Find the Man Down poster that has a big soldier on the front!
The Man Down poster is clearly designed to inform people that a new film is coming out and it is to appeal to the target audience and pull them in to see the film. The target audience would be men, probably aged fifteen or older given the content of the poster.
The first thing that shows the purpose of the poster is the prominently placed release date along the bottom of the poster. The bottom of the poster is quite dark and the writing is in white, which makes it stand out. There is nothing else round about it to distract from the information give. The date is March 31st so this is clearly an Easter film and hopes to make lots of money off of the Easter season when people are likely to visit the cinema for a treat.
Jumping to the title, the film is called Man Down. We know this is a war film as the main image shows a soldier but the title further reinforces this, as the title comes from a military expression for a soldier being hurt in action. The font selected is like a military stencil and it has been used throughout the poster, which reinforces the military theme of the film. It is clearly going to be an action film with a military plot-line. The title also hints at the narrative. We can guess that the plot will be about a group of soldiers, one will become hurt and the others will then rally round to save him. This would follow Todorov’s theory of balance moving to imbalance and back to balance. There may also be an element of Levi-Strauss here as the soldiers will probably represent good and there will be an enemy they fight representing bad. The focus on a male group of characters and the idea that they are fighting in a war would identify the target audience as adult males who could handle seeing the horrors of war portrayed.
The film requires no tag line to reel in its audience as the title is already clear enough – Man Down – there is someone needing rescued. The enigma code is introduced here as we wonder what has happened to cause a man to be injured and how his team will rescue him. This attracts the target audience because it makes the story intriguing.
The image is also going to attract an audience. There is a long shot of the main character in army fatigues, wearing a helmet and carrying a gun. He is made to seem powerful and in charge as he faces us head on, and has his feet spread wide. His arms are open to carry his gun broadening his shoulders. He looks like a man on a mission. The colours on the image are also predominantly green and blue which are seen as boyish colours, again making this seem like a ‘colder’ film. In the background we can see other soldiers sprinting, and the smoke from grenades being launched, there is also a cluster of planes in the top left corner of the poster. All of this suggests high action and drama in the middle of a battle scene. There are yellow bullet or missile streaks which also heighten this feeling of high-action and the middle of a war feel. Pinned over the whole thing is a cross-hair which suggests the man may be a target who will be brought down. Again all of this appeals to a male audience as it has a high octane feel to it.
Finally, there are a number of actors mentioned, in a prominent central position beneath the title. Shia La Bouf is clearly the main character but people like Gary Oldman are also mentioned. The cast is pretty strong, with a number of famous and well-regarded Hollywood actors appearing. This would appeal to people as they might like these actors for other works and want to see them in a new work.
