joker - teaser poster

Identify how media language is used to create meaning in the Joker teaser film poster

meaning- connotation

media language- denotation

  • hint image 
  • dole like 
  • cool tones
  • contrasting colours- highlight iconic lips
  • smoke- mystery  
  • horror- conventions- dark creepy, blood and scary 
  • hermeneutic code- blood, violence and blood within the film 
  • the role of a teaser trailer is to make an audience want to consume the product and go see the show- drawing the audience in. this is through enigma- hermeneutic codes (with holding the story is how we tease the audience
  • its being enigmatic drawing audience in through hermeneutic codes and mystery 


plan

the product draws the audience in though hermeneutic codes such as the smoke composition, this has stereotypical conventions of mystery, also has reference to magic shows and the circus. this links to the joker theme within the show. this creates binary opposition between the colourful stereotypical expectations of a circus and the horror conventions created in the poster through the cool tones and blood stains on the character.  the horror convention is further anchored through the jokers dole like appearance created in the mise-en-scene such as his theatrical make up, altering the features on his face. this dole appearance creates an inhuman appearance that is typical within horror conventions as it dehumanises the character and creates mystery to their actions and intentions as the audience can no longer identify with the character. 


  • mise-en-scene- smoke and mystery, connotations of the unknown and covering something up 
  • green tones- connotations of mould and toxics and decaying- horror sci-fi themes 
  • lexis- tag line- 'put on a happy face'- reflective mental health- deterioration of the mental health of the character 
  • mid/close up of the protagonist puts him in a vulnerable position- beneath looking up at him
  • smoke- intertextual reference- apocalypse themes- nuclear fall out 
  • bold sans serif font, bold, dark colour palette- title warn and damaged reflect main image, reinforce genre conventions 
  • DC comic logo- attract fans of the genre and franchise- familiar and recognisable- audience gratification  
  • even the lighter area is dingy- dark theme even in the lighter moments (metaphor)
  • hermeneutic code- cant see into the back ground- draws audiences in 
  • no Z line- uses prairretic code- character looking up- direct audiences attention to the title 
  • composition of the image cut off- empty space on poster- hermetic cod- cannot see half of the poster- empty space is un settling for the audience- horror theme 
  • bullet in the title- hermeneutic code- who shot the title?- action code- bullet hole means theres been a shot 
  • joker is the main part of the poster- movement reflects iconic imagery of the character attract the audience 
  • links to horror - his movements/ performance are unsettling, unusual- subversive 
  • lexis attracts pre existing audience - Joaquin Phoenix- very famous actor attract an audience 
  • mise- en- scene of the make up- representation of the circus- clown like 'put on a happy face' ironic tag line 
  • fade of the background from light to dark could be the sinister switch within good and evil in the film- binary opposition 
  • mise-en-scene- joker no longer identifiable because the audience is unaware of his position in the film- would need to go see the film to confirm theories. 
  • genre hybridity- horror, sci-fi, marvel/DC bad guy

intro- definition, argument, context 

the teaser poster for the 2019 film joker uses horror and genre hybridity conventions within the mise-ene-scene to create mystery within the product and attract the audience. this mystery is further anchored through hermeneutic codes within the mise-en-scene such as the smoke composition, hiding the background an context of the image. 

definition- media language are codes and conventions used to create meaning, they attract an audience through implying the ideology, one that is beloved by the producer 

argument- the poster contains repetition and difference of the horror genre through the use f hermeneutic codes asa well as presenting polysemic meaning through media language. the purpose of a teaser trailer is to build an audience and evoke a sense of anticipation, I will explore how the poster does this. 

context- the joker was a very successful film, both financially and critically, being released in 2009. 


first paragraph - point, evidence, argument, [theory]

P- the use of hermeneutic codes within the mise-en-scene creates mystery and a sense of the unknown for the audience to discover or uncover only through watching the film. ultimately using enigma codes to attract the audience and encourage them to consume the film product the teaser poster is promoting.

E- this can be seen in the mise-en-scene of the smoke composition in the background of the poster. the smoke provides a camouflage for the background of the image and masks the setting and context of the lead character (the joker). this mystery is further anchored through the large blank areas of the poster, indicating genre conventions of horror and suspense as the audience anticipate the vents that could take place within the film, making the audience uncomfortable of the unknown.  







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