‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’

Poster Analysis

By Lauren

There are two different types of posters for ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’: a portrait and a landscape one. I will be analysing the landscape one.

The Image

Key Images & StarsA key image on the poster is of Tilda Swinton who plays Kevin’s mother in the film ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’. She is known for playing the fearsome Ice Queen in ‘The Lion, the With and the Wardrobe’ which creates a clear contrast to this vulnerable and nervous mother. She is not central in the poster and is clearly isolated as there is nothing else around her. She stares vacantly out of frame with her eyes bulging slightly and her mouth half-open. Her face implies an image of horror and disbelief. It looks as though she is troubled and deep in thought, as if she has just come to terms with something or just discovered something, which adds to the ominous mood. This can imply that she is a lonely, unstable character with trouble in her life, or that she feels alone.The only other image that stands out is of an unusual and unknown floating object behind her. It’s shape is unrecognisable which adds to the tense and chilling atmosphere created which makes the audience feel uneasy.Tilda Swinton is a multi-award winning actress with a high regard, so it is essential for her to be on the main poster as she will encourage many people to see the film.

Mise-en-sceneWhat stands out the most is the abundance of the colour red which is significant of a horror film. People viewing the poster may assume it is a horror by the choice of colour and may involve death and gore. However, this film is a drama with elements of horror and thriller, so the colours were chosen to allow for narrative enigma and keep the audience guessing. The setting is unknown of and shallow focus is used to blur the background and keep the foreground clear. This adds to the uneasy atmosphere and creates a fear of the unknown, which many people can relate to. Therefore, this film can appeal to a wide range of people, particularly those who enjoy films with twists and some horror.

The TextPeople suggest that the font used is Neue Helvetica 97 Condensed typeface and is a ‘sans serif’ font type. ‘Sans serif’ is generally used as ‘serif’ fonts have decorative flourishes with make the text look fancy. However, for a film with raw and negative emotions, a decorative font depicting handwriting wouldn’t fit.

The title in particular is written in bold capitals, and the font choice used enables the title to look serious and austere. It is exceptionally larger than the rest of the text on the page, which gives the impression that the title is being shouted to you. Whenever we see a text in capitals, it always depicts shouting so it signifies the bitterness of the film. This is used to draw the attention towards the main things on the page, the title and the image. Also, the direct contrast between the colours of the text create confusion as white is usually a colour that signifies purity and cleanse, however, now it seems like the white represents the unknown and a loss of her son who’s turned into a monster. The red can represent the violence and the anger in her son. In contrast to white, the red looks ‘hot’ and could represent how her son is ‘hot blooded’ and she is panicking and the white really represents the coldness and the lack of emotions in her son.

In contrast to the title, some of the text is written in two shades of a bright red colour, for example, the director’s name, the website and the anchorage. This is used to signify the violence within the film and to complement the red lighting on Kevin’s mother’s face. This is furthered by ‘Mummy’s little monster’ which has an eerie connotation attached to it. Usually people say that in a light hearted humoured way to their child but there is something not right about it which changes its meaning completely/entirely.The text has been cleverly constructed so that the star ratings really stand out from the text.

The Narrative

From the poster, we understand that the film will be based around the relationship or lack of relationship between a mother and son and an outsider. For example, ‘we need to talk about Kevin’ means that more than one person will be talking about him. Usually, when you need to talk about someone, it’s because there is something wrong, which is representative of the film and the mystery as to why Kevin has turned the way he has.

There are 4 key things that stand out in the poster: Tilda Swinton and the ghostly shadow, the main title, the ratings and the anchorage.These clues allow for narrative enigma and entice the audience because the star ratings show that this film is a must see. This is aided by the Cannes film festival award on the right hand side. It also allows us to use our imagination to think about what Kevin is like as he is not present in the poster. We get an idea that he’s ‘Mummy’s little monster’ but what does that really mean? How old is he? What does he look like and what does he do?Swinton staring into the distance also allows the audience to want to know what is wrong and what she’s looking at or why she is so shocked.

Like I stated before, she is not central in the poster and is clearly isolated adding a sense of fear. She stares vacantly out of frame with her eyes bulging slightly and her mouth half-open and looks transfixed by something. Her face implies an image of horror and disbelief. It looks as though she is troubled and deep in thought, as if she has just come to terms with or just discovered something, which adds to the ominous mood. She looks tired and stressed as she has bags under her eyes and is wearing no make-up, so her appearance suggests she troubled and has other things on her mind besides herself. This can imply that she is a lonely, unstable character with trouble in her life, or that she feels alone. Her facial expressions show she is a terrified mother which shows she is an emotional character. This sets up the perfect image for a film in the genre of drama/horror/thriller in which the film is placed. The image is composed of just one image however there is a lack of perspective as it isn’t sure as to where she is and the ghostly figure behind her is quite haunting.

