The first film poster I have chosen to analyse is ‘San Andreas’, which is an action film. My reason behind my choice is that, the poster uses very simplistic colours, there isn’t a variation of say perhaps very bold colours such as, red/green, however these colours still make the poster appear captivating. From my research, I have found that the title of the film is usually positioned very low down on the poster, which spreads across the entire horizontal. The title of the film is usually the largest and boldest text, which is shown on this poster. The colour of the title (an off white) conforms to the conventions of an action film poster, as having white text on a dark background makes the text stand out more.

The text on the poster is very simplistic and the three main pieces of informative text are in bold which immediately catch your attention. Underneath the title positioned in the centre, bold, however small in comparison to the title the words ‘May 29’ are shown. This informs the audience of the release date so that if they decide they want to see the film they know roughly when to go. Furthermore, below the release date reads the words ‘SEE IT IN READ D 3D’, this shows that the film was made from a high budget company, opposed to low (they are able to present the film in variations) as they are better and more popular with the attention and profit they receive.

The central image of the poster is of the protagonist, Dwayne Johnson, who is a Hollywood star and one of the unique selling points for the film. This is reinforced by the above text which has his name in small but bold text. I look at this poster as having 3 central parts, his name, the film title and the release date, as they stand out most being white on a relatively dark coloured background. Behind the protagonist is an image of ‘San Andreas’ which appears to be destroyed and in dire conditions. I am aware of this because there are large clouds of smoke coming out of various buildings, further to that, there is a huge parting within the ground which indicates that there may have been an earthquake. Using Propp’s narrative theory, combining the two images alludes to the fact that protagonist could be the hero of the film, this is reinforced by him being framed at a slight angle above the disaster which could show that he has more control. His costume shows that he has some sort of authority within society (he is a rescue pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department). This shows that he feels that it is his duty to save people in such a huge crisis as the one shown in the image. The character is looking side on from the

disaster, however he is not looking at the camera (mode of address is not apparent). This shows that, his character is based around seriousness, which is reinforced by his facial expression it indicates a man who is ready for business, the furrowed eyebrows and intense glare support this.

Here is a teaser poster which was released before the official poster. This is a vey simplistic poster which in itself is self explanatory as it hints a the plot. The central image is of ‘San Andreas’, however the city is split in half, and it is shown as going all the way down into the ground.From prior research, San Andreas is known as ‘California’s sleeping giant’ as this place is largely responsible for California’s earthquakes. As audience members who would already be aware of this information, they would know that the film is going to perhaps be about a major earthquake which takes place as the central plot.

The tagline ‘WE ALWAYS KNEW THIS DAY WOULD COME’ directs the audience personally, for those who know about the San Andreas fault. The tagline makes it seem as though this is something that the not only the characters in the film have been waiting for, but also what the AUDIENCE have been waiting for (use of direct address).As this is only a teaser poster, a

release date for the film has not yet been established which is why it says ‘COMING SOON’, in small, bold letters. The name ‘Dwayne Johnson’ is a key aspect to this films publicity as he is a infamous Hollywood star.