Blue Story Analysis - Poster BBC production

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Stories narrative - 

Best friends Timmy and Marco go to the same high school in Peckham, but live in neighbouring London boroughs. When Marco gets beaten up by one of Timmy's primary school friends, the two boys wind up on rival sides of a never-ending cycle of gang wars in which there are no winners -- only hapless victims.

Analysis 

The main image is of two teens standing back to back to one another. This back to back position symbolises friendship, however the sad look and deep blacks which surround the characters may symbolise a break in their friendship and that they have been torn apart. The costumes chosen are a easily identifiable as the ‘dress code’ of Uk gangs and street culture. This symbolises to the audience that the narrative will deal with social issues such as gang culture and violence in the UK. This also shows the independent nature of the movie as it is targeted at a niche audience of UK teens. The overwhelming use of black is used to signify motifs throughout the film such as death and sorry and links to the main message of the film that No-one wins through violence and revenge. Additionally the black could be used to show the pride that Rapman and the cast have in being black teens/ young adults living in the UK and is used to empower other young black teens to strive to be successful too. The addition of the bandanna around the man on the rights face is a signifier or gang culture and shows the social groups that will be represented in the movie as well as hinting to what the storyline will be. The expressions on both characters show that they are hurt, sad and regret their actions. This is used to reinforce the movies message. The mid shot of the side profile allows the audience to acknowledge the main characters and establish a relationship with both. However the choice to use a sideprofie shows that maybe each character has a dark side and that the narrative might expose this side of both the characters. There is a sharp light that is exposing t=each boys front. This may be used to signify that these crimes and illegal activity almost always ends badly and that you will be exposed. The lighting also looks similar to the light of an interrogation light used by police, showing that the police always find criminals and no one gets away with anything.

The setting is left ambiguous but it can be implied from the costumes of the costumes that the setting will be in an urban area and set in the working class. The choice to not have a clearly depicted area is to make the message apply to everyone and everywhere. The background is of a blue and white coloured dirty wall. The Blue and white is used to symbolise two different sides / gangs which connects to the growing issues of the postcode wars. The choice to apply an overlay effect to the background to make it look like a dirty / cracked wall could signify the conditions that the social group represented has to live in. the added bade fade at the bottom of the poster signifies secrets and deceit which are maybe motifs in the movie, as well as giving the title a good contrast to pop out.

The title is in white capitalised letters. This make the title pop and catch the viewer's eye. The capitalised letters hive the effect of importance and power which symbolise the power and importance of the movies message and that it should be embraced to reduce the amount of deaths due to gang violence. ‘Blue’ could symbolise the police as being commonly known as ‘the boys in blue’ as popularised by the movie ‘The boys in blue’. This could refer to the narrative with the story and show that the storyline will have a large part to do with the law and illegal activities.

The tagline provides some insight into the narrative. It also creates enigma and makes the viewer ask questions which compels them to watch the movie to answer them. Furthermore the tagline is short and easy to remember allowing viewer to repeat it elsewhere tot friends and family - used as a form of marketing.

‘Film by RAPMAN’ shows who the movie is targeted as Rapman is relatively unknown throughout the UK expect with UK teens. Through his previous work on Shiro's Story and other short films. This also helps create a audience for the movie as Rapman fans would want to see the film.

The reviews and star ratings is a form of psychological marketing. The words from reviews are chosen to be impactful and represent recurring motif in the movie. This helps create and audience for the movie. Furthermore the 4 star is used to treasure the viewer that the movie is worth the money

Collaboration shows the independent nature of the movie. And the absence of a conglomerate

Date of release allows for the build up of anticipation. Allows the audience to get ready and set aside time to watch it

The movie subverts the media's nors as the two main characters are Black male teens. Uk street culture and gang culture is not usually given a platform to show the voices of the victims and stories behind why people do what they do. This social group is underrepresented and in the movie is given a voice. The movie doesn't glorify gang culture but shows the harsh reality of the consequences and urges people to pursue dreams to escape from these issues