3- Poster Analysis - Pulp Fiction

This poster contains a lot for the eye to see generating interest in seeing what this movie is going to be about as it . In keeping with the title, it is designed with the look of an old pulp magazine. The mood of the movie is well-established with the imagery. The first thing that caught my eye was the constant use of the colour red and black. Uma Thurman is presented to us laying on a bed with her ankles crossed, cigarette in one hand, book in the other. She is wearing dark red lipstick and red nail varnish. Red is a colour associated with violence and danger, it also signifies feminine qualities/sexuality and passiveness.

Also the type of costume she is wearing (all black), low cut top and cropped trousers and heels. Dressed all in black, signifies to the audience a sense of darkness and to some extent, monotony about her character. Black is also associated with power,elegance,death,mystery and usually has a negative connotation, which is the type of impression this poster is trying to set.

Uma Thurman maintains her femininity through her costume and body language i.e the way she is positioned. However, the props used in this poster manipulates this idea i.e the gun, portraying Thurman as a stronger character. In most films the hero/villain is usually represented as a male character. However, this poster contradicts this idea and subverts the roles of gender.
The gun laid out before her contrasts this feminine perception and emphasises on presenting Thurman as a more dangerous/edgy and sassy character.

In terms of the title, the lettering is in bold font, which is significant of a pulp magazine, the use of bold may also be correlated to Thurmans character as she too, is represented as a bold and brave character. The colour of the Title is in a dull (dingy) yellow which can also be associated with caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.

I believe that the "Pulp Fiction" poster is not as conventional as the other. As you can see in this poster the font of the title is bold and yellow meaning, even though the letters are firm they are still in the colour yellow which is femine. This could of been done to create a sense of power and femininity at the same time. Also due to the fact that the title is written in yellow in contrast to the rest of the Dark colours used in the rest of the poster it causes the yellow to stand out and have a huge significance on the mood of the film. In this poster they have subverted to the conventions of the female character being the weaker character by placing her on the main poster. Also, there is a sense on phalic symbolism by the use of the cigarrette. This creates a sense of power and masculinity. however, there is no conventions in this poster of the release date and tagline. On the other hand, one main convention with the layout of the poster is using the rule of thirds. This rule helps us display a more clear picture to the audience.