Ben Kelleher

Analysis of Michael Jackson music poster

The main protagonist is the main focus of this poster. Michael Jackson’s top half is shown, taking up the majority of the poster. He is positioned face on and looks directly down the camera lens. This grabs the viewer straight away, with him being instantly recognisable to fans, thus using Dyer’s Theory on Celebrity, so to hook people in.

The name of the artist and the album the poster is promoting is the only typography on this poster. This is simple yet effective in grabbing the viewers’ attention. The typography for the artists name is bold, black capital letters, positioned on the right and goes down the poster. This grabs the viewers’ attention and shows whose album it is; and is similar to some of the artist’s previous work; so creating an artist image. The name of the album it is promoting is red and looks handwritten; this is in contrast to the rest of the colours used on the poster and so really stands out and hooks the viewer in.

This poster is very similar to the album cover for Michael Jackson’s ‘BAD’ and was likely used to promote the album, thus creating a recognisable image for the viewer, so they can relate the poster to the album and generate interest. The poster is shown in colour, however the theme is heavily black and white, with the stars outfit black against a white background, with his name in black; these colours perhaps relate to a big single from the album ; ‘Black and White’, and the album is also referenced in red ‘BAD’. The shot is also portioned out, so to be appealing to the viewer’s eye, using the rule of three to show the artist on the centre-left, the name of the album it is promoting centre-right and the artists name on the right.

The main artist is in black, this is in contrast with the white background and makes him stand out; it could also be a symbol of his race, and his pride, especially due to the time the picture was taken; where many were questioning whether he was happy with his skin colour.

The shot shows white in the background, so to contrast with the typography and artists costume; so the artist stands out.