The Dark Knight (2008) Poster

• Typography – sort of catch phrase/tag line. Looks like it’s written in blood and distilled into the glass in front of the joker.
• The title is shown at the bottom of the poster which makes the viewer look around at the whole poster to find it, giving a sense of mystery, relating to the film.
• The title is shown with the films logo directly behind it which makes the title stand out and less boring than if it was just plain, white, capital text.
• The white text has positive connotations of angelic and innocence, which juxtaposes with the whole meaning of the poster and the character shown on it. It, therefore, gets the audience thinking about how the character is portrayed in the film and how his personality may change.
• The Jokers smile takes it up a level to be freakier and unsettling. It plays with the conventions of the bad guy. This could insinuate killing with a smile which gives a psychotic feel to it.
• There is a subliminal image in the background of a City (New York City) which show the establishing shot and gives the audience an idea of where the film is set, while having an eerie feel to it.
• Painted onto window by the joker is what looks like blood that is bleeding and clotted. This tells the audience that this film does include blood and gore and relates to the films genre of action, thriller superhero movie.
• The Joker is gesturing towards audience which involves the audience and is slightly unnerving. He is addressing us yet we can’t clearly see him. This adds to the eeriness feel and sense of enigma.
• The whole poster is shown in an icy, fogged blue/white which suggests that this character is very cold and dangerous. The use of red contrasting to the blue shows the depth in danger to which the character would go to. Clearly showing this is a fatal character not to be trusted.