POSTER ANALYSIS: The Other Boleyn Girl

'The Other Boleyn Girl' 2008

This film is about rivalry in the family, and the bond between sisters, whilst over looking on a beautiful 16Th century England. Both Anne and Mary fighting for the love of King Henry VIII rips them apart, due to Mary's naivety, and Anne's jealousy and determination. Both driven by their family's blind ambition, compete for the love of the handsome and passionate King.

Poster Analysis:

First things first: we recognise the three famous actors; (from left to right) Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Erice Bana. There names are written downwards, but still in the order they appear on the poster.

Johansson's character is in the middle-as the title suggests, and from some knowledge that the audience for this film would know, she is not Anne Boleyn, because from history pictures that we have seen Anne Boleyn was dark haired. Therefore we believe Johansson to be the OTHER Boleyn Girl. However when watching the film you find out that Portman's character is in fact the other Boleyn girl, and so is pushed to the side. The positioing of the titles and the characters on the poster is very crucial as it shows how Mary stand between Anne and the crown

"Two sisters divided
For the love of a King"

This is a very good tagline as it give enough away about the film without giving too much. From that you can assume, without knowing the story that the two sisters are Portman and Johansson, and Bana is the King. It shows there will be some kind of conflict ('divide') and will have romance in it ('love'). Very self explanatory and very clear.

Technical Stuff...

• MS.
• Slight low angle to make them seem more powerful.
• Low key lighting- we can only see what the film makers want us to see. This creates an enigma and lays the grounds for all the deceit in the film.
• Catch light each of their eyes.
• Font continues with the theme and genre as it is quite old fashioned.

Natalie Portman-Anne Boleyn.
In this poster she is wearing the 'Boleyn Necklace' which could mean she is more important in the family, and is the oldest. She has dark hair which has many connotations, including being evil and cunning. Usually in most films (with death) their are two girls, and the one with the dark hair dies, but the blond haired, more virginal girl survives, which is again true to this film. Very defiant glare shows that she will get what she wants. Her almost smirk shows she is more in control that her sister.

Scarlett Johansson-Mary Boleyn
She portrays all the common elements of 'traditional beauty'. Her blond hair signifies her virginal qualities, and her full lips show her youth. Her buxom cleavage and open decolletage shows her young skin and is a sign of beauty; she is the more attractive one of the sisters can be taken from this. Johansson has her head tilted up and has a thoughtful look on her face- she looks more naïve and younger and less in control than her sister.

Eric Bana- Henry VIII
Dark hair and eyes-would appear to match with better Anne Boleyn, rather than Mary. A pensive expression on his face shows he has many problems, and we can agree that this would be true as he was king and would have to run the England one of the most powerful at that time, on top of finding a wife (or six), a legitimate heir to the throne and ultimately love. His pensive stare could also be interpreted as a powerful stare, because he is in control but i believe that the girl are in fact the ones with the control in this story and so therefore his stare is not powerful. His head is tilted slightly away from the girl. This could show he is turning his head on his problems. Bana is closest to Johansson to show he loves her more than her sister, but his head is turned away to show he cannot have her.

Costume and colours are very important in this poster as they are used to represent the time and the status of the characters. The King has lots of rings and a fur around his neck which shows his power and status, and wealth. The vibrancy of the colours, especially in Anne's dress, draw out the richness of that era, and the life that these people led. Intricate detailing on Mary's corset, with materials such as velvet and silk. All in all very luxurious, with no expense spared. A rich and plush fabric behind the characters emphasises and anchors a sense of wealth.

Horror Still Analysis

1. Describe your shot and identify in what way it could be seen as representing horror.
Extreme Long shot. High-key lighting. The shot looks like a victim has been pushed down the stairs, and the camera is from the perspective of the ‘killer’. I also like the light coming through the railings, it creates an eerie effect. Shows feelings of claustrophobia, entrapment and vulnerability. It creates an enigma because you are not sure why the person has ended up at the bottom of the stairs, however you know it represents horror because a convention of horror is many deaths, in different ways. The character in shot would not be the main character as they main girl usually triumphs and doesn't die, this character is probably just a random victim, perhaps who was in the killers way.

2. What did you do to achieve the effect?
To create this effect the person taking the shot stood at the top of this narrow staircase while the actor in the shot appears dead at the bottom. We took a long shot because it shows the surroundings and emphasises the fact she has been pushed down the stairs, a CU, or MS wouldn't have got across the creepy staircase and wouldn't have been from the killers POV.

3. What is successful about your shot?
The high angle shot makes the dead body look more like a victim, and from the perspective of the killer makes him seem really powerful, and shows the victim was vulnerable, and was trapped and couldn't escape the killer. The fact you can see more stairs to the right of the body where there is more light, gives the impression that you don’t know what is going to happen. It has a very clear meaning of what has happened in the shot.

4. What would you do differently in hindsight?
Have more effective lighting, perhaps darker with just the light coming though the railings at the top. I would have tried different locations to have more variety and tried many different shot types. We needed low-key lighting to make it more scary.