Poster Analysis 1

Angels and Demons : Poster 1

The Angels and Demons poster is very attractive, simple and gives the audience the right amount of information without overloading the poster.
This is achieved by a dominating main image of the protagonist, Robert Langdon played by Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks is a very recognisable star and the creators of the poster are hoping to attract people because he is the star of the film. They want you to notice Tom Hanks and want to see the film because you are fan of his work, no matter what the film is actually about. For those who do not know who the main star is, underneath the poster clearly states ‘Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon’. It’s rarer nowadays to see posters actually tell you who the star is playing, but don’t forget, the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons are huge bestselling books, so the poster is also hoping that you recognise the character’s name and want to see the film because of the book.
The main image usually takes up the majority of the poster, and the Angels and Demons poster is no different; The picture of Tom Hanks dominates the poster with old relic statues of an Angel and a Demon on each side. It appears that Robert Langdon is stuck in the middle of a good and bad conflict, the Angel representing Good and the Demon, Bad. Notice also that Robert Langdon has a faint angelic glow behind his head. This could possibly signify that he is a good character, or perhaps he’s the hero of the film. Or alternatively, the Angel and Demon to each side of Robert Langdon could symbolise his personal conflict between Good and Evil, like when a character has a small Angel and Devil on their shoulder as they both try to convince the character to do a particular action. It’s classic Good verses Evil.
Behind the Angel, Demon and Robert Langdon there is sky that looks much like a storm. This could mean that ‘a storm is coming’ which often means conflict is approaching. Also, there are red hot sparks across the poster. Sparks are created from the collision of metal or other materials and this could connotate the collision and clash of these two good and bad sides. The audience are left to wonder: what is this conflict? Will good triumph over evil? The only way they can find out is by seeing the film, which is exactly the poster’s purpose.
Many posters have a tagline at the top, but this poster doesn’t. Now, taglines are used to create a memorable catch phrase but the Angels and Demons poster uses the line ‘From the author of the Da Vinci Code’. The Da Vinci Code has a huge fan base and many readers so this will attract that audience.
One of the most important components of a film poster is the film’s name. The Angels and Demons poster presents the title in the lower third of the poster. It’s a white, basic serifs font with a stand-out ‘&’ in red. Red connotates danger and blood, and because it’s situated in the middle of the two words, it emphasises the conflict in the poster with the blood and danger being in the middle of the clash. The two words, ‘Angels’ and ‘Demons’ being each fighting side. However, ‘Demons’ is in bold which could signify that the stronger force are the Demons, the evil side. Is there anyway Good can prevail? The poster wants you to see the film to find out.
The release date of the film is slightly different to most posters because it doesn’t give a year or even a day but just the month ‘MAY’. This is quite powerful and demanding. This is the only text apart from the ‘&’ that is red on the whole of the poster. This could symbolise that the danger and bloodshed will happen in this month or that this month is when the danger begins.
The least attractive part of poster is grey, dull and not made to stand out. This is because it provides no real advertising material, but just information that has to included on the poster.
In all, the poster has cleverly created this conflict between Good and Evil without having to say ‘there is a conflict between Good and Evil…’. The main star has been used to draw in the audiences attention and the makers of the poster have used every possible means to make it attractive the most people. I particularly like this poster because of it’s simplicity and how powerful it appears; Robert Langdon has an expression of determination that is intriguing and I would certainly like to know who wins in the battle of Good verses Evil.