Poster Analysis

One of the posters I have chosen to analyse is the Baby Driver poster which was released in early 2017:

This poster uses pink, which connotes love, as its main color- this could suggest that 'love' is a main theme of the film and perhaps some of the plot revolves around the main character being in love. Another color used on the poster is red, which connotes anger and violence- as seen on  Jamie Foxx's jacket- there is also tattoo of a gun on his hand which suggests that he is a violent and dangerous character and this helps solidify violence as a main theme of the film.   A Muscle Car is also seen racing away from the police across the highway into the distance:  this could suggest that another theme of the film is 'escape'- perhaps from criminal life or from regular life as shown by the contrast between the casually dressed Angel Elgort and Lily James who is dressed as a waitress when compared to John Hamm's character who is shown next to them aiming a assault rifle. These two used in contrast suggests that conflict is another main theme of the film- perhaps between the characters criminal lives and their regular lives.

The road is in the centre of the poster, attracting the audience's attention to the police chase taking place on it: this frames the importance of the car chases in the film and tells the audience that this is a film about a getaway driver.  This also tells us that us that crime is one of the main themes of the film.  The cast shown in a montage shows the audience who is in the film and gives the audience an idea about the characters - this montage also hints at major plot points in the film, such as the the ear buds that the most prominently displayed character 'Baby' (Ansel Elgort) has an interest in music. Kevin Spacy's character is shown wearing a suit which, in comparison to the more casual or tactical military outfits the other characters are shown wearing, could imply that he is in a position of power above the group.

The film prominently displays the names of the cast and the director. Edgar Wright is a very well known director who has made hit comedies in the past, his name will attract fans of his previous films such as Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead to see his new film. Kevin Spacy, Jamie Foxx and John Hamm are also very well known actors whose name recognition should help attract fans of their films to this new movie. The font that 'Baby Driver' is written in is very similar to the writings on American road signs which further suggests the importance of the driving aspect of the film.



The second poster I have chosen to analyse is for another popular movie from 2017, John Wick 2:

Though this poster doesn't have that many elements, it does clearly show the audience what the movie is about.  The poster depicts John Wick (Keanu Reeves) standing directly facing the camera and surrounding him are many hands holding guns pointed directly at him. The faces of the men holding the guns are obscured.  This could have been done to imply that he doesn't know who's after him. The sheer amount of guns pointed at him also implies that he has many enemies and he is one against many.  His calm demeanour implies that he feels confident against this threat and perhaps he is trained to combat them.  The cuts on his face imply that the fight has been hard.

The poster is striking because of the dark colour of the background contrasting with the white lettering for the film's title and the name of the lead actor and the teasing "coming soon".   The dark colour scheme is very typical of the action movie genre.  There is not much use of colour, the colour red is used for "Chapter 2" and the blood on Keanu Reeve's face.

This poster is effective, because, though simple, it is striking.  The fact that it is a poster for a sequel means that it will attract the same audience who watched and enjoyed the first John Wick movie, and the fact that it mentions Keanu Reeves, means that it will attract fans of his previous action movies such as "The Matrix".