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5: Reading Media 

Analyze Movie Posters

Movie Genres 2.jpg

For this assignment students will be asked to determine the GENRE (and/or sub-genre) of a film by reading (decoding) the visual elements in it's movie poster. Students will also be asked to judge the effectiveness of promoting the film, while also being aesthetically pleasing. 

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For the purpose of this assignment, I have made a Genre cheat sheet, posted beside and below this text. Under each Genre heading there is a list of sub-genres, or elements that are common within the genre.  I have also grouped some genres for the sake of ease. 

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This cheat sheet provides 10 GENRES: Action/ Adventure, Comedy, Horror/ Thriller, Science Fiction/ Fantasy, Western, Romance, Documentary, Drama, Musical/Dance, Crime.

 

I have collected 83 posters for movies coming out in 2021. These have been provided below, in small thumbnails, and in a larger gallery to the bottom right of this page. 

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Movie Genres 2.jpg
whats_buried_in_the_backyard
water_man
med_tango_shalom
med_yes_day
med_thunder_force
med_secret_agent_dingledorf_and_his_trus
med_seaspiracy
med_psycho_goreman_ver3
med_raya_and_the_last_dragon_ver2
med_ravine
med_owners
med_outside_the_wire
med_obituary_of_tunde_johnson
med_old
med_nameless_days
med_music
med_my_name_is_pauli_murray
med_moxie
med_more_than_miyagi_the_pat_morita_stor
med_mortal_kombat_ver4
med_making_sense
med_mortal_kombat_ver2
med_kings_man_ver5
med_magic_max
med_luca
med_jungle_cruise
med_if_not_now_when
med_ghostbusters_afterlife
med_harry_chapin_when_in_doubt_do_someth
med_golden_arm
med_extinct
med_free_guy_ver2
med_fanny_the_right_to_rock
med_finding_you
med_cosmic_sin_ver2
med_cowboys
med_dr_birds_advice_for_sad_poets
med_dreamcatcher
med_broken
med_chaos_walking_ver2
med_barb_and_star_go_to_vista_del_mar_ve
med_broadcast_signal_intrusion
med_american_skin_ver2
med_bad_trip
med_alpha_rift
med_army_of_the_dead
med_alphas
med_addams_family_two
med_adverse
med_alpha_rift (1)
tom_and_jerry_ver5
songbird_ver4
idiots_and_angels
test_pattern
james_the_second
lena_and_snowball
happily
separation
little_things_ver2
young_hearts
wake_of_light
voyagers_ver6
dark_state
crisis
med_map_of_tiny_perfect_things_ver2
med_four_good_days
space_jam_a_new_legacy_ver9
night_house
without_remorse_ver2
mitchells_vs_the_machines
spirit_untamed
suicide_squad_ver23
stowaway
run_hide_fight
godzilla_vs_kong_ver14
other_lamb_ver2
justice_league_ver54
belly_of_the_beast
pursuit
billie_eilish_the_worlds_a_little_blurry
independents
biggie_i_got_a_story_to_tell
willys_wonderland

Most people can intuitively guess what Genre a movie is by looking at the poster, and to be honest, if you can't guess, then the poster is not very effective. But, the question is how, and why, does the poster get you to guess the genre?  This is where we answer questions to find evidence, and make explicit the elements that go in to visual storytelling in a print image. 

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Questions about the conventions of a poster

key image • film title • slogan or tagline • famous actors

                                     

  • What is the film title?

  • What is the film slogan or tagline?

  • How does the tagline work (humour, pun, alliteration)?

  • What font/ typeface is used and what does it connote? 

  • What objects or figures are included in the foreground and background? What are their expressions? (sad, happy, angry,)

  • Are the objects/figures represented by photo, graphics, or illustration? How is lighting/ colour used in these representations?

  • Are there any symbols or visual metaphors? Do you need audience foreknowledge to decode the symbols? 

  • Is a famous person used to as enticement? If so Who?

  • WHAT GENRE DO YOU THINK THIS FILM IS?

 

 

Final Analysis:

I believe this film is in the genre of ______________ because………

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whats_buried_in_the_backyard
water_man
med_tango_shalom
med_yes_day
med_thunder_force
med_secret_agent_dingledorf_and_his_trus
med_seaspiracy
med_psycho_goreman_ver3
med_raya_and_the_last_dragon_ver2
med_ravine
med_owners
med_outside_the_wire
med_obituary_of_tunde_johnson
med_old
med_nameless_days
med_music
med_my_name_is_pauli_murray
med_moxie
med_more_than_miyagi_the_pat_morita_stor
med_mortal_kombat_ver4
med_making_sense
med_mortal_kombat_ver2
med_kings_man_ver5
med_magic_max
med_luca
med_jungle_cruise
med_if_not_now_when
med_ghostbusters_afterlife
med_harry_chapin_when_in_doubt_do_someth
med_golden_arm
med_extinct
med_free_guy_ver2
med_fanny_the_right_to_rock
med_finding_you
med_cosmic_sin_ver2
med_cowboys
med_dr_birds_advice_for_sad_poets
med_dreamcatcher
med_broken
med_chaos_walking_ver2
med_barb_and_star_go_to_vista_del_mar_ve
med_broadcast_signal_intrusion
med_american_skin_ver2
med_bad_trip
med_army_of_the_dead
med_alphas
med_addams_family_two
med_adverse
med_alpha_rift (1)
songbird_ver4
tom_and_jerry_ver5
test_pattern
idiots_and_angels
james_the_second
lena_and_snowball
happily
separation
little_things_ver2
young_hearts
wake_of_light
voyagers_ver6
dark_state
crisis
med_map_of_tiny_perfect_things_ver2
med_four_good_days
space_jam_a_new_legacy_ver9
night_house
without_remorse_ver2
mitchells_vs_the_machines
spirit_untamed
suicide_squad_ver23
stowaway
run_hide_fight
godzilla_vs_kong_ver14
other_lamb_ver2
justice_league_ver54
belly_of_the_beast
billie_eilish_the_worlds_a_little_blurry
pursuit
independents
biggie_i_got_a_story_to_tell
willys_wonderland
Movie poster Analysis Example_Page_2.jpg
Movie poster Analysis Example_Page_1.jpg
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