What can a poster tell about a film?
By looking at the poster to Brian Singer's 'The Usual Suspects', I immediately think this film has a narrative of crime, trouble and illegal activities. I think this because of the men standing up against a mug-shot wall. Therefore, I also suspect a crime-drama genre. The tagline also suggests a thriller narrative and tells me that these men are the criminals of the film. They are the suspects. They are the main characters of the film.
The men look as if this scene is familiar to them. They look as if it's no surprise they are there. This tells me either they are definitely guilty, know the reason for being arrested and can no longer hide, or they have been arrested in the past and this is nothing new. This is 'usual' to them.
The height chart shows there may be a hierarchy in terms of importance of the criminals to the crime; who caused the most damage. Their clothing show a hierarchy in terms of importance in society and possibly reveal their characteristics. For example, the man in the suit, actor Gabriel Byrne (plays Dean Keaton), looks of different class to the others by the way in which he is in smarter clothing. Perhaps he works in an office, this helps draw his character out as the organiser of the group. The man in the leather coat, actor Stephen Baldwin (plays Michael McManus), looks as if he doesn't care by the way he is posed. This suggests he is the hit man.
Overall, the poster helped me to draw out the narrative and genre of the film, as well as profiling the characters.
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