Film Poster Analysis - 'Black Swan'

 

Black Swan (2010) - Darren Aronofsky

 

• The poster for Black Swan goes against typical genre conventions by using a bright white background rather than a dark coloured background that has been used in many other psychological thriller posters such as Shutter Island and Before I Go To Sleep. This may have been done to persist with the overall theme and genre of the storyline.

• However, they have still used the colour scheme of white and red but have added the colour black in as well. These colours have been used in a different way that the usual conventions as they present the poster in a more simplistic manner whilst still making it appear mysterious and disturbing.

 

• Using a black font for the title "Black Swan" connotes the storyline of  the film by the use of black and white colours whereas all the other text featured is a pale, brown colour which doesn't stand out quite as much as the black text, making it look less prominent and drawing more attention to the title.

• The strong use of the contrasting colours black and white continues to persist with the theme of the film by having strong connotations for each of these opposite colours. For example, purity and innocence are connoted with the white, swan like colours and the black connoting the protagonists dark transformation from the white swan to the black swan.

• The style of font used is more thin and precise which looks more delicate and petite and aids the style of the film. Furthermore this font is unconventional for a typical psychological thriller poster, therefore makes more of a bold statement.

• Dark red lipstick is worn by the protagonist in this photograph, connoting a sense of danger and violence, furthermore contrasting with the pale face and white background. The use of the pale make up on the protagonists face shows her theatrical status.

• Strong black make up that has been used around the eyes further connotes her transformation from white swan to black swan whilst also makes her look more intense, dangerous and mysterious. The feathered make up used portrays swan like features, all the more showing her transformation.

• The protagonists red eyes and large black pupils also make her appear more dangerous and intensifying the audiences view of her, making her look like more of a threat to herself and to other characters around her.

• The camera focuses more on the protagonists facial features in the centre of the poster but begins to blur out her less prominent features as the focus leaves the middle area of the face and progresses towards the side edges of the page. This shows her importance as it maintains focus on her and the tiara she is wearing, furthermore showing her role and status in the theatre. 

• Featuring the release date "this fall" in a fairly normal, plain font focuses on the main features within the poster making everything else look more prominent, whilst still making it a bigger sized font than other text, to still highlight its importance. 

Film Poster Analysis - 'Shutter Island'

 

Shutter Island (2010) - Martin Scorsese

 

 

• The contrasting colour scheme of red and white that has been used demonstrates typical genre conventions of a thriller movie as the colour red typically connotes blood and violence, therefore is frequently used for this genre of films. This brightly coloured text also stands out against the darkly displayed background, which gains more attention from the audience viewing it.

 

• Featuring a bold font on the title, actor name and release date also aids the poster in attracting attention and makes the overall poster appear to stand out more.

• The tagline "Someone is missing." is the only bit of text featured, excluding the title, actor name and release date, therefore makes it stand out, especially seeing as a white font has been used to make it appear bolder against the dark background. The positioning of the tagline also attracts attention to it as it is placed away from all the other text featured and is positioned closer to the top of the poster.

 

• Another typical genre convention that has been used is the contrast of light and dark lighting, this makes it look more mysterious and frightening, therefore connoting the overall genre and storyline of the film.

 

• The close up shot on the main actors face makes the poster appear more intense and mysterious which also allows the audience to really see the characters facial expression, showing him to be frowning, conveying the overall storyline and genre, and his characters emotions of confusion and fright about what is going on.  

 

• He is also shown looking to the side of the camera rather than right at it, creating a sense of mystery and making him appear suspicious of what's happening around him. This makes the audience feel more suspicious and intrigued about the storyline of the film.

 

• The composition of the squared images of the mental hospital have been put together to create the overall image which makes it seem more disorientating and uneasy on the eye, due to the jaunted look that this composition creates.

 

• The image of the mental hospital appears to have a white glow around it from the top and from the waves at the bottom which makes it stand out against the dark background and makes it seem more mysterious and intriguing.

 

• The main image of the leading actor is partially in black and white which intensifies and enhances the brightly light match which also makes his eye that has been left in colour, look more vibrant and therefore will attract more attention against the dark background.

 

• An over layer of 'rain' has been used across the whole page, adding pathetic fallacy to the poster that something bad is going to happen, also the bad weather displayed further creates a sense of mystery and danger.

 

• Furthermore, using the composition of both images put together allows the audience to understand what the top image of the leading actor is facing during the movie by showing the mental hospital on the bottom image, which makes it look more frightening and intriguing. 

Film Poster Analysis - 'Before I Go To Sleep'

 

Before I Go To Sleep (2014) - Rowan Joffe

•  The close up shots featured on the poster make it appear more intimidating, personal and uncomfortable for the audience to view. This is reinforced by the fact that all 3 of the actors featured are looking directly into the camera, again making it more uneasy for the audience to look at.

 

• The use of mixed mediums, both coloured image and black and white image, may have been used for two main reasons. One of these reasons being to highlight the status of the main actress featured in the middle of the page and the other being to perhaps highlight a key point in the storyline of the film that she is the only one she can trust and that she cannot trust the other two males.

 

• Furthermore, the use of black and white on the two males makes them appear more mysterious and dark, conveying the overall tone and genre of the film. The contrast between the light and dark lighting used is also a typical convention for psychological thrillers.

 

• To make the poster seem more disorientating to the eye and more uneasy for the audience to view, they have used vertical lines running through the characters faces. This also follows typical conventions by not fully allowing the audience to see what is there.

 

• In addition, the poster also doesn't display the characters full figured faces, as the two men are only shown with half their face. This could connote the storyline in which the female doesn't know which of the men she can trust. Also, the main women's face is shown the most, again promoting the fact that she is the lead role.

 

• Each characters facial expression convey their characters personalities within the film, for example the woman is shown to be looking alert and frightened, whereas the other two males are shown to look more menacing and mysterious.

 

• The contrasting colour scheme of white and red used within the font make the writing stand out against the darker colours of the background. Furthermore, red is typically used in thriller/horror films to create a sense of danger and violence as this colour typically connotes blood, therefore displaying typical genre conventions.

 

• The positioning of the tagline "Who do you trust?" being on different levels added with the vertical lines make the poster seem more jaunting and disorienting for the audience to look at. Also, the use of a bold font further reiterates the purpose of making it stand out against the background.

Final Script

After making a few slight alterations, I typed up my final version of my script in a more professional manner in order to make it look like a good quality script and make it easier for the actors to read and understand.

 

Script Drafts

This was my second version of my final draft in which I made only a few minor changes to the script but felt it was necessary as it allowed me to improve the overall layout and produce a neater copy that was much easier for me to understand when copying up my final version.

 

 

Final Storyboard

 My final storyboard consists of 52 shots in which I have included what shot types will be used, what audio I will feature and what the main plot of that scene will be. After completing my draft, I made only a few small changes to my final version such as changing the order of a few scenes in order to fit the genre and overall storyline of the trailer.

 

Also, once I get to the editing stage I will include various credits and a film company logo within certain cuts between shots, this is something I have not included into my storyboard as I feel they will be more of a final touch and may only suit certain scenes within the trailer.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Storyboard Draft

 This was a few pages from my storyboard draft that I had completed after mind mapping and completing my research. Due to my planning of the overall storyboard I had not needed to complete a full length draft so then went straight on to completing my final version for the trailer.