Twilight - Poster analysis
Written Version:
1. Positioning of characters in the frame is an intertexual reference to an older vampire film: Near Dark (1987)
2. The background is pitch-black which connotes something hidden and sinister in the film. The fact that the main protagonists (depicted by the primary image) are being faded into the darkness connotes that they are struggling to escape it and are being engulfed.
3. If we didn’t already know, the tag line suggests to us that this is a vampire film. As conventionally vampires are supernatural beings that live forever. The rhetorical question is used skilfully and poeticly to invoke thought from the target audience.
4. Abnormal coloured pupils connote something supernatural or postmodern. Over the years this skill has been used many times by film makers to denote superiority over humans whether it’s for vampires, werewolves or other supernatural beings. This has become somewhat an indication of the supernormal in recent years.5. Her direct mode of address connotes bravery in the face of danger. This shows that she is a strong character, which contradicts the stereotypical view of women who are generally the ones in need of saving.
6. The body languages of the protagonists convey that they have an intimate relationship with one another. Her being tucked into his chest cosily is stereotypical as the male is seen as the authority figure. The vampires depicted in this franchise resemble humans which connotes that they will face similar struggles and have similar emotions.
7. The costume, hair and makeup were all fairly simplistic to connote the normality of the protagonists before the disruption and this also emphasises the realism. The characters were clearly airbrushed, however this is meant to be overlooked.
8. The title has a font which is unique to the franchise. The glistening effect of the font is synergistic to the way the vampires in the series glisten in sunlight.
The production house is small and in the corner as it was not really well known or successful before the twilight franchise.
Twilight - Textual analysis
Title: Twilight
Date of release: 19th December 2008 (UK)
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Genre/s: Adventure | Drama | Fantasy
Sub genre: Vampire Fantasy
Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing is in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction.
Originally, vampire movies were made to scare people and to kill, for e.g. Dracula. However, the idea for the twilight serious was to throw a love story in it and make it more romantic than scary. It seems that vampire movies are extremely popular amongst teenagers nowadays because romance is involved. For e.g. Vampire Diaries, a TV program has also got a romance storyline to it.Twilight isn’t a typical vampire movie because the vampire’s in the movie come out during the day, although they can’t when it’s sunny or else they will be exposed. But, as it states in the movie, the Cullen family have moved to Forks because there’s hardly any sun there. Also, the vampires don’t feed on human blood to survive; they feed on animal blood, which isn’t a typical vampire movie convention. They’re out on a family outing with Isabella which shows that they aren’t dangerous vampires which goes against the typical vampire movie conventions.
Where the disruption begins (the baseball scene), Alice who is one of the vampires senses that the traveller vampires are approaching. With an extreme close up on her, it tells the audience that it’s not good news. The close up on all the Cullen family’s faces show that they’re alarmed. Especially the close up on Edward’s face show’s that he is terrified, not for himself and his family, but for Isabella. Also, when Carlisle, Edward’s father says “I’m afraid your hunting activities have caused something of a mess for us” which shows that the traveller vampires, who have been hunting humans, are dangerous vampires and they are typical vampires for a vampire movie.
The primary audience for Twilight is for people aged 12-25 because of its romance storyline. I think the main gender for Twilight is females. Young women are mostly into romantic comedies or romantic thrillers. Perhaps, if it was a vampire thriller, the movie would have been for both genders. The representation of age, gender, social class and ethnicity is negative and positive for me and also stereotypical. I think it’s stereotypical because of the romantic storyline. It’s negative because of the violence and it’s positive, because the disruption does get restored.
Twilight - Review analysis - Empire
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. It is the biggest selling film magazine in Britian, which is why I decided to get one of my reviews for Twilight from Empire. The review was written by Will Lawrence, and I found it a very professional review.
