Poster Analysis - 'Advance to Contact' - Joe Blissett

'Advance to Contact'

Media Language/Mise-en-scene
From the initial viewing of this film poster, a lot can be revealed about who the main character of the film is as well as the possible settings of the film. Displayed by the fact that a man is centered in the shot, split between two different settings, the audience has a vague understanding that this is the same man who looks as if he plays two vital roles in his life; serving for his country, and living his 'normal' life. However there is a slight suggestion that his 'normal' life isn't that normal, seeing as the slogan across the top suggests that his life gets tougher once he returns from fighting in the war. 
Looking deeper into the poster, the mise en scene of the background image of what appears to be a city, hints that he is likely to be an ordinary man, living an average life in England, however by looking at how some of the people are dressed (clothing) in the shot, it looks as if this could be set between the years of 1980-1990, potentially hinting at the fact that the war he may be fighting in is either the 'Falklands War' or the 'Gulf War', portraying the fact that the war will play a major part of the film. The colour of the imagery though suggests that the character's life will appear to get better as in both shots the sun is shining in, suggesting happiness. 
It looks as if the main two images of the male character standing in centre of shot are superimposed onto the background images, making the poster look more professional, as by doing it this way, the editors can adapt the lighting on both the background as well as the character, highlighting the most important parts of the poster.  

Representation 
When talking about the representation about the poster, there seems to be a lot to talk about. Firstly, from the way the character is dressed, we assume that he is probably from a middle class background, stereotypes including casual clothing, probably stable in terms of finances and has a decent place to live. This overall assumption suggests that he is content with his life, however by looking at his facial expression, the audience can tell that he looks fairly unhappy and perhaps angry at something. From our initial thoughts, we can imply that this could be down to the fact that he is suffering somewhat from his time from the war, or perhaps that he takes his job as being a soldier too seriously. Either way we can determine that he is not happy with something, however by not clearly revealing it, it makes us want to go out and watch the film to discover what bothers him.I also noticed how the background images are very appealing to the eye, as the colours stand out; however compared to our character, he comes across quite dull and normal, hinting that he doesn't particularly stand out in society. From the iconography of the buses and buildings in the background, it supports the idea that this is a British film, alongside of course the soldier's army uniform, suggesting the British culture. 
Finally, looking at the slogan at the top of the poster ("The war is over but the battle is about to begin") suggests that the initial relief that is expected when somebody comes away from the war is short lived and has some possible after-effects. However it could also suggest that he is singled out from the others from the war, potentially hinting that his life actually gets worse once he's away from the war. 

Audience 
When researching into this film in more detail on IMDb, I discovered that the main synopsis of the film is how a soldier battles with 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder', suggesting that the film could be quite violent or emotional, however it did not seem to give a age rating of what the film should be, however by looking at the poster, I can determine that the film would probably be either a 15 or 18 age rating. This is because, the audiences of these ratings would have a clear understanding of what the disorder is and how war contributes to that, things which anyone under that age may not understand. 

Narrative 
Though not much is communicated in the film poster, the audience can still understand the main concepts of the narrative. The main idea that comes across is that the male character has recently been in the war and that when he returns, his life seems to get worse (through the post traumatic stress). 

Genre 
Even though it doesn't say on the IMDb website what genre this film is, from looking into detail on the poster, I can assume that the film would probably follow a thriller genre, as it is likely to include violent scenes from his time in the war as well as violent scenes once he returns back to the UK. However because it is based on a true story, it could possibly be a documentary, meaning it would appeal to a smaller audience as not everyone is interested in this genre.