Inception Poster Analysis

In the first of the three Inception posters the first thing you notice when you look at the poster is that the back drop is the same street the characters are standing but twisted and bent up, so it is now a vertical wall, this may be because the director wanted the viewer to think that the settings and the scenery play a big part in the film. Also the buildings in the poster are large buildings which tower over the characters this may be to show that the characters are in some way restricted or restrained by the buildings or the setting. Leonardo Dicaprio is at the centre of the poster and is the furthest forward out of them all, this may be to show that he is the main character and he appears most across the whole film. The same applies to the characters who are at the back this could be to show that they are not as important as the characters further forward or it could be to show they are a villain or an underdog in the film. The woman in this poster is the only woman and she is dressed more casually than the men in the poster, she is also wearing a red jacket this could be to show she is a love interest for one of the characters. Also three of the men in the poster are carrying a gun of some sort, this could be a clue to what sort of role they play in the film and also tells the viewer a little about what sort of genre the film is. The men in the poster are all dressed in suites or blazers this may be to show they are all part of the same profession or maybe they are all very professional in the jobs they do.

The second poster like the first has Leonardo Dicaprio as the main centre of the poster he is again the furthest forward indicating that he could be the main character of importance in the film. Like in the first poster the buildings and the scenery play a big part in this, this time all the buildings are twisted and pointed in different directions this may be to show that the buildings in some way have dominance or control over the characters. In this poster there is a second woman she is dressed more casually than the other woman in the poster and is holding a gun, this could be to show that this character is not a stereotypical woman and can take her of herself therefore the other woman may be the damsel in distress. This poster does not show Leonardo Dicaprio holding a gun unlike the previous poster, this may be because the director is trying to show different sides to the character and that he is not just a violent person. More of the men in this poster are carrying guns and two of them are carrying silver metal briefcases, these may be to transport weapons or documents, either way it is something of importants to the characters and has an element of secrecy about it. Like the first poster all of the men in this poster are dressed smartly except for the one at the top who looks furthest away and is upside down, the reasoning behind him not being dressed like the others could be because he may not be linked in with those characters as much or he could be set out from the bunch as the underdog of the film or possibly even the villain.

The third and final poster is different to the others in that there is only one character in it opposed to the others two posters which have at least six characters in each. Leonardo Dicaprio is the main focus of the poster, again he is dressed in a suite maybe to show he is professional at what he does and he is also holding a handgun this could suggest that his character is violent or it could also suggest something about the type of film it is. There are some things in this poster that seem out of place, for example the character appears to be in the middle of a city but he is also knee deep in water which appears to be flooding the city and crashing off the buildings, this may be to represent chaos or a chaotic event in the plot of the film. In this poster the buildings seem to tower over the character even more so than in the other two posters, this may show that the scenery and the buildings have control over the characters and the water coming in may suggest it is also the environment and not just the buildings that are controlling the characters.

All three of these posters have certain things in common, they all have the majority of the frames taken up by large buildings that tower over the characters this may be to show that the characters are controled by their surroundings. A lot of the characters in these posters are dressed very formally and look professional this suggests that perhaps they all do the same job. The first two posters both have six or more people in them, the same character is always the centre of the frame and the same two characters are always furthest back in the poster. Leonardo Dicaprio is always the furthest forward and always central to the frame, the same woman and man are always furthest back in the frame, the man is not dressed as formally as the others this suggests that he may not be as much associated with the other characters he may also be the underdog of the film and could even be the villain. In all the posters there are some characters carrying or holding guns, this may be to show that their character in the film is dangerous or violent it also may be a hint towards the genre of the film. The buildings which are in all of the posters are never just normal buildings, in the first poster the whole street is turned up to and made into a wall this may be to represent that the characters in the film have to overcome the ever changing scenery. In the second poster the buildings are coming in from all different directions this may have the same reasoning behind as the first poster and the final poster the buildings look normal but the scene does not look normal as the there are waves crashing in and it supposedly the middle of a city. Finally there is a light in the middle of every frame and the borders of the poster are darker and because Leonardo Dicaprio is always the central focus the light may be to show that he is the hero of the film and the surrounding characters in the posters are more towards to the darkness this could mean that they are more on the villainess side.