3. The Image, Including Lighting and
Camera Distance
The shot type used is a medium
close up of his face. This is a
main character within the film
as it is based around his role as
president, the image is used
because it would wish to convey
that to the audience without
giving too much away. The stars
and stripes behind his head one
again represent the American
flag and his role of running the country.
The lighting on the image of the characters face is Chiaroscuro as only one light source
has been used to illuminate one side of his face and leave the left side in shadowed
darkness. The adds a sense of mystery to the character as it appears he is light and
innocent on the light side and then the use of the shadow makes it seem as though he is
mysterious and hiding some sort of a secret. This fits with the narrative as he is the
president making a speech, he may be telling the public one thing but keeping
government secrets.
4. The Text
The text within the poster is in a
sans serif font as the edges of the
letters are slightly rounded.
Interestingly, no capital letters
have been used and this could be
an ironic hint at the narrative as
the characters are journalists.
The tracking used for the poster is
close together.
The actors names and the written
text at the bottom has the same
text and background colour, this
shows that these are all technical
aspects of the film.
Only 4 colours have been used
throughout the poster;
red, black, white and grey. They
are all alternated within the
layers.
5. The Narrative
The red sentence in the middle of
the film is a quote from the film,
this adds to the narrative and
shows that people within the film
are sticking up for one another.
All the writing on the poster, the
anchorage and the title are quotes
from the film. This is because if
you look at the poster itself it is
hard to create meaning from it.
The narrative is created through
these quotes.
The recurring motif of the
American flag and the stars and
stripes adds to the American feel
of the film.
6. The Colour
The colour scheme within the poster is
red, black and white.
Red could represent the passion
within the narrative of the film as the
journalist team plan to expose the
president.
The black could represent the strength
that they have to complete the
articles to go against him. The black
and white together resemble the look
of a newspaper which links again with
the narrative of the film as they are
journalists.
The red and white together could
perhaps be a link to the American flag
as they are some of the colours and as
the blue has been replaced with black
it could mean that there is darkness
ahead within the narrative.
7. The Anchorage
It is quite common for film-noir
films to include an anchorage on
their poster. This is because it is
hard to sometimes understand
the storyline solely through the
posters image.
The Anchorage for this poster is
a quote from the film that is also
present in the films trailer which
creates a link between the two.
8. The Layout
The layout of the poster is interesting
as it has the picture at the bottom and
then the different layers of black and
white building up on top.
The black and white blocks could again
represent the stripes that are in the
American flag which the film is based
around.
The blocks are all different sizes apart
from the three at the top which make
the poster look more professional as it
gives the actors names two at a time.
George Clooney is the most well-
known actor within the film and
therefore his name is posted in a grey
font on a white background which
makes it stand out more compared to
the other actors names.
9. The Written Text
The written text on this poster is different to normal as it appears above
the image and not right at the bottom. This is due to the posters unique
layered layout.
The production companies are shown in the written text, for this
particular film Warner Independent Pictures produced it and therefore the
audience can tell a lot from this such as the genre because other film-noir
films have been produced by the same company.