Year 10/11 GCSE Media Studies

Textual Analysis Coursework Assignment One

(Print-based)
DRAFT

Dark skies, but

bright landscape,
awkward weather Only main actor’s
name shown, wide on
top.
‘Depth-of-vision’ effect,
unclear landscape beyond
buildings, builds on
Tagline in the
“spooky” effect.
middle, dark sky,
small font.

Character’s face not

shown, building on
mystery theme, a
unique selling point.

Slight silhouette effect from

bright background,

Businessman in suit with

gun is a common
convention in action/spy Similar font used
films throughout, except title.
Intertextuality
Flooding water, demonstrated.
contrasts city image,
adds to mystery
Only one pistol, no other
weapons, explicit action,
gore or clear violence etc.

No information on ratings,
reviews, or accolades, which Film title in red,
some other films may have. clearly displayed,
Does not explicitly advertise contrasts rest of
the movie. poster, prominent.

Clearly shows another

The director himself and successful film by the
other details (production same director,
credits) are less obvious drawing in attention.
than the rest of the
poster.
Website is
advertised, contains
more information
online.

Rough date of
released is slightly
more prominent,
presented in a
tagline-esque
“Inception”, directed by Christopher Nolan, and starring Leonardo
DiCaprio, was an action-thriller science-fiction released in the summer
of 2010. The movie was another joint production between Warner Bros.
and Legendary Pictures, after other films such as “Batman Begins” in
2005, and “The Dark Knight” in 2008, also directed by Christopher
Nolan.

In this poster, it is actually very hard to figure out what the movie is
about. The poster is of an abstract, mysterious nature. Nothing is
clearly presented to the audience, instead prompting them to think
and wonder about the movie for themselves. This contradicts the
typical action and science fiction conventions. The emphasis of the
enigma and mystery of this poster are the unique selling points of this
poster.

The poster was produced with desktop publishing (DTP), and the
advanced use of computer graphics and editing seen in the poster
(vanishing point effect, contrasting colours, sky is photoshopped to
look unnatural etc.) already suggests a high production value, and thus
a high budget film, which is often attributed with high quality, drawing
even more attention to the film.

The main font is a smart, plain white font, which varies in size
throughout the poster. This font is intertextual, and as mentioned
before, is also used in other media texts, such as the film’s website,
downloadable media (such as computer wallpapers), and the trailer.
However, the title uses a flashier, and much larger font, and also
utilizes a dark red instead of white, standing out from the rest of the
writing in the poster. The same format of the title is also used in other
media texts, and other versions of this poster, thus seems to be almost
like a logo, that viewers can quickly recognize.

Although void of any reviews, ratings and accolades information, the

poster does include a website. This works well in conjunction with the
lack of information in the poster. The uses and gratification theory
comes into play. The viewers already have a lot of interest for the
movie, and because there is very little revealed, the audience would
naturally want to know more, and providing a website will allow them
to satisfy their interest. The website for this film includes a lot more
information and media. It functions in telling more about the film, as
well as supplying other means of advertising (most importantly, an
online forum, which can facilitate in magnifying the effects and the
rate of word-of-mouth marketing).
It is not easy to choose a genre for “Inception” when just studying the
poster, since there is so much fluidity in the icons and genre
conventions. We can study the icons first (Buscombe’s theory of
iconography). The location itself, a modern developed city, does not
seem to be a conventional science-fiction icon, but can be seen in
some other action films, such as “Die Hard” and consequent sequels.
The character himself does not appear to be a conventional science-
fiction character nor action character. However, as previously
mentioned, the character carries the conventional spy character icon
(business suit and pistol). There is a lack of tools too, save for a pistol
held by the character. Despite this, the unrealistic weather, flood, and
overall unnatural environment, is not a conventional action film image,
but rather, a science-fiction related one.

We can further study the genre of “Inception” with levels of

classification. The mode of the film can be determined as myth, as
romance and comedy are not suitable in this case, tragedy is not a
core idea in the plot, and it is hard to find any ironic elements in the
poster or film. Furthermore, myth seems to be a suitable mode for a
science-fiction film.

