Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015) Theatrical Poster Analysis

Star Wars - The force awakens was one of the biggest films of 2015 if not the biggest, so I thought I'd look into the film prior to release in order to see why it was so successful.

So I started with the theatrical poster, not only is it aesthetically pleasing to look at given the variety of bright colours and things to look at- which of course gives plenty of information about the film, for example if we start with the characters.

From the first viewing we as the audience are made to look at the largest visual object- this being the villain - or at least we build the character representation that he is villain is he cloaked in black which typically speaking resembles evil, and he is holding a red light saver which will bring back feeling of nostalgia for previous viewers as well as reminding them that he is the villain. Furthermore in the poster his presence is made to seem daunting because of his shot composition.  In contrast the other characters are seen to be weaker than him given that they are less emphasized. Also the layout of the characters is shown to make a clear divide between two sides, one side being the bad guy and the other being the good guys and the team we are often made to confide with.

The space background is deliberately used to remind the audience of the old fashioned series that everyone liked.

And whilst the majority of the poster has been taken up with characters, the Main title is added at the bottle /base of the poster in a away that it doesn't subtract from the rest of the poster but also so that it gets noticed. Also the title itself is eye catching since it uses the typical font and colour scheme that fans will have expected, but the old font almost sandwiches the name of the new film - which is clearly shown in white to attract the attention of the viewer.

However unlike most theatrical posters the release date of this film is not large, instead it sits at the bottom of the poster in a white font that differs from the main title, despite this it is still evident as its colour contrasts significantly against the black background

To conclude, this theatrical poster is one that I really admire for the image manipulation used. Although this is something performed by professionals I see no reason why I shouldn't try to manipulate my main image for effect just as it has been done here.