Atonement Poster Analysis

 

 

The main focus of this film poster is the division of the two images where the title ‘Atonement’ is found. By splitting the page into thirds with the two images occupying the upper and lower third and a pale barren landscape scene as the middle third.  The poster makes it clear to the audience that this film encompasses the hurdles and separation that love faces.  What makes this film poster a dramatic genre rather than a romance is the fact that the couple are unhappy, separated and looking away instead of being together deeply ‘in love’. This suggests there is going to a dramatic twist in this couples relationship. This will appeal to the audience who want to watch cinematography of people’s lives without this sugar coated sweetness that love does not always follow.

The old fashioned type writer font for ‘Atonement’ in black capital letters gives more impact than over complicated and decorative text. The simplicity embeds the title of the film in the audiences’ mind as it provides a tone of severity.

The strap line ‘Joined by love. Separated by fear. Redeemed by hope’ uses the syntactical patterning of repeating the word ‘by’. This emphatic effect works well with the font for ‘Atonement’ as they both compliment the dramatic content. This leaves the audience with a small amount of information but gets the message across at a fast immediate pace so the audience instantly understand this drama includes the passion of human kind.   

One of the key selling points of this film is the two high profile actors James McAvoy and Keira Knightly. By having their names above the title of the film this suggests their importance as a massive draw for potential audiences. The poster therefore supports this by using large headshots of the two characters to demonstrate the main focus of the film.

Both Pride and Prejudice and Atonement were directed by Joe Wright and made by Working Title. By stating this, this attracts their target audience of people who watch period dramas. This is because the audience can assume both films will entail similar traits such as style, music and choice of casting. Likewise as the film is based on the ‘best-selling’ novel this makes the authors involvement ‘Ian McEwan’ prominent in attracting fans of his other work or people who have read the book. It also gives the audience re-assurance that the film is based on something that has been a success which would lead more people to go and see it.

Drama films usually encompass the struggles of human experiences e.g. Race, Poverty etc. and so this film looks at the destruction of World War 2. The image of James McAvoy pictures him in a poppy field in an army uniforms covered in mud. However as they have also depicted Keira with a 1930s hair style and printed shirt this therefore represents the hardship of war on both sides- how it not only impacts the soldiers but their loved ones at home. This coding attracts audiences who enjoy war stories and therefore instantly makes the potential audience question whether it will be a happy or sad ending because war has many out-comes. The poster does not focus on when James McAvoy’s character is in a tux or his work clothes so by using the theme of war in the poster this technique will subtly draw the audience to want to watch the film to discover this particular outcome.