Textual Analysis of Three Examples- Magazine Covers

Textual Analysis-Poster: Django Unchained

This poster is for the 2012 film, Django Unchained. The interesting thing about this poster that strays from convention is its reliance on the expectation of the film. Straight away the audience notices that there is no title for the film. Instead, it is advertised as 'the new film by Quentin Tarantino'. For a lot of people, this piece of information would have already sold the movie to them since Tarantino is such a praised director. This confidence in its creative team is further shown with the release date of christmas being shown. This will ensure that the film will be talked about for having its release on christmas, since it is such an uncommon date but at the same time it will ensure a new year box office.

The poster gives only essential information about the film away. The poster sticks to a very minimalist layout. The colours associated with the film are the base of the poster, using reds and darker reds. These colours offer connotations to violence and blood. The use of these connotations set the tone for the story, showing revenge and blood for blood. The two main characters are put in the front of the poster, although we cannot see details of these characters, we can assume their identity after watching trailers related to the film. We can see a chain in the centre of the poster. This shows the aspect of Django becoming a free man after being enslaved. The poster also does a great job of establishing the genre of the film. The washed out effect of the poster give the impression that it is old. The use of font type combines with this in order to give the impression that this film is a western.

To conclude, the poster gives away minimal information but at the same time guarantees that large audiences will go see the film. Quentin Tarantino is made to be the focus of the poster which will draw all types of film fans to the project. Genre is established clearly with the expectation of Tarantino's unique violence and revenge story telling. We can see other key story elements such as the two main characters and the broken chain which suggests freedom.

Textual Analysis- Film Poster: Fight Club

This poster for fight club manages to take themes and plot points directly from the film and communicate them subtly to the audience. The most notable aspect of the poster is the minimalist approach. The image consists only of the Narrator and Tyler Durden, with the names of the actors and director as well as a title. No company label or relation can be seen on this cover. This is done as a reference to the characters hatred of mainstream ideology and influence of major cooperations. As a result the poster goes against conventions in order to reflect this rebellious nature of the film. The title is placed at an unusual angle and size, dark and gritty colours are used, the characters are roughed up and bloody, and the surface of the poster appears to be scratched up and worn. This acts in complete contrast to the typical ideas of the shiny and high production value posters that are often released with films that show the companies that made the film.

Upon deep analysis of the poster, the audience can extract some key details from the film as a result. The positioning of the poster indicates the major reveal at the end of the film with the character's shared identities. This is shown from the framing of the poster. A close up shot of the two has been used where normally one head would usually feature. This shows how both characters are competing for the same headspace in the way that they do in the film. The injuries of the characters are shown on the same area of the face. Tyler is put in the foreground of the poster in order to show how he is the dominant personality meanwhile the Narrator is place to the back in the shadows.

To conclude, this poster is able to establish the tone for the film and explore different themes that are featured within the film. The use of framing, lighting, injuries and soap all depict major components of the film. It raises questions that the audience will need to see the film in order to answer. People who are aware of Fight Club's story will appreciate the way that certain areas of the poster are chosen specifically to hint at a major plot development. The overall visual style and minimalism show the themes of rebellion and going against social norms. We can also see that the poster is targeting an older audience from the gritty and non-censored appearance.

Textual Analysis- Film Poster: Birdman

This image does a great job of intriguing audiences before they go and see the film. People who are unfamiliar with the story that Birdman is telling will not be able to make sense of the poster. In order to achieve a good amount of audience interest, the poster features the leading man, Michael Keaton, in the foreground of the poster. The big cast theme within the film is continued as the lower centre of the poster features the top cast members. This encourages those who are maybe unfamiliar with the film to watch the film because they are fans of the big cast. This list of cast members is featured above the title, which is not common in posters but it manages to draw the attention of the audience to this key selling point.

The poster features an artists rendition of Michael Keaton with the character of Birdman on his head. The title of the film may suggest that this is a superhero film. The typical basis for a superhero film would show the character in his superhero suit with action around him/her. This poster takes the opposite approach by keeping a very minimalist approach with Michael Keaton in a brown suit. This approach highlights some of the satirical elements to the film surrounding the comic book industry. Birdman is instead placed in the background compared to Keaton. The miniature Birdman is placed on Keatons head in order to show how the character is a burden to him and is always weighing on his mind. This is a massive part of the story as Michael Keaton's character is struggling to succeed within his acting career after his run of playing a superhero has caused him to become washed up. The identity of Birdman is something that always plays on his mind and is burdened by the personality of the character throughout the film, which explains why Birdman is perched on his head.

To conclude, the poster for Birdman is purposely kept simplistic but layered in it's meaning. It manages to get past the hurdle of those expecting a low quality superhero film from initially reading the title. The poster focuses on its star power by putting them front and centre which helps to grant some faith of the audience, while increasing the expected quality of the film. People can see that this is a film that focuses on drama and satirical elements of the superhero industry. The overall result is a very simple yet informative poster that will grab audience attention in anticipation for a good film.