Titanic Movie Poster Essay, Research Paper

The cover box for Titanic reveals two different meanings to the audience. The first is an explicit meaning, of which is clearly presented through the various images on the cover. The second meaning, the implicit meaning, is subtlety suggested amongst the images and requires some thought to grasp. Through the use of implicit and explicit meaning, the movie box creates interest and intrigue.

The cover is composed of images that tell the audience right away what they can expect from the movie. Initially catching the audience s eyes is Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet pictured at the top of the box. DiCaprio s arm is around Kate Winstlet, suggesting that the movie is about these two being lovers. The character of Kate Winslet is wearing diamond earrings, which shows that character is from a rich or well off background. The actors names appear above them in a small, hard to read font, probably because the actors are famous enough that they are recognizable to the public by just their faces. Next, the large image of the bow of a large ship tells the audience the setting of the movie is placed on a ship. The ship is obviously the famous Titanic as suggested by the bold title across it. The director’s name, James Cameron is above the title, perhaps to draw interest from the director s fans. Under the title states the film has won eleven academy awards including best picture. The purpose of stating this fact is to inform the audience how critically acclaimed the movie is, and perhaps creating more interest than compared to not having the claim on the box at all.

By studying the cover a little more closely, several implicit meanings can be made out. The first is how the actors are facing. Kate Winslet s back is towards DiCaprio. This suggests that even though they are in love something might be holding her back from fully embracing him. Their eyes are lowered, giving the impression that they are deep in thought as if they are trying to figure things out. The ship seems to symbolize their love; which is immense, strong and continually forging onward. The way the word Titanic is presented also signifies their love. The words look like they are of steel; which is strong and solid, like the love for each other. If looked closely, one can see that the characters are shown using very soft and faded colours giving a wispy feel and the ship is very sharp with the colours bold. The implicit meaning behind the contrast is to signify how the ship is the key to fully understanding the story of these two lovers. Perhaps a secret between then is locked within the ship. In creating this question, the audience is intrigued into viewing this movie to find out what significance the ship has with the two characters.

The movie box uses explicit messages to catch the audiences eye. Right away it reveals that this is a story of two young lovers probably on a ship. In state the director’s name, James Cameron, and the academy awards with the intended purpose of convincing that this is a worthwhile movie to watch. If the potential viewer is still not completely convinced in renting or buying, then this is when the implicit meanings come in to play. By presenting subtle messages and invoking curiosity, the implicit messages are used to give the audience that little push over the fence in deciding to view the movie or not.