Textual Analysis: Film Poster
In this poster, character positing is used to establish who our main characters are. Chris Pratt, the character in the middle, is likely to be our main protagonist due to his placement in the centre of the poster making him an unique selling point. His strong stance suggest that his is the leader of the group and isn’t easily overcome. The positioning of the four other protagonists around him portrays a sense of unity between them and determination to protect one another.
The facial expressions of the characters are quite stern and aggressive which could suggest that the characters are angry or vengeful. This could create an interesting enigma for the audience because you don't usually see the protagonists of an action adventure superhero film be seen negatively or vindictive.
Chris Pratt’s costume isn’t stereotypical of a Marvel heroes’. Instead of having a slick and practical suit like most heroes, his costume is a lot less ostentatious. His long red leather jacket and jeans makes him seem a lot more relaxed and almost . However, this less cliché look could seem more relatable to the target audience and they might enjoy seeing a more realistic, non conventional hero.
The costume that the woman at the front, Zoe Saldana, is wearing is slick and rather revealing. Similarly to Chris Pratt’s costume, her costume and stance go against the stereotypes of women in action adventure or science fiction. Women are often seen as the ‘damsel in distress’ and always need a man to protect them but the poster clearly indicates that that is not the case in these circumstances. Her going against female stereotypes would no doubt appeal to women but her costume and stance could be seen as some what sexually appealing therefore attracting a larger audience.
Near the bottom of the poster it says in a bold gold font, “From the studio that brought you the Avengers”. Avengers was extremely successful and had a huge target audience. This statement would allow the audience to almost predict what the film was going to be like an distantly be able to identify whether they’d find it appealing for not. The colour gold has connotations of compassion, courage and wisdom, all of which we hope to see within our protagonists.
The setting clearly establishes that the film is going to fall into the genres of science fiction and action adventure. This is evident through the use of images like planets and stars in the background and their props. All the characters have some sort of weapon, none of which seem like they belong in our time. By establishing the genre, the studio would have been able to target the types of things that science fiction fans enjoy seeing and use it to their advantage. The props and backdrop would have helped them to achieve this.
