Poster Analysis - Taken

Poster for the first 'Taken' film.

In the poster ‘Taken’ there is an overall theme of mystery, which conforms to one of the stereotypes of thriller movies. The poster overall doesn't feature any bright colours, giving the viewer the impression the character is likely to be in a serious ‘redemption’ situation.

The main image shows the protagonist. The image is central and in front of most items situated in the poster, this makes him stand out from the plain grey background.

The character on the poster conforming to thriller movies is the hero, possibly in this case a bit of a vigilante. The clothes the hero is wearing gives the idea of concealment and mystery through the dark plain clothes which actually goes against the typical image of a hero character in most films, combined with his profile of half of him in the shadows, this possibly suggests that there is more to him than meets the eye and again going with the idea of possibly a vigilante style character.

A main theme is this (and other thriller posters) is the use of weaponry in the photograph it portrays a masculine styled movie with the female characters situated in the background of the poster, by displaying this prop it immediately shows the genre of the film and allows the audience to build up expectations before watching the film. Perhaps if we relate to Propps’ character types she could be the princess, stereotypically the prize at the end of the movie if not maybe some sort of donor to help the hero along his quest as this is stereotypical for thriller movies i.e. this is how the mass population will interpret it, authority is represented positively, this borders onto the Marxism idea of audience models. Through the hero having his pistol half drawn this suggests and element of action and quite possibly a disequilibrium in the story which he hopes to rectify with the use of that gun.

On the poster the creators use ‘expert witnesses’ as a way of promoting the poster calling it “the best action flick since Bourne” suggesting that the movie isn't necessarily your stereotypical action thriller, this in turn will engage the audience making it more attractive for them to go and see it.

The messages on the poster are a mixture of visual and written. Through the costume of the protagonist it communicates with the viewers of the poster the style of the movie. A message is also given across through the use of the bold words on the tagline such as “TAKEN” “HUNT” “FIND” “KILL” these words suggest deceit and murder all themes of a thriller that would appeal to their key audience as these films show situations which ordinary people wouldn't get to experience such as guns, fast cars etc. The specific words are in a different colour (white) so that they stand out, this also gives the audience a sense of how they link together including how they link to the story.

Camera Shot Types

1 . Extreme long shot
This shot is generally used setting the scene known as the establishing shot. It normally shows an EXTERIOR, e.g. the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action e.g. in a war film or disaster movie. It gives a general impression rather than specific information.

2. Long Shot
The image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the FULL SHOT showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters and their body language in the scene.

3. Medium Shot
Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the TWO SHOT (containing two figures from the waist up) and the THREE SHOT (contains 3 figures...). Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Another variation in this category is the OVER-THE-SHOULDER-SHOT, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

4. Close-Up
This shows very little background, and primarily focuses on either a face, or a specific detail of a prop/ location. This shot magnifies the desired object and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. In reality, we only let people that we really trust get THAT close to our face - mothers, children and lovers, usually - so a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

5. Extreme Close-Up
As its name suggests, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. This is a very artificial shot, and can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Camera Angles
The relationship between the camera and the object being photographed (ie the ANGLE) gives emotional information to an audience, and guides their judgment about the character or object in shot. The more extreme the angle (ie the further away it is from eye left), the more symbolic and heavily-loaded the shot.

1. The Bird's-Eye view
This shows a scene from directly overhead. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognisable at first (umbrellas in a crowd, dancers' legs). This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action. People can be made to look insignificant, ant-like, part of a wider scheme of things.

2. High Angle
Not so extreme as a bird's eye view. The camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant, scary or even distorted. The object or character often gets swallowed up by their setting - they become part of a wider picture.

3. Eye Shot
Neutral shot; the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that e.g. actors' heads are on a level with the focus. It makes the audience feel part of the scene, allows them to empathise with the characters in shot.

4. Low Angle
These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) and give a sense of speeded motion and authority. Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling, the lack of detail about the setting adding to the disorientation of the viewer sometimes making them feel vulnerable. The added height of the object may make it inspire fear and insecurity in the viewer, who is psychologically dominated by the figure on the screen.

5. Oblique/Canted Angle
Sometimes the camera is tilted (ie is not placed horizontal to floor level), to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest POINT-OF-VIEW shots (ie when the camera becomes the 'eyes' of one particular character,seeing what they see — a hand held camera is often used for this, could also be used in the sense that something is coming off of a camera which the protagonist is using.

Mise-en-scene in 'Watchmen' and 'No country for old men' (Comparing scene analysis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNfWlt69WKI 

In the clip from Watchmen the scene begins with pitch black then going into a dark alleyway lit up solely by a contrasting bright yellow neon light, this foreshadows danger in the upcoming scene (represents the flame thrower). The vigilante character is wearing all black clothes, including a trilby hat. In the opening sequence the character is situated in front of a white light giving us a rough outline of his face, suggesting purity and that he is the 'hero' despite not acting in the stereotypical style of the character type. Overall minimal light is used in this clip to create a tense atmosphere in which the character thrives on to go about his tasks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLCL6OYbSTw

In the clip called 'Coin toss' from the from 'No country for old men' the most important prop is the coin itself. In this movie it has a different style of tension, this builds up over the course of the clip. Unlike the scene from 'Watchmen' it has no music making it silent (apart from when the characters are talking). The man dressed in all black is (stereotypically) the bad guy, or villain, everything the man behind the counter says he repeats creating an awkwardness between the two characters, this makes the audience wonder why he is there. The coin is a symbol of the balance of good and evil in the clip. It is the equivalent of the flame thrower in the first extract as it determines the fate of the victim and the result of the coin toss relieves the built up tension in the film.

Welcome to my Blog

My name is Russell Dewing. Hello I am a student at Reepham College. This is my blog created for the purpose of my A-level Media coursework. I am currently working towards my AS grade which involves movie camera shot analysis, poster analysis as well as creating my own thriller movie trailer.