Feature Poster Analysis: The Selfish Giant (2013)

The two most predominant features of this poster are the title text and the image of the boy with the horse. This may be successful in portraying the name of the film, and giving it imagery to associate with it.  Intertextuality is seen here in the title, as it is a reference to an Oscar Wilde story of the same name. This may suggest that the short story serves as a basis for the film. The red writing stands out against the neutral grey background. This colour connotes danger, which may suggest some themes and events in the narrative. The grey may also represent a dull and boring background in which the protagonist has emerged from. Overall, the colour palette is quite cool and therefore suggests a more melancholy mood to the film. Meanwhile, the protagonist is portrayed with a horse in this version of the poster. The choice of subject matter might suggest a setting within a rural area, or that of a working class nature. The clothes that the boy is wearing further supports this suggested connotation as they are casual and therefore suggest working class representation.

The shapes in this poster serve for negative space all around the superimposed image of the boy and horse. This means that there is room for all of the text around them, as well as one extra added graphic of the electricity pylons behind the title. This hints at events in the narrative as they are an important part to the story, as well as to the setting. 

The title of the film is most definitely implied to be the most important piece of text on the poster, as it is the largest and most brightly coloured out of the whole composition. The text that follows within the clear hierarchy created, is the star ratings along with their reviews. There is one that fills the width of the poster, with two smaller ones underneath. These are easily accessible for all types of media audiences, and so creates a higher chance of more mainstream audiences seeing this film. Along with the reviews and ratings at the top, there are also more ratings below, which may emphasise the positive feedback that the film has received from the mentioned inter medial companies that reviewed it. Following this is the director credit, which appeals to only those who know the director by name, instead of by film name. This may only appeal to the more media literate and appreciative, as they are likely to analyse a poster for longer than the average audience member, and recognise a director by their name without reference to their previous films. Finally, and conventionally, the credits in the bottom of the poster are the smallest and less easy to see.

The font itself is a basic san serif typeface, which might emphasise the issues and themes surrounding working class representations, and lack of opportunities for such social groups.

There isn't a tag line for this poster, which may suggest the context of it. Considering the dimensions of the poster, this may have been designed with the purpose of advertising the film on billboards or similar, as it would only fill up half a page, or sideways within a film magazine like Sight & Sound.