Snow White and the Huntsman - Film Poster Analysis

The next poster I have chosen to analyse is one taken from the advisement for the movie 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. The first poster here is the main one used for advisement for this movie. The first thing which stands out is the title. It is placed on the bottom part of the image but in a large font to make it stand out and catch the audiences attention. It has been placed in a silver metallic looking font which fits into the theme of the poster with the silver and grey being main features in the colorisation of the images. As it is placed in large text it means it stands out and catches the audiences attention. It has also been placed so it doesn't overlap with the character's heads in the image, this is because they are also a focal point and if they were to overlap it could detract from one or the other. The title is possibly one of the most important things about a film poster as it tells the audience the name of the film and if they find the poster appealing they will hopefully remember the name and then want to watch the fill movie. 

Below the title of the film a small caption, which is put in bold so it stands out from the institutional information below it. The caption says "From the producer of 'Alice in Wonderland'". The advantage of adding in this information to the poster, is that the film 'Alice in Wonderland' is based on a very similar audience as the film is also a fantasy movie. This means that if people liked the film 'Alice in Wonderland' they will look at this new film and automatically be led to believe that this is of the same standard. It is also a film adaptation of a fairytale much like 'Alice in Wonderland' and therefore they audience thinks that it will be just as good as 'Alice in Wonderland' which was a very successful film. 

Above the title is three names, these are the names of the three main actors within the film. Much like mentioning the producer is the same producer as the 'Alice in Wonderland' movie, if the audience likes films which have perviously starred one of the people mentioned they will want to watch their latest piece of work as they believe it will be to the same standard. I believe the director has been very cleaver with his casting, for example Kristen Stewart, is most well known for starring as the main character in the 'Twilight Saga'. This movie was a fantasy dark romance, its target audience was primarily older teenage girls, as is the audience for 'Snow White and the Huntsman'. This means that any of the fans of her acting in that movie will want to watch this movie. 

The final bit of text which appears on the poster is the institutional information. This is placed in a very small font and contains all the information about the institution which has created this motion picture. It also contains the names of actors and people involved in both pre and post production. Below this institutional information is the words 'Coming Soon'. This is obviously one of the earlier released posters as it does not contain a specific date, as one has probably not yet been released. This shows how early in the process of creating a film, the advertising is done. 

The image which dominates the rest of the poster shows three characters, they are placed in order of the actor names beneath them, this helps to tie together the actors face and their name. The image shows the main three characters, the protagonist, the villain and the side kick/ romantic interest. Behind them is a background which consists of armies marching into battle, a castle and a sky full of crows. I believe the armies have been placed to show that this film contains a large element of action and huge (high budget) battle scenes between good and evil. I believe the crows have been placed for a variety of reasons, the first is, in the original story of snow white her hair is described as "black as a crow". Another interpretation would be that crows are an omen of death, and therefore connote the theme of death within this movie. The queen (the character in the centre) is wearing a hood made from what appear to be crow feathers; this connotes that she is dangerous and evil. 

The image consists of three separate mid-long shots of the characters which have been placed together. The centre image is of the evil queen. She is placed slightly above, and larger than the other two characters, this may connote her being extremely powerful and superior to the other characters. She is obviously the queen character as her costume contains a crown made of silver spikes. The silver goes nicely with the title, tying both the writing and image together. She is front facing and looking directly at the camera which makes eye contact with anyone looking at the poster, this is done to make the audience feel directly involved. Her costume is made up of a dark, scale like, material. This could denote a snake skin and therefore connote evil and poison. As the audience will know, in the story of 'Snow White' the Queen poisons an apple and gives it to snow white, her costume may be a reflection of foreshadowing this to happen within the movie. The last thing that really stands out about the Queen's character is the use of a prop, the is holding a dagger in her hands which is again silver, fitting in with the silver theme. The dagger connotes that there will be action and fighting within this film and she may possibly stab someone, this makes the audience want to know what actually happens in the film.

The next image is the one of the left, which is of the character of Snow White. It shows her in a ripped dress and apparently in movement walking towards the camera. She isn't looking directly at the camera and so her mode of address is indifferent to the audience's existence and instead she is looking at something off of the poster to the right, this makes the audience wonder what she is looking at. Her costume suggests she has been through a lot as it is dirty and ripped, this connotes the idea of action and he fight for survival. The final image is that of the Huntsman. He is also dressed in warn, muddy clothes, which suggests that he is in constant action. He is looking towards the left and appears to be in a fighting stance, this again makes the audience wonder what/ who he is preparing to fight. 

As well as this standard poster. The designers made a set of individual character posters. I have selected two of these, both of the character of Snow White to take a look at. The title of the film is still placed in a very clear place on the poster. One in the centre at the bottom, much like the standard poster, and the other it is placed on the left hand side. 

The first shows Snow White standing at a angle, facing towards the left hand side of the poster edge. She is not acknowledging the camera's existence which make it look more like a  candid action shot instead of a posed one. Behind her is a group of people, as there are seven of them and in the traditional story she meets seven dwarfs we are led to believe that these characters are the seven dwarfs. They are stood quite far behind Snow White's character to make it clear that she is the focal point of the image. The setting is full of snow and mountains which reveals some of the setting which the film will take place in. The snow is also associated with the spread of evil and may connote her battle against evil within the movie.

The mise en scene, in terms of costume and props, is very different to the first image, she is standing in a polished suit of armour holding a sword. This gives her a very powerful image. This also suggests the idea of battle and the fight between good and evil and that she will be directly involved. It also goes against one of the key conventions of a fantasy movie, which is that the main protagonist doing all the fighting is a male. I believe this has been done to attract a more female based audience, as females will aspire to be like her. It also makes the film interesting compared to other fantasy films which stick to the generic stereotypes. 

The final poster I will be looking at for the advertising campaign for 'Snow White and the Huntsman' is a close up character poster. This shows a close up of Snow White in the same costume and pose as the full length character poster only with some slight differences.

The title is placed in gold and is not placed in the centre bottom of the image, instead in the middle right. It still stands out and is therefore uninterrupted by the image of Snow White. The poster also contains a specific release date which is placed at the bottom of the poster in a slightly large font. This makes it stand out for the audience so that hopefully they will remember the date of release.