Research
Film Noir Poster Annotations
Sunest Boulevard
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/8/8/12881706/1906884.jpg?1373285499)
Sunset Boulevard was a very successful film noir and the poster that was created for the movie helps to portray this. Firstly the layout of this particular poster is quite interesting as it links to the tag line at the bottom saying 'A Hollywood Story'. This is linked because of the camera film that is on the poster on which the title is written. Not only but it gets the audience to think that the male character that is holding the female on the right side of the poster is the protagonist but we are not 100% sure of this. Taking over the poster is what the audience probably predict to be the femme fatale. I think this because the female is taking over most of the poster and because her face is much bigger than the other two characters that are also shown. This might indicate that there could a love triangle in the film. The colours that are used are red; orange and yellow out of which red stands out more as it is the most potent colour. This can connotate a lot of things and also reveal some information about the film as it could indicate that
there could be death, love and danger in the film. Also i think that the film might be related to death because of the facial expressions that the characters have on their faces, they show fear. Other than the red the two other colours yellow and orange don't reveal much about the film as they are simple colours that do not connotate a lot. This is not it as the colours look painted which is something usual for a film noir poster in those days.
On the poster there are also used two main images. The main image being the female that is on her own which i believe to be the femme fatale. Her face is taking most of the space on the poster and the image blends in with the background as her face is red and so is the background colour. The second main image is a image of a woman and what i believe to be the protagonist. The two characters are smaller compared to the first main image which is suggesting that the two characters have less significance than the 'femme fatale'. The last image that is used is of a camera film in the foreground which as i already mentioned is linked with the tagline which is about Hollywood.
The font and the lettering of the title and tag line are big and bold to stand out, this is usual with film noir posters also the two are both in the colour yellow foreshadowing that they are linked.
At last in the representation of women i think that this poster is portrayed in a negative way because the main image of the female on her own is showing that the female is angry and this foreshadows danger which also links to the main colour in the poster, red.This suggests that the women in the film are most likely going to be dangerous.
The Dark Corner
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/8/8/12881706/9409803.jpg?1373285489)
The layout of the The Dark Corner poster is very simplistic as with most of the posters that were created during the peak of film noir the poster has a very ‘painted’ look to it.In this poster it is not as clear as in Sunset Boulevard who the characters are although i think that the woman on the poster is the femme fatale and that the male is the protagonist. In this poster the male character seems to have more power as the main image is of the man and it is bigger compared to the image in the foreground of the female. Not only but as all the other film noir posters the names of the main characters are big and take a lot of space on the poster to catch the eye the same being with the title of the movie.
The poster has the colours blue and orange. In the main background the man who i believe is the protagonist is in the colour green which foreshadows that he could be evil or ill. Also the female character is in the colour orange which suggests that she brings warmth and the light on the male. There is not much colour used on this poster as it is probably trying to not give too much of the film away and also it uses a very small amount of colour which hints certain things that the audience will figure out. Also the title is in the colour orange even though it says the 'dark corner' this could link to the female character because the two are in the same colour which can hint that there might be something dark hidden behind the females looks.
As there are two main images used on this poster i believe that these two characters that are shown are the protagonist and the femme fatale as i mentioned before. The protagonist is slightly bigger than the femme fatale which suggests that he has more power over her .
Next is the font and lettering the title is a very bold big font that makes it eye catching and appealing, as for the actors names the surnames are a lot bigger, this is done because when you see the surnames this can widen the fan base for the film and make it interesting.
At last the femme fatale, I think that she isn’t portrayed in a negative way but that she is portrayed as a very innocent character.
The poster has the colours blue and orange. In the main background the man who i believe is the protagonist is in the colour green which foreshadows that he could be evil or ill. Also the female character is in the colour orange which suggests that she brings warmth and the light on the male. There is not much colour used on this poster as it is probably trying to not give too much of the film away and also it uses a very small amount of colour which hints certain things that the audience will figure out. Also the title is in the colour orange even though it says the 'dark corner' this could link to the female character because the two are in the same colour which can hint that there might be something dark hidden behind the females looks.
As there are two main images used on this poster i believe that these two characters that are shown are the protagonist and the femme fatale as i mentioned before. The protagonist is slightly bigger than the femme fatale which suggests that he has more power over her .
Next is the font and lettering the title is a very bold big font that makes it eye catching and appealing, as for the actors names the surnames are a lot bigger, this is done because when you see the surnames this can widen the fan base for the film and make it interesting.
At last the femme fatale, I think that she isn’t portrayed in a negative way but that she is portrayed as a very innocent character.
The Spider
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/8/8/12881706/3211846.jpg)
Along with the other film noir posters that I have looked at, the film noir poster for 'The Spider' is very simplistic and there are two images but only one main which takes over most of the poster with a second image at the top that is in the background, its clearly placed central of the poster behind the text.
This poster is not very different when it comes to the colours as the colours used are similar with the colours that are used on the 'Dark Corner' poster. In terms of the images i think that the two main characters shown in the main image are the protagonist and the femme fatale. The two characters are holding each other showing that they are supporting and helping each other also their facial expressions show that they are scared and that they only have each other.
The main image is of the two characters because whoever has designed this poster obviously put no other images on the poster because they wanted us to concentrate on the two characters. Finally because both the female and male are together and the same size we assume that they are both of significant importance to the film.On the other side the supporting image of the face is important because it is fairly big an it is on top of the main image to show that the character might be looking on the protagonist and femme fatale.
The font and lettering, unusually this poster has the names of the characters small compared to the main image but the surnames of the characters are made much bigger than the first names, this triggers the names in the audiences minds and widens the fan base for the film. The title is the brightest coloured object in the poster which makes you put your attention on that first, the title is also written in italics across the middle of the poster because it is literally a title.
Finally is the portrayal of women in this poster, in my opinion there is no positive or negative view of women in this particular poster i think this because the two people in the poster look like a couple, there is no show of provocativeness of the woman or showing them in any bad way.
This poster is not very different when it comes to the colours as the colours used are similar with the colours that are used on the 'Dark Corner' poster. In terms of the images i think that the two main characters shown in the main image are the protagonist and the femme fatale. The two characters are holding each other showing that they are supporting and helping each other also their facial expressions show that they are scared and that they only have each other.
The main image is of the two characters because whoever has designed this poster obviously put no other images on the poster because they wanted us to concentrate on the two characters. Finally because both the female and male are together and the same size we assume that they are both of significant importance to the film.On the other side the supporting image of the face is important because it is fairly big an it is on top of the main image to show that the character might be looking on the protagonist and femme fatale.
The font and lettering, unusually this poster has the names of the characters small compared to the main image but the surnames of the characters are made much bigger than the first names, this triggers the names in the audiences minds and widens the fan base for the film. The title is the brightest coloured object in the poster which makes you put your attention on that first, the title is also written in italics across the middle of the poster because it is literally a title.
Finally is the portrayal of women in this poster, in my opinion there is no positive or negative view of women in this particular poster i think this because the two people in the poster look like a couple, there is no show of provocativeness of the woman or showing them in any bad way.