Poster Analysis

In this post I will be looking at cyberpunk themed film posters and looking at what makes them fit the theme so well. I will also look at similarities and differences to them and then work on my own poster and show the influences.

(Blade Runner 2049, 2017)

Points in this poster and what they mean:

There is a Clear good v.s evil divide with colour scheme. It includes dark colours for the darker characters and lighter colours for the ones who bring hope. The colours show off danger v.s purity or light (Red and Blue) The actors body language. Is also something to look at. They are stood Back to back which connotates a rivalry between two characters. This could be foreshadowing to something in the story of the film or could be shedding light on the backstories of the film

The Sidekicks are shown in the foreground. They are smaller in comparison to the main characters as they are less important. This is a common theme within film posters. They want to show main characters to the story and show how much significance they have to the plot

Skyscrapers on both sides foreshadow the scenery of the game and hint to the theme/genre of the game.

Points in the poster and what they mean:

Colour scheme (Orange and Blue) is representing of the good vs. bad theme and sparks show conflict between the two parties.

The futuristic grid background fits well with the genre of the film and connotates a modern and technical background to the story.

The way the two characters are looking at each-other suggests a feud, much like the Blade Runner poster, which seems to be conflicted. This relates closely to the colour scheme used.

(Tron: Legacy, 2010)

Points in the poster and what they mean:

The vehicle in the foreground of the poster is very clearly displaying the technology used in the film. Its not a bike we would have in our time (2018) so its based after then too. Also a clear indicator of face-paced driving action as a theme.
Dark atmosphere of the city shows its majority going to be set a night with a lot of lights; from streets, cars and the Cityscape. Which is a common code and convention of a cyberpunk film.
The post is in Japanese and the film was initially released in Japan. The cyberpunk theme and the culture of Japan go hand in hand to create a beautiful combination of main genre and sub genre.

(Akira, 1988)

Points in the poster and what they mean:

Main characters in center illuminated by the weapons showing hope and significance to the story. Whereas side characters and allies sit at the bottom almost holding them up.

Colour divide between Red, Orange Blue and Green all signify different sides fighting one big battle against one huge enemy (In the corner)

Stars and moon in background show that it will be set in space and show that its going to be a predominately sci-fi film.

(Star Wars: The Force Awakens, 2015)

Similarities In all the posters

Similarities

Colour schemes in poster are a very good way to suggest themes and genres to the audience and also hint to the story of the film/game
All of the titles are very clean and clear. There isn't one that is hard to read. The font styles in cyberpunk posters usually use outlines too as they look more futuristic.
Cityscapes seem very common in the cyberpunk theme and showing them foreshadows the sort of scenery the viewer will be immersed into.
Body language is very important when putting characters into a poster. It shows instantly who to look out for in terms of villains. You will also always be able to tell who the main character is, and usually who the sidekicks are. Other characters who aren't important but are still part of the story sometimes get put on there. E.g Star Wars or The Fifth Element.

How its influenced my work

After taking all this into consideration I went and created a draft poster for our exhibition.

It includes our logos because that's something that has to be there however it has loads of the same similarities as the above posters.

Clean font which is readable. The font also suggests a hacked vibe which is a huge core dynamic of our game.
Griddle effect background which represents a futuristic 80's vaporware effect. This fits the game brilliantly and is aesthetically pleasing and the lines take peoples eyes back to the information at the bottom. (Which is the most important.
Colour scheme is purple which reflects the dark cityscape in the Akira poster above. Our game will be quite dark with a lot of little lights illuminating the streets. So its heavily influenced from that poster especially.

I did have a few problems when looking at the slogan for the poster. The slogan "See a 3D game built from start to finish" was the original one however gave people the wrong impression they could watch the process and that there would be a finished product at the end of it, which we may not have.

The second slogan was "Choose domed or doomed" Which is a propaganda slogan from the game. But to the outside audience it wouldn't make sense and definitely couldn't be used to advertise a exhibition.

Finally after talking to a writer (Jessica Jenkins) we came up with "Witness our journey into indie game design" It doesn't tell the audience it will be a perfect game. It briefly explains they get to look back on how we learnt to make this game and began off in our teams which reflect a real indie game design team.

If I could do anything different with this poster I would have created it with a lot less white space however if I were to take off the which square, the background would swallow up the text and it wouldn't be as visible. On the white background it creates high visibility and clear text. Which can be seen from further away.