Research Posters: Death Note

For the coursework project as well as creating a movie trailer we also have to create two ancillary tasks. As we’re working in a group Sean and I have decided to split the work between us, with Sean working on creating the front cover for a movie magazine whilst I create a promotional poster to advertise the film. All of the posters are from films that Sean and I have researched, as I thought that it would be appropriate to use films of a similar genre to our own trailer in order to find the conventions used to advertise Action Thriller films.
The first poster is for “Death Note” and it’s striking in using a black and white colour scheme split straight down the middle to represent two opposing forces. The two main protagonists are the main focus of the poster, with each in a specific tone representing their split views on morality. The close up of their face show both of them with a determined look, almost as if straining to try and work out something. This is appropriate as the two characters are both trying to discover the identity of the other, in order to defeat them in the name of justice. In the background there is a faded figure that is holding an apple, but unlike the rest of the poster which is divided between the black and white sides the apple he’s holding is bright red. Aside from the obvious artistic effect of bringing this to our attention (“Schindler’s List” did the same technique with a girl wearing a red coat in a very emotional scene within the film, as aside from her red coat everything else is presented in black and white, making her stand out greatly), the apple is a trademark image of the franchise and so is more a reference for fans to appreciate, showing that the film will stay true to the graphic novels it’s adapted from.
Text is used sparingly to keep the main focus on the images, although the title is stylized to be eye-catching as well as being linked to the titular notebook as the title is essentially identical to how it’s portrayed originally. What’s most interesting is how the film’s tagline runs along the top of the poster instead of below the film’s title, as this way it means that the first line you’ll probably read when looking at the poster will be that. The text is inversely coloured to stand out against the background too, allowing the division theme to work without forcing the viewer to strain to read the text. Along the bottom of the advert the film’s billing in red font, as if it was also done in alternating colours it would be too distracting and people wouldn’t have read it. Also the text is shown on a black background with the other images fading to black as the poster goes down, obscuring parts of them and adding an element of mystery to the characters, whilst again improving the quality of how the billing is presented.
All in all I really appreciate this advertisement, as it captures the idea of a conflict between the protagonists as well as making the film feel dark and foreboding, creating an element of mystery that should be integral to any good thriller film.