The ColourThe main colours in the poster are black, white and red.The colours have been chosen specifically as they create great contrasts with each other and all really stand out enabling the whole poster to have an impact.Each colour has specific connotations and qualities attached with them which help to create meaning and help narrative enigma and complements the genre of the film. Black- black is used as the background colour because any colour laid on top of black

will stand out well and black helps to create an essence of darkness. Black also represents death, negativity, the unknown and particularly helps to create the feeling of loneliness and the fact that people in the film are ‘left in the dark’ about what is wrong with Kevin. White- white is usually a colour of purity and peace however when used in a horror film is changes it entire meaning which creates a sense of eeriness. Like black, white can also represent loneliness as white seems to create a meaning of emptiness. It can also represent loss, like the loss of her son and the unknown. Black and white are both similar in their connotations and have a good relationship with each other. Red- red can be used both negatively and positively. For example, love and passion are positive. However, we know immediately from looking at the poster that it is used in a negative way due to the prominence of black and white. Without the red, the film could be of any genre, however the red has connotations of aggression and blood and is the key colour in the poster which sets up the feelings of unease and fear. Different shades of red are used to highlight its significance and to create a quirky and odd contrast with the bold white title.

The Camera DistanceA medium-close up has been used in order to show the protagonist in relation to her surroundings and to show the audience that she is alone. Her face is the focus on the poster and is used to add drama and impact and to show her facial expressions clearly and reflect her emotions. They have used a wide camera lens in order to allow enough room on the left hand side and centre for the text and to allow for the essence of darkness to help create the lonely atmosphere and to create meaning to suit the genre of the film. The camera is positioned not directly in front of the protagonist and is almost

a profile shot of her. This is more effective than a shot taken in front of her because we can see her emotions more clearly and recognise that she is deep in though, which you wouldn’t get if she was staring at the came directly in front of her.

The Anchorage

Definition: when you add a caption- or any typed writing to give meaning to the image or enhance the meaning it has.

The anchorage on the poster is “Mummy’s little monster…”. This enhances the meaning of the image because the typeface is in red which matches the red lighting on the protagonist’s face and we assume that the word ‘mummy’ is in reference to her. Also, the unusual object floating behind her could have some relevance to Kevin, so the anchorage allows the audience to think deeper and expand on their narrative enigma.

The LightingThe image uses Chiaroscuro and ambient lighting to help create a fearful and dramatic atmosphere.

Chiaroscuro lighting is a type of lighting which is used most notably in film-noir films, and creates almost a spotlight effect as only one light source is used. Low-key lighting is an essential part of creating this effect, and it enables the subject to be illuminated and helps to create a more clear distinct between light and dark and make the background appear to be very black. It aids the effect of isolation, negativity and confusion. It also creates shadows which help to create a tense atmosphere, which are used a lot in horror and thrillers.

Ambient lighting is used as they have changed the pigmentation of the light source with a blood red colour. It has been added to enhance the atmosphere created and to match the text. Without this lighting, it may be unclear as to which genre this film is, and ultimately, what the film is about. If it was a normal bright yellow light, it would not have the same connotations of blood, aggression and violence.

The LayoutThere is only one image on the poster and as the background is almost black, it is difficult to suggest what the relationship is between the protagonist and the setting. The background image and the protagonist have been blended with shallow focus and a small depth of field so that the main focus is on her face as opposed to the background and to appear dreamy. Therefore, it is physically unclear to the viewer to see where she is, so there is a lack of real perspective which enables narrative enigma.

There are many different posters for this film, and they also come as both portrait and landscape (like in the 2nd slide). This one is landscape and I feel that a landscape poster is better as they usually show off more information than a portrait one.

The positioning of the image in comparison to the text is important as the text creates a better contrast on a black screen rather than in red if it was in front of her. It enables the word ‘Kevin’ to stand out more because of the direct opposite contrast of black and white. By the text being behind her, it enables us to see that she is staring off screen, however if the text was in front, it would appear too crowded and as if she is staring at the text. Like I’ve earlier stated, we are given clues of the genre and theme of the film through the choice of specific words (e.g. Monster), the colouring (red connotations) and eerie floating object, which help to build up an image of a horror film. We also have clues of the plot as we realise there is a focus on the relationship between a mother and son.

The Written TextThe critics are written in a small font and with key words highlighted in a larger, bolder font. This is because people will only remember key words as opposed to whole sentences on a quick glance. The critics are also written in a significantly smaller font than the main title of the film. Who gave the ratings are written in a smaller font as the poster is made to be memorable and it isn’t highly important as to who gave them. On closer inspection later, people may be interested as to which institutions and magazines gave the reviews. However, the main points that need to be remembered are the title, anchorage and the image and the meaning created.

In the credit block we are given information of the director of the film (who is also featured just above the main title), the cast, its certificate, people involved in the film and its distributors. We are also shown the Cannes Film Festival Award sign just above the credit block. There is also an official website for the film as a part of the Artificial Eye company who distributed the film. The website is highlighted in red, as is all the other main information, in order to stand out. Having Artificial Eye as their distributor gives us an idea of their target audience. Artificial Eye are known to distribute foreign-language and art house films, which shows they are trying to appeal to a niche market with different plots to usual mainstream, commercial films with big budgets. The certificate is a 15 which means that the content will not include too much explicit content and horror and could suggest that the film is more of a psychological film. The poster has been made attractive to these types of audiences by using modern fonts and bright, interesting choices of colours to engage a younger audience.