Poster Analysis- 'Platoon'

Film posters are a medium of advertisement and presentation. Posters are used to suggest the genre, what may happen in the movie and to generate hype about the movie. 

This essay is an analysis for the poster advertising the film ‘Platoon’. This film is a 1986 American action/war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, starring

Tom Bringer, Willem Dafoe and  Charlie Sheen. Stone wrote a lot of the film based off of the Vietnam War and his experiences in the U.S army. 

Although this image looks quite simple, there are several different subtle aspects of this poster that basically tells you the majority of the information written above. Firstly, the setting of the image looks like a very rural jungle and also quite a tropical jungle. This is because of how all of background is all trees and grass, more specifically palm trees which you can only find in tropical nations. Also in the background there are several other figures dressed in army uniform and carrying weapons, this enforces the idea that it is about the army.  In the centre of the image there is a man, he is covered in blood and his uniform is ripped. Firstly, because he is wearing an army uniform, that uniform is iconography for a war film, and because his uniform his bloody and ripped we can predict that this movie will be somewhat violent. As it is an American war film and it is obvious that the setting is somewhere tropical, one can make the assumption that this film is specifically set during the Vietnam War. Another thing that we can assume about the film from this poster is there may be something tragic, this is because right in the centre of the image is a man and what implies that there is going to be tragedy, is his stance. He is on his knees, with his arms up to the sky and his head tilted back. His position suggests that he is distraught and demonstrates that this film may include sadness and disparity as well. Another thing about his stance that I found interesting is that he is gesturing to the main title. Although this is probably not intended, your eyes automatically fall onto the title.  

The lighting of this image is quite dark. First of all there is a full black boarder around the image that contains the text and the coolness of the actual image is high. This gives the grass a more bluer, darker tint. Because the overall colour of the image is black, it gives it a more mysterious feel. The connotation of black is strength, seriousness, power and authority. This is another way to suggest to the viewer about the film. 

The main title of the film is printed in bold metallic font and the two ‘o’s in “Platoon” are replaced with dog tags. This, again, is used to signify the army as dog tags are usually associated with the army. 

Just above the title it reads “An Oliver Stone film” and below the image it mentions the production company, the producers and the names of the main actors. They include this text because it is a selling point for the film. A lot of audience will be more inclined to watch a film where the recognise the actors, director or producers. 

Overall, I think that this movie poster is a really great movie poster. It is quite subtle, but you are able to get the general gist of the movie just from one image.