Attack The Block - Poster Analysis

The dominant use of the saturated colour of blue in this poster gives the piece a rather mystical tone, which in turn, reflects the urban sci-fi genre of the film. The lack of colour ultimately depicts the cold plot that this film adopts, which is depicted through the alien images behind the teenagers in the poster. The characters are standing close to each other; however fear can be clearly seen on each face of the teenagers, again, reflecting the cold genre of the film. The characters are situated in the centre of the poster, standing above the initial title of the film. This can signify the important role of the characters in advancing the films plot.

The poster is composed in a rather unusual way, as although the characters are standing above the title- ‘Attack the Block’, the title remains the dominant and therefore bold feature in the piece. The general attitude of the standing characters arguably intertwines with the words ‘attack’ and ‘block’, since the characters are from South London. This can be seen as a stereotype reflecting the ‘ghetto’ areas in London, which is together seen in the urban clothing the characters portray. Additionally, the apparent view of weapons not only adds to the stereotypical view of the characters from South London, but also allows the viewers to identify with the action and therefore, rather potentially violent genre of the film.

The fixed image of the leading characters in the poster draws the viewer’s attention away from the background city of Central London, (as apparent by the Gerkin), and thus, makes their image solid and dominant. This inferiority of Central London is aided by the only red text of the poster ‘Inner city’, which again, helps in keeping the strong idea of brand identity- South London with the film.

The unity of the characters conveys the target audience of the film- young and urban teenagers. As well as this, the cold colour of blue intertwines with the dark clothing the characters are wearing, suggesting the challenge of aliens they each face in advancing the plot.

Ultimately, I think the poster is well promoted in reflecting the general genre of the film, allowing the viewers to acknowledge the alien force that the leading characters have to overcome and challenge. The composition of the poster, in my view, is the most innovative feature of the poster, since this allows the viewers to directly acknowledge what the film contains.