Research & Planning: Analysis of 'The Bounty Hunter' Poster

Genre

Upon first glance it is easy to mistake this as a poster for a high-action movie; but in reality it is a poster for the romantic comedy 'The Bounty Hunter'. As you start to look closer at the poster; there are several big give aways. First of all, the actress that plays the lead female character is Jennifer Aniston; who is renowned for performing in rom-coms; so much in fact that the very sight of her on a film poster could be enough to define it's genre. As well as this, we also have an appearance from a male character, played by Gerard Butler. The presence of a male and female character immediately insinuates a romantic relationship. The humour of this poster comes from the handcuffs that, literally, 'join' the two people together. This, together with the partnering text 'It's a job, it isn't personal...Well, Maybe a little...' leads the audience to believe that this is a funny film with elements of comedy and action, but overarching romance.

Representation

We can see clear stereotypical representation within this poster. Firstly, the female character is looking up to towards her male counterpart. This could symbolise that the male character has power over the female character; though this seems unlikely as the two are bound together by handcuffs. Other aspects of stereotypical representation include the blood on the male characters clothing. This is stereotypical of male characters in films because men are seen to be violent and dangerous. One final aspect of representation is the name of the actual film itself 'The Bounty Hunter'. In the storyline of the film, the female character is described as the 'Bounty' which the male character has to collect. This could be seen as possessive and possibly a sign of objectification of women. I don't believe this is how the poster is intended to be viewed and instead it is meant as a light-hearted joke playing on words and pre-conceptions.

Narrative

From what we can see on the poster, we can presume that the two characters will eventually fall in love. What is also clear is that there will be obstacles stopping the two from getting to that 'happy ever after' ending. The facial expressions of both of the characters lead the audience to believe they may not like each other very much at the beginning of the film, with the idea that the two will spend a lot of time with each other over the course of the story to the point that they fall madly in love (or back in love) with the other. The presence of handcuffs and blood, along with the title of the movie 'The Bounty Hunter'; the audience is aware that the movie will include some references to violence and illegal activity; though it appears to be in a fun/comedic way.

Audience

Due to the star studded cast of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, I would presume the target audience of this movie (and poster) to be a mixture of males and females aged between 15 and 24, though primarily males because of the inclusion and depiction of violence in the poster (which is stereotypically more favoured by men than women) as well as the attractive female character played by Jennifer Aniston. I think females will watch the movie because of the attractive male character played by Gerard Butler, but also because they will recognise Jennifer Aniston from other rom-coms, and of course, the hit TV show Friends.

Media Language

The mise-en-scene of the poster indicates straight away that this isn't just an ordinary romantic comedy. The depiction of violence through props such as the handcuffs and blood-covered shirt cause the audience to think the film may have a crime twist - which isn't common for a rom-com. This could possibly be further strengthened by the choice of clothing for both of the characters; they are both wearing dark (black) coloured clothes; which connotes negativity and bad behaviour. This is in contrast with the sky blue background and striking yellow, red and white colours that adorn the rest of the poster - which remind the audience that the film is in fact a romantic comedy suitable for the whole family.