Analysing Film Posters - The Social Network

Layout

The layout of this poster is a computer screen turned vertically. We can see along the bottom a scroll bar and there is the top of the facebook page that most people will recognise along the right hand side. We can tell this from the search bar, colour blue and "thesocial network" in the facebook font. I think this is an interesting way as it tells the audience what the film is about and also I have never seen it done before. The image of the actor that plays the owner of facebook Mark Zukaberg, takes up the space that is supposed to be the rest of the computer screen. However this image is the right way up. There is then very bold and large text spread across this image linking them directley together, as if he is the words. There is then an insitutional logo in the bottom right corner and copyrighting or a website perhaps in the left hand corner.

Colours
This poster isnt particularly colourful. The only bold, solid colour is the blue on the facebook bar at the side. We recognise this as the colour of facebook, again making it clear to the audience what the film is about. This is quite a calm colour, but also in my opinion a colour that is cold and relates to business and technology. I think this is also intented to give this theme in the poster. The image of "Mark Zukaberg" is quite dark and doesnt include a lot of colour as it is just his face. The colours are dark and muted and his skin and eyes haven't been perfected like in some film posters. The photo looks real, perhaps because the film is based on a real story and his character is based on a real person.

Image
The image on this poster is very large, it takes up the mojority of space. It is particularly dark and the colours appear muted, as I mentioned previously. The image is a medium close-up, as the majority of the shot is taken up by his face but we can also see some of his shoulders. The angle and composition of this image reminds me of a mug shot, or a papparazzi shot where they have been caught off guard. I think this has been puposley done because it is like he has been caught doing something, which actually happens in the film. This photo doesnt look airbrushed as his skin has imperfections and his eyes are vainy, making it look real. As i mentioned before this is probably because the film is based on the true story and he is supposed to be a real person. The shadows are very strong in this image and we cant see anything behind him. I think this is perhaps to create a sense of isolation or secrets, which are some of the themes in the film. i alos noticed that the lighting in the image was quite studio like, and that the background looks as if it has been set up. This made me think of school photographs, so perhaps it is based on a year book photo of Mark Zukaberg whilst he was in Harvard. It is suggesting that this image is from where it all started.

Text
In this poster the caption is made more obvious and is the main part of the psoter rather than the actual name of the film, unlike some other posters I have analysed where they play up on the title rather than the caption if the poster includes one at all. This is in extremely large sans serif block type face the takes up the majority of space over the image. the text varies in size and some is in italics, perhaps to cearte variation and make it less boring, but also to make particular parts stand out. The use of numbers is what makes the caption interesting to the audience. First they use "500 million friends" which is a huge number. This suggests the person is well known and liked with lots of friends, before the audience notices the facebook bar and realises it means friends on facebook. This is then contrasted with "A few enemies", which is a mcuh smaller number in comparison to 500 million. This singles these "enimies" out, and makes then sound more serious and important against the 500 million firends on facebook, whcih are most likely people he doesn't even know. The other important piece of text is the film title, which is much smaller and located on the facebook bar intented to be the facebook logo seen on the website. This is made much less obvious as it is incoporated in to the graphics of the poster ans is much smaller. It is in the recognisable facebook font whcih suggests it symbolises the facebook logo, but they cant actually say "facebook". The name "the social network" suggests the film is about facebook before it was named, and this is actually what the film is about.

Institutional References
There are some institutional references at the bottom of the poster which I cant see clearly because they are so small. They are placed in the two bottom corners on the "screen" area. there also appears to be a website right at the bottom of the poster in the black border. There is also the institutional reference of Facebook which is what the film is based of. There is the reference of the facebook logo as the film title and the facebook top bar used on the website.


Mise-en-scene
The mise-en-scene of the poster makes it appear serious and almost sinister. The poster is neatly laid and and used dark, dull colours wich suggests that the film is based on business and has a serious plot. The image used it quite dark and has a lot of shadow, making him look mysterious and suggesting he holds a secret. As i mentioned before, the shot reminds me of a mug shot. This suggests he has done something wrong and is wanted, which is true to the plot of the film. I also mentioned before the the lighting and the background suggests it was a professional photo taken where the background and lighting has been set up for a school photograph. The actor playing Mark Zukaberg also has quite a shocked facial expression, or as if he has been caught off gaurd, he doesnt appear to be posing for the photo. The way this photo has been taken links in with the themes of the film, like the fact he looks as if he has been caught. There is also the scroll bars of top bar from a Mac laptop screen which suggests imeadiatley to the audience it is a film based on technology. There is also the facebook top bar wich the majority of the audience will recognise, so they will know what the film is about. I like how the film title has been incorporated in to this.