In Bruges Poster Analysis

This is a poster for 2008 dark comedy In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. The poster shows the 3 main characters looking at the camera holing guns and ice creams. This lets the audience know the film is a mixture of action and comedy with the juxtaposition of the guns danger and the ice creams light-heartedness. There is also a swan in the background which adds to this effect of light-hearted almost over-the-top comedy.

The costume-work consists of dark clothing for all 3 characters reflecting the mood of the film. It can also be inferred from the way the main character is wrapping his arms around himself and by the big jackets they are all wearing that the film is set in a cold location, which the film has highlighted by naming Bruges in the title of the film (along with "It's in Belgium" written underneath). It also looks like there is light snow on the ground in the poster, reinforcing this to the audience. They may have chosen to do this because it is one of the films main USP's, with most other action films conventionally set in warm exotic locations. This is also shown by the city buildings in the background which also work to give the audience an idea of what Bruges is like.

The title itself is written in large pink text and placed in the middle of the poster, which works to make the title stand out to the audience and stand out from the rest of the poster. The tagline for the film is "shoot first, sightsee later," which further combines the elements of action and comedy to make it clear to the audience what the films genre is. This tagline is written in a white text and placed in front of the main characters black coat in order to make this stand out as well, showing its importance. The 3 main actors names are also shown and made to stand out in the top left hand corner of the poster by separating it from the rest of the text. This would have been done to make audiences aware of who is starring in the film as they are big name actors who the filmmakers will want to show off in order to draw in audiences.