The
Dark Night teaser character poster is one of my favourites, with connotations
of thrilling and slight horror, which is suggested by the use of red writing,
which represents blood. It is meant to represent this character as evil and
creepy, with his catch phrase in bold red being a dominant part of the
poster. The use of the smile on the fog
glass is used to give a little bit away about the character, while keeping his
actual identity hidden. These together make it clear that this character, known
as the joker, is the ‘bad guy’. The anchorage presented by ‘why so serious’
further suggests the genre of the film, that being an action thriller, which is
also shown by the use of the blur over the characters face. This also presents
the tone to be more sinister and cold, shown by the blue with the bold red to
resemble death.
The target audience appears
to be 12 +, as there is a sinister feeling to the poster, which may not be age
appropriate for younger kids. The coldness of the blue overlay and then purple
jacket is contrasted by the red, suggesting a sense of danger and threat, which
is why the film may not be age appropriate for younger people. Besides this,
the poster does appeal vastly to older generations, with its sophisticated feel
and upmarket selling point. This threat shows that the film is action /
thriller genre, and is a particularly interesting teaser poster as in reveals
very little about the villain himself. This is done through the use of the fog
blue, meant to be glass, which leaves the audience unsure who he is, only
knowing his catch phrase, which is what really attracts me to the poster. It includes no previous credits, and a small
title with the Batman logo, and so makes certain that the key selling point of
the film is indeed the mysterious character of ‘the joker’. This is then
anchored by the title and production companies, as well as the timing ‘summer
2008’.
Again, like the inception poster, it is the image that is central to this poster. However instead of the attraction of the supernatural, this poster is selling the villain of the film, which works extremely well. The overlay of the blue gives the poster a feeling of threat and coldness, mirrored by the use of blood red to show the jokers catch phrase as though he wrote it. All in all, this is my favourite poster I have seen.
EL
