Joker unseen text

                              

Question: Identify how media language is used to create meaning in the Joker teaser film poster 

knee jerk reaction

Ominous, enigmas e.g blood. The joker is the villain, denoted by the blood Dosent reveal a lot- binary opposition to getting told everything, this is what makes it a teaser poster.

Plan 

• Language (lexis)- “put on a happy face”, reference to clowns and deception, putting a show or facade up. Also direct address to the audience, makes it feel personal and like we are being talked to.

• Codes and conventions- horror genre- blood, gruesome green colour, smoke, black shadow or smoke. Very typical, however also subversive as the “monster” or villain is not scary, steve neale genre theory of similarities and differences to attract audiences. Hermeneutic code as we cant see the larger background. The blood makes us wonder is it his or someone else's. 

• Colour- green i an unusual colour that is often used in nature but looks anything but natural in the poster. The green is also a colour associated with mould and decay and deteriorating- mental health deteriorating and the fragility of it.

• Camera shot- is close up but from a low angle, makes him seem vulnerable and all exposed

• DC comics logo, attracts existing fans of DC comics and films.

• superhero/villian action film posters are usually packed full of action and characters, this is different as it is mostly empty space.

• Mise-en-scene - makeup- clown connotes innocence but also synonymous with genre and disturbing “insane” characters.

• The contrast between black and green, can denote the change or contrast from good to evil.

  D media language is the techniques used to construct and create a media product. Examples would include, mise-en-scene, colours, costume, lexis and codes and conventions. They attract and audience through encoding an ideology that is believed by the producer.

  A it can be argued that this poster connotes the joker is the protagonist but is also the villain. The poster is simplistic and dosent tell the audience a lot, creates the enigma and suspense that a teaser poster should, we see polysemy as it can be interpreted and decoded by audiences in many ways.

  C the joker is a character often tied with the hero “batman”. The film Joker was released 2019, is produced by Dc comics. It was a highly successful P media language encoded in the teaser poster, show similarities and differences in genre. One such technique is through codes and conventions. The film is a superhero film however shows conventions of other genres (genre hybridity) such as horror.

  E a clear hermeneutic code is the blood on the jokers chin, this creates mystery as the audiences become eager to know where it comes from and whether its his own or someone else's. The dark colour scheme e.g. black is a common convention of the horror genre as it is ominous and scary. In regards to the the super hero genre, this poster can be seen as very unconventional as it is mostly empty space, there is no sense of what is happening or where he is, many superhero posters are compacted and full with action or characters.

  A it is clear that this teaser poster is very effective, it reveals very little yet ignites so much on the audiences mind as it acts as one big hermeneutic code. We learn the joker is probably the protagonist as it only shows him in what seems like a spotlight so it the character we follow, however that he can also be interpreted as the villain, because of his clown makeup, clowns having negative scary connotations and additionally the blood on his face.

  T one theory that is applicable is steve Neales genre theory as he argues that for products to stay interesting and attract audiences there must be similarities and differences in the representation of that genre. Joker does this very well as there are familiarities e.g. the villain of the film but also differences such as it being so simplistic and horror like.