Film poster analysis

Film Poster Analysis

The title suggests that the number 7 is an important number within the film and that it has something to do with the two main characters depicted on the front. The main image is of two men who seem to be very focused.  I think it is multi-layered as the images of the characters are overlapping.  The questions raised from the main image is who are these two men and what connection do they have to each other and to the number 7. The main actors are both illuminated by light and partly obscured by shadow.  Both of their faces are half light and half dark which suggest good and bad or maybe there are two sides of these characters.  Brad Pitt looks very tense and focused with his eyes looking straight at you.  Morgan Freeman looks very calm, calculated and has no emotion on his face.  They seem to be opposites of each other which also link to light and dark. The Iconography on this poster is the title which is red which usually symbolises blood.  This feature is quite prominent in psychological thrillers.  I think the poster suggests that this film is more than one genre as it says “A nerve-jangling thriller with a gut wrenching climax!” This claim is put forward from a film magazine which suggests that this film is thought highly of. It also suggests the film is a psychological thriller/horror. I think this film offers visceral pleasures as it is clear people are going to be killed.  I think the target audience is predominantly male (60% male-40%female) but and is aimed at people aged 25- 40.  I believe this because the two main characters are male but Brad Pitt attracts female attention and because Morgan Freeman who is older appeals to the older generation. The film stars are Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman who are both household names and are showcased by the poster. Their names are at the top of the poster because it will be the first thing you see and they only showcase good well known actors. I believe when you see big names in the film industry it makes you want to see the film more as you know that they are very good at what they do. The movies tagline “Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.” This suggests that this film may have something to do with religion as it says sins which usually mean you have done something against a religion/god.  The seven ways to die suggests that each sin has a way of death that occurs when that sin is committed. I think this film has two very well known actors in Brad and Morgan Freeman who aren’t usually associated with psychological thriller films which I think is a unique selling point of this film.  Something that sets it apart from other films is that there are only two main characters as in other films of the same genre there is usually a group of people.  This is because when you have a group, they are all usually linked to each other and the intellectual puzzle is how these people are linked but with only two main characters this is much harder to do.

Critique

Illogic Animatic

Our Animatic is a collection of still images captured by a camera which were put in order from our storyboard to give us an idea of timing and if the shots we were using actually fitted together before we make our trailer.  For the completion of our Animatic we went out ten times to shoot the images we needed were at eight different locations.  The props we used consisted of an old rusty key, a clock, rope, a ribbon, a phone, a car and a load of photos.  Our main actor was within our group, and we chose her because we knew she would be reliable which may have not of been the case if we had chosen someone else outside the group.  There was one shot that we were unable to do which was of a point of view shot from the main character looking at two monitors with one of them showing her mother and the other showing her boyfriend.  We were unable to do this shot as weren’t sure how were going to get this footage onto the two monitors. We made one change which was to put a flashback image of the main actor getting good grades from the end to near the beginning after the title which showed her having a really good life.  The construction of our Animatic in the editing process was to put the shots in the order we wanted them in and we put the music in to go with the shots.  We then would adjust the shot length or music length to make it all fit together. The first title “A Girl who had everything” was chosen because we want the audience to know that this person had a great life.  She had a nice car, had good grades and was very popular in school.  This makes the situation she is in more tragic.  The next title “Trapped in a room” shows that despite all her riches she is vulnerable and has been put somewhere in which she can’t get out.  The next title “Challenged by the logic” is related to the title but it also signifies the challenges and puzzles she has to work out.  The next title “with a limited amount of time” was used to show that Nicole has a very limited amount of time to escape this place.  The titles “to win” “her” “freedom” are shown very quickly which signifies that she is in rush to get out and if she doesn’t she will be trapped forever.  The music we used makes you feel sorry and makes you have sympathy with this girl. It is slow and dark music we signifies that there is someone in the film.  Things we will improve on when we come to the making of our trailer are to make the titles shorter, and to make the music fit with what is going on a bit more.