Focusing on the specifics, the genre can be classed as science-fiction,

obviously due to its visionary and imaginative plot based around
dreams and thought-stealing. Going one step further, we can say that
the sub-genre is crime-mystery, for it revolves around the idea of the
gradual resolve of an unsolved mystery, which happens to be
completing a complex criminal act.

Film reviewer and analyst Roger Ebert states in his review of

“Inception” that the film was “structured with action movie basics”, but
didn’t clearly outline the genre of the movie. In a separate review, Nev
Pierce of Empire Online describes the film as “great sci-fi” with “brain-
frying, subconscious-spelunking, time-dilating structure”. Other
reviews also seem to agree with the blend of an action and science-
fiction genre, with a hint of thriller genre, emphasizing on suspense
and excitement through building up mystery.
 Breaking down the poster
Point Description Comparison
Layout, The layout of the “Inception” poster,
Barthes however, is not entirely original, and
codes and in some ways, it follows the genre
conventio conventions of science fiction films.
ns of When comparing with another
narrative science fiction/action film (with a
somewhat similar plot), “The Matrix”
(1999), one should be able to
recognize the similarities in the
layout of the poster.

In this poster for “The Matrix”, the

main actors’ names are put on the
top of the poster, and although there
are more main actors in the film, only
the two most prominent ones are
written. Similarly, in “Inception”,
there are many actors in the film, but
only the most prominent actor is
written, also on the top edge of the The poster for Matrix
poster, in relatively small font. Also, (1999) share many
in both posters, this font style is similarities in layout and
consistent with the rest of the poster, overall design. Both are sci-
and in other versions of the posters fi action films.
and other media texts (trailers,
websites etc). By having the main
actor’s names on the top, the viewers
should be drawn immediately to the
poster when reading it, as people
have a tendency to read from top to
bottom, and the actors in both
posters are well-known celebrities.

Like “Inception”, “The Matrix”

features the main characters in the
centre of the poster, followed by the
title of the movie, which is in a
different format and font, thus stands
out from the rest of the poster. Below
this, both posters have it’s production
credits, website, and also its release
dates presented in a tagline-esque
manner (i.e. “On March 31st the fight
for the future begins”).

It also seems to be a good idea to use

a portrait format with the poster, as it
aims to show both the glooming skies
above, and the flooding ground below
at the same time, building on the
contrasting colours and shades.

Since the presentation of the poster

for “Inception” is already quite
different, adopting this familiar layout
from other science fiction/action films
seems to be a good move, so that the
audience is not completely lost when
looking at the poster, and can still be
able to identify that this film is
roughly in the science fiction/action
category.

Both posters also lack any sort of

review, rating or accolades
information, which contrasts many
posters of the same genre and
category, not “explicitly” advertising
the film like other films may be doing,
and both actually tell very little about
what the actual plot is about, or what
the theme of the movie really is,
building on the “mysterious” feeling,
encouraging the audience to think
about the film deeply, although
“Inception” does this up to a greater
extent. Instead of presenting the
poster and related information
straight to the audience, it creates an
enigma, which challenges them to
think, building up their interest in the
film. It particularly emphasizes on the
Hermeneutic Code and the Proairetic
Code of the Five Codes which Roland
Barthes described (Hermeneutic code
referring to elements which are not
explained completely, causing an
enigma and mystery, and the
Proairetic code builds tension, and
prompts viewers to keep guessing
 what will happen next. In conjunction
with each other, these codes can
keep the audience interested in the
film).
Narrative, Similar to other science-fiction/action
Icons, films, the poster of “Inception” is
Theories actually an adaptation of a scene in
the movie. In this poster of “Aliens”
(1986), an acclaimed science-
fiction/action film directed by James
Cameron, a similar approach is used,
and alien eggs, which are a core idea
in the plot of the film, are shown in
the scene.

