Poster Analysis: MAN OF STEEL (2013)

 

This poster for "Man of Steel" instantly conveys its genre as being that of a superhero film, by depicting and focusing solely on the title character in flight, while dressed in his iconic red and blue costume with right fist clenched. The designers have chosen to show the film's lead actor, Henry Cavill, in a relatively close up angle, however there is no emphasis on his name, suggesting that his appearance in the film is not a unique selling point for audiences, due to his relative obscurity. Even director Zack Snyder's name only appears in small lettering above the cast list, and Christopher Nolan's role (albeit small) as producer of the film is not used to promote the film in this poster, showing the movie studio is relying on emphasising the recognisability of the character, rather than the talent behind the film, to promote it.

With the exception of Superman's striking blue and red outfit (with the red again the colour of the emblem behind the film's logo), the poster is devoid of much colour, and takes on a rather monochrome, with tints of blue, appearance. This style, a somewhat recent convention of movie posters, is often used to suggest a dark or cold feeling, fitting with the more 'realistic' approach of this reboot of the franchise as well as the title's use of the word 'steel'. Despite the obvious components that are present in film posters, such as the logo (in bold silver lettering), cast and crew credits, release dates and studio logos, the poster is unconventional when compared to posters of other big releases, as it chooses to focus on only one of the film's characters and depicts them in motion (with motion blur and bright blue lens flare applied) resulting in the image looking somewhat blurred. In my opinion, I am not a fan of this approach as I find it makes the poster look aesthetically unappealing, however I recognise the designer's intention was to show Superman flying at a great speed. Overall, however, the poster should appeal to its target audience successfully as both the image of Henry Cavill as the titular Man of Steel and the movie's logo (accompanied by the instantly recognisable Superman emblem) should provide enough brand recognition and excitement to attract audiences.

This is another one of the film's posters, which again depicts the Man of Steel using his most famous power of flight. This time however there is huge emphasis on the Superman emblem rather than the character or the actor himself, who is shown as very small in the overall poster. The emblem even appears twice, first taking up most space of the poster, but also appearing at the bottom, in small, behind the letters of the film's logo, somewhat redundant. Again, the designers have chosen not to use the lead actors or the director as the major selling point, appearing only at the bottom among the rest of the cast and crew, but rely on Superman's fame in popular culture to sell tickets.