We are also shown a whole city, or at least most of it. This could mean that the movie is set or happens all around the city, but adding the thick fog could give the meaning that something terrible has happened in this city and that there is no escape. The thick fog covering the bridge could mean that escape is impossible for the characters in the movie which gives us more information about the type of movie (what genre) the movie could be -still swaying in favor of either thriller or horror (or a mix of both).
we also see three faces above the city, these are most likely the main characters of the film. Shown above the city could symbolize them as the ones who will try to stop the terrible thing that has happened in the city - the heroes. Although doing this would tilt the genre slide to more of a thriller than a horror film as introducing characters like that would give more of an impression that they are trying to deduce something, to solve the mystery of the city - more of a thriller than a horror.
The title of the movie is clearly seen as a white glow of letters. The 'O' in Zodiac is different from a normal 'O'. It has, what looks like a sword through it, or some sort of symbol. This could support the theory that there is a mystery in the city and the three characters we see before us must solve it.
Above the title of the film are the actors names, more specifically the three names of the actors that are shown on the cover. This is used to promote the DVD by showing the big name actors that are in the film. Below the title it says "From the director of Se7en and Panic Room." Another way of promoting the movie by saying that the movie was directed by the same person who directed other big movies. Both these titles are smaller than the title of the film as the most important part of the cover is to show the title of the film, this is so the movie can be promoted by other means than just advertisement (word of mouth).
At the bottom of the cover it tells the audience that the film is 'Based on a true story.' This could be said as another way that producers sell a movie - a movie based on a true story could catch many people's attention as it is something that happened and can happen in reality, it is not something completely made up. Realism is important in many movies, even if they aren't based on true events.
I chose this DVD cover as it is not a thriller film. I wanted to analyze the difference between a cover from a thriller movie and one from another genre, in this case James Bond Quantum of Solace - which is a spy action movie.
One can see that this is most likely not a thriller (or a horror) as we are first enlightened to a character, who is probably the main character, in a suit holding a gun. He is walking away from a building on fire and seems to be in a sandy place of some kind, maybe the desert or a country with rough ground.
The character wearing a suit shows that he is some symbol of authority, he must work for a high agency for a government, in this case he is a spy. Him holding a gun would say that the movie has some gun play in it which most probably means action. This is our second indication of what type of genre the movie could be (the first being that the character is wearing a suit). The character is also walking away from a smoking, burning building which most likely means that the movie will entail action of some kind, more specifically an explosion of some sort. The character walking away from the rubble would mean that he is probably the one who did it.
The lighting and colours of the cover is lighter than that of most thriller DVD covers. It is day and we can see the shine of the sun on the ground and on the character. Most thriller covers use darker colours of gray, blue, black and sometimes mix a little of white with the black (but never too much white). The title in the middle of the cover is white, but not a spooky white like in the Zodiac cover, but a white that goes with the bright light and colours of the cover. It could also be saying that 'the hero will win in the end.' '007' is identified in black to show the trademark James Bond sign although that's probably exclusive for the James Bond movies.
The way the characters are introduced, the lighting and colours, the titles are all used differently to show the types of genre for the film. The brighter lights and colour of the action film with the darker and dull colours of the thriller. The way the titles are shown is different, even thought they are both shown in white. The white goes well with the action movie cover as it is accompanying brighter colours of the cover and means something completely different than the white title of the thriller film. The title of the thriller movie cover has a certain mysterious glow to it which is supported by being seen with a black background (the sky in this case). The way things are shown on a cover and how things are mixed and matched give off very different feelings and show off each genre in a different way.
No comments:
Post a Comment