Textual Analysis: Film posters;
As I am analysing four film posters, I have decided to analyse different genre's, as it widens my research, and the fourth film poster I am analysing is 'Irobot'.
The conventions of sci-fi films are very similar to the conventions of other genre's, as they have a name, stars names, credits, and persuasive language to attract the audience, but the image for a sci-fi film is usually much more exciting, and dynamic then other genre's, as the film is all about excitement, and the image also has to be futuristic, and quite modern, as sci-fi is all bout technology, and the poster has to reflect the film.
I,robot:
I,robot is a 2004 science fiction film.
Title/name: The film poster has the name of the film at the bottom of the poster, and even though this goes against the conventions, it works for the poster, because having the title at the top would take up to much of the image, and would partially cover up the robots and Will Smith, and they are the main focus of the poster. The font of the name reflects computer font, and looks like a computer has just typed it out, and this represents what the film is about, as you can see that the film is about computers and technology of some sort, and the colour of the font also conveys what the film is about, as the colour is almost like metal, and I think it represents a robot, as they're made of metal, and as the name is i,robot, the colour and font reflect this, the colour is very modern and futuristic, and this is a convention of sci-fi films, as they're about the future and science so the font and colour of the name have to represent that. The name also represents the image as it is called ',robot, and there is Will on his own on the poster, representing the I bit, and then there is all the robots behind him, representing the robot bit, and the name conveys to the audience that the two are against each other and the film is about his war on the robots.
Image: The image is very futuristic and dynamic, and this follows the conventions of sci-fi posters, and the image conveys what the film is based on to the audience, again following conventions. Will Smith is at the forefront of the image, and the shot of him is between a mid shot and a long shot, an they have done this as it shows that he is walking, and this conveys that he is on some sort of mission, and is ready to fight something, and this is also mirrored by his facial expression, as he has quite a determined face on and is looking at something away from camera, almost like he is looking at his enemy and is ready to fight them, and his stance reflects that, and also as he is in front of the robots, it conveys that his enemy is the robot, and that is who he is fighting against, but by putting him in front of them it suggests that he is better and stronger, and can beat him, as it makes him look powerful, as they're just an image behind him, suggesting that he can easily beat them and they're nothing to him, and if they had put him behind the robots, it would make him seem very weak and vulnerable, and would suggest that the robots were stronger. I think they have done this because the audience are not robots and want to see the human race win, and by putting him at the front it connects with the audience as they believe he can win, so they will go and see the film, and it also plays on the fear that we all have, that we are letting technology rule our life, and one day technology will control us, and by putting him at the front it is saying that we can win, and they will not control us, and this reassures the audience, and the audience can relate to him whereas they cant with the robots. The outfit he is wearing also reflects that he can win, as he is wearing a black leather coat, and this reflects the Matrix as that was what they wore, and they were very strong, and this portrays Will to be strong and smart, and with the coat you almost think of an agent, and you can also see a badge on his belt, and this conveys that he is the police, and this reassures the audience as they think the police can handle this, and it also gives him status as policemen quite high up were their own clothes, they don't wear the uniform, and as he isn't wearing a uniform it suggests he is a high ranking policeman, and he is also wearing a vest which shows his muscles, again showing him to be strong, but this also appeals to women, as the film is aimed at men, but the clothes he is wearing, and him are aimed at women. In the background you can see the robots, and you can see them far in the distance, and this is quite scary as it suggests that there are a lot of them, and that they're hiding and you cant see them, but they're there. The robots are all in perfect formation, and this is quite scary as they're so organised they can do anything, and the way they're stood is like an army, representing how there is a war going on, and as they're outside it is like they're out of control and have escaped, whereas if they had been in some sort of warehouse, it would suggest that they are not in control, but because they're outside they can do what they want. The image also has a blue tint, and this adds to the futuristic side, as blue is used on posters for sci-fi, and it makes the poster look very modern, representing the time the film is set. From the image you can see that the main target audience is men, as sci-fi films are usually aimed at men, and as the only person on there is a man, women cannot relate to the film, but men can. The image also follows conventions by conveying what the basic story of the film is to the audience.
Text: The film follows conventions by including persuasive language on the poster to attract the audience. The text says 'One man saw it coming', and this reflects the image as we can see that it was Will who saw it coming, and that he realised the robots was dangerous. The text suggests that although Will saw what was coming no one else did, and that the rest of the world is ignorant to the robots, and this is quite a scary thought for the audience, as it suggests that things could be going on now that you don't know about, and this makes the audience wonder about what they don't know, and it intrigues them as they want to see what he saw but no one else did. The text also makes him sound alone, as it says one man, it suggests that no one is helping him, as others don't know, or don't want to believe him, and it conveys to the audience that the only hope for us is this one man, and it makes us wonder in the future, will there just be one person to save us, and it attracts people to the film as they want to see how he saves us. The text also conveys the story to us, as from his we can see that the film will be about him trying to save us from the robots. The text is also in the same colour as the name, the colour is like metal, and it reminds you of robots, and this conveys how he is against the robots, the font is also like a computer, again representing the film is about technology.
Stars: The film poster has the Will Smiths name at the top, again following conventions of film posters by having the stars names at the top of the poster. The name is at the top, as that is were it is easier to see the names, and his name is there, as they want to attract people to the film, and some of his fans may not like sci-fi films, but because he is in the film they may go and see it because of that. His name is in quite big letters in bold, and as he is such a big movie star, he attracts people to every film he does, so by putting his name in bold it makes it clearer that he is in the film, and his name is in black as it stands out against the background, and the colour black is usually associated with death, and it subtly suggests that he will kill the robots and save us, making him a hero. The stars names are there as it promotes the film but it also promotes the actor, and it therefore brings more revenue to the film and the actor.
Credits: The poster follows conventions as it has the film credits at the bottom of the poster, and I have seen many film posters and the credits are always at the bottom of the poster, because they're not the main attraction of the poster, they do not want the credits to detract from the poster and take all the attention from the rest of it. The credits are in a metallic blue, representing the colour theme of the poster, and also mirroring the name and the phrase, as they're in the same colour, this colour represents a robots body, and represents the story of the film, that it is about robots.
Website: The film poster also follows conventions as it has the website for the film on it, and it is at the bottom of the poster, and in the three other posters I have analysed, I have found that they put the website at the bottom, because they would rather the audience go and see the film to find out about it, instead of looking at the website, but it is on there because if the audience choose to go on it, it still brings revenue to the film and film company. The website is also in the same colour as the other text on the poster, representing the robots, and the colour is a kind of silvery blue, and I have found that is a colour used a lot on sci-fi posters, as it looks very futuristic, and that is what sc-fi's are about.
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