Judging
by the size of this first poster, it’s probably been designed for a billboard.
Cars often drive straight past billboards without much time to look properly,
so the lack of information also implies that it’s design is for people who
don’t have much opportunity to see it. Because of this, as much information
about the film has to be put into the poster as possible. The person featured
on the poster is big enough for anybody to see from any distance, and the bleak
colours and generally mussed look makes it obvious that he is the villain. No
name is in sight so it’s likely that these posters are directed at those who
have read the comics and recognise the character immediately. Nevertheless, the
Batman logo is behind the title of the film so that even those who don’t
recognise the villain are still aware of what branding the film had.
The
only clearly written information we get is the actors’ names and the release
date. The actors names work to advertise the film, and the exact release date
implies that it was a poster distributed very soon to when the film was due to
be released. All the text is in white so
it is very visible against the dark backdrop of the Joker’s coat. The rest of
the text is in a shade of grey down in the bottom right corner, and this
informs the viewer of the distributors, classification, and website where they
can get information of the directors and producers.
The
colour scheme of the poster stays in the theme of the Joker in that it is in
the same dark, clouded tones of his makeup. The cloudiness
behind him, however, is smoke, and, coupled with the spray of debris and the
splash of orange fire along the bottom, implies explosions and action. This
introduces the action theme of the film. Underneath his chin is the city
setting, over the top of which is the translucent “HAHA”, designed to look like
the scrawls of a madman. This links in with the Joker-themed poster. Finally,
the Batman logo behind the name of the film is a silhouette. Having the light
bursting out from behind the shape, fighting against the black, implies a sense
of hope of light overcoming dark, or good overcoming evil.
This
poster, despite the picture of Batman, is clearly Joker-centred just like the
last. There is very little text on the poster, the only clear digital writing
being the title towards the bottom. The copyright information is written in
very small writing on a black banner along the bottom of the poster. All of
this text, like the text in the last poster, is white so it is visible against
the black backdrop. The other writing is part of the image: the scratched words
over the main character’s person. All of the phrases are memorable lines that
the antagonist has in the film, and the viewer gets the idea that they’ve been
written by the antagonist because they look messy, desperate, and disorganised.
The fact that there is no other information but lots of powerful graphic design
draws attention from the audience – it’s definitely a unique poster.
The
fact that the Batman is on the poster in the first place lets the audience know
that it’s a superhero film. This picture of him is made up of joker cards from
a deck – in fact, everything about this poster in reminiscent of the Joker. The
cards are taped together to form the image of the Batman, and a blood red smile
has been spread over the bottom of his face, just like the Joker’s. Next to
this is a blood-spattered scalpel, and viewers familiar with the villain and
his backstory will know the significance of the scalpel is reflected in the
smile. Other droplets and smears of blood around the cards speak of general
horror and gore. The cards themselves look damp and dirty meaning they’re not
properly cared for or have been kept in a dank place for a while, such as the
villain’s lair.
Finally,
the Batman logo does make an appearance in this poster if
very subtly. The scratched out writing over the face of the Batman also comes
in behind the title of the film, and the obsessive “HAHA” makes up the Batman
logo, with the big ‘H’ at the top making the ears and the upside down ‘A’ at
the bottom making the tail.
This
poster is quite plain, though powerful, in comparison to the other two I’ve
chosen. It’s long and has a vague release date down the bottom, meaning that
this poster’s probably a cinema poster put up in the year of release to let
people know that the film is coming.
The
general colour scheme of the poster is dark and clouded, similar to the first
except that the smoky texture in front of these images doesn’t look so much
like smoke as it does steamed glass.
This
steam effect obscured the character from direct view, but he’s still
recognisable through his iconic bloody smile as the Joker.
The
smile isn’t straight on his face, but, in order to make it more obvious, being
smeared onto the glass in front of him. Above this is his most famous
catchphrase, “Why so serious?” This looks like it’s written in blood, too,
suggesting this stranger as the villain for the film for those that haven’t
heard of him. The red stands out very clearly against the other darker and
clouded colours
and
is also included underneath the website at the bottom of the poster in the same
scratched writing as featured in the other two posters, except this writing, as
well as being tiny, isn’t legible. All of the rest of the writing is white and
done in digital text so that it matches the colour scheme and is still visible
against the dark background. This is inclusive of the distributor logos and the
website, so people know where to go to get to the credits that aren’t included,
meaning the director and producers.
Also
visible in the background, behind the cloudiness, is the setting of the film:
the city of Gotham. The Batman logo, also in cloudy grey, is behind the title
of the film again. This is part of the film logo and lets people know what
genre and universe the film is set in. It’s also implying that although all
three posters are based on the Joker and his views, Batman is still present.
No comments:
Post a Comment