We took this poster from the film: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; one of a series of blockbuster fantasy swashbuckler films, and looked at how the colour, characters, title, etc. made it effective to the film and attract an audience.
There are four obviously main characters on the front of this poster, arranged in order of importance. The one being the largest and in the centre we assume is the main character before even having watched the film. He is looking directly at the camera with a slightly menacing stare and holding two weapons; a gun and a sword. This character also reflects the typical pirate look, which reiterates the title within his appearance. This is all important to attracting the audience as it introduces us to the main character and tells us there is a theme of danger, violence and action within the film. Just to the left and right of the main character are two other characters who hold the same stare, making them look menacing and reflecting the sense of danger and theme of pirates on the cover. However, on the far left is the only female character on the front cover. She has long hair which is being blown to one side and is looking seductively at the camera, suggesting that she may be the main love interest in the film. All of this is effective to capturing the attention of the audience as the characters connect with them by looking straight into the camera, and keep well with the theme displayed on the rest of the poster.
The title is written on a scroll of faded parchment, which keeps with the theme of pirates as well as suggesting the time in which the film was set (1720-1750). The font of the title is in a serif-style font which looks as though it could have been handwritten in the style of that era, further reflecting the theme of pirates in the 18th century. This attracts the audience as it backs up the theme of pirates and tells us that the time in which it was set makes it a somewhat 'period' film. Also in the title is a logo which fans can quickly recognise the film by and that is a skull and crossbones. However, the crossbones have been replaced by swords and the skull is smiling and wearing the same bandana which the main character (below) wears. This backs up the theme of the pirates, the front middle character being the 'main' character within the film and the assumption that the film may be somewhat mysterious and dark. This further attracts the audience as it gives us an image, or logo, within the title which we can recognise the film by (suggesting the film is worthy of recognition and a logo).
At the bottom of the poster is an image of a pirate ship, highlighted by the sun which is setting behind it. There are visible holes in the sails from cannon shots and pirates in smaller lifeboats around it. From this, we assume that the ship might be a prominent feature in the film before even having watched it. The fact it is highlighted makes the ship and the lifeboats appear silhouetted and casts a harsh, dark shadow across the water. This further adds to the dark pirate theme and makes the scene look very mysterious, attracting the attention of the audience.
The poster itself is comprised of mainly warm, contrasted colours such as oranges, reds, yellows and black. In fact, a large portion of the poster is black and the faces of the characters are shadowed, and this gives the poster a sense of mystery and adventure. From this, we get the idea that the film may contain violence and action as the general overview of the poster suggests it may be a darker film. The warm colours add to this contrast, and the use of red in the main characters bandanna may suggest danger. This is all effective to the poster as it ties all the themes within it together, making the poster look visually appealing and thus attracting the attention of the audience.
Despite the consistent dark theme of pirates, danger and action, we know that the film is family-friendly and suitable for younger audiences by the highly recognisable logo at the top of the poster which is Walt Disney Pictures. This is a key attention-grabbing point as it has a very large fan base. The audience recognises that due to the film being made by a very famous production company that it is more than likely going to be a very popular blockbuster.
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