Captain America: The Winter Soldier DVD/ Magazine Covers

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Codes and Conventions of Film Posters

• Written Language - there is always some sort of text on a film poster, it can include positive reviews that the film has received (which will help create more of an interest), the written language may also feature the names of cast and crew members that worked on the film. This can be done to entice different actors and directors fans to go and see a film, for example if the name 'Tim Burton' is featured on the poster for 'Alice In Wonderland (2010)' then fans of his previous films such as 'The Nightmare before Christmas' and 'The Corpse Bride' may be interested. There may also be a tagline, which is usually snappy and will help create a buzz, for example the film 'Alien' had the tagline 'In Space, nobody can hear you scream'. Another part of the poster may be a short description of the film (describing the genre or mood of the film).

• Typography - certain words on film posters appear larger than others, usually the title will be much bolder and larger than the rest of the text on the poster, take the poster for 'The Wolf of Wall Street' for example. The text 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is not only the largest text on the entire page, it has a yellow box around it, and it is all in upper-case letters meaning the title of the film (and the nickname of the lead character) is the most significant feature of the poster. The names of the films lead actor 'Leonardo DiCaprio' and director 'Martin Scorsese' are also quite large, showing the films cast and crew are a major part of the poster.

• Photographs and illustrations - most posters contain a combination of images and text, with the image taking up much more of the page than the text does. Images can be used to introduce characters (and show how significant they are) create drama or comedy, or show the style of the film that is being advertised. For example I have included the poster for the upcoming 'Dumb and Dumber too' and the original 'Lucy' poster it parodies. The parody image is used to show the contrast of a comedy film to other film genres, and already creates a visual joke before the audience has seen the film, this can create an expectation of the style of comedy the film will include. Other ways that images can help advertise a film is through backgrounds, for example a film where a character is standing in front of a space-style background will show that the film is probably a sci-fi.

• Lighting - another convention of film posters is the type of lighting that is used. Different coloured lighting can help create moods for film posters, posters that feature colder, darker colours are more likely to be associated with the horror genre, brighter or more relaxing colours may be associated with more upbeat films such as romantic comedies.Whatever type of lighting is used, it is always necessary to create a certain mood for a poster.
• Camera angle and shot - camera angles and shots will show characters and objects of significance, or even create certain narratives within posters. Photos of characters with a straight on angle usually show the films main protagonists or antagonists. 
• Colour scheme - connotations are created through certain colours, the colour red will make the audience associate different moods such as anger or passion, however it could also be used to advertise horror films with the association of blood and gore. Colour schemes also give a certain identity of a film, the colour scheme on the poster may also be used for the films website or credits.

Codes and Conventions of Film Trailers

• Film Productions Logo  - A film productions logo is necessary for all film trailers, it can build expectation for an audience at what type of film they are going to see, for example a parent may see the 'Dreamworks' logo in a trailer, and consider taking their children as Dreamworks main target audience is families.
• Film Title - The film's title needs to be clearly included in the trailer, so that the audience know which product to actually look out for at the cinemas and for home releases. The film title may be used to build up an identity or 'buzz' about the film.
• Social Media - In most modern films a 'buzz' is created by using social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook, for example a film may include a twitter hashtag for people to add to tweets about the film, meaning the film can 'trend'. Many films will also include a link to their Facebook page so that the audience can 'like' the films page to gain more information about it.
• Character Introductions - Every film needs to show the audience what characters are going to be included in the film, and the relations between those characters. Films may want to have an entirely relatable character, if so that will need to come across in the films trailer, or if there is a fantasy film the character may become less relatable. The audience usually requires to have an understanding of the films protagonists, and it's antagonists, so each characters role usually becomes clear in the trailer, usually a films protagonist will take up most the time in the trailer.
• Music and voice overs - A soundtrack is commonly used in trailers to identify the mood and genre of a film. A horror film such as 'The Conjuring' will feature creepy and more piano-driven music, whereas large summer blockbusters will usually include dramatic orchestra pieces, or even hard rock music. Music in trailers can be used to re-enforce emotions or actions that different characters encounter. Voice overs are used to help the audience understand some of the narrative of a film, or can be used to establish the time and place in which the film is set. For example a period film may have the narrator read the words 'London 1860' to show the audience that the film is set in Victorian times, and that they should have different expectations for it.
• Name captions - usually used in films with well-known cast and crew members. This is used to make an audience interested in a film by presenting well-known people associated with the film. These are usually one colour for the background, with coloured text with just the name, although if the cast or crew member has won an award it could feature 'award winning' before their name. An example of this would be in the trailer for the 2012 film 'Django Unchained' using it's director Quentin Tarantino's name to create interest.

