Poster Analysis : Falling Down.

We can see clearly from the poster for Falling down that it features the main character in the middle of the poster, holding a briefcase (Prop) and what seems to be a dangerous weapon (Prop) which is illustrating Mise en scene that is associated with the thriller Drama genre.

Although the name of the man in the poster is not revealed, we can assume that Michael Douglas is portraying this powerful looking individual as his name is printed in big letters at the top of the poster. This instantly makes the film attractive to the mass audience who will identify Michael Douglas with  popular Mainstream films such as, “Fatal Attraction” and “The China Syndrome.” Moreover, at the bottom of the poster, Joel Schumacher’s name is printed to attract individuals that are fans of popular films that Joel Schumacher has directed. Such films include, “The lost boys” which grossed at $32 million, which was very good for this era.

The man in the poster is clean shaved, with a clean looking white shirt holding props such as the briefcase and surprisingly a gun. The image represented of the man can be quite confusing; however the title of the film makes it more straightforward. The smartly dressed man, holding a briefcase can show that this individual once had a powerful job, with a high status in society, but circumstances may have caused him to either lose or resign from his job as he is on top of a stand that is covered in graffiti, holding a gun, seemingly guarding his position. Furthermore, the image of a smartly dressed man standing in a segregated place is ironic as these kinds of areas in America are usually full of gangsters. The fogged out buildings illustrate this theory further and introduce an element of drama, of why this man is looking over the city, what is his motivation? The title of the film, “Falling Down” is seemingly the final piece in the puzzle of guessing what his individual is up to. The title illustrates that this figure is on a downfall, maybe he lost his job, recently divorced or is homeless. “Falling Down” could also be taken from the nursery rhyme, “London Bridge is falling down” which can show that this man’s life is crumbling.

The style of the font is simple, with a red background with big capital letters in white colour, although simple; it is effective in portraying the danger and violent element that comes with the colour red. The first thing a person will see looking at the poster is the actor Michael Douglas’s name spread across the top of the poster. This instantly attracts the mainstream audience that the film is after as Michael Douglas is a household actor. The title of the film is nearer to the bottom of the poster and doesn’t reveal anything about the thriller drama genre. Instead the audience knows the film is centred on one character. The last text an individual will read on the poster is the name of the director, Joel Schumacher. This attracts fans of films directed by Joel Schumacher and individuals that have heard of Joel Schumacher’s name as he is a well known director.  The rating of the film and release date is not revealed on the poster and doesn’t indicate where to go to find this information out. Finally, by the film being distributed by Warner Bros emphasises that the film is a big budget production.

 Also, With the simple yet effective styles used, we can identify yet again our target audience to be middle aged men who may also be going through a mid life crisis or going through personal issues just like the main character of “Falling Down” is and therefore sympathise  with him. The film isn’t targeted at young adults as they may be mature in age but haven’t been through the issues and problems that the film is illustrating and may not sympathise or take the main character seriously.

The representation of men, more precisely middle aged men can be argued to be stereotypical and negative for a number of reasons. Falling Down was released in 1993 and during this time period the media were narrow minded in issues such as a mid-life crisis which is common in today’s society. People in the early 1990’s were more so afraid to admit they were going through a mid life crisis in fear of being labelled as “Mad.” Falling Down” could have been a film which goes against the norm of representing middle aged men  going through a difficult phase in a more educational and positive way, but instead is stereotypical and negative in a way that the main character is unemployed, divorced, homeless, unstable and causing mayhem through the city.

The Tagline of “Falling Down” is not revealed in the poster which can suggest that the poster is a teaser poster that relies on the film trailer to reveal more information on the genre and film itself.

Altogether, the poster appeals to a mass target audience because of Michael Douglas and Joel Schumacher being the usp.