Textual Analysis Of A Film Poster| Final Destination JOCELYN ASEA

 The film poster, I am analysising is for  Final Destination.

 The setting for the film poster is the sky; it is highly  significant to note that an on-ground location was not used for the poster. The sky may have also been used to   suggest that bad things can happen anywhere and that the location is never fixed.

Notice that the clouds are not white; they appear greyish- blueish white, this in effect adds realism to the sky background as clouds are hardly ever white. The clouds in the poster may have been used to create a chilling feeling; this is highly ironic as the corpse emerging from the sky brings about a cold feeling, hence the dominance of blue and white lighting on the face.

The sky is reflected on the broken glass, as the face had emerged through a broken mirror or window. What is most interesting is that where the lighting is high key on the glass, it has been placed against in a low key area in the sky, but where does the high key lighting come from for it to be reflected. This may have been done to emphasise the emerging face and so attract the audience’s attention. Also notice the effectiveness of the dark background; the face appears to have no eyes and missing parts of the cheek, the absence of the facial features add to the dramatic face.

The idea of the face having no body or ‘costume’ reinforces the title in the poster ‘rest in pieces’ as it suggests the body of the face that is seen has been broken to pieces and that all that remains is the skeleton of the face, hence the exposed gums and nose bone. In addition, the absence of cheeks, eyes and lips, in effect contributes to the fact that the face appears to be in agony, as we are usually used seeing these features, the absence in effect can make the face appear demonic, and immortal. Notice the skin is not only pale but appears chappy, as if it were rotting away; this may have been done for a dramatic effect.      

The glass is a highly effective prop in the poster as it illustrates the title above ‘rest in pieces’ suggesting, the idea of body pieces being the title is highly ironic because of the use of glass in the poster. The glass has also been used to emphasise the suffering and pain in the face, e.g. the gun shot on the right-hand cheek. The purpose of using the glass also may have done for a theatrical effect.