By Lauren

Public Enemies Poster Analysis

There are a total of 5 different film posters for Public Enemies, however, I will analyse the main one.

The ImageKey Images:The key image is the main protagonist standing in the middle of a road holding a gun. He is in the foreground and is central to the image which suggests he plays an important role in the film. The significance of him being central to the image with not much around him suggests that he is an independent character and his stance and the fact that he is holding a gun further implies that he could be a character of importance or high regard and could potential be dangerous. Stars:By using Johnny Depp as the key image on the film poster with no other images to distract us enables us to be drawn straight to him. The framing of the medium long-shot enables him to appear ‘larger than life’ in contrast to his surroundings and to further our attention towards him. The purpose of this is for the production company to show off who the main star of the film is and show they have a world class A-list actor who appeals to a wide audience.Mise-en-scene:The setting of the poster is on a typical Chicago street in 1933 during the Great Depression period with high gangster crime. We know it is set in America by the American flags in the background. The old fashioned cars and costumes also depict that the film is set within a particular time period. Props such as the gun and tailored suit suggest it’s of the crime genre. The image has a filter which has reduced the colour pigmentation to appear bleak and dated. This is significant of a neo-noir film.Ultimately, it appears that the film is tailored towards males but Johnny Depp as the leading star could attract his female fan base.

The Text

Research says that Michael Mann is a “control freak perfectionist” in every area of crafting a movie and got artist Neville Brody to commission a special font for the movie.

“Michael Mann understands the power of a good title sequence and always commissions his own. For Public Enemies, he wanted a font that evoked the Depression era, so I got inspiration from publicity posters for Roosevelt’s New Deal initiative.”

The typeface used is called “New Deal” and was inspired by 1930’s era typography but Brody wanted to make it look modern. It also has similar connotations to Soviet style typography which is significant

to the crime genre as the inspiration behind the font revolves around politics, as the protagonist in the film is involved in breaking the law and the political movement of the Great Depression.

The colouring of the title graphics are of a white and silver tone, giving the title an industrial look. It gives nothing away about the romance which occurs in the film and the colours make it appear like steel, inferring coldness and lack of emotion. It complements the bleak filter which is used on the poster images and the theme of neo-noir. Johnny Depp is the main actor and his name is placed above the title in a much smaller font and the supporting actor Christian Bale and actress Marion Cotillard are placed below the title. This signifies the importance and the hierarchy of the actors/actresses roles in the film. The fonts are smaller to not detract from the title.

The Text- continuedThere are two versions of the font; normal and compressed-light. The main title is in

‘normal’ and the credit block is in ‘compressed-light’ as there is a lot of information to fit in.

- New Deal Normal- Looks bolder- A white bright colour- Stands out- a strong

image- Title has to have a big

enough impact to stay in the minds of the audience

- New Deal Compressed-light

- Dark grey colour- Text is thin- Blends in with the dark

background- Most important information

e.g. release date is in ‘Normal’ and is white and bold.

Main Title Credit Block

Both fonts are written in ‘sans serif’. A reason for this is because ‘serif’ look decorative and fancy as it has flourishes or ‘tails and flags’ however, Public Enemies is a film packed with primarily action and crime so ‘serif’ would not fit with the theme. ‘Sans serif’ fits more with the genre because it looks modern, bold and tough. Also, ‘sans serif’ is harder to read, as ‘serif’ is reminiscent of handwriting and our brain doesn’t take as long to process. This means people who read the title may have to process it longer, and may remember it better. Finally, the word ‘enemies’ implies that the film will involve lots of different people with conflicting ideas and therefore, action.

The NarrativeFrom first glances at the poster, 5 things stand out: the main protagonist, the gun, the American flags, the cars and the title. These clues set up an initial idea of what the genre is about. Like most film posters, they allow narrative enigma for the audience to add their own interpretation until they see the film. An enigma is presented in this poster as it is not entirely clear who the protagonist is looking at, who they are and what they are setting out to do. However, like many other neo-noir films and crime films, the gun tells us that crime may be prominent in the film. Like I stated on the first slide, his fixed and strong stance and the gun could imply that he is a character of high importance and regard and could be dangerous. His body language shows he is confident as he is standing tall and open and his centralised position on the poster and ‘larger than life’ appearance furthers this. He seems relaxed as his free hand is not tensed suggesting that he is not frightened or scared by what he does. His facial expression shows he’s sure of what he is doing and he is concentrated but at the same time he appears mischievous as he is smiling slightly with his eyes and mouth. These attributes leave us to gather the impression that the character may have a deceiving and dishonest personality. His appearance shows that he is a successful and maybe artful criminal. He is wearing a tailored suit and looks professional and presentable, meaning he must have a lot of money. As he is the only character shown, it could signify his independence, which is a common idea in the film as he is always wanted and on the run from someone.

