Film Poster Analysis

I've done some more poster analysis to get a wider range of ideas for my own poster. I have analysed a poster for a film of my genre (a Sherlock Holmes poster) and a poster for a film not of my genre (a Thor film) in order to get some well-rounded points.

This poster is for the second of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes film adaptations: A Game of Shadows. It is a character poster for one of the two protagonists, John Watson.  The full Sherlock Holmes and the character’s first name, John, are both excluded from this poster, meaning it’s mostly likely been designed for use in the UK: where viewers are more likely to know the film and characters well enough from the famous book series not to need the full details. The name ‘WATSON’ is also in a cool silver font that looks a lot like steel. The metallic tones, shadows and texture put together make the name look like the letters of a printing press. This is a reference to the period the film is set in: the Victorian era. Other hints to the time period are the costume Watson is in, with his gentleman’s suit and coachman’s hat, the lack of modern buildings in the London (also hinting at a UK poster) cityscape background, and the big, heavy gun he’s sporting. The gun is made of metal and heavy bolts, and, complementing the time period, looks very old-fashioned.

This gun also begins to hint at the genre of the film. The gun suggests fighting and action. Ass the Sherlock Holmes series are about mysteries and detectives who work with the police, making this film also a crime thriller. This is evident, too, from the smoke billowing out over the Houses of Parliament. These clouds are large and so we can tell the danger is of massive proportions and it will be a big challenge for the main characters. The protagonist isn’t facing the camera, but is side-on, frowning intently at an unseen enemy on the same side of the poster as the smoke. Said smoke also matches the bleak, grey colour scheme. This blandness suggests dark tones and themes, obvious from the darkness creeping in from all four corners. The dark lighting is used over one side of the character’s face, obscuring it nearly completely, but the outline on his other side is still visible. This suggests that he has a good side, and, as he’s still in view and not wholly in shadow, that he is merely facing the bad side of the story as opposed to being it himself.

This film poster has no credits besides the simple ‘JUDE LAW’ above the character’s name. This is there to attract more of an audience. The distributor logos are in the bottom corners, however, perhaps to let viewers know that, despite the lack of information, it is a quality film. The only other piece of information the audience gets is the bright red release date, suggesting that the poster was shown close to the release of the film. This is in bright red to attract the audience’s attention against the blue undertones of the poster. Finally, the reference to Sherlock Holmes in the website, very tiny and underneath the release date, to give fans a place to go to find out more about the film. 

This poster, judging by the size and style, is likely to have been first brought out as a poster for public areas such as bus stops. There are the four names of the four main actors running along the top to attract wider audiences with their fans – especially the very famous Anthony Hopkins with his very important character’s name, Odin, next to his own. These names are in plain black so that they stand out properly against the white-yellow sky background. Down at the bottoms, where the colours get darker, the text gets lighter. The name of the film, ‘THOR’, is the largest text on the poster, and the letters are decorated with the same pattern that adorns the main character’s iconic hammer. The golden outline to the letters suggests royalty, riches, or maybe a sort of ‘silver lining’ as the subtitle ‘THE DARK WORLD’ underneath it is also in gold. This title is smaller, perhaps because audiences will be much more aware of the Thor part than the second part. This second part is in light colours as the poster fades to black. In contrast to the actors’ names in black along the top, the credits and release date are in white. This is so they are noticeable but obviously not part of the film or in the theme of the film. Included just below this text is a tiny link to the film’s Facebook page. This could be small because they expect the audience to be older and have read the comics. Although the release date is vague, the audience get a real feel for the film from everything going on in the poster through the chaos.

The ‘MARVEL’ logo is included twice – once above the film title, in colour, and once below the credits, in white. The first is give the audience reassurance, and acts as a kind of mark of quality along with the actors’ names. It also lets the audience know the genre of the film: superheroes and action. This action theme is also obvious from the debris flying across the screen (but not obstructing the view of the main characters) seemingly from an explosion. This explosion is more likely when reconsidering the colour of the sky in the background. Against these firey colours is an alien ship, dark against the pale colouring and so obviously of the enemy. The colour scheme changes from blindingly bright to dark and dim halfway down the poster, meaning lots of different colours are used, but this is hardly noticeable as they are all fairly washed out – all except for Thor’s iconic red cape. The costumes themselves suggest a historic time period in contrast to the modern scene of the City of London that is seen in the background. This major city is a popular location and, seeing as the first film was set in New Mexico, draws attention and curiosity from the audience.