coming out and around what time. As a fan myself, this poster doesn’t tell me much at all, but creates a hype and just seems to tell the world that Harry Potter is coming, get excited.