Charlotte Billingham

Film Poster Analysis Sheet

Title of Film: The Illusion of Existence

Charlotte Billingham

Mise-En-Scene Codeor Convention

Detail (description & what it means)

Setting

There isn’t really a known place in the background. It is a rather dark wood background which suggests the two people are alone together meaning they don’t want to be disturbed by anyone. Also the wood background could be a representation of a dark place that no one wants to go or a representation of the unknown being behind this dark looking fence/door background. The background is rather dark suggesting that it is hiding unpleasant details from the past waiting to be uncovered. The background doesn’t really reveal much about the film.

PropsN/A

Non-Verbal Communication

The poster suggests romance due to the way in which the two characters are standing close together as if they are together. They are rather close which suggests some kind of intimate relationship or at least the start of one. The way in which the male is looking up suggests he is looking somewhere else or has other interests which fits with this bad boy stereotype to match the clothing. The way he is looking it’s almost as if he is looking up to heaven which coincidently he turns out to be in as he died. This subtly shows that he doesn’t actually exist but is only clear when the audience has actually watched the film.Mallory is staring straight at the camera as if she is looking for help or can’t see that Peter isn’t looking at her or forward either. This suggest she may be insecure especially the way she is protectively turned against peter as if she is using him to shield herself from heart break or the outside world.

Costume / Make-Up

The female character in the poster is wearing quite plain makeup suggesting she doesn’t really care much for her appearance or looking dolled up. She seems to be quite a simple person who keeps herself to herself without wanting to stand out from everyone else. Her clothes are rather plain too again suggesting she just wants to hide away and not be noticed. The burgundy purple dress she is wearing represents her wealth as the colourology for purple is royalty and riches which shows she does have some money. The gold ring on her finger also suggests wealth as it looks a rather rich expensive piece of jewelry that can only be afforded by wealthy people. It isn’t on the ring finger so there are no signs of her being married.

The male character is wearing all dark colours which suggest the bad boy look about him as the leather jacket is stereotypically an item of clothing a ‘biker boy’ would wear. This suggests he isn’t a good male to be thinking of dating. The colour black also represents death and darkness which give the mystery to this male character, revealing nothing about his personality or who he really is.

Colour

The use of purple for the title is quite a royal colour suggesting there is importance or wealth within this film which represents Mallory and the money she has as well as matching the colour of her dress within the poster.

The colours across the whole poster are rather dark suggesting this isn’t just a normal romance film, there are dark secrets within. The idea of everything being dark suggests no real plot to the storyline of the film and represents a sort of black hole where nothing is representing this idea of hidden identity.

Charlotte Billingham

Image

The way in which Mallory (female) is standing with her hand to the male’s chest suggests she is in love or has feelings for this male. She seems rather close with him however he is looking away from her as if he doesn’t really love her back. The idea of him not looking at her but still staying close suggests he likes her but he has something he is hiding that he is ashamed to tell her or as if he can’t tell her. You can tell this by his body language. She is holding him not the other way around which portrays to the audience that she wants him more than he wants her.

Language

The use of the tagline ‘Who said romance was dead?’ is a rhetorical question that the audience can only answer once they have watched the film. It is the common line that people use but in this case, it genuinely is true because as the audience find out, yes romance is dead. The register of this poster is for a wide age range no younger than 17 and upward. The actual title name is more understandable to an older audience, a child aged 5 isn’t really going to understand most of the titles words and so the register is aimed at an older audience. The poster is quite informal as it is asking the audience questions before they have even been to see the film, drawing them in to discover the answer to the question.

Typography

Again the tagline fits the storyline and is written in rather elegant romantic styled handwriting to represent the romance within eh film and the question being asked as if it is meant in a loving way when in actual fact it’s a literal question as Mallory is never told Peter is dead, she has to find it out herself. The title is in a rather serif font which represents the personality of Mallory as well as bringing out the idea of everything being an illusion, this is the style font you expect to see an illusionist use to type their name, with all the gracious flicks at the end of each letter.

Layout

Follows the conventions of a film poster including the ratings from magazine reviewers. This gives the audience the idea that the film has been approved and highly recommended by famous film reviewers which encourages audiences to go and see the film. If it gets a good rating people will want to see it! Each element of the poster can be seen with the main attention on the two characters in the middle of the poster. The title can clearly be seen and is the next biggest point in the poster down from the image in the center. Follows conventions of a typical poster when viewing existing film posters within this genre (e.g. twilight)

Charlotte Billingham