Poster Analysis - 'Before You Know It'

Mise En Scene/ Media Language:

The main colour denoted in this poster is orange: according to colour-wheel-pro the meanings of orange are

• Energy
• Happiness
• Creativity

However, further down the website says that the gold-orange colour connotes wisdom and wealth. I think this is appropriate as gold-orange tones are present in this poster.

The colour also matches the character in the poster. He looks elderly and therefore could have a breath of knowledge (wisdom), but his wealthiness is not evident yet to the audience. This is because he is not facing the camera and therefore creating restricted narration. However, 'your golden years' relates to the elderly meaning this further links the golden colour to the character.

Representation:
The character in the poster seems as if he is a protagonist as there is high key lighting and his posture is neutral. But when looking at the IMBD website for this film I discovered that this film is about 3 homosexual males. The way that the man is represented in this film does not fit the stereotype of homosexuals, meaning that this film could be trying to change the audiences expectations on the gay society. I think this is why then the man is not facing the camera as the creators are trying to denote to the audience that the man could be anyone and they will have to discover his identity when watching the film.

Also, when thinking about context, the older generation generally are not so comfortable with homosexuality as they grew up in a society which was more religious (before secularisation) and disagreed with homosexuality. Therefore this film may be trying to change the view of the older generation especially after recent events supporting homosexuality e.g. The Gay Marriage Act 2013 (which was when the film was made).

Audience:
I could not find any age ratings for this film, however after looking at the synopsis, I feel the film would either have a 12 or 15 age rating. This is because the film does contain 'drama' elements which could possible display strong language. But I feel the majority of people who would watch this film would be aged 30-60 as this film looks more suited to an older generation, and not young teens who would be more interested in comedy. Also at the character is elderly, older audiences would be able to relate more to the characters in the film.

I feel that the social class that the viewers would be in is B-C2 as this film would be available to those with a leisure income and as it is an independent film, it would be unlikely to feature on and deals in a supermarket.

Genre:
According to the IMBD website, the genres of the film is Biography and Drama, meaning that this film is  a hybrid. However, unlike other film posters that I have studied, e.g. This Is England, the genre is less noticeable when looking at the film. The biography element could be hinted at the camera being placed behind the man as this gives the impression that it is following him, therefore following his life - which biographies do.

Conventions in Detail:

• The title is a sans-serif font which is the norm for more film titles. It is simple which could connote a simple storyline in film
• The awards and the reviews take up a lot of space on the poster to highlight to the audience of the films success.
• All the text is layered on top of empty and unused space in the poster to allow the main part of the photo to be seen easily and to avoid a cluttered effect.