Poster analysis

Directed by: Ben Stiller

Produced by: Stuart Cornfield, Eric McLeod, Ben Stiller

Main characters: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black, Brendon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel.

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Budget: $100-$150 million

The genre of this film is action comedy. It was released in 2008. It is about a series of freak occurrences, when a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

The background of this poster is an explosion, with the three main characters in the middle of it. This could mean that these characters are battling against something, or are in a war. The codes and conventions used for this genre are the three characters dressed in army clothing, with guns, and aggressive faces. You could also say that the characters used for this poster ad film are 99% of the time in comedy flim’s, which will instantly help the audience recognize that this film is comedy based.

The title is in a bold font, which looks like it is zooming out from the centre. The font has a camouflaged background, telling the audience that this film could be based in a jungle/forest. Then underneath that it says ‘GET SOME’. This is could be saying that ‘Tropic Thunder’ is a special power. The underneath that, there is some red writing, which talks about production, distributing details. In a different colour font there is the date, which has to stand out.

Above each of the characters, there is the characters surname, no forename, which could mean that this film is trying to be serious. I feel with everything standing out in this film, like the background the characters, the film’s name, I feel that this is something will have to take into account when making our posters. I also think that the characters and there props play a big part in a successful poster. With the characters ‘being shiny’ signifies they are sweating, so this film is full of funny action. With one of the characters (Downey Jr.) looking intimidated, I feel that this film portrays both an action and comedy side, with the other two characters looking serious and Downey Jr, looking scared.

Joe O’Grady