How does the mise-en-scene and camera
angle/composition within the poster communicate concepts and connotations to
the audience?
First of all the characters displayed on the poster are: Moana, Mowie, Pua, Hey-Hey and the Ocean.
The poster shows us that
Moana is confident due to her assured and powerful stance. We can assume she is
the protagonist of the movie as she is positioned front and centre of the
poster, her facial expression hints that she is excited for an adventure. She
is dressed in some traditional clothing from her island which does not
sexualise our needlessly, in short, the male gaze has not been applied. Moana
is holding a prop, an ore, which provides the connotations that she is capable
of sailing a boat and will be doing so in the ocean. She provides
representation for teenage girls which is fairly stereotypical for a Disney
film however she is confident as I mentioned before which is a huge twist on
the representation and presenting her as a countertype of a teenage girl.
Standing beside Moana on the
right is Mowie, he stands tall with his arms crossed this implies he is self-assured
and powerful, he has a smug look on his face which suggests he is not
threatened by anything. He has a green skirt made of leaves, the greenery
implies that he may be the key to life yet also poisonous in some way, almost
showing off conflicting sides to his personality. He has a bare torso shows off
an impressive physique which would tower over people. His tattoos further push
an impressive male figure archetype but yet he is not front and centre Moana
is. The prop he is holding is a hook which is as big as him which may signify
its importance within the narrative.
On the Left beside Moana’s
feet is Pua, he is a pig that may be a companion to Moana as he stays very
close to her. He has a white and grey spotted body which goes against the
typically normal pick pigs displayed in the media; this is nice change and is a
form of representation for animals who dont look stereotypically normal. Pua
has a joyfull expression on his face which indicates he has a loving
personality and a sweet nature.
On the top of Pua’s head is
Hey-Hey, he is a chicken who looks incredibly startled; this hints that he may
be the comic relief of the movie. His positioning further serves this narrative
as it is unusual to find a chicken on a baby pigs head. He is yellow, blue and
read which are the primary colours which are often featured in kindergarten
which suggests his inclusion in the film could be to entertain the young
children.
The final ‘character’
presented on the poster is the Ocean, this is an unusual choice because a water
source as been manufactured into a life form with a personality. its positions
itself directly over Moana’s head which would imply that there is a special
bond between her and the ocean. The oceans mesmerising blue colour emits the connotations
that it is a calm being that will act as a sort if guide (almost like road
directions). We can see the Ocean leaves a circular space for Moana and the
other characters to stand on which further implies the importance of the
characters within the circle but that ocean will be acting for good and is well
respectful.
The setting of the poster
seems to be of a tropical island as in the top right quartile is a rocky island
with mesmerizing blue skies, the bright colours conveyed signify that a fun
adventure awaits. The dark blue section of the ocean towards the bottom of the
frame has a negative connotation that this movie is not purely sunshine and
rainbows but trouble also will await.
The genre of Moana is a
family musical, we can suspect this by the fact that the film is an animation
and how cute animal sidekicks are also presented because most Disney films
feature a companion such as Frozen, Tangled and Aladdin.
The poster composition is
Asymmetrical, Moana is front left of the poster which enables the viewer to see
Moana before any of the other characters, this further emphasises that she is
the main character of this movie. We can confirm this further by taking into
account the name of the film which is imprinted along the lowest quartile of
the poster. A high level of saturation has been applied to the overall image
which radiates life and will clearly draw kids in due to it standing out among
other more adult posters which could blend into the background with a far more
subtle appearance. The poster could also be viewed as being in two separate
halves if you place a centre line horizontally through the middle, it separates
the poster into the top half (with the two humans) and a bottom half (with the
two animals); this could infer that the movie could be viewed in two different
ways. One that features that human’s world which is what we usually focus on or
the world of the animals and how Pua and Hey-Hey may interact with each other.
