Preliminary Poster Analysis

This is a main poster. The name of the main actor is clearly shown at the top of the poster a long with his character shown with contrasting colours which may indicate that the film is evil and dangerous. This is an indirect mode of address as the character is focused on the action in the film as in this shot he may be in danger. The motto at the bottom gives an indication as to what the film is about, however, its placement is at the bottom so the viewer reads everything before, it is also in bold unlike the main title which may mean the motto is significant. The image of the of the '6' looks mystical with a figure coming out of it the strong colour makes it seem scary and also very powerful. This poster also makes it clear who the star is by making the stars name at the top of the poster with them also being the image.

This is a main film poster for Orphan. The caption at the top strongly relates to the image and it is made in bold capitals so it straight away catches the eye. The character in the image is given low lighting especially around her eyes which are darkened and seem to have the same black colour which may represent evil in the girl, her eyes are looking straight out of the poster and this makes the onlooker feel what its like to be in the presence of this girl. Also her expression makes her seem emotionless and powerful, her lack of emotions makes her seem more intimidating as usually a child would be full of emotion which would allow people to relate to this in real life. Furthermore, her clothes strongly relate to the title of the film, she is wearing stereotypical clothes associated with orphans this adds more effect to the title. The title itself is written in an unusual font and this may relate to the girl being unusual, the poster also shows no characters only the orphan, this makes her the centre of attention and the main attraction of the film. Additionally, the red bold writing is made directly to the viewer of the poster and it makes them feel part of the film and more directly in contact with the girl.

Semiotics

Recently I have learnt about semiotics. The first thing we learned was that a sign equals a signified (concept) and that in turn creates a signifier (symbol/icon), for example, S.H.A.R.K when we think of a shark we see this

After we moved on the the meaning of a sign or image. I learnt the terms Denotation and Connotation. Denotation means the literal meaning of the signified or concept, the term connotation means when a sign refers to the meanings associated with the signified or concept. So for the shark the denotative meaning would be, predator, fish. On connotative level the shark means, killer, aggressive, powerful, etc. 

Iconic, Symbolic and Indexical

Iconic, Symbolic and Indexical signs take how we look at images further. An iconic sign is where the signifier looks like the signified, an symbolic sign is where the link between the signifier and signified is culturally learned and indexical is where the signifier is evidence of the symbol.

An example of an iconic image is: 

Here the image looks like the concept so it is iconic of a ball.

An example of a symbolic sign is:

This sign has had to have been learned in order to understand its meaning, the signifier and signified must be learned.

An example of an indexical sign is:

This image is not arbitrary but it is directly connected in some way to the signified, this link can be observed or inferred, for example in this image there are natural signs of footprints in the sand.

Polysemy and Anchorage

Furthermore, Polysemy means many possible meanings, an image shown can create numerous views and different opinions on a given image.  

This image can be given various views and opinions, for example, is this image showing police brutality, is the protester forcing the violence or are the police trying to restrain the protesters.

Finally, Anchorage restricts the possible meanings, for example an image could have a caption which restricts the viewer to a dominant or preferred reading. So in this image if a caption said 'protester violence' the reader or viewer will have a restricted reading. 

Trailers first impressions

I liked the looked of this movie from the trailer as it gave a strong sense of mystery a long with drama. Throughout the trailer there is a strong sense of suspense as there is a race against time to find the children, the crime aspect is interesting as the policeman is under pressure as the main suspect was released as no evidence could be found. As a result, the father of one of the children takes it upon himself to find the children adding a dramatic twist there is also a strong sense of morality in the trailer as both the suspect and the father have to see whether what they are doing is right. The race against time makes this trailer full of action.

The trailer for American Psycho showed the character (Patrick Bateman) to be a very unusual man, he is shown to be an intelligent well presented person but he is also a psychotic killer who rapes and murders acquaintances and strangers. Despite this his character seems very like-able, his laid back approach and comedic approach to his killing and general life makes it good to watch. The trailer also shows him to be very unemotional which adds to the comedic value of the film, his various character traits make this film chilling and exciting.

Media AS Introduction

Hi, my name is Alex and I am currently studying at Collingham. I am currently studying English Literature, History and Media. This year for media coursework I will be working on an opening sequence to a thriller.