Analysis the film poster for Zodiac

1. ZODIAC FILM POSTER ANALYSIS
These are the few credits we are given about this
film. The fact that the poster does not include the
release date or actual tagline/slogan of the film
suggests that it is a teaser poster. These credits
increase the films bankability, since the director
of this film has clearly directed other successful
films, therefore insinuating that this film could be
just as successful.
The names of the stars are listed above the
poster in white for clear visibility. Names of the A
list stars also help in promoting the film, as each
of them are known for starring in successful films,
for example, Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback
Mountain (2005), Mark Ruffalo in Rumour Has It
(2005), and Robert Downey Jr. in Gothika (2003),
leading us to think that Zodiac will be a very
successful film with all of these renowned actors
cast in a film together.
The images we are given in this poster only
include the characters and the location, which
helping in providing hints related to this film’s
narrative. The faces of the characters have been
taken separately and compiles in one image, and
edited in a way that they will be placed neatly
next to each other. This technique allows space in
the poster to be used effectively.
The tagline on this poster reads: “Based on a true
story” making us feel even more inclined to watch
it- if a story is non-fictional, we tend to become
drawn to it more, since some of the events would
have actually taken place. Also, it will be an
informative film since it’s narrative is based on
actual events that happened, whilst being
entertaining. This increases it’s ability sell well.
Complementary quotes from those who have
already viewed the premiere of this film are
included to encourage us to go and watch it too.
This is a good marketing ploy because people
reporting from reputable sources such as “The
Rolling Stones” here, increases the reliability of
their opinion.
The colours used in this poster are dark and
mysterious, and is appropriately used for this
psychological thriller genre. The overall filter of
the poster is a green/blue colour, which helps in
creating a sense of enigma about it. The image
looks foggy and the background is black, evoking
a sense of curiosity about the unknown; we do
not know what is behind the mysterious bridge,
and the clouded image exacerbates our interest.
The format of the film is placed at the top of the
poster to entice customers to enjoy a better
cinematic experience. Offering consumers an
experience the cannot get at home or elsewhere
in the form of new convergence technology like
this, means the consumer will have a unique
viewing experience, and illegal things such piracy
will no longer be as much of a threat to the film
industry.

2. The layout of the poster is very effective, as it used up most of the space without looking too
overproduced; it provides the consumer with enough information about the atmosphere or mood of
the film. It looks very well thought out, and everything has been placed logically in order to increase
the coherence of the poster’s comprehensive message. The poster has been made to look mysterious
and therefore match the nature of the film's genre, without looking too overdone. The colours
delineate the thrilling, yet enigmatic nature of physiological thrillers, therefore adhering to the
conventions of this genre.
LAYOUT
FONT
The font colours and style correlate with the overall house style of this poster. The title of the film is
glowing, which creates a sense of mystery; sticking with the foggy theme that the poster has, and the
glowing lights on the bridge, the glow on the text helps to create an eerie feel to the poster. This glow
appears to be present on all of the texts on this poster. Also, the “Widescreen” text is spaced out to
emphasises the ‘width’, as it were, that this film will be played on. The sizes of the fonts vary according
to the importance of the text, for example, the cast has a medium font size, while the review and
credits are smaller. The title has the biggest font size, as it is what is most important to the poster, and
is what defines the film. These various font sizes correlate well with each other, and coupled with the
glow and the colour, helps to retain uniformity in this poster.

3. UNIQUE SELLING POINT
It could be said that the film's unique selling point are the actors that star in it. The main stars of
Zodiac have come from different backgrounds of entertainment, for example, Robert Downey Jr.
released his debut album on 23rd November 2004 called Futuristic by Sony Classical. Two of these
songs were played in films, ‘Broken’ in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and ‘Hannah’ in Wonder Boys (2000).
In the same way, Mark Ruffalo is an actor as well as a, producer, director and a screenwriter. Synergy
can be defined as a “strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly
related areas of entertainment”, and indicates that, by the actors coming from different areas of the
enterainment industry, it can attract a range of different audiences too, and therefore acts as a unique
selling point for the film.
It may not have been supposed to be in order, but the
names of the stars could have been placed above the
images of the actual characters so that it correlates,
and adds more uniformity to the poster, because it
looks slightly out of place in my opinion.
WHAT I WOULD CHANGE