Captain America Civil War (2016) Teaser Poster Analysis

At first glance of this teaser poster we are invited to consider a potential new storyline. This is suggested through the simplicity of the camera position and the intertitles, for example the camera angle is enhanced specifically to show the facial expression of only two characters , which appears to be one of aggression on both characters. For any casual film fan who has seen this poster they will automatically assume that given the title of the film is Captain America, that the "Bad guy" must be the character directly opposite to him. But for avid Marvel fans this is not the case as in the last film the two characters were on the same side.

Typically with teaser trailers they give away limited information such as the title, and a potential release date, but this is often changed because of delays however the actual date can be assumed to be around a similar time or even earlier.

Which perhaps leads the audience to look further into the poster to try and find a hint, this is where we see the bold white writing at the top of the poster. This is noticeable  as it spreads across both sides of the poster, the words of which state : " Divided we fall " and of course there are only so many assumptions that an audience can make with such limited information. But the fact that the producers and designers could create such an enigma simply by using a short sentence and a contrast of colours shows that sometimes simplicity is key when trying to intrigue and audience.

This is something I want to identify when creating my poster and for this reason I feel I will make a teaser poster rather than a theatrical poster. Mainly because theatrical posters often give away more information.

But if we take a closer look at the teaser poster it is clear that colour has been used to full effect, for example by using the colours that we normally associate with these characters, the designers can imply that the two are against each other as the two colours do not mix. Since the two are standing head to head we are made to picture the two fighting against one another. Also the colours themselves come across as dirty and dark, however this may be to contrast these colours against those in the centre of overall composition, which is seen as a considerably brighter colour , perhaps to suggest hope. However such a stark contrast between darkness and hope leaves the audience questioning the situation.

Overall the simplicity of design is something I would like to and feel like a can emulate, however I understand that it will be hard to create such an enigma given that it only worked in this instance because the two characters are already established and well known characters. That's not to say that I could create a similar situation.

But conclusively I am really encouraged by the idea of creating a teaser at this moment in time, as after having looked into both theatrical and teaser variations of the same film the TEASER version is more appealing to me.