• Release Date - it is important for an audience to know when a film is released, so that they know when they can actually attend one of it's showings. Release dates can also give the audience an idea of what type of film they are going to watch, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' is a Summer blockbuster therefore was released in August, but a family Christmas Film such as 'Nativity!' would be released closer to Christmas, around November or December.

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' trailers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWsK1ZFunA

Trailer 2

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' poster codes and conventions and representation

'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' trailer - including codes and conventions featuring representation

• Film Productions Logo  - at the 0:31 mark, there is the 'Marvel Studios' logo, which fans of other Marvel films such as Iron Man, Avengers Assemble, and Captain America: The First Avenger (which this film is a sequel to). A film productions logo gives the audience an idea of what type of film the audience is going to see, as the audience will see 'Marvel' they will expect Captain America: The Winter Soldier to be a superhero film, whereas if it included the PIXAR logo they would expect an animated family film.
• Film Title - 2:13 The film title is 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', which is shown on top of Captain America's shield, a feature fans of the previous film and the crossover 'Avengers Assemble' will be familiar with. Obviously it is important for audiences to know the name of the film featured in the trailer so that they can actually see the film.
• Social Media - 2:24, there is a web address: 'facebook.com/marveluk' which shows that Marvel Studios uses social media when promoting their products, and as this film comes under the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' amongst many others, it gives Marvel brand recognition. Social Media is used to encourage those who view the trailer to find out more information about the film. Social media is a great way for production companies to spread word of mouth about a film.
• Character Introductions - the trailer here establishes the two main characters 'Steve Rogers/ Captain America' and 'Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow' and their relationship. The trailer begins with Romanoff suggesting that Rogers should get with a girl, and tries to set them up, this shows their relationship as non-romantic. It is always important for a film trailer to establish the identity of characters and their relationships. It is also important to show which actors are featured in the film, for example Scarlett Johansson is a hugely popular actress, and fans of her previous films including 'Lost in Translation', and the 'Horse Whisperer', several of the actors featured in this trailer have appeared in the previous Marvel Films: 'Iron Man 2', 'Captain America: The First Avenger', and 'Avengers Assemble'.
• Music and voice overs - at the beginning of this trailer, there is a guitar-led dramatic piece of music, which is to be expected from a summer blockbuster action film. This creates audience expectations through the soundtrack at what type of film the trailer is advertising, for example an upbeat indie-pop song is likely advertising a rom-com, and eerie-piano led music may be advertising a horror film. Although there is no voice-over in this trailer, voice-overs are commonly used to establish a narrative and a certain genre within film. For example a voice saying 'once upon a time' may bring connotations of fairytales, if the film is children's fantasy.
• Name captions - not included in this trailer are pieces of text that feature the name of some of the main people who worked on this film. Directors such as Tim Burton often use name captions as they have very specific styles of films, and audiences interested in those styles will want to go and see them, for example here is a name caption from the 2014 film 'Lucy'.
  
• Release Date - it is important for an audience to know when a film is released, so that they know when they can actually attend one of it's showings. 

Representation

• Gender - both females and males in this trailer are represented as being equal, in the beginning of the trailer Natasha Romanoff comments to Rogers "You know if you asked out Julie she'd probably say yes" her romantically detaching herself from Rogers shows that Romanoff does not feel dependant on men, which destroys one of the sexist expectations of females in action films. Romanoff is shown through close ups as a character of significance, which creates the idea that she is as strong willed as Rogers, Nick Fury and Sam Wilson. 
• Age - the older character trying to act in a paternalistic manner towards Rogers is shown through positioning as equal at 0:37, which creates the impression that both older and younger people are equal. The dialogue "Building a better World, sometimes means tearing the old one down." There is a cut to the older man standing more independently, this shows that it doesn't matter if an individual is older, if they continue with the new World and young people they will be accepted as equal. Usually older people are presented through the stereotype of them being weaker and less knowledgeable about the modern world, however the old person in this trailer exceeds that stereotype.