Ashley Travis
College Writing II
2-20-14
Red Light. Green
Light. Go.
Cars
have come along way since the early nineteenth century. Movies have used cars
in their films and posters to attract the audience. Through this rhetorical
analysis, I analyze how automobiles are used in the media, and how cars can be
interpreted into different movies genres. Also this rhetorical analysis
examines how people view different movie covers, or what draws their attention.
I believe this paper will help filmmakers, car companies, advertisers, and
graphic designers improve their work, and also see how the audience they want
to attract view different posters. In this rhetorical analysis we need to keep
in mind ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion).
The
three posters I analyze were:
·
The Cannonball Run (1981)
·
Fast & Furious (2001)
·
Cars 2 (2011)
These movies
were made at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the
twenty-first century. The advance of technology allowed the automobile to
become better, faster, and safer than before. Filmmakers interpret automobiles
into different genres that will appeal to a specific audience they would like
to attract to see that movie. I am going to analyze each of the movie posters
individually, and going in the order of when each movie was produced.
The Cannonball Run (Fig. 1)
poster
has a large title and is positioned at the top so; it draws our eyes to see it
first. Viewers then attend to observe the big picture that is in the middle of
the poster. The picture shows a car in the center with the speed limit sign
above it. Next we see the characters (actors) around the car and speed limit
sign. The designer of the poster displays that the movie will be a comedy by
having all the actors smiling. Another evidence that the designer used to show
us it will be a comedy is the actors are caricatured. Because the car looks
like it is coming towards the audience fast, and the designer has it breaking
through the speed limit sign and racing flag, it gives the impression that it
is a racing movie. Also another clear evidence that shows it is a racing movie
is the other car in the background. The other car is smaller than the center
car to indicate the car is in a race with the car in the center. Although the
background is white, the illustrator uses different colors on the main picture
to get the audience to look at that right away. The use of caricature and the
plain background helps us indicate that this movie is a bit older. Once we
finish observing the main focus of the picture, we see four well-known actors
that will be in the movie. The illustrator advertises the well-known actors to
draw people into seeing the movie. There is not really any text except the
title and actors of the movie so, the visual is important. The visual
definitely helps you determine different things about the movie.
The movie
poster Fast & Furious (Fig. 2) uses a similar arrangement to the
poster of The Cannonball Run. The
poster uses a car as the main picture focus. Also when we see the car, we can
see the title of the movie on the side of the car. Like the poster for The Cannonball Run the characters
(actors) are shown around the car. By the facial expression of each character one
can assume the movie will have action in it. All the characters have a serious
expression with determination in their eyes. Also the seriousness of the actors’ faces plus
the car can allow one to assume it is a racing movie. At the bottom of the
poster it says, “Get Up To Speed” so, we can put that as the movie has racing
in it. The designer of this poster focused on people who like cars because the
poster has the car as the main focus. Another evidence that could draw a car
lover in is that on the car it says, “New Model. Original Parts.” The car looks
like a realistic photograph of a car, but it also has a bit of caricature to
it. Unlike the poster The Cannonball Run,
Fast & Furious uses darker
colors. The dark color scheme gives the poster a more serious vibe, and also
gives the viewer a sense of what the movie genre will be. The bottom of the picture
has names of the four well-known actors that will appear in the movie.
Last
movie poster I will analyze is
Cars 2 (Fig.
3)
. Now
Cars 2 is a little bit different than the other two movie posters
because it is animated. One can assume that this movie poster is trying to
convey a younger audience between the ages two and ten. Evidence for knowing this movie is for kids is
that it is animated, and it gives personification of cars having human like
characteristic. On the poster it says Disney Pixar, which we know as a well-known
production company that creates kids movie. At the top of the poster it says,
“From the creatures of Toy Story 3”. The poster saying that helps verify that
this is a kid movie. The title is in the
center of the poster and is fairly large. Your attention goes straight to the
title of the movie first. Next your attention goes to all of the cars that are
below the title. Like I said above the cars have human like characteristic that
makes it appeal to a younger audience. The facial expressions on the cars are
happy so, we can conclude that the movie will be a happy, funny movie for kids.
It has a globe in the background, which could mean that the cars are going to
race around the world. The color scheme used is bright colors. I believed the
designer used the brighter colors to appeal more to the kids. At the bottom
there is a slogan saying “The mission begins in cinemas this summer” so, this
lets the viewer know when the movie will be in theaters and to go see it.
Each poster
visual positions the audience that loves cars and movies. Also car companies,
advertisers, and filmmakers will like how each movie poster is presented. The
posters can leave us appreciating the technological advances of the automobile.
We could probably assume that the designer did this so, we can see how there
are different type of cars, and how the different types can draw a viewer’s
attention. This can get us emotionally attached to the movie even before we go
and see it. When we see these different car posters it may make us want to buy
a car that looks like the one in the poster. The visual definitely helps us
understand what the movie will be like. If the visual was missing, and it was
just text not many people will go and see it. I hope that this rhetorical
analysis helps people be able to analyze how automobiles are used in the media.
Also how cars can be interpreted into different movie genres, and how people
view the different movie covers. Filmmakers, car companies, and advertising
agencies all do rhetorical analysis to see what they can improve on. In
addition to improving, they try to see what is marketable.
References:
“The
Cannonball Run.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Fast and
Furious." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
“Cars 2.” IMDb. IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 20
Feb. 2014.
