Analyzing Film Posters

Analyzing Film Posters

Actual movie poster of the film "Us"

Release date: 2019

Produced by: Monkeypaw Productions, Perfect World Pictures

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Q1: What media language is used?

Color (Red and Black): Red has connotations with red and violence, Dim Gloom black background “surrounds” the character.

Composition: only 1 main subject showcased - put on focus

Color: bold red and black complementary colors

Expression (Actors Body Language): The intense facial expression of the character indicates the feeling of fear, additionally the character is seen crying which further indicates the characters agony.

Character holds a mask of themselves.

Q2: Why has this media language been chosen?

The dark, black, and opaque background that surrounds the character may indicate that there may be something or someone that may be hiding behind the character, looming in the background. This forms a sense of danger and the possibility of jumpscares that may appear out of nowhere.

The mask of themselves that the main chararacter holds may show that the character suffers from a mental disorder which causes them to have 2 contrasting & opposite “versions” of themselves. The “real” face of the character in the center presents the more fearful and sad side and at the same time also gives deeper connotations of being “over-worked, which is shown by the bloodshot red eyes and very dark eyebags. In comparison, the “idealist” mask that the character is presenting themselves with is seen with a “million dollar smile”, with taken-care of eyebrows and showing no signs of distress or fear coming from it. The lipstick worn on the mask contrasts the chapped lips of the real face, which may indicate how the real person has no time to take care of themselves and can’t present themselves the way they’d want to can be from having no time for one’s self, circling back to being “over-worked” .

The characters enlarged eyes and semi open mouth signifies feelings of terror and fear which tells the audience that there is something that the character is scared of and may “haunt” them.

The red shirt worn by the character may symbolize lots of gore/blood/violence that may appear in the film. This further propocates the idea that the film contains lots of scary scenes.

Q3: What are the audience expectations?

This poster creates an expectation of many “adrenaline rushing” moments throughout the film. The audience expects to be thrilled and on the edge of their seats throughout the film due to all the connotations of fear and violence that is shown in the poster. The audience may also expect lots of gore and violence due to its attribution to scary/thrilling movies. The “dual personality” of the main character may make the audience expect that the character goes into manic episodes, in which they cause violence and harm to the people around them.

Fonts used giving a horror vibe, most horror movies such as Annabelle or the conjuring also uses it.