Main Task - Poster Analysis

To give me a deeper in-depth knowledge of movie posters (in particular thriller)  and how they work, I need to analyse a variety of diffrent ones to help me create mine for my main task. The three thriller posters I am going analyse are Shutter Islands,  the original "Alien" and Inceptions.


The Shutter island poster has three distinct elements to it in terms of the image. The main character, the island itself at the bottom of the image and the flame in which the character is holding. The mix of dark colouring with the small amount of light puts the film straight into the thriller/horror category, and the fact that only a small amount of light is being used in the image, plus the fact that the light is from a small match stick suggests mystery within the story. Leonardo Decapreo in the image has a slight blue tint to his eye, which would connect to the plot in which he was a Jewish executioner in world war 2. The blue eye may link to the whole idea of Hitler's idea of human perfection of blue eyes and blond hair.

The poster sells the film mainly with the fact that a well known actor is the main role and that a good idea of the story is represented within the three main images, the character, darkness and the isolated island. The title of the movie is very typical of a thriller, being at the bottom, but standing out with a contrasting colour, here its red on black. A small tag line is also used simply quoting " somebody is missing". If  you have seen the film you would know this is a complete contredicition on the story as no one is missing and that it follows a man who is traumertised after killing his children after murdering Jews. The target audience is also quickly apparent being aimed at teenagers and up from both sexes. (Le cap attracting women to see the film).

The second poster I am going to analyse is the one of the original 1979 Alien movie. Even though the film is very science fiction, it is predominantly thriller creating alot of tension and suspense throughout. This reflects the poster with a science fiction styled font and the opening of what appears to be a green egg. This suggest the birth of a problem in which fact leads to the problem of the alien on the spaceship.

A vibrant green like substance appears to be oozing out of the main focus of the poster of which is the egg hatching. Green is used as a way to express the science fiction element of the film an egg from reality doesn't hatch seeping with a neon, glow-in-the-dark substance. The glowing green is emphasised by the amount of black in the poster. The whole poster is black apart from a small section at the bottom with the emergence of more green light and the egg in the centre. This is a lot like that of the shutter island poster which also is limited on light.

The layout is different in this poster compared to shutter islands. The title is at the top of the poster and the caption it the bottom. The caption however is to entice the audience alike the shutter island one reading "in space, no one can hear you scream". This caption however dose read to connect more heavily yo horror than thriller.

The final poster i am going to analyse is that of Inception which also stars le cap. Again alike the poster of shutter island le cap is used as one of the significant selling points, however this time is surrounded by other characters from the film, which we can identify as being his allys/sidekicks. The other selling point would be the apparent manipulation of the city behind them, which is appearing to fold over on itself. This isn't instantly noticeable, however your eye is guided to the background with the help of the white light which is appearing from behind the main characters body.

Alike shutter island the poster has the title at the bottom, which is also red and the caption towards the top which reads " your mind is the scene of the crime". This intrigues the audience to the film as it suggests a story about how the mind works and how the mind can manipulate the world which would have been a thought triggered by the background the the poster.

Another way in which they tried to attract the audience is with the added caption of "from the director of the black night" which is the highly successful batman remakes which won many awards. Many would have gone to see the film just on the fact that there is a high chance that the film they have been attracted to also as good as the previous one the director made previously.

To conclude, thriller film posters are varied depending on their sub genre. But most do appear to show the the main character on the front, an important caption and perhaps a sub caption telling you who the director/producer is. They also have very few lighting points to create mystery which most thrillers are built around. Titles are usually very central, with the main title usually being centred at the bottom and in red.

Character Creation - Main Task

Harris Ford (My main character, one of Chris's poker players)

Character Attributes

Harris is a successful and confident upper-class 30 year old lawyer who lives in a penthouse in London with his faithful wife and two children, both twins aged seven. He has been married to his wife for nine years and is looking forward to his ninth wedding anniversary; however the situation which he is put in which involves lies to his wife may put his relationship to the edge. His wife is three years younger than him and respects his success and loyalty. His children however don’t get along with Harris due to neglecting his kids due to his job. His wife is an old styled house wife who clean the house, cooks and takes care of the children. She doesn’t however spoil her children with gifts and enjoys seeing them work for their rewards.

Harris gets stressed very easily due to his job. He escapes with smoking and playing poker to pass his time. Even though his stress levels are currently high, his wife appears to stand by him. He is also a slight alcoholic which sometimes influences his decisions which got him in his situation to begin with.

