Transcript
Page 1: Poster analysis (the martian)

Primary Optical Area Shallow Fallow Area

Weak Fallow Area Terminal Area

Reading Gravity

Page 2: Poster analysis (the martian)

Genre of the Poster

The genre of the poster is very specific to one genre, which is science fiction and there is a lot to back up this evidence. For example, the protagonist is wearing a space suit which symbolises the film as a science fiction and shows us the viewer that the film is set within space/mars due to the orange/red baron desert. Matt Damon himself has also been associated with another science fiction movie before this (Interstellar) which makes reference to The Martian as the character that Matt Damon plays in Interstellar also gets left behind by his crew members.

Mode of Address

To start, the poster is visualised as a direct form of address as the protagonist of the film is looking straight at the viewer as the actor looks like he has lost all hope. As the poster is a direct form of address, it feels like the actor is asking for the viewers help specifically which will interest viewers into watching to see if he is rescued or not. As well as the poster being a direct form of address, the poster also is using a formal style as the poster does not contain any form of slang (Non-Standard Words) or jargon and have kept the wording simple and minimalistic so the viewer would focus more on the poster than the wording as too much would bore the audience.

Primary Optical Area (Top Left)

The first thing to notice about the primary optical area of the poster is the tag line that stands out, “Help is only 140 million miles away” which as a poster is directed towards the viewer to get their attention. It is informing the viewer that the protagonist (Who is played by Matt Damon) is stranded and the only way to be rescued is only 140 million miles away. Another thing to point out is how it is phrased, they mention the word only in the sentence to make it sound as it would be an easy job and that it could be much worse for the astronaut who is stranded on another planet. The next point would be about the text, the font stands out and is easy to read and it stays with the genre of film which is science fiction, without needing to look at the poster, the font tells us that the film is going to be a futuristic science fiction film and that white will be one of the primary colours within the film. The colour is definitely a good choice as it goes well against the background and makes it easy to read which adds to a more successful movie poster. Another thing to point out is how the actors face is in dead centre of the image, which would be one of the first things the viewer would notice when they look at the image; the actor is looking directly at the viewer as he looks lost and hopeless in the baron world all by himself. Lastly is the director’s name (which is Ridley Scott who is most known for his science fiction films such as Prometheus and Alien) can be seen above the tag line but is more difficult to read in comparison to the tag line, though as it is not that noticeable it allows the viewer to focus on the main aspects of the Primary Optical Area which would be the actors face and the Tag are the main appeal and the directors name which is being promoted and advertised but is not the main appeal of the poster.

Page 3: Poster analysis (the martian)

Reading Gravity

The reading gravity is where the eye naturally scans from the top of left of the page down to the bottom right and back to where it started at the Axis of Orientation, this is seen as a way to point out the main features of the poster which will appeal to an audience. Like for example, there is the tag line which is designed to stand out to the audience and get their attention

Strong Fallow Area (Top Right)

At the top of the image is where the colour tone is at its strongest, this is where most of the colours have their effect on the poster to make it powerful and stand out. The Strong Fallow Area is intended to work with the Primary Optical Area to create a blend that will attract the audience and get them interested. With the positioning, the Strong and the weak Fallow areas are outside the reading gravity, so nothing too complicated is required. This is why there is only the tag line and the director’s name which fall within it, any more and the viewer would just drift and focus more on the terminal area. The Strong fallow area is only intended for design purposes and to receive minimal attention from the audience.

Weak Fallow Area (Bottom Left)

The weak fallow area is where the design is intended to be at its weakest with the least to offer in design but still something to offer with information, though with the weak fallow area it re-informs the audience that it is under the genre of Science Fiction with baron wasteland of mars and the poster keeps to the point with there only being the red sand and the rocks there to support the evidence that the film is based on mars. With the weak fallow area we have all the credits that go towards the film, for example the director and the companies that have helped support and produce it. This is done as it is their work and they are entitled to credit. Though, the credits don’t stand out in comparison to the credits of the main actor as they are targeted to bring in the audience whereas the Main Actor is.

Terminal Area

According to the Guttenberg design principle, with the axis of orientation and the reading gravity. The observer would start on the primary Optical area and work their way down to the terminal area where the audience would be finished reading the poster in which point the audience would have learned the key aspects of the film, for example what genre the film comes under. Though a poster is intended to leave the audience questioning, “How did he get stranded on Mars?” and “How will he get home?” these sorts of questions will attract the audience to watch the film.


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