Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Thriller, Drama, Fantasy
Lead roles: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg and Saoirse Ronan
Plot: Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
Visuals
Type of shot: Long shot / two shot. The framing of Mr Harvey in the foreground compared with Susie Salmon in the background walking towards him, emphasises the power that he has and the fact that a 14 year old girl is no competition. She is on the right hand side, which has heavenly connotations 'on God's right hand', this also ties into the theme of the film, as she watches her family from Heaven to see how they repair slowly after her tragic death. Our eyeline is drawn to her because of the way Mr Harvey is diagonally facing her, but then we trace the invisible line between them and notice him, turned away in darkness which creates a sense of ominous mystery about the connection between the two characters. Her stance with one leg infront of the other creates a sense of movement and we feel nervous for her and she walks towards him. There is also a determination/curiosity in her step, which implies to us that although he is a stranger to us, Mr Harvey is not a stranger to her.
Background: with the light on her side, with the pink clouds and yellow sun, Susie Salmons innocence and also the heavenly aspect of her being is portrayed. Mr Harvey is in darkness so his intentions towards Susie seem very ominous and dark. From the way his body is turned, it seems he is looking at Susie, but as we cannot see his face, the lack of light makes us think he would be looking at her with perverted hunger or something dark along those lines.
Text: The film title is in the top 3rd of the poster, more towards Susie Salmon, emphasising the fact that the film is about her and that she forms the main plot. The directors name is above the film title in a small font as recognition that this is his work. 'Coming Soon' is also in bold medium font at the bottom of the page, so that the viewer knows when he/she can see this film. The clump of text at the bottom of the poster contains details of the actors/sponsors/writers and Alice Sebold who wrote the novel this film is based on.
Colour
Susie: She is dressed in primary colours, mainly yellow and blue with some red, which highlight her youth and innocence. This is further emphasised through the lighting and how she is in an unrealistic light that could symbolise the fact that she is innocent, died in horrible circumstances and is now on her way to a heavenly place.
Mr Harvey: The greys and blacks used for his costume emphasise the innate darkness in his character. It merely hints at the darkness of the secrets he has to hide from the world. The whole essence of his character radiates sinisterness and ominousness which makes the audience feel extremely uneasy at the fact Susie is walking towards him.
Background: The background colours are quite dull, so the focus is immediately drawn towards Susie. This could also suggest that background things don't matter any more, particularly to her family, because the only thing that matters is Susie and the fact she is no longer with them. In addition, there is the cross over between dark greay clouds and blue sky, which could connote that Mr Harvey's dark grey clouds descended over Susies happy life and those clouds linger over her family and friends lives because of him.
Linguistics
Caption: 'The story of a life and everything that came after' sounds like a fairytale which emphasises the fantasy side of this hybrid-genre film. It sounds pretty even though the subject matter is hellish, emphasising the fact that this film is about how Susie watches her family fall to pieces and then picks back up the pieces after her death. It also makes a comment on society, because if someone has been raped and murdered, all we ever hear in the media is exactly that; someone has been raped and murdered. This caption informs the audience that, actually, the trauma doesn't just end with the actual occurance, it carries on for the family and friends and will have an effect on them forever.
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