The title, Twilight, is at the top of the page, with the star ratings explained on the left side, and underneath the title it shows what Twilight was rated, 4/5 which is an extremely good rating. A little description is given of the movie, which is good for people reading this review that haven't watched the movie yet. A screenshot is also included in the review, next to the plot.
Will Lawrence starts off his review with "About three things the Twilight producers were absolutely positive. First, Twilight was a vampire tale. Second, there was a part of it that thirsted for teenage blood. And third, adolescent girls were unconditionally and irrevocably in love with it." I certainly think this was a clever way of starting his review because in the book and the movie, Isabella Swan says "About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how potent that part might be - that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him." I think he tried to be humurous, which I believe it worked.
"Meyer is a devout Mormon, her tale a metaphor for carnal abstinence, allowing young girls to spash around in a pool of obsessive love without having to swim in the turbulent waters of scary teenage sex." By pointing this out, he's giving an insight of the authors background, and explains her actions behind her novels. Lawrence also points out that Stephenie Meyer and Catherine Hardwicke had their differences, with Meyer finding Hardwicke's "first cut a little too steamy" but Lawrence then makes reference to other films Hardwicke has directed, Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown, which he shows that she knows what she's doing as a successful director, as Twilight was a success also.
Lastly, the verdict is given of the film. "A sometimes girlie swirl of obsession" by pointing this out, he tells the people reading his review that it's a girly movie, which will only appeal to girls who like romance movies. The star rating is shown again at the bottom of the page, which isn't exactly needed in my opinion because it's already shown on the top of the page.
http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=135600
Twilight - Review - Total Film
Total film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. It is the second biggest selling film magazine in Britian, after Empire.
The review layout for Total Film is slightly different to Empire's. Empire's layout looks more professional in my opinion, however Total Film's layout is more spaced out, and the font size is clearer than Empire's, which makes it easier for the reader to read. The reason it is slightly different is because the star ratings are on the top of the page like Empire's, and Total Film have given Twilight 3/5. And also the film details are on the top of the page as well, similiar to Empire's. Total Film's Twilight review was written by Ken McIntyre.
He starts off by saying "Twilight is an unbridled fantasy for adolescent girls... and a very goofy vampire comedy for the rest of us." This tells the reader that Twilight primary audience are teenagers, and that it's basically a joke for the audience that aren't teenagers. He then goes on to give a little description of the movie. Another thing that's different about Total Film and Empire is that Empire had 3 headings; plot, review and verdict. Whereas, Total Film doesn't have headings and screenshots, which is why I believe that Empire's review layout looks much more professional.
McIntrye says, "Naturally, they quickly develop a doomed romance, much to the chagrin of Edward's chalk-faced siblings." Him saying "naturally" shows that its typical of a teenage romance movie to have characters "develop a doomed romance", which I completely agree with. As a teenage girl that likes romance movies myself, I do sometimes feel, that most romance movies are extremely predictable. Also he says, "Edward's chalk-faced siblings." which shows humour, because the vampires in Twilight are extremely light skinned.
He makes it very obvious that he didn't like Twilight. He says, "What surprises is how, in spite of its melodramatic foibles, it manages to entertain so much." This doesn't give a very positive view to the film for readers. Especially the readers that haven't seen the movie. But as he already pointed out, Twilight is aimed at teenagers, which is probably the main reason the reviewer didn't like Twilight. He also uses sarcasm by saying, "Whether its the jawtumbling dialogue ("You're like my own personal brand of heroin!")" This points out that he possibly found the dialogue cheesy and didn't think of it as creative.
In his verdict he says, "this swoony supernatural romance may amuse and bemuse non-initiates but won't leave the faithful betrayed." He makes reference to some people liking romance movies and some people not liking them by saying "may amuse and bemuse". He also says, "The 70m opening Stateside will create plenty of sequel oppurtunities to fix the flaws." This says to the reader that he believes there's a lot of flaws and again, shows how much he didn't like Twilight because his last words seem quite harsh towards the film.
http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/cinema/twilight-2
