Poster Analysis By Curtis

Berberian Sound Studio 

Berberian Sound Studio is a 2012 British Independent film which had 8 Nominations and 4 wins including Best Achievement in Production & Best Actor. 

It is Directed and written by Peter Strickland, as well as starring Toby Jones. 

• The poster has a slogan underneath the Main Title "A NEW WORLD OF SOUND AWAITS YOU", this connotes an idea that the film is about 'Sound', there is a change of events and something bad happens to do with a new sound? This slogan is really indirect and a great device as it makes the audience question it. 
• "A FILM BY PETER STRICKLAND" is displayed above the title to notify an Peter Strickland fans that this is his film. A device used to advertise the film through his fan-base. 
• On the right of the poster is the festivals that it as selected for in terms of film 2012, this is done in white on black to to help it stand out. 
• The actors names appear on the poster, the majority of which are in the credit block, however the main character "Toby Jones" is places just above this is a larger font.
• At the bottom is the films social pages as well as the films website, followed by the films distribution company 'Artificial Eye'.
• The title is obviously the largest text on the page in order for this to be the first thing that the audience reads when they first look at it, the font for this title is slightly slanted, connoting that this film is a 'crooked' journey. 

Genre

• The Genre for this particular British Independent film is Horror, this is portrayed through the poster by the colours, black and red are typically used to create a dark eerie visual look as well as implementing fear, the dark background which shadows around the characters on the poster could connote a dark theme for the film. Also the imagery is used in a very symbolic way, the closeup of a very serious man is almost without emotions as if he is portrayed to be a cold hearted man and appears to be splitting in half with of what it seems to be a females head who is looking very worried almost to indicate something dangerous and fearful has happened to hear. "Nightmarish" as quoted from the review from the Empire magazine review in the top right of the newspaper which shows that this film is what you would imagine in your nightmares. 

Representation

• In terms of representation i believe they have left a lot to the imagination as the images are closeup of the characters, as a result this does not give away much Mis en scene of which i would usually use to connote an idea. However from what is being displayed on the poster it seems that the man represents a more upper class background as he seems to have a suit, white shirt and tie maybe indicating he has a higher power job.
• Being a horror and the male character being the main, it is quite easy to form the conception that the male character or character's dominate the film in terms of gender. 

Audience 

• Overall the main audience that this film is aimed at are fans of horror movies, I would say a more mature audience type due to the review type at the top of the poster, one from the Empire Magazine & one from the Telegraph newspaper. Both these newspaper and magazine are more aimed at knowledge and they go more in depth into the news story's, as a result meaning more well educated upper class citizens is the target audience. 

Media Language

• The use of lighting in this poster produces a very dark, dramatic atmosphere towards the film. The black background provides an element of unknown, this mixed with the shadowing on the male characters head connotes an illusion that he is fading into the darkness or he is a dark, mysterious man who is hiding something. 
• Facial expression plays a vital part in this poster, the contrast of his very serious face with the very terrified look on the females breaking through creates mixed emotions. Almost indicating that these to have some sort of meeting point or relationship in the movie, the female probably being the victim.

Cleanskin

Cleanskin is a British Thriller set in London about a secret service agent who has been assigned a task to eliminate a british born terrorist. (2012)

I have picked this film because like our short film we are producing, it is a thriller, so it would be good to analyse the techniques used. 

• The poster has a tagline "FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE" this is in red font to indicate danger and violence, in terms of meaning it provides an understanding that in order to fight against something you must fight it with the same thing, in this instance murder. 
• A release date has been included to provide the date it is out at the cinema, you will find a lot of posters do not have the exact date if they are really big mainstream films because they have to be released at different time worldwide, however in this circumstance this is a british film so this is the time it came out in the UK. The font is red also to stand out and to match the colour scheme. 
• "Sean Bean" the main actors name who is displayed on the poster is in relatively large font just below the shoulder causing an almost white on black appearance to stand out, this shows people who do not know who he is an indication that's him. As for the other actors, they are positioned in the content block at the bottom along with the production company, distribution company and all the main people who were involved in the film. 
• Just below the big caption of "Sean Bean" is a title saying "A film by Hadi Hajaig" which is reaching out to any audience who are fans of some of his work in the past who may be interested in seeing some more material from this director. 
• Along the bottom of the poster there is a Facebook name for anyone who wants to like the page on there (a device used to spread the word) along with the Warner Bros. Production company logo in the corner.
• The main images works really well with the background, the imagery blended into the mans torso could indicate that this crime which is going on is 'burning him inside' (explosion/destruction and murder) which is merged with a dark jacket, this then contrasts to a very bright almost cloudy background meaning that there is a brighter future ahead, 
• All the text is perfectly in line which makes the poster look very formal and professional, the text is very direct and in a centre alignment.

Genre

• The Genre for this film is thriller, this is determined through colouring, imagery and text. The colouring consists mainly of whites, black and reds indicating that all though there is normality, along the way there is violent events. The Main image is a seriously expressed man on his own with a gun in his hand, again linking with the genre of a thriller, an event is occurring within the blended imagery of the mans torso showing an exciting event of which seems to be an act of murder. The slogan "FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE" expresses a vey action orientated film almost indicating a missionary based theme.

Representation 

• From this poster i can see that this film is representing an upper class secret agent through the use of props (gun) and the costuming (leather gloves, smart black trousers, expensive jacket & scarf) also representing city London through the use of the stereotypical buildings we as the audience generally associate with London on the poster.

Audience

• From this poster you can determine that this film is aimed at the more male adult market, you can derive this from the poster as it is clear it had a lot of violence in it (man shooting another in the image) which would not be suitable for the younger generation as well as a more complex crime/thriller storyline through the formal layout and the imagery used. Furthermore is also has an audience for any fans of the crime/thriller genre, the director and/or the main actor Sean bean. 

Media Language

• Using a long shot for the main image of Sean Bean gives us a full frontal view of the kind of character he is (agent), displays him as the main character, shows he is going after someone or something. It also leave much to the imagination as we don't know if he is playing the good or the bad guy. 
• The prop in this post being the gun plays a vital part in this poster, this provide the audience with the information that he is involved in some sort of crime, he looks like he can use it, it seems to be silenced which means he is going to kill someone but doesn't want to get caught? 
• In terms of clothing he seems very well dressed, formal yet intimidating. In all black to conclude he may be on a dark journey or he does his business in the dark so he may not want to be seen. 
• The characters body language is very calm, he is comfortable with the gun in his hand, almost as if he has done it before. In terms of facial expression he seems very calm also, slightly serious and determined to finish business.