Harris is a very upfront person telling people what’s on his mind and doesn’t care about telling people what he thinks about them. This however means he doesn’t lie, so in the failed heist he was innocent about not leaking information to the opposing party.

Harris typically wears a suit with a formal tie and black shoes. His hair is business man like, short and black and kept pristine. He wears expensive aftershave and when the game intensity gets higher as he gets closer to his freedom he undoes his top button and loosens his tie. He also occasionally wears glasses, however doesn’t in the five minuet clip.

Harris main fear is losing his family which he feels guilty about due to not being able to spend much time with. He wants to prove to them that he can be a good father before his patient wife leaves him. Guilt is the factor which kills Harris.

Specific trates

• Harris can be seen sipping whisky regularly at home alone when his wife and kids have gone to bed.
• When bluffing a bad hand, Harris starts fumbling with his chips
• Harris has wealthy parents; however he left home at a young age to be independent even though his parents financed it.
• Harris wouldn’t kill
• Trustworthy
• Quiet but will speak his mind
• Rivalry with Troy
• Went to Law school
• Education was paid for
• Carries a suitcase almost everywhere he goes
• Uses a blackberry not I phone 4
• Very confident - Loses him the game

Troy a fellow player on the poker table has past rivalries with Harris; this is connoted with evil stares between both characters during the tense poker game. They were both childhood friends, however Harris stole Troy’s partner (now Harris's wife), this causes an intense rivalry between them whilst playing. They both went to the same law school.

All the players were involved in a heist, however were captured and tortured for information by an opposing underground organisation. One of the four characters at the table told vital information on the dealer, however all plead innocent. The heist took place when Harris was 20, Troy and he went to law school to cover up their name after the interrogation by the opposing party. The four of them have been accused of leaking information of the organisation to the opposing organisation via the interrogation. To get back at them, their old leader, the dealer, came up with the idea to lead the four in the party to gamble for their freedom and innocence. The dealer has a different consequence for each player.

Character development - Main Task

Jeff Esta(My main character, one of Chris's poker players)

Character Attributes

Harris is a successful and confident upper-class 30 year old lawyer who lives in a penthouse in London with his faithful wife and two children, both twins aged seven. He has been married to his wife for nine years and is looking forward to his ninth wedding anniversary; however the situation which he is put in which involves lies to his wife may put his relationship to the edge. His wife is three years younger than him and respects his success and loyalty. His children however don’t get along with Harris due to neglecting his kids due to his job. His wife is an old styled house wife who clean the house, cooks and takes care of the children. She doesn’t however spoil her children with gifts and enjoys seeing them work for their rewards.

Harris gets stressed very easily due to his job. He escapes with smoking and playing poker to pass his time. Even though his stress levels are currently high, his wife appears to stand by him. He is also a slight alcoholic which sometimes influences his decisions which got him in his situation to begin with.

Harris is a very upfront person telling people what’s on his mind and doesn’t care about telling people what he thinks about them. This however means he doesn’t lie, so in the failed heist he was innocent about not leaking information to the opposing party.

Harris typically wears a suit with a formal tie and black shoes. His hair is business man like, short and black and kept pristine. He wears expensive aftershave and when the game intensity gets higher as he gets closer to his freedom he undoes his top button and loosens his tie. He also occasionally wears glasses, however doesn’t in the five minuet clip.

Harris main fear is losing his family which he feels guilty about due to not being able to spend much time with. He wants to prove to them that he can be a good father before his patient wife leaves him. Guilt is the factor which kills Harris.

Specific trates

• Harris can be seen sipping whisky regularly at home alone when his wife and kids have gone to bed.
• When bluffing a bad hand, Harris starts fumbling with his chips
• Harris has wealthy parents; however he left home at a young age to be independent even though his parents financed it.
• Harris wouldn’t kill
• Trustworthy
• Quiet but will speak his mind
• Rivalry with Troy
• Went to Law school
• Education was paid for
• Carries a suitcase almost everywhere he goes
• Uses a blackberry not I phone 4
• Very confident - Loses him the game

Troy a fellow player on the poker table has past rivalries with Harris; this is connoted with evil stares between both characters during the tense poker game. They were both childhood friends, however Harris stole Troy’s partner (now Harris's wife), this causes an intense rivalry between them whilst playing. They both went to the same law school.

