Film Poster Research - 'This Way Up'

Media language

• The title of this short film 'This Way Up' is towards the bottom of the poster. The reason for this is to signify the way you should go to find the portal, which will lead to a new life.
• The main image is positioned in the centre of the poster to indicate that this is the most important part of the film. The image is fairly small but we can clearly see it as there isn't too many images near it.
• The tag line at the top is very important. It reads 'A Secret Life Hidden Below'. It refers to the fact that there is a new life below the ground, but we are unsure of what this life is.
• All the text on the poster is justified centrally, this includes the title, the words above the buildings and the credit and billing block at the bottom. 
• There is a backdrop of some buildings, however, the main setting is of a derelict, isolated area. The time of year is perhaps summer as the ground looks very dry and we can see shadows on the buildings.
• The font colour is white throughout this poster, as this makes the text stand out from the background. The font is all in upper case, including the Production Block at the bottom.
• The Production Block gives us details of crew members, directors, actors, producers and other companies.
• The camera is using a long shot to take this image so the audience can try and figure out what the film is about.

Representation

• The region/nation of this film looks perhaps like Australia or a country with a warm climate.
• It is very hard to tell what class and gender is being represented in this poster. Perhaps middle class characters, either male or female.
• The theme being stated in this poster is perhaps of mystery. The film looks as if there is some kind of an unexpected situation for the character/s of this movie about to happen.

Audience

• Having studied the Pearl and Dean website I feel the target audience for this film could range anywhere from male or female 15-55 year olds. I cannot define a specific market segment as I feel a wide age bracket could watch this film.
• Also from studying the poster I believe this film could be science fiction. The derelict setting looks as if something extraordinary is about to or could happen. Therefore, the audience could be males aged 15-24.

Narrative

• One of the themes communicated in this poster is not knowing what is going to happen. I would say it is a mystery as we have no clue what events will take place throughout this film without seeing it.
• We could make assumptions as to believing there are two different worlds in this film.
• No characters are in this poster which suggests they are not as significant as the setting itself.

Genre

• I would say the genre for this poster is mystery. I can tell this from the remote setting, the lack of characters present in the poster and the top line indicating a new life below the ground.
• There is a case for perhaps a hybrid genre. Either action/adventure drama or virtual reality.