5: Reading Media
Analyze Movie Posters
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.
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.
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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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.
Questions about the conventions of a poster
key image • film title • slogan or tagline • famous actors
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What is the film title?
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What is the film slogan or tagline?
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How does the tagline work (humour, pun, alliteration)?
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What font/ typeface is used and what does it connote?
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What objects or figures are included in the foreground and background? What are their expressions? (sad, happy, angry,)
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Are the objects/figures represented by photo, graphics, or illustration? How is lighting/ colour used in these representations?
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Are there any symbols or visual metaphors? Do you need audience foreknowledge to decode the symbols?
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Is a famous person used to as enticement? If so Who?
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WHAT GENRE DO YOU THINK THIS FILM IS?
Final Analysis:
I believe this film is in the genre of ______________ because………
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