Public Enemies Film Poster Analysis

This poster was used as the promotional film poster for 2009 film Public Enemies. The film itself is based on notorious American criminal John Dillinger. The film focuses on “The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.” Firstly the poster itself features very dull colours manly blacks, browns and greys which is an indication that the film has a more formal and serious approach as well as linking in with the film genre in general which would be a crime drama film. Also the colours could also indicate a darkness to the time period as well as the character in general as it based on the criminal John Dillinger. What also works well with the main image is the way it gives indications to the reader of the time period simply due to the costume consisting of the trilby hat and smart coat, as well as  the gun itself which was a popular choice of weapon during the 30s for gangsters. Another indication of the time period of the film would be the cars in the background, these cars were iconic for the time as well as iconic cars use by gangsters. In terms of success of the poster it works well for many reasons. Firstly it feautres the main character of the film played by Johnny Depp. Featuring him on the front cover not only shows people who is in the film but also would appeal to people who like Johnny Depp as an actor. Johnny Depp is holding a gun which is a strong indication of the genre of this film and would possibly attract the male audience as it could feature a level of action and violence. In terms of text for the poster the type face looks very similar to a police badge font which is also another strong indication of the genre of this film. The text itself is in white however the title of the film appears to have a silver tint to the film making it more eye catching to the audience. Above the film title it does feature Johnny Depp’s name however it is written in very small font, however the image of Johnny Depp is very large and due to Johnny Depp being a very popular Hollywood actor he is very recognisable which could have been why this is written in smaller text. The text below features other actors in the as well as crediting producing companies and distributors. To the lower left hand side it features the American rating of the film which is rated R, again another indication of the genre as well as target audience. At the very bottom it feautres possibly the most important piece of text to the poster. The date is in the same font and colour as the film title which could have been done as these are the two biggest pieces of information on the poster. The poster sais “Summer 2009” which would indicate it was a very early poster and another poster may have been produced after this giving the exact date of release. Overall this poster works well as it features a clear image of the star actor as well as featuring iconic images of the time period its set in as well as it showing clear codes and conventions of its genre.