'44 Inch Chest' Film Poster Research- Candice Tyson

Representation

• There are a number of characters presented on the front of this film poster. The one character is central of the film poster telling us that he must be the main character. He appears quite scruffy and his costume looks like it could be some sort of uniform. His scruffy facial hair makes him look like he doesn't take pride in his appearance and his hair looks greasy- already we have an idea what the main character may be like.
• The other characters presented behind the main character are all looking forward with serious facial expressions leaving us as an audience questioning how each of them are related as no eye contact is present between any of them. Each of the character's costume is formal leaving the central main character as an outcast to the rest of them.
• Only one of the six characters is female showing us as the audience that the film is dominated by the male roles and the female character probably has less of a role in the film. This reminds me of how years ago film and TV used to be quite sexist and males would always have the leading role.
• Age is also represented in this poster. Often people will say as people get older they become more wise and serious. From the facial expressions shown on their faces we can see they are middle aged as their wrinkles are defined and their facial expressions are all very serious.

Narrative

• From what is shown on the film poster it is hard to get the real idea of what the film may be about. The overall theme is quite dark and dingy already give the film a serious tone and mood. In addition to this the actors all have serious facial expression to add to the moody tone. 
• The title '44 Inch Chest' in addition to the main character that is presented larger than the others gives us the idea that it may be him that has a 44 inch chest or something in relation to this.
• The little animation next to the title appears to be a prisoner in handcuffs sitting on a chair. This could be related to the story in some way and have something to do with the characters. The animation is orange in connection to the title also telling us the story may be based around a prisoner with a 44 Inch Chest.

Genre

• The genre for '44 Inch Chest' is said to be a crime drama. We don't get any hints from the poster about its genre apart from the small animation next to the title of what looks like a prisoner. However, another hint we do get is from the bit of text shown above the title that tells the audience the film is 'from the writers of Sexy Beast' which is another crime drama film.
• We know that the film can't be a comedy and we can't see anything to do with romance or horror. So we know it must be another genre that is fairly serious such as a drama, its shown to be serious through the facial expressions of the characters and also the low key lighting.
• Steve Neale's theory of genre is that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' he also adds that 'difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre': mere repetition would not attract an audience.
• Neale's theory works with this poster and genre as the genre for this film is both crime and drama. The repetition in this poster for the genre is the low key lighting as you often see this in a crime or drama film poster. However the poster doesn't use every convention of these genres making it different like Neale says. Although it uses repetition it doesn't use it to the full extent as 'mere repetition would not attract an audience'.

Audience

• The characters in the film poster are all middle aged which will immediately attract an older audience as the younger generation will often be attracted to a film with similar aged actors as it is easier to relate to these. The same goes for older people, they will be attracted to a film with older actors as they will be able to relate to these and their experiences in the film.
• The gender I think this film is targeted at I would say is generally a male audience as the majority of the actors are male. This means that male viewers are more likely able to relate to these actors than a female would. Also, because the film consists of more male actors this will probably mean the film has got to do with

Film Language

• The title and text uses sans serif text making the text easy to read and also sets a serious tone to go with the genre and theme of the film. The colour of the title is a bright orange contrasting with the dark background making it stand out instantly and is the first thing that grabs your attention when looking at the poster.
• The title has little lines on each letter to represent a ruler or tape measure, this links with the name of the film '44 inch chest'. The title is overlaid across the main male actor's chest adding to the idea that the film is about him an possibly his '44 inch chest'
• The actors names at the top of the screen are evenly spaced in a white sans serif text which is easy to read as the contrast of the white on the dark background makes it easy to read.
• 'The measure of revenge'  tagline that is shown below the title in a white bold sans serif text is central with the title. The distance between the title and tagline means straight after reading the title you instantly want to read the tagline and this gives us as an audience and insight on what the film may be revolved around.
• Above the title there is some text also written in a white sans serif text that says ' from the writers of Sexy Beast'. This has been added in so that views that were a fan of 'Sexy Beast' will then want to go on and watch this film.