Film poster analysis: 'Shutter Island' (2010)

Film poster analysis: 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

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‘Silence of the Lambs’ (1991) was directed by Jonathan Demme and stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins and Scott Glen. The movie is about a young FBI cadet who must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. ’Silence of the Lambs’ is a very intense and thrilling film with a very chilling performance from Anthony Hopkins who plays the fictional character ‘Hannibal Lector’. This film poster displays a very bold image of the main protagonist in the movie (Clarice Starling) with a somewhat demonic looking insect in front of her mouth.  The poster shows a contrast between light and dark; the woman’s face is pale white, and the around her appears to be fading to black darkness. This use of colour suggests the presence of good and evil in the film (her being good, and the surrounding environment around her being evil). The light and dark and the symbolism of good and evil are clear indicators that this film is a thriller. The title of the film, parts of the butterfly and the girl’s eyes are in red. This suggests that the film will include blood, death and danger. This is again another common thriller signifier as the colour red is often used in thriller movies. Through the posters careful use of colour this immediately lets the audience know what is in the film, and also helps to create a mysterious, sinister atmosphere which is also common in thriller films. The facial expression of the woman appears innocent and relates to the word ‘lamb’ in the title. Lambs have connotations with God and purity which may tell the audience that this movie may contain a deeper meaning and ask the question ‘Why is God failing to act against the terrible occurrences in the movie’. The title ‘Silence of the Lambs’ is interpreted into visual form in the poster as the main protagonist is representing  the lamb and the Insect over the girl’s mouth silencing her/preventing her from talking. The insect being in dark colours and also in red, suggests it is the symbol for the evil in the movie. Furthermore, there is a skull at the back of the insect which adds to the connotation of it being evil and being associated with death. This helps contribute to the mysterious and sinister atmosphere of the poster. Unlike many thriller films, the characters present in the film posters are primarily men however; they have used a woman not only as the main protagonist in the movie but have also used her face as the main image for the film poster. This shows how this film has challenged the classic thriller conventions through their use of a female protagonist instead of male.

Film poster analysis: 'Seven' (1995)

Film poster analysis: 'Jaws' (1975)

Audience Research evaluation

In depth trailer analysis: 'X-Men: First Class'

x Men First Class Trailer Analysis 

In depth trailer analysis: 'Taken'

Product Research tAKEN!


Magazine analysis

In Depth Magazine Analysis A2


Audience research: Questionnaire results

Audience Research Power Point


Risk assessment

Risk Assessment MEDIA


Film Title idea: 'DEADLINE'

Today in our lesson my group and I had thought of possible film titles we could use for our teaser trailer. We wanted a film title that was bold and interesting but most importantly stood out and would make the audience want to see the trailer. The film title ‘Deadline’ defiantly stood out to us as it was bold and matched our plot very well. The title immediately creates suspense and anxiety due to the word ‘dead’ and also tells the audience that this will be a serious film that will include violence and criminality. The word ‘line’ also gives the impression that there will be multiple killings and this therefore creates further suspense and tension.

Research: Trailer analysis of other students teaser trailers

3D Storyboard

In order for us to get a better picture of what we will be including in our film trailer we had created a ‘3D storyboard’ using jelly babies kindly provided by are teacher. When doing this 3D storyboard we had tried to create the same scenarios that were in our 2D storyboard that I had drawn. As you can see in the images below we have used different coloured jelly babies to represent different characters. Firstly, the main character Alex Moone has been represented by the yellow jelly baby as we felt this coloured represented ‘good’ in the best way. The villains in our trailer have been represented by the black jelly babies as this colour best symbolises evil. Finally, the boss in our film trailer has been represented by the orange jelly baby. The reason for this is that orange and yellow is similar colours so this could show that these two characters are allies.  

3D Storyboard

Trailer analysis: 'The Town'

‘The Town’ (2010) is a crime thriller set in Boston, Massachusetts. The film is about a long time thief who tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down. The film is directed by and also starred by Ben Affleck. This trailer relies heavily on the action in the trailer to generate suspense for the audience.

This trailer uses a variety of cinematic techniques to emphasize the action for the audience. The shots used in the trailer vary from close ups shots of the characters faces which help display their serious emotion and also help the audience to identify who the main characters in the film are. The mid-shots in the trailer facilitate the characters holding guns which tell the audience that this film will be violent and will also include crime. The location is displayed to the audience through the use of extreme long shots and mid shots of the streets, which help convey a feeling of obscurity and uneasiness for the audience. There are various shots of the main characters firing guns which tell the audience that these characters are on the wrong side of the law. The sound in this trailer starts off with a voiceover of the FBI agent interviewing the victim. This is used to immediately show that there is crime involved in this movie and also creates suspense as there is no music. When the music starts, it has low volume which creates tension and increases which creates increased tension. The music increases in tempo and the visuals of action are increased this emphasizes the gun fights and creates more atmosphere for the audience.

The target audience for this film is men between the ages of 15-30. The film includes a lot of action and crime which could make it inappropriate for younger audiences. The story of this film seems fairly simple so would probably be targeted towards mid teenagers.

Trailer analysis: 'No Country For Old Men'

‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007) is an American crime thriller which tells the story of an ordinary man who discovers a stash of heroin and $2 million in cash. This results in cat-and-mouse drama, as three men crisscross each other's paths in the desert landscape of West Texas. This film was directed by The Coen Brothers and stars Tommy lee-Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. This trailer builds up a very sinister and atmospheric feeling towards the audience through its use of cinematography and unusual sound choice.

The cinematography in the trailer ranges from mid shots of the characters and long shots which convey the western Texas landscape to the audience. The main focus of this trailer was to clearly show the audience who the main characters in this film are by using multiple mid shots of their faces. This shows the audience that this film is very serious as none of the characters are smiling or look at all happy. Most of the time the characters had guns which also tell the audience that this film will include violence and death. This immediately creates suspense and anxiety for the audience as they will want to know what has caused them to want to kill each other. As all the characters look serious it is hard to distinguish who the heroes and villains are and this again builds up the anxiety for the audience as they will want to find out more about the characters. The trailer starts of quite slow and builds up which creates tension and excitement for the audience. The sound in this trailer is very distinct and does a great job of creating unease for the audience. Non-diegetic sound of music is absent at the start which creates suspense and also emphasizes the diegetic sounds of footsteps which is another cause of tension. The music in this trailer is quite similar to those in Western films as do some of visuals. A number of String instruments have been used in the soundtrack and combine to give a very suspenseful and uneasy feeling towards the audience. This sound track also matches the visuals well as they are both very mysterious.

This trailer is most probably targeted towards men between the ages of 18-50. The reason for this is partly due to the violence and serious atmosphere conveyed in the trailer. None of the characters smile in this trailer as well which tells you that this movie is not meant to be fun rather it is meant to be realistic and extravert. The film appears to be set in the 1980s which is also another indicator that this film will most probably appeal more towards the older generation of audiences.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard I had drawn which shows just a very basic plot outline idea that we will hopefully turn into a very good teaser trailer. The plot of our trailer involves a business man called Alex Moone on his way home from a business meeting on night where he gets kidnapped and is told he must assassinate his boss in order to save his son. However Alex realises that even if he kills his boss these men will still kill him and is son so he must find and rescue his son before the deadline.

Film Poster analysis: 'Inception'



Prop ideas