Film poster analysis - Inception

The title “Inception” could suggest the beginning of something, either an organisation or an operation.  The main colours this poster consists of are red, blue and white. The colour blue connotes a cold atmosphere which could reflect the action taken place in this movie. As the audience we are likely to assume that this film may include violence, because of the mise en scene portrayed from the cast members when they are hold the object of a gun. The colour red for the title “Inception” gives immediate connotations of blood and death this fits in with the codes and conventions of action and Si-f, the title is also clear and easy to read .In addition the use of the colour white used to write “Leonardo DiCaprio” stands out very clear, the text used is also very bold therefore this could suggest that the name is a form of audience attraction, because Leonardo DiCaprio is a well known actor who is automatically associated for being in good movies, Leonardo DiCaprio is the USP of this film. In the background the audience notice  over laid images which draws the audience to wonder why the images have been overlaid, the images makes the audience look twice to allow them to see what going on in the poster, due to the multi layering of the images and the effect of looking straight ahead but at the same time looking down  . This type of visual could suggest that the six characters are on top of the world, in order words the six characters appear to look the they are in charge and in power. However as the audience we can not identify whether the six characters at the forefront  are either protagonists or antagonists because they are all dresses slightly different according to colour, they are also looking in different directions to match what there actions.

The layout of the poster is portrait rather than landscape,  the casts names are place on the top , the film names stands out in bright red , the tag line is present also along with the film credits and release dates. All of theses included conform to the convections of a poster . The positioning of the images draw attraction to the centre of the poster, the use of bright lighting piercing through the back allows the audience to notice how deserted and lifeless the area looks, this could create many enquires suggesting why there's no one else in the city around but the six people who are stood steal in the middle of the street. The fact that the released date is written as “EXPERIENCE it on July 16th …” rather than “WATCH it on July 16th …”give the audience a sense that the film is something that they will never forget because of how good it is. The tag line – “your mind is the scene of the crime” does not convey a straightforward meaning but can somehow be possibly related to the scenery shot for the poser. The tag line makes the audience question how it is related to the film or the still images in the poster.  Although the tag line does not give away too much instead it adds to the overall image to the poster as it enhances the mood that something dark and sinter is going to occur, the use of direct language of “Your” makes the tag line seem personal as if the poster is including the audience this attracts the audience by drawing them in.

The directors name is visually written in unclear font, which makes the writing very hard to read. This could imply that the directors name Is not  big enough to be seen as a brand or a USP to attract the audience. The writing underneath the title of the film (inception) is an expanded version of what the director is known for.” From the director of THE DARK KNIGHT” -  we can see that “the dark knight” has been highlighted in bold meaning that this movie is a successful movie that is key to mention in order to get the same audience attraction for the movie “Inception”. This could also be seen as a persuasive technique to attract the audience.