Poster Analysis: Life as we know it

Main Colours This poster is full of light and life; this is shown through the colours which are mainly pale but bright like yellow, white and green. The title is in a deep red which ensures it stands out vividly against the softer colours.

Main figures The entire background of the poster is an image rather than single image/s on a coloured background. The characters who appear to be a family catch my attention most and comedy is immediately conveyed through the obvious similarities between the grown man and the baby who appear to have the same costume, body language, actions and attitude. The woman following closely behind is smiling which suggests light-hearted humour. The title also stands out as I said before it is in a big, bold red, contrasting with its background.

Visual/Verbal Messages The amount of visual and verbal messages appear even but the visual message stands out much more as it is the entire background of the poster and it expresses humour the most as well as giving us an indication of what the film is about. The verbal message is shown through the tagline, ‘A comedy about taking it one step at a time.’ This mirrors the image which firstly contains a baby, therefore it could be the obvious fact that babies learn to walk one step at a time, but it could also be playing with it as a bigger meaning, such as life should be taken one step at a time. This is reflected in the grown man who could possibly apply it to his life and is dressed as a baby to show more literally him ‘taking it one step at a time’.

Audience The characters on the poster appear to be a family as their is a grown woman, man and a baby, so I automatically assume it is a family film, therefore aimed at an audience of most ages and either gender. It may be slightly more appealing to an older audience from young adults and above, and mainly people of a particular marital status -in a relationship or marriage. Although it does appear to be a comedy due to the man being dressed very similar to the baby with the woman running behind. Also, the text near the bottom informs us that it is a comedy, this should attract a bigger audience.

Persuasive Techniques There aren't any critics quotes reviewing the film, which is often quite persuasive as you have someone's opinion. The names of the main characters are displayed quite boldly at the top of the poster. They are both quite well known and are likely to be recognized. Personally, I didn't recognize them by there names but by seeing the image of them, but this did attract me to the poster. 

Conventions The conventions shown on the poster would lead me to believe it is a family comedy as there is the image of what appears to be a family, the image also contains irony and humor, the entire poster is full of bright inviting colours and the text at the bottom says "A comedy....". 

Text The text on the poster is all in basic colours but does stand out. The title attracts our attention most as it is biggest, boldest and in bright red against a pale background. The stars names are also fairly bold and in black to stand out which supports the persuasive technique of using famous actors/actresses to attract an audience. There is text at the bottom informing us of the genre and reflecting the image, "A comedy about taking it one step at a time", this could be referring to life or simply just learning to walk as there is a baby on the poster.


Effectiveness I think the poster is quite effective as the image immediately suggests it is a comedy, which is confirmed in the text at the bottom. The title is the most eye-catching, next to some of the casts names which are likely to be recognized by the audience. Supportive critics quotes could attract an audience further.