Poster Analysis

This is the poster for the zombie thriller 28 days later. The poster suggests that the film will be about a man as he travels some where, most likely London as there is an outline of the houses or parliament in the bottom corner of the poster which is a famous London landmark. The man is alone on the poster which suggests that the film will only be about him as it doesn’t show any other characters and he is in the centre of the poster.

The bio-hazard sign in the centre of the poster suggests that the problem in the film will be about a form of chemical or chemical reaction.

The use of a tag line at the top of the poster hints to the audience of what the film may include. The tag line also brings the audience up to speed of what has happened over the past 28days and suggests that the film will start 27 days after “Exposure”.

The words used in the tag line are strong and suggestive words, and the font and capital letters use help suggest these are key elements of the films and suggest enigmas for the film also.

The colours used in the poster are predominately red, with a black outline of London and the biological hazard sign is also in black. The colours used are usually associated with a horror thriller, the red suggests death, blood and danger, the black used suggests darkness and the white text suggests innocence.

The film itself is a hybrid of a horror thriller so the colours used represent it well, with the red back ground to emphasise fear, danger and a passion for violence. The black outline of buildings and the protagonists is used to emphasise the location and who the film follows. This outline is also used because red and black stand out when put together and the poster is there to stand out.

As film posters are usually used to promote the film and inform its target audience on when the film will be released, this poster has used the words THE DAYS ARE NUMBERED – 01/11/02. This is fitting for the poster as the words the days are numbered relates to the tag line at the top of the poster. The data that follows these words gives the release date. The combination of the two is used to very well, as its fitting with the tagline at the top. This is because the bottom tag line with the release data is a play on words and be linked to what the tag line at the top, which is telling the story of the past 28 days, and is linked with the release data.


By Joseph Mulhare