DECONSTRUCTING THE CHARACTER OF ULAR IN MY FILM POSTER
Roland Barthes is a theoretical theorist who looks at the denotation and connotation of visual codes such as our representation of the character Ular.
'Denotation' tends to be described as the 'literal', 'obvious' or 'common sense' meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the connotation meaning is what the dictionary could attempts to describe.
- On a denotative level Ualr wears a leopard print hat of the kind favoured by men who like to look on themselves as being in the avant garde of fashion. On connotative level, this suggests his flamboyance and his showy character. He is someone who draws attention to himself, is very self confident and favours quite eccentric clothes. The animal print design nods towards his bestial nature: in our film he represents the id of human psychology, that is, the animal urgings and need for satisfying primal desires at the expense of spiritual qualities.
- On a denotative level Ular wears sunglasses all the time in the same way that film stars do. However, this is less to do with the need to protect his eyes from ultra violet rays than his need to look the part: he needs to look cool, mysterious and powerful. Equally, he needs to hide himself because his eyes would betray aspects of his nature that he wants to keep hidden such as his snake like nature. We plan to buy snake contact lenses to complete the picture.
- On a denotative level, Ular's red coat and brown fur coat are luxury items that are thick, warm and heavy, the sort of expensive fashion object that most men would not wear because they are so showy and brightly coloured. However Ular does not wear thick fur to keep warm. The connotations of fur relate to the bestiality of his nature. In our short film he is the agent of destruction for the two innocent romantics who find themselves embroiled in a downward spiral of consumer consumption at the expense of their peace of mind. In our modern day version of Paradise Lost, Ular represents theserpent in the Garden Of Eden.
I made this using the collage tool Pic Monkey. This helped me present the images nicely.
'Denotation' tends to be described as the 'literal', 'obvious' or 'common sense' meaning of a sign. In the case of linguistic signs, the connotation meaning is what the dictionary could attempts to describe.
- On a denotative level Ualr wears a leopard print hat of the kind favoured by men who like to look on themselves as being in the avant garde of fashion. On connotative level, this suggests his flamboyance and his showy character. He is someone who draws attention to himself, is very self confident and favours quite eccentric clothes. The animal print design nods towards his bestial nature: in our film he represents the id of human psychology, that is, the animal urgings and need for satisfying primal desires at the expense of spiritual qualities.
- On a denotative level Ular wears sunglasses all the time in the same way that film stars do. However, this is less to do with the need to protect his eyes from ultra violet rays than his need to look the part: he needs to look cool, mysterious and powerful. Equally, he needs to hide himself because his eyes would betray aspects of his nature that he wants to keep hidden such as his snake like nature. We plan to buy snake contact lenses to complete the picture.
- On a denotative level, Ular's red coat and brown fur coat are luxury items that are thick, warm and heavy, the sort of expensive fashion object that most men would not wear because they are so showy and brightly coloured. However Ular does not wear thick fur to keep warm. The connotations of fur relate to the bestiality of his nature. In our short film he is the agent of destruction for the two innocent romantics who find themselves embroiled in a downward spiral of consumer consumption at the expense of their peace of mind. In our modern day version of Paradise Lost, Ular represents theserpent in the Garden Of Eden.
I am really pleased with my poster, as before I wasn't sure how it was all going to come together and I was worried it would look random and unorganised. After doing some poster research I was able to get the things a poster needs to make it look realistic. I have added vines on my poster as there are references in my poster about a garden, and the whole theme is Adam and eve, who grew up in the garden of Eden.
I had to adapt my poster so all the institutional information could be added and there was space for it to all go. I created my poster in Photoshop
In order to create a really good film poster we wanted to analyse another professional real poster 'The Book Of Eli' This allowed us to look at what we needed to include in the institutional information. Freddie found a font that looked a perfect match to the writing on the poster, so we as a group decided on who did what and put the names down in the best order we could.
We had to look at the codes and conventions of a film poster. In a poster there is a lot to analyse. things like
- Title
- Colours
- Key actors
- Tag lines
- The release date
- Rating of film
In a past post I have analysed 2 posters in great detail to make sure I fully understand the codes and conventions that needs to be put into consideration when designing a poster.
Doing a poster analysis is really useful because it means when I create my poster I can make sure it is the best it can be, using all these things I have noticed in the posters. Using these titles should mean i consider all these things when creating my poster.
Your poster is extremely successful and meets all genre requirements (title, billing block, taglines, principal actors, social media, release info) as well as being a really powerful image. It succeeds because of its striking composition of the trio of protagonists with the young couple arranged around the villain's feet as if subservient to his power and authority, which matches the trailer exactly. The composition knowingly parallels that of religious triptychs, creating an ironic reference by elevating the Mephistopholean antagonist to the highest position where he sits as if enthroned in an arbour of vines. His stick connotes the power he wields. I like the subtlety of the composition: Evie gazes admiringly up at the villain, Adam's gaze is locked onto her possessively, whilst the antagonist stares uncaringly ahead. The poster works cohesively with the other products. You deconstruct your work well.
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