Film Poster Analysis

This is the film poster for Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford. One of the main aspects of this film poster that suggests its story line is the image of the gun which could imply that the story line will feature a fair amount of action/violence. The slogan in the top right corner says "Man has made his match...now it is his problem" and this could be a strong indicator that after trying to do something right or successful, the protagonist is now facing problems that have stemmed from his well-meant actions and is now having to fight them which suggests a main plot for the film. The genre implied by this film poster is predominantly Sci Fi, due to the futuristic looking buildings and vehicles featured on the poster and the large amount of bright lights coming from each building. The colour scheme of black, orange and yellow also suggests the Sci Fi genre. However, the image of the woman holding a cigarette in a particularly dark part of the poster could be a subtle hint at a sub genre in the film, possibly Film Noir, a genre that typically includes dark lighting, cigarette smoke and women in its films. I think the target audience for this film would be an older (18-40), more educated audience with a strong interest in Sci Fi films and I think the gender divide would be 70% male and 30% female.

This is the film poster for Scary Movie 2. Someone with knowledge of horror films would be able to recognise the image of the girl and the priest in the top left corner from the 1973 film The Exorcist and would also be able to recognise the slogan on the t-shirt of the bottom right girl as being from the 1999 film The Sixth Sense and so would therefore be able to deduce that this film is parodying a number of already existing horror films in its narrative. The genre therefore of a film like this would be a spoof film, combining horror with comedy. I think the target audience of this film would be of the age range 15-30, and would be more or less equal in terms of gender. I think it would appeal strongly to students and also possibly slightly less educated people. 

This is the film poster for Sin City. At first glance, seeing the number of weapons in the poster definitely implies that a large portion of the narrative will feature violence and this could even be implied by the title itself. A possible story line to go along with the violence could be that one or more of the characters is seeking revenge. An obvious genre that this poster connotes is thriller, and this is suggested by the colour scheme of black, white and red, (red is a colour that could be typically associated with anger or death or blood) and the serious expressions on the characters' faces. However I think that the smaller image of a person facing the camera could indicate a sub-genre of mystery, especially since the person's face is unidentifiable. I think the gender balance of this film's target audience is definitely more male than female because the poster itself appears stereotypically 'masculine', especially the colour scheme and the fact that the central character is male, as are two of the other characters featured on the poster. I think that the three guns (suggesting violence) and the title could imply that the age range of the audience this film is aimed at would be around 18-30, predominantly people who enjoy thriller films, or films that feature violence and mystery.



This is the film poster for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the second film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The dominant colour in this poster is green and this, with the image of a large tentacle protruding from underneath the ship could connote monsters and this could be an indication of something that will happen in the narrative. The expressions on the main characters' faces allows us to rule out comedy as a genre and the images of the ships on a rough sea could suggest that the main genre is action/adventure and the tentacle could possibly suggest fantasy. The fact that one of the main characters of an action/adventure film is a woman in historical costume could possibly be a hint that there also may be a sub-genre of romance between herself and another main character since at first glance she doesn't visually fit the description of an action/adventure film so you begin to wonder where in the film she fits as a main character. Looking at Johnny Depp's character, his bandana is bright red and is a huge contrast to the other colours in the poster so it stands  out. He is also holding a gun and is the only one doing so. These two things could signify to the audience that he is the protagonist. I think that based on this poster, the target audience of this film would fit the age range of 13-25 and I think the gender divide would be about 60% male, 40% female.


This is the film poster for Uzak, a Turkish film made in 2002. The colours in this poster are mainly dark, bland colours like brown, grey and black and although it also features red and blue, colours that are generally brighter, they have been deliberately darkened to fit the dark theme of the film. I think there is a strong contrast between the dirty polluted air and the clean white snow which could suggest an element of something destructive ruining something pure, which could indicate that the genre could be thriller or horror. The fact that all you can see of the man on the poster could also suggest that there might be an element of mystery. Because the man (who we assume is the protagonist) is looking in the direction of the town ahead of him, we can then assume that that town is crucial to the plot. Furthermore, Uzak means 'far' or 'distant' in English so that gives us an idea that the narrative involves the protagonist needing to travel a long distance to do something . I think that the target audience of this film would be mostly male, around 70% and I think the age range would be 28-40. I also think the majority of the audience would be Turkish since it's in their native language. 




This is the poster for the 2004 film Bride and Prejudice. Almost immediately we can assume that based on the title, the genre of this film is a parody of the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice which tells us that it is a comedy but also romance. This idea can be further emphasised by the happy, laughing facial expressions of the majority of the characters on the poster and also the vibrant colour scheme. I think that the target audience would need to be people who know the original story of Pride and Prejudice in order to fully understand the plot of this film. I think that the majority of the audience would be women, around 70% and I think the age range would be around 20-45. The fact that it is a spoof means that the narrative will have several similarities to the original story plus the comedic additions.



This is the poster for the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby. The strong use of shadows and dark colour scheme immediately suggests that the dominant genre of this film could be mystery or thriller, but the fact that Hilary Swank's character is wearing a sports bra indicates that the narrative largely involves sport so this could give us the impression that there may also be an element of the drama genre, possibly involving an important sporting competition. I think the target audience for this film would be mostly male because of the sport theme, but the poster could suggest female empowerment since Hilary Swank's character here could represent women in sport and breaking the stereotype of traditional women roles. I think the age range of its target audience would be around 18-40.