Film poster annotation - Hassan Mudhir (Enemy of the State)

         This is the film poster for the film I am analysing, Enemy of the State. As we can see, the overall layout of the poster is very unique. The main character (Will Smith) is placed in the middle of the poster and this emphasises that he is the main figure in the film. Then, placed at the top and bottom of the film is the main antagonist of the film Gene Hackman. His face is not shown in full view, which adds a sense of mystery to the story line as to what his character actually is. The genre of the film is communicated to the target audience through several aspects. First of all, the title of the film suggests that the film is going to contain elements of fighting and shooting (typical conventions you would expect to see in an action film). Another way in which the film genre is communicated in the poster is seen through the facial expressions of Will Smith which he seems to be quite worried and troubled. This can also be said or the other character shown in the poster as he seems to be anxious to know what is happening and this can be linked to an action film through the sense that many things are bound to happen in these types of films. The poster is in black and white and this is done to portray that the film may be unpredictable to the audience targeted.

           The main unique selling point of the poster are the actors in the film but mainly the main actor who is Will Smith and this is shown by the fact that the image of him is the largest on the poster The unique selling point of the film in my opinion is the actual theme of the whole poster. Gene Hackman is also a main actor in teh film asnd this si shown because his image is in the poster at the top and bottom.  The poster also includes effects such as sniper targets and as illustrated in the poster, the target in this film is Will Smith. It also gives the audience an idea that he is being followed by the government for important information.  Also another clever tool used is the way in which the release date of the film is shown; in a way which a countdown of a bomb which is about to go off and is very unique and fitting for an action film.

The use of written language and fonts is very typical for an action film poster. The title of the film is illustrated on the poster twice and is in capital letters to make it bold and stand out. The two main characters starring in the film are also shown twice in the poster and are above the title. There is also a small print at the very bottom of the poster which states all the actors in the film, the director, producer etc. There is also a caption used stating ‘Its not paranoia if there really after you’. This indicates that the main character may have thought that he was paranoid but when he found out that the state were really after him, it eventually eliminated that thought.

From analysing the poster, it seems that the target audience that the film is aimed at is for young – middle aged people who have an interest in action films. The way in which the poster is shown seems to be quite modern at the time in which the film was released (1998) and also the actor (Will Smith) was quite young when the film was released, so a younger audience may take interest in this film.