The Lego Movie: Poster Practice Question

Poster Practice Question

TASK: Copy down the practice question below. This was taken from a previous exam.

4. Analyse how genre codes have been used in The Lego Movie poster campaign to appeal to a family audience. In your answer you must also refer to relevant media contexts.  (10 Marks)

TASK 2: Read the exemplar below noticing the keywords and answer structure they have used.

The poster campaign for The Lego Movie follows the genre codes and conventions of film advertising. The main poster with several cast members contains a tagline – ‘The Story of a Nobody Who Saved Everybody’ – that sums up the appeal of the film. In this case, the appeal is that the audience can follow an ordinary hero who is just like them and watch him triumph. This hero is designed to appeal to family audiences in that we can see both in the main poster and his character poster that Emmet looks vulnerable and small and not in control of events – children can identify with this and their parents can too. All the posters are brightly coloured and well lit to create strong visual images. This fits the conventions of family animated films and connotes a lightness of touch that will appeal to family audiences. The characters represented fit the conventions of action films to connote that the film will be easily understood by a family audience. There is a clear villain – Lord Business – as shown by his fierce expression and the way he towers over the other characters in the main poster. While Emmet doesn’t look like a typical hero, his central placing and larger size means that, together with the tagline, he can be easily recognised as such. The other characters, especially Batman and Wyldstyle, look like they should be helpers. Having a feisty woman as a helper fits the post-feminist context in which family films increasingly feature strong female characters. The wise older character, who could be a dispatcher, is voiced by a black actor who plays God roles in films – this reflects the anti-racist context in which Hollywood tries to sell films to a globalised audience. The use of named stars to appeal to a mass audience reflects the influence of the social and cultural context of celebrity culture. The posters suggest that the film will be a generic hybrid (e.g. comedy and superhero action) with a lot of intertextuality (e.g. references to Lego and Batman). This suggests that the film will offer a mix of pleasures to target a family audience.

TASK 3: In your books write your own response to the question above using the above paragraph as a model.

TASK 4: When both you and your partner have finished swap your books and complete the following:

Highlight any use of key media terminology

Highlight any reference to 'family audiences'

Highlight any specific references to elements of the poster.