TV Poster Analysis 2

By looking at the poster for the American TV Show Criminal Minds, I am able to identify that this particular show is a crime/drama. I am able to identify this because of the facial expressions on the characters, who appear to all be members of a detective team, I am not able to judge them on anything else because we are only given a midshot of them. From the left, the female gives the impression that she is part of the detective team because of her clothing, she is wearing a formal grey suit and looks very serious. The male next to her is wearing a shirt and humper with a tie and has his arms folded, giving the impression that he is also very serious and very intelligent. The male placed next to him is wearing a jumper and looks as if he is not to be messed with, giving the impression that he is the one who may catch all the bad guys and is very serious about his job. The female next to him is placed infront of anyone else and again in a formal suit, but has a shocked face, possibly suggesting that she is serious about her job but maybe this series is based around something to do with her and her personal life. The male next to her appears to be more serious than anybody else, which makes me think that he may be the boss of this particular team, he too is wearing a suit and looks very intelligent, as does the male next to him. The female on the end appears to be a bit more quirky, her clothing is colourful where as everyone elses is dull and dark, but she looks as if she is the 'geeky' type, which makes me think that despite her appearance she is very clever.

Also, by looking at the characters placed on this poster, the lighting behind them is black, creating a shadow on one side of each of the characters face. This suggests to me that they all have a different side to them, for example they might be serious when it comes to work but they are nice people, or that they might have something to hide.

The title of the programme is placed underneath the characters which makes me think even more that they are superior within the piece and not bad people. The bold, white font further gives the idea of it being a crime/drama because its simple and the pattern within the letters are like fingerprints.

TV Poster Analysis 1

By looking at this poster for Channel 4's Shameless, I am able to identify that there is a sense of comedy and drama. I am able to identify this because of the characters body language and facial expressions, the male in the middle of everybody on the sofa, who may be the main protagonist, is sat with a can of cheap lager in one hand, a cigarette in the other and doesn't seem to care what's going on. The other characters are either looking like they are up to no good, messing about, not impressed or abit stupid/dossile.

Their clothing appears to be quite simple, nothing too special. Boys are wearing either jeans and a t-shirt or a tracksuit and girls appear to be trying a bit harder on their appearance and wearing dresses but, they still aren't anything special so it suggests that these people are either working-class or not working at all and on benefits because they look as if they are the chavvy/mischievous type of people that don't work in the best of jobs, take drugs, drink and cause trouble. All the characters are placed either on or around one single settee, further giving the impression that they aren't working class people because they are crammed together with one settee.

The Mise En Scene isn't even realistic, these characters a placed on or around a settee together within the clouds. Either backing up the idea of them taking drugs and being 'high' or further giving the impression of them being over their heads and dreaming big, when really there is no way of them getting out of this situation, which creates enigma for the audience because we want to know what these characters are like.

There doesn't seem to be any clear representations of gender on this poster because no one really stands out, not even the male in the middle is a good representation of masculinity despite his beer and cigarette placed in both hands. There also doesn't seem to be any clear representation of male/female gaze for the audience which further creates the idea that the programme is simply there for humour for the audience.

Microsoft Publisher Design (DVD

Focus Group

After drawing out my initial ideas for a DVD Cover, I showed several people my 2 final annotated and more detailed drawings to choose between in order to create a proper DVD Cover on the computer, the chosen idea was...

Thumbnail Design Ideas for DVD Cover (hand-drawn)

Firstly, I did 8 thumbnail designs with brief ideas on where the title was going to be placed, the pictures, the blurb and etc. Here they are....

Then I chose my best 4 and annotated them....

Then I chose my best 2 and drew them out in better detail....

Programme's DVD Cover Analysis 3

The Fresh Prince of Bel Air 

From the image on the front page, I interpreted that this specific programme would include comedy and drama. This impression is given because of the image we have placed on the front cover and the background colours. We have a clear picture of who the main protagonist, Will Smith. It is clear that he is the main protagonist in the show because of his individual image placed at the very front of the cover. However, the image of the family behind may give the impression that they are a higher status, because of their image being placed at the top of the front cover, above Will Smith's image. 

Also the families clothing is more formal and 'posh' such as suits and dresses, where as Will Smith is in more chilled out clothes, such as tracksuits and chains - showing his lower status. This shows binary opposites between Will and the family which further creates enigma because we want to know why there is a difference, why they are involved and what is the story. The background colours on this particular cover are bright, wild and crazy which fits the characters in the show, if you are aware of them. If you are not aware of them, this same interpretation could be made and the show might appeal to them still because they will assume there is a sense of humour involved. 

The family in the background are all looking in Will's direction. Their individual facial expression comes across as either happy/laughing at Will - further leading to us having a sense of comedy again (the smiles, or laughing, pointing and laughing, etc). Or disapointed/angry with him, (angry faces or folded arms, etc) again, leading to enigma because we want to know why ones are mad and why others are laughing. 

On the back cover, we are given another image of the main protagonist. In this picture of Will, we see him as a prime example of the representation of masculinity. He is spralled out, almost like he is dominating the room on a sofa, with his legs crossed in a manly manner, looking like he hasn't got a care in the world and he is happy. The other two images are of him with other members of the cast, either up to mischief and again disapointing/angering the other cast or making them laugh. 

Also, the bold, capital lettered font gives the impression that it's manly BUT the use of different bright colours also suggests again that it is comedy.

Programme's DVD Cover Analysis 2

The Big Bang Theory



By looking at the front cover of this DVD, I am given the impression that this particular TV show is going to be a comedy/drama. I am given this impression by the characters facial expressions, they are either smug, silly or serious. Giving a further impression that the characters have different personalities that must clash together. I also feel a sense of romance between the female and the character to her right, even though she is leaning on the other male. I think this because of the eye contact between one an other. But, the fact that she does have her eyes on one male and physically touching another, gives the impression that she may be a bit of a flirt. Her clothing is normal and not very revealing, it just shows her arms and we only see the top of her body so we can't make any further judgement. However, her hair is a mess, she's very attractive and looks flirty. The looks between one an other creates enigma for the audience.

By the woman being placed in the centre of the two males, perhaps makes her the most dominant, maybe because she is a prime example of the 'male gaze'. But, the fact that she is the only female in the prescence of two male figures makes her an example of masculinity because she doesn't look particularly girly.

The broad, capital lettered title also gives the impression that it isn't particularly girly because it isn't fluent and nice colours, it's black and red.

When looking at the back of the DVD cover, we see the two males from the front cover in a long shot in their underwear looking silly, giving another impression that this particular television show. The other pictures on the back of the cover, give the impression that this woman definitely is the more dominant because the males are doing stupid/geeky things and she looks the complete opposite.

We also get a brief discription of the series which again should give an impression whether it is comedy. We also get the legal requirements.