Both posters appear to use

identifiable icons and symbols from
important scenes of the movie (the
glooming city in “Inception” from the
first dream level scene, the alien
eggs in “Aliens” when protagonist
Ellen Ripley destroys most of the Aliens (1986), a critically
eggs). Additionally, in science- acclaimed sequel to Alien
fiction/action film posters, these (1979), directed by James
scenes are typically taken from the Cameron
third and fourth stage of the
narrative, according to Tzvetan
Todorov’s narrative theory (the
recognition of the disruption of the
equilibrium, the attempt of repairing
the disruption.

By using these icons and

recognizable scenes, many effects
are generated. For example, they are
perfect items for audiences targeted
to discuss, and influences and
opinions about the movie will
cultivate, leading to a two-step flow
effect on the audience, and if effects
are strong enough, the cultivation
theory will apply (long term
advertising effects on population).
Themes, We can analyse this teaser poster of The A-Team, an action film
images, “The A-team” for comparison. It was released on June 11, 2010,
contrast also released during the summer of around the same time as
with 2010, around the same time as Inception.
conventio “Inception”. Similarly, it was an
nal action blockbuster, but their plots and
images themes differ in various aspects.
While the plot in “Inception” was
twisted, mysterious, and complex,
the plot in “The A-team” was
relatively straightforward and simple.
It was a plot that most people can
easily take in and understand
completely.

In most action movies, just like this

poster of “The A-team”, the main
characters (sometimes including both
antagonists and protagonists) are
shown facing the viewers, carrying
flashy weapons, striking a pose
against a background from the
movie. The background is also often
easily recognizable as a ‘battlefield’,
like a desert or a warehouse. More
often than not, the targeted audience
is usually the younger, male
audience. The viewers are able to
easily recognize the action theme
instantly, at the first glance of the
poster.

In “Inception”, it is clearly a different

story. Firstly, it contrasts the typical
action genre convention by having
only one main character in the middle
of the poster, and instead of facing
the viewers, he has his back turned
to them. He is not striking a pose that
action characters would usually adopt
(i.e. aiming down the sights of the
gun, looking strong and muscular
etc.), and seems to be relaxed, yet
lonely. The character is not
represented as a typical action
character.
 Because of the contrast with typical
action movies, the viewers looking at
the poster would not be able to
instantly recognize it as an action
film, and this would catch the
attention of all audiences, not just
younger males.
Building The mystery of the poster for
on “Inception” catches people’s
themes attention well by “standing out from
and the crowd”. It takes various images
images that viewers may be exposed to in
daily life and other movies, but puts
them together to form a scene that
doesn’t make sense. For example, a
common science fiction/spy film
genre convention would be the
classic ‘mysterious man in the
business suit with a pistol’. This
feature is very typical of a spy film,
and is an instantly recognizable icon
The James Bond series was
for films in this category, made
a driving force behind the
famous by “classics” like the James
trend of “business suit
Bond series, and ‘The Man Who Knew
spies” in movies.
Too Much’ (1956).

In addition to the “spy in business

suit” image, the tagline also helps
build on the idea of stealing and
thievery. It is short and to the point,
but does not reveal too much, just
like the rest of the poster.
Bibliography
http://www.esfmedia.com/page/GENRE+BASICS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iconography
http://www.esfmedia.com/page/Textual+analysis+terminology
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?
FID=136118
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20100714/REVIEWS/100719997
http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/0/A70-328
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1000617-aliens/
http://www.scifimoviepage.com/aliens.html
http://www.mannythemovieguy.com/images/the_a_team_2010_movie_r
eview.jpg
http://dc-mrg.english.ucsb.edu/WarnerTeach/E192/Images/MATRIX.jpg
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/matrix/
http://www.movie-page.com/1999/Matrix.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/subjects/media_studies.shtml
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Genre-
ELEMENTS-OF-GENRE.html
http://sisfilm.ning.com/forum/topics/year-10-coursework-how-did-it