The ColourThe main colours in the poster are grey, black and white. The only slight bit of colour is the red and blue stripes on the American flag.The poster hasn’t been edited into ‘Black and White’ otherwise the image would look dull and lack character. A slight bit of colour in the poster makes it seem more realistic. The neo-noir genre; unlike film-noir, doesn’t require the image to be black and white. The colouring of public enemies though, tries to link the two genres together.

In order to achieve a greyish image they have reduced the level of saturation and temperature. By doing this, they don’t lose all of the colour in the image and can adjust selected areas which receive more colour.

The colours in the poster have specific connotations attached with them and are always chosen for a specific reason. Relating to this poster alone the colours mean: Black- connotations of strength, sincerity and negativity (i.e. Crime and death)Grey- connotations of numbness, loss and depression (i.e. The Great Depression, no sensitivity towards victims of crime)White- loss (also used as a contrast to the protagonist’s clothing)

The Camera Distance

A medium-long shot is used in order to show the majority of the protagonist’s body. It is also used as it was important to capture the gun, however his feet are cut off as they wouldn’t add anything to the picture and would waste space.

A medium-long shot enables the audience to see him in detail but also get a perspective of his surroundings. It also enables the audience to establish that he is isolated and alone.

The camera angle seems to not be eye level and appears to be of a slight low angle. This enables like I said before, for the protagonist to appear ‘larger than life’ and therefore make him seem powerful and bigger than his surroundings. Furthermore, his whole stature extends from the top to the bottom of the image, which enables him again to appear large and make him stand out the most on the poster.

The Anchorage

Definition: when you add a caption- or any typed writing to give meaning to the image or enhance the meaning it has.

On this poster there are no captions apart from the main important information of the title, stars, release date and the credit block.

A reason for this could be as there is no appropriate place to put any additional text, otherwise the image would look too overcrowded as the protagonist fills the majority of the space.

The Lighting

The image displays features of both Chiaroscuro and Notan lighting.

The image displays Chiaroscuro lighting as there is a main light source coming from behind the protagonist, creating shadows of the cars and a contrast between the light buildings and his dark clothing. It could also be used to add to the tense atmosphere of crime-ridden America.

However, the lighting has been constructed to be natural looking and it appears that their could be many light sources from above as the car shadows aren’t extended. Therefore, Notan lighting has been used to make the image appear as natural and realistic as possible.

The LayoutThe image of the protagonist and his surroundings are blended in to appear naturally, but so that perspective is altered so he appears larger than his surroundings. There is a sense of realism as the road gets wider as it meets to the camera as does the buildings and gives a realistic perspective. It gives the impression that in the background the two edges of the road get closer to each other. The link between the road and the protagonist is important as it adds a sense of spatial relationships and enables the audience to psychologically realise that the protagonist is close to the camera and his surroundings are much further behind him. This links with the idea that he has a lot of power and hence, the theme of crime in the film as he is always one step ahead of the police. This poster is portrait, however, there is a landscape version too (shown below).

The text is all placed at the bottom of the poster to detract as little as possible from the main picture and to prevent the poster from looking overcrowded.

The Written Text

In the credit block, it gives us information of the director of the film, the cast, its certificate, its distribution company (Universal) and people involved in the production of the film.The credit block also lists an official website which is bolded, along with the release date of the film. It has an official website because it is not an independent film, and their budget of $100m enabled them to afford a website, along with having a large conglomerate distributor.

Having Universal as their distributor could mean that their target audience is to reach the mass mainstream audience and may not suit people who prefer independent art house films. The graphics of the poster also indicate that the film may be more suited to the male audience who like films with action and violence.