All the players were involved in a heist, however were captured and tortured for information by an opposing underground organisation. One of the four characters at the table told vital information on the dealer, however all plead innocent. The heist took place when Harris was 20, Troy and he went to law school to cover up their name after the interrogation by the opposing party. The four of them have been accused of leaking information of the organisation to the opposing organisation via the interrogation. To get back at them, their old leader, the dealer, came up with the idea to lead the four in the party to gamble for their freedom and innocence. The dealer has a different consequence for each player.

The Dealer throughout the shoot with be shadowed to conceal his facial identity, he will be wearing a white shirt, possibly and suit and will own a revolver (or similar) gun. He will have a very persuasive attitude and will kill someone if crossed. As his identity is concealed you don't find much out about him.


Felix is another character in my production. He will be slim and tall wearing a ironed white shirt. He however will be more casual than the other characters. He will also be aggressive when provoked but if threatened will back down. He wouldn't kill unless his own life is at danger. 


Douglas is the last character, he alike Felix is a bit of a background character, he will be the most casual of the group and least well spoken. He is easily provoked and gambles hard, losing much of his hard earned money. He will appear however to be quick minded, making desisons quickly  to try and get out of trouble. 

MAIN TASK - The idea

The brief of the main task is to create a Five minute thriller film accompanied by both a movie poster, a film review of the production or a radio trailer (two must be completed). The evaluation must also be done in a podcast style. I and a fellow media student (Chris Hales) decided it would be a good idea to work on a complex idea we both came up with. We would both plan together the production; however we would both create two separate films.

The idea is to shoot a poker tournament between four competitors and a card dealer, each with a different reason for being at the game. I and Chris will develop a main character each; however both the characters we will create will be in each other’s production. For example, I will create my main character but Chris’s main character will be one of the fellow players. So in essence the productions will be a poker game from two different perspectives.

Personally I was inspired to make a production like this by the poker scene from Casino Royale. The scene is very suspense building which is perfect for the thriller genre, but adding the dealer’s intention (which we haven’t decided yet) will drop the production straight into the thriller genre.

We also decided that my main character would lose the poker tournament in a final stand off against Chris’s character. This will lead to completely different endings and repercussions as both characters will be in different moods. To start with both me and Chris need to create a character profile for each of our main characters, then work together in how we are going to implement their personalities into the game. We will also need to research into poker tournament hands and typical characteristics people have when playing poker. The hardest part of the planning will be creating the winning hands and implementing the ruling into the movie it's self. If the audience doesn’t understand the game then they will lose interest so it’s vital to get them to understand what’s happening.

For this idea to work both me and Chris will need to work very closely to make sure both of our productions are at the same stage as we will need to know details on how each of the characters are going to act/react. We also need to discuss in detail why the characters are going to be in the situation both of our characters repercussions.

PRELIMINARY TASK - Evaluation

Over the past term i was set the task to create a short preliminary task video as a warm up activity before creating my final 5 minuet production for my A-level, for this task i also needed to create a movie poster to go with the short production. Before creating the film i had to create a storyboard, script, production schedule and shot list to aid me in the shooting of my film. I managed to get these all completed in good time, however felt that my overall production let me down. There are reasonings below in the following paragraphs.

Overall the combination of both products together works well, both the movie and the poster relate to each other, for example the post-it note is used in both the short film and the movie poster. The same hand writting is also used for both the poster and production. The poster has a slight bit of red colourisation to give the poster more a thriller feel to it.

Also you may notice the sound effect of a camera taking a photo in the production mulitple times, this idea is also pressent in the poster as the whole image of the post-it note in inside another image of a instant photograph print.

The target audience of my short production was teenagers into the thriller genere so would be classified around the 12A mark. The production dosent contain any violence or content unsuitable content so the film would fit into the taget audience. The production also creates suspence at the start of the film with the monolouge and the addition of the cliff hanger at the end puts the production into the thriller genere. Based on the audience reaction however i had mixed reviews. I myself was quite dissapointed with my short production due to lack of creativity, however some who veiwed the film commented on nice camera angles and use of unusual shots and that they liked the effect i experemented with towards the end of the clip as the "man" walks out of his house". They did however critisise some of the shot lighting, which i must agree was off in some shots.

I have learnt with this short production not to rush.  I need to take more time on my shots getting the lighting correct, however i need to keep my creativity of shots. I do however also need to increase the creativity of my plot as the preliminary task plot wasent too well developed. In the main task i will shoot my film also in more than one day, and will take this into account when planning my script and schedule.  To conclude i wasent too happy with my preliminary task however it could have gone worse by not keeping to my timeing schedule and planning. During my next task i will spend much more time on developing the plot and ask for help and opninions in places where it is needed.