Poster Analysis

The poster for the 2003 film Hulk is used to give the audience an idea of what to expect from the film and the movie's themes. It does this using imagery and positioning. The poster uses the following:

• A dark city in the background, to connote the darker context in the film.
• The Hulk is positioned directly in the middle of the image and shot from a slightly low angle to show the audience not only that he is the main subject/character of the film, but also how big he is. His literal enormity could also be used to show that the production is a big movie. With a huge budget and Hollywood director, it hopes to become a blockbuster.
• The main focus of the Hulk is his hand, which is reaching out towards the audience. This shows that the Hulk is grabbing our attention. It also further connotes the size of the Hulk and his mysteriousness, as the hand covers most of the Hulk's face and torso, showing him as hidden. This also foreshadows the films plot, where the Hulk/Bruce Banner must remain hidden as the government, police and military chase after our big green hero. 
• The darkness also adds to the mystery of the Hulk, as most of his lower body is covered by a shadow formed by his hand. The fact that we cannot see much of the Hulk, as well as the intimidating size of his hand, intrigues us as film-goers to see the movie and find out what it is all about.
• You can see one of the Hulk's eyes, which is staring right at you when you see the poster. This catches your attention because when something stares at you and you see it out of the corner of your eye, your natural reaction is to stare right back at it. As a result of this, the poster designer makes you look at it by making Hulk look at you.
• The films title, Hulk, appears in big, bold block capitals. The text is green not only to connote the colour of the hero, but also because it is positioned in the darkest area of the poster, which makes the bold text stand out even more. This is essential because if there was no title on the poster, you wouldn't know what film is was and would not see it. And so the poster persuades you to see the film and tells you what the film is.

Sometimes posters don't feature the hero.

This poster for The Dark Knight Rises doesn't feature a shot of Batman. However it is effective by using the following.

• The logo which immediately tells us that it's a Batman film without even mentioning the title.
• The image of the building crumbling and being destroyed. This not only symbolizes the actual destruction of Gotham City, but also the emotional and psychological breakdown of the films protagonist.
• The very dark colours which connotes the dark, mature content of the film.
• The release date hint to give a vague advertisement about the film. 

Finally there is this poster for the 2009 alternative Superhero film Watchmen. The poster features one of the main characters, Rorschach. This poster works for several reasons and uses the following:

• The story feature vigillanties like Rorscharch being outlawed in an alternative version of 1980's USA. Because Rorscharch's type have been outlawed he feels as though the world has tured it's back on him, so he does the same to us, facing away from the audience on the poster.
• The rain. Rain very often connotes misery and depression. This, and the fact that it appears to be night in the poster connote the films dark nature and the feelings of Rorscharch himself. It can also show the character's psychological problems and the fact that he is a silluhette in a dark street connotes him as being more of an Anti-Hero than the traditional Superhero.
• The quote from the character at the top of the screen which also gives us insight into the mental state of Rorscharch.
• The big, bold, brightly coloured Titles that stand out in front of the dark background. Other good avertisement is the release date, just above the title.