Film Poster Analysis

'Hot Fuzz' is a hybrid genre of action and comedy. I am analysing this trailer as I'm still undecided in what genre of film to produce, it will either be action or thriller, however both genres are sometimes mixed together. I am analysing the codes and conventions of the poster. As previously said codes are any visual aspects that create meaning i.e. fonts, colours and images. Conventions are what you would expect to see or find in that specific media product.

The conventions of this film poster are:

1. Film Title - this is to inform the audience of the name so they know what to look for in the cinema and talk about with other people.
2. Tag Line - generally there is a tag line which brings all of the individual parts of the trailer together.
3. Release Date - to let audience known when it is in the cinema, without it the poster would be pretty pointless.
4. Actors Names - this is attract a particular audience and also promote the film and fans of the actors may google what films they are in.
5. Main Image - used to suggest the narrative of the film (which is also done by the tag line) it also suggests the genre to the audience, generally has the characters in it. The main image is trying to be intriguing and captivating, the actors are used to promote.
6. Producers/Directors Names - to let the audience know the genre and also if the audience recognise the brand they will associate it with other films that company has made attracting a particular audience i.e. if they see Paramount they know the film is a high quality film.

Usually there will be a film certificate so the audience know the age allowed to see it, however on this poster there isn't which is unusual and i can not think of why. The film certificate is usually a good thing on a horror poster, as the higher the certificate the more gory the film which will please the target audience.

The Codes of the film poster analysed:

• Fonts - the fonts are san serif fonts, they are big and bold which makes them stand out. It represents an action genre. The font has a texture on it of metal, this is to represent the police badge which tells the audience that the film is about police, an action film.
• Colours - the colours are dark, mainly white, black and grey apart from the colour on glasses. These colours are the colours of a police mans uniform, dark colours are usually associated with horror as action usually has reds and oranges (explosions) however this poster is representing an action/police film so these colours are correct for the genre.
• Images - they're dressed in police uniform and have aviator glasses on which are stereotypically known with top gun an action film. They also have a tooth pick in they're mouths which is known will action films too. The actors are known as comedic actors so the 'serious' poses they are pulling are stereotypical of an action film but as the actors are well known for being silly it makes the audience laugh. The image perfectly represents the hybrid genre that the film is, action/comedy.