Analysing film posters

There are several codes and conventions in which an audience expects to find on film posters. The first and most prominent being the title of the film; the title has to be memorable and suggest the genre of the film. It should also be ascetically pleasing to the eye and have a carefully selected font, colour, size and placement on the poster. The second is the images which are on the poster; the audience expects the images on the film poster to feature some of the characters (actors) in the film and possibly include the setting of the film. The audience also expect to see the names of some of the ‘stars’ in the film and possibly the director or producer. These are usually included so that people are more inclined to go and see the film. Also, a tagline in featured on the poster so that the (sub) genres are hinted at. Another convention of film posters is the credits, also known as the production blurb, that include some general information about the film and the distribution companies. A final code/convention of film posters is a critic review or any nominations for rewards the film has received. These are printed largely and clearly on the poster so that they are obvious to the audience.

The film ‘Unstoppable’ is an action-thriller. It also contains some aspects of disaster. We are aware of the due to the mise-en-scene used in the poster. The first elements of the poster that highlights these genres are the location, setting and the props. Two emergency vehicles (police car and helicopter) feature on the poster, this makes us aware that something terrible has/is taking place and the police are in pursuit. The second is the large train travelling and knocking anything in its track out of the way; there are remains of cars and metals all around the train-track where the train has literally smashed them out of the way. The audience are ‘thriller’ by the fact that there are two men on the speeding train; one standing on top of it and the other almost falling off of it. Also the facial expressions of two of the characters on the poster are very stern and look worried to a certain extent. Certain effects have been used on the poster so that the audience isn’t sure as to what is happening. The images are cropped and blurred so that it is not clear as to what is happening. There are also lines streaking through the poster representing the speed of the train, there is not a sign that states how quickly the train is driving, but these special effects make us aware as to how fast it is driving.

The suggested storyline of the film, going by the poster, is that there is a train containing hazardous materials (due to the hazard sign on the front of the train), and it is unable to stop. The police attempt to stop it but their cars and helicopters are damaged. Two men also try to stop the train and one is close to falling to his death off of the train.

The title of the film on the poster has been positioned alongside the train on the floor. It makes it appear as if the train is going to knock the title out of the way just as it has knocked cars out of the way. It is called ‘Unstoppable’ so that the audience has some idea as to what the film is going to be about. The name hints that there is something that people are going to be unable to stop, in this case it is a speeding train.

The characters in the poster are not exactly represented in a particular way. They just appear as ‘manly’ man. They both have beards and their skin looks rough, tanned and dirty as if it has experienced many days work. This makes them seem as if they are more likely to be heroes as they men have been depicted in this way. This is a common stereotype for men in films.

The setting of the film is not very clear. It is clear that it is on a train track with a train travelling on it, but there is not much around the train. You are not sure whether the train is travelling through countryside or city. The setting suggests that the genre is probably action, only due to the fact that this is the only type of film that would be set on a train track. It also suggests that the storyline is going to be something regarding trains.

The sort of people that would be interested in this film is teenagers and middle-aged men, and possibly some women. This is as the suggested theme is action thriller which is the most viewed type of film by this age category. The main selling point of this film for teens and men is the special effects and themes. The main selling point for women is the actors in the film.    

The film company that produced the film is the big Hollywood company 20^th century Fox. Some of the films they have previously produced are; Rise of the planet of the apes, X-men: first class, Knight and Day, Jennifer’s body, Just Married, The Transporter etc.