Analysis of the 'Sweeey Todd' film poster

I am analyzing the poster for a film called ‘Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, the poster instantly shows the viewer that it is a horror film, this is because of the lack of colour, and the use of red. The way the character is sitting on the chair and the way he is holding the razor shows he has power. This makes the audience wonder whether the character on this poster is a villain. The use of red in between the floorboards suggests that people have been murdered/harmed in the room shown in the poster. The room is also shown in the darkness, these dark colours help the red used to stand out, and also reinforces the idea of this film being a horror film to the viewer.

The Big Ben is shown in the distance out of the window, this is purely to show where the film is set. The furniture, clothing on the character and décor in the room are used to show when the movie is set (late 18^th century). The poster also looks like a painting, which fits into this era also. The red barber chair is very decorative and looks very expensive, but the area it is in looks run down and cheap. This raises a lot of questions to the audience and makes the viewer feel uneasy.

The red text “Never forgive, never forget” is the closest writing to the character, and because it is the same colour as the arm rests on the chair he is sitting on, it makes the viewer feel like he is saying this; which, alongside his position and the razor he is holding, seems very threatening and dangerous. The name of the actor is also mentioned, showing that this is a ‘big-name’ actor. The name of the actor is also included, just above the name of the movie. “Tim Burton” is known mostly for his Gothic horror films. The title of the film has a fancy text compared to the rest of the poster; this reinforces that it is the title of the film. The red splash of blood across the title reinforces once again that this is a horror film, could the splash of blood be due to his razor?

The text beneath the title of the film is small and thin, this is so that it doesn't take the attention of the rest of the poster but still credits the companies used to help. Right at the bottom of the poster is “This Christmas”, this shows that there is no specific date of release yet but there is a rough estimation of when the film will be released.