Research and Planning: Film Poster Analysis

Along Came Polly

Genre

From looking at the film poster we can tell that it is going to be a Romantic Comedy. Firstly because it says on the poster 'The new comedy from the co-writer of Meet the Parents' so it actually tells us its a comedy but it's also from the co-writer of 'Meet the Parents' which is a well known comedy film so you know that 'Along Came Polly' will be funny. But we can also tell that it is going to be a romance as well because of the main image. They are walking together in a park which is often seen as a romantic thing to do. Jennifer Anistons character has her arm around Ben Stillers character and she is adjusting his tie which could be seen as them being affectionate. Andrew Sarris' theory is apparent here because we can recognise what genre the film is and we are attracted to it, so the distributors know what attracts the audience.

Representation

The male character on this poster I think is represented as being a successful business man because he is well dressed in a smart suit and tie. But the female character on the poster is wearing very casual clothing so she is represented as being less successful than him.

Narrative 

Although both the characters on the poster are the main characters I would say that Ben Stillers character is the protagonist because he is stood up straight and his body is directer more towards the camera, he looks like the bigger, stronger character.

Audience

I think that the target audience for this film is aged 15 and above because the audience need to be old enough to understand some of the comedic parts of the film. I think that it is aimed at a mostly female audience because romance is stereotypically a genre more for females. They have also used a well known cast, Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. I think that a lot of females might look up to Jennifer Aniston and idolise her so they will want to watch the film. But she will also draw in a male audience. I think the audience will fit into the D/E socioeconomic group, they are unskilled and semi-skilled workers and also students.

Media Language

The main central image is a long shot of the two main characters. Which shows us the whole of the character so perhaps we are supposed to notice the mise-en-scene of the characters clothing and realise that her is more successful than her. It is also an establishing shot of the park which shows the audience the romantic setting.