Tuesday 27 September 2016

Poster Analysis 2: American Gangster


The film poster of the “American gangster” is very informative and gives the idea a very clear idea about the genre of the film. The focal point of the image is the actor, Denzel Washington, this makes the audience understand that the film is centered around this character. Denzel Washington is represented photographically as the main colours used in the poster are highly contrasted use of black and white and red which are typically colours for a gangster film which this genre conforms to, reflect the terror and corruption that is represented in the movie.  The highly contrasted white suit makes the title of the film stand out. The use of iconography showed in the poster for example the Gun and suits which are icons used in the genre of gangster movies, the use of the gun show the corruption  that the main character or a hint of the lifestyle the main character may be part of coupled with the white suit may imply how he was about to get to the position of him being able to wear the suit through violence and terror, these iconographies create a professional advertising campaign as the same title with the red line is integrated within most posters; which creates a professional collective promotional package. The use of a silhouette of the Chicago city which is layered on top of the character shows the audience where the film will be set and the proportion between the city and the Main figure of the poster shows his power and his position within the city of Chicago. Although there are no critics quotes on the poster, the poster does show the previous movies that the director of this movie has been on e.g. the “gladiator and the black hawk down” this also gives way for a audience who watched the two movies to be able to watch this one, expecting it to be the same or even better quality as the gladiator or the black hawk down, even though there is no tagline on the poster, the use of the notable actor “Denzel Washington” gives the audience and fans of Denzel Washington a interest into the movie.

This poster is very similar to the previous in terms of the text  and the background. It again states the main actor to entice the audience and to encourage fans and also, there is a similar dark back ground, however the difference in this poster is that the main actor is joined with another actor, the contrasting colour between both the men show the good and bad side of Chicago and may also connote the rivalry between gangsters and the police further illustrating the film and emphasizes the idea of the “American gangster”.

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