Poster Deconstruction: The Hunger Games (2011)

The Hunger Games (2012) - Film Poster

• Tag line- “The world will be watching” creates idea of pressure, enormity of the ‘games’, hints at the plot.
• Typography- Reflection of the colour of the flames in the pictures- it uses gold the connotations being of a prize, competition, winning. The connotations reflecting the idea f the “games” as within a game there is normally a winner and a loser.  It also ties in with the colour scheme of the rest of the poster which uses warm, fiery colours- possibly implying “the heat is on”, and the colours amber holding connotations of danger, warning conventional of the thriller genre.
• Use of the word “hunger” seems primitive, as hunger is something anyone can feel- it suggests the games play on the basic needs of human life, suggesting a cruel twisted theme.
• Layout- A close up shot of the main protagonist is used to fil the background- a close up on her face, and hand wielding a bow- gives hint at the storyline (as this is her chosen weapon in the film).  Half her face is illuminated whilst the other is in shadow possibly showing two sides to her personality?
• The lighting of the picture is warm and the tones on Katniss (the protagonists) face are illuminated and golden playing on the connotations of victory and glory, and giving the poster a glamorous finish.
• They have used as typical actress-  she is attractive, with flawless skin and makeup; however the weapon she is holding juxtaposes this innocent image of a typical teenage girl and suggests the edgy nature of the film as she holds a bow and arrow- a weapon of death. This subversion of common media images, is a technique used a lot in the film industry as it suggests the film is new and innovative making it appeal to a wider audience.
• Also her facial expression directly gazes at the viewer following along the line of the arrow- as though it’s pointing directly at the audience giving the poster a slight feel of threat and making the protagonist appear imposing despite her gender and age.

• At the bottom of the page is information about the film- and the release date; conventional for any film poster and (informative to the reader).