Print media analysis
Magazine adverts
Mr & Mrs Smith
This is an advert for an action film in FHM. The magazine is aimed at men and this is shown in the advert. Lead actress Angelina Jolie is pictured in a revealing dress on the cover of the DVD. FHM magazine research has shown that pictures like this sell more magazines and it is reasonable to assume that the same applies to films as well and so this is shown to encourage more men to buy the film. There are also a large amount of guns in the pictures. This indicates the presence of shooting in the film but this is most likely to appeal to the men reading the advert who would be more interested in watching that. While the media theorist Fiske would argue that the audience of the advert cannot be generalised guns and women are key points to certain people, FHM contains women in a similar way and so it is fair to say that this part of the audience would be looking at the advert.
The title has what looks like a tear in the paper because of the "do us part" part of the title. The physical nature f the appearance of the rip could relate to the physical nature of an action movie.
The advert is an interesting representation of the action movie stereotype and possible aspiration figure. Brad pit would appear to play a spy or assassin or some sort of guy who uses a gun on a regular basis as he is holding one by his side. He is wearing a suit looks confidant and is married to the character Angelina Jolie is playing. While this is obviously unattainable in most ways it presents an interesting fantasy aspiration for its audience and a possible role model on which Gauntlett would suggest people might try to base some but not all of their own personality’s on. Giving people this idea can be a persuasive method and it is therefore a way used by the institution to sell the DVD.
Salt
Salts lead actress is also Angelina Jolie. As in Mr & Mrs Smith she is a typical male fantasy and is a selling point as shown by FHM research. While this movie is most likely action, as shown by the prominent gun, it would also appear to use the idea of mystery to sell itself. Aside from the vague title there is a line of text saying, "Who is salt?" This implies that one would have to watch the movie to find out and therefore the institution has purposely left this a mystery to sell the movie. The mystery is also heightened by the blurry background, which offers no clues as to the setting of the movie. The advert is unconventional in its lack of features it relies mostly on the single idea of mystery and there is little else to say about it.
The Transporter
The most obvious feature of this advert is the stereotypical action movie character in the air firing two guns at a time. This is an action movie convention and cliché that is common to many movies. The advert also features women in revealing clothes but it also has a car burning the title into the page. Fast cars like guns and women are things that the stereotypical male audience member likes and by putting it prominently it shows the intentions of the institution.
The text is all bold and italic. This makes it stand out. While the picture along with most of the advert is black and white the title in the middle is in colour, specifically the colour of fire. This makes it stand out from the rest of the advert. This may be because the institution only expected its audience to take a glance at the advert and wanted to make sure that the title is both figuratively and literally burned into their memory. This is also shown in how the title is in the centre to give maximum chance to be seen with a mere quick glance at the page.
Movie Posters
Knight and Day
The poster shows the conventions of an action movie, it has a gun and a motorbike on it. While this may show that it is another movie aimed at the stereotypical male audience it is in fact the female lead that is holding the gun. The woman is in a position, protected by the male protagonist but it still shows her as being a strong character, unconventional when there is a male protagonist as well.
Neither the layout nor the text would seem to suggest anything relevant about the institution or the intended audience. Both are plain and without distinguishing or important features.
Batman Begins
The poster of Batman Begins has a strong recurring theme of bats. Bats are traditionally a sign of darkness and evil. Batman however is a well know hero but the connection to bats would seem to show that he is being portrayed as a renegade or someone with a dark side. This is shown by how he is turned away from the light and the city, a symbol of establishment, the institution is probably trying to give batman a different character to the traditional superhero so as to attract an audience apart from children or previous batman fans. This may not work however as Fiske says that the audience has more power to interpret than the institution to send a message. Batman is a very well know character and if Adorno is right about mass media creating a social order then people would read the Batman Begins poster as the batman that they recognise from the older comic or TV show instead of the darker one that the institution is trying to put forward despite the current image of Batman.
While batman begins is an action movie, the general style of the poster is unconventional. The dark look with the less than heroic protagonist is closer to a drama or thriller than an action movie. Most action movie heroes are shown at their best in the posters to give the character a single image that encapsulates the character they are. Dramas tend to show their characters in their worst moments, when the emotional climax of the movie is taking making the character who they are. The unconventional nature of the style is again because of the institution trying to appeal to a different audience by trying to change the image of Batman.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This poster follows a lot of the conventions, as it is very similar to other Indiana Jones movie posters. The protagonist is in a central part of the poster with the other main characters around it. The protagonist is also the biggest image there to highlight its importance. The typography in the title is also very similar to that of the other movies. While the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a recent movie the institution that made it clearly want it to be as identifiable to the previous movies as possible. Unlike Batman Begins the modern movie audience likes the same style of movie as the original Indiana Jones movies and so they are trying to show that it is of a similar style by portraying it the same in the poster.
The layout of each of the characters pictures is interesting. While there is no distinct order to the positioning the characters are place in a way that conforms to the background. The two characters in the bottom left seem to be parallel to the left side of the pyramid. The crystal skull in a similar position as one would expect the sun to be. This highlights its importance to the plot and probably to the natives that seem to be in some sort of army. The sun is well known to be a religious symbol to many ancient societies such as Aztecs and other cultures that use the type of pyramid shown. All the characters seem to in some way be turned away from the skull. Possibly showing the reverence or fear towards the object.
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