Research - Poster Analysis

Poster Analysis

I am going to analyse some film posters from the crime genre, to see if there is any a similarities or differences.

Poster: The Godfather

The Godfather is in the gangster sub-genre of crime films.
The poster for the Godfather movie contains a simple black and white image and the logo. However, it has a big impact on the audience. The main focal point of the poster is the main character, the Don of the mafia. He is a very powerful and wealthy man with flash cars and designer clothes. Women and his possessions are measures of his success.

There are only two colours used in the poster, Black and White. The colours used are dark and contrast. This helps portray the mood and the genre of the film, which is most likely full of crime and murders.

The use of the puppet strings in the logo is to symbolize the Godfather’s power like that of a puppeteer controlling a puppet. However a deeper explanation can be found in a line from the movie. When Michael and Vito are discussing the Barzini business Vito says “I refused to be the fool, dancing on the strings held by those bigshots.” What Vito means is that he refused to work for a boss and he made his own way in life. Thus weather he meant to be or not, Don Vito was the bigshot holding the strings.

The tagline at the bottom of the poster, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”. This small message gives an insight to the storyline of the film but not too much detail. It sets the mood of the poster.

The poster gives no information about the film such as age certificates or release dates. This is because the poster is purely for promotional purposes, to attract and allow the viewer to find out for themselves.

There is very little colour in this poster, this is due to the nature of the film. It contains dark and gruesome acts and the poster reflects the mood of the film and genre in general.

Poster: Se7en


The film Se7en is in the detective sub-genre of crime. The poster for the film is again dark and contains the main characters from the film. However, unlike the other two posters, it contains a lot more information and it is livelier.
I think this is to make it stand out and draw in people to view the poster.

The colours used are dark, including a fire like orange/red colour. I feel this is to create a link to hell, due to the seven sins. The name of the film is a reference to the seven sins; these sins are listed in the middle of the poster. Due to this, it gives the film a religious feel. They also create mystery. The sins are crossed out in red which signifies death.

There is use of star appeal in this poster due to Brad Pitt and Morgan freeman being featured on it; this attracts audiences to watch the film. They are the two main protagonists in the film.
There was more than one poster for Sin City, however, I chose this one to analyse because it is similar to the other posters chosen and in my opinion the most eye catching.
Again there is no age certificate or release dates, this will create word of mouth and draw interest for audiences to watch the film.


Poster: Sin City

The film Sin City is in the Film Noir sub-genre of crime. The poster is once again dark and contains one of the main characters. It has a cartoon feel to it. City / Urban locations, which is typical for crime films. The use of a gun indicates the film involves lots of action / crime.

The colours used are black monotones and the title in a red which really stands out. The poster doesn’t really give much away, the same as the other 2. I feel this is good because it leaves the viewer wanting to find out more.

The use of star appeal has been used in this poster by including a famous actor in the main poster. The only film that has not done this is The Godfather

The text box gives a glimpse of the film, it says “Hell of a way to end a partnership”, this could possibly suggest that he is about to shoot his partner.

Also, there are no age certificates or release dates again. I feel that they would make the poster feel crowded and less effective.



Poster:The Man With The Golden Gun
This Poster has the look and feel of a cartoon, which has been painted.

The poster contains the main character and various other objects which will be in the film.

The main focal point on the poster is the characters in the poster, which is surrounded by objects and scenes, such as explosions and missiles; this attracts the eyes of the audience. There is also the use of guns and women to create an exotic feel to the film and attract the audience.

This creates suspense and the image of crime. These characters and objects therefore give the impressions of a spy and the women portray an image of the main characters lover or/and victims in the film.

The colours such as gold and black are used for the films information to draw your eye away from the drama happening in the poster.

The information on the poster contains such items as the director, and actors, yet again no age certificates or release dates.