Theatrical released poster
Baby Driver is a 2017 action-crime-drama about Baby, a getaway driver played by Ansel Elgort seeking a life outside of his life of crime with his girlfriend played by Lily James.
The films poster immediately tells us of two potential target audiences, the first being a mainstream audience and this is seen most notably through the star power of the poster with such names as Jamie Foxx and Kevin Spacey just before his career took a wrong path. These are A-list celebrity names which many mainstream audiences are likely to have heard of, or even seen at this point with Foxx already showing himself to play more serious and memorable roles, playing the title character in Tarantino's Django Unchained, and also other less praised but still memorable enough roles such as in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Spacey himself had proven too to be a beloved actor before allegations of him came out not long after the film and posters release with films such as Se7en and American Beauty. The copy that informs the audience of the director is also another example of this, as Edgar Wright, whilst not as huge of a director, has again proven himself worthy with highly-regarded films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. This also tells us that we can find some form of entertainment/escapism when referring to the Uses and Gratification Model, as Wright has shown audiences that his films do have a sense of humour, usually through quick cuts and fast paced delivery of jokes which is something mainstream audiences would look for with a poster like this since that's the humour which a lot of audiences find enjoyable nowadays. This could also refer to the car chase seen in the poster, giving audiences an understanding what the film may centre around, but also telling us there is going to be a lot of action and fast chase sequences and feeling almost like something out of the also popular at the time Fast and Furious franchise, most known for these sequences.
It is this also that argues that the demographic audience of the films poster is designed to attract men in the early 20s onwards, but also teenagers of the same gender too, since the cast in the poster is dominantly male dominated. The men in the poster are shown to be looking rather serious and threatening, wearing suits and holding weapons and making intimidating hand gestures and facial expressions, whereas the only two female roles are placed in feminine positions, with the films supposed love interest dominating a waitress outfit and the other who whilst holding a weapon, is wearing pink, informing the audience that they are primarily rooting and aligning their ideologies with the male characters, as the female roles are there just to support them.
The design of the poster too is another reason to argue how this film is targeted to a mainstream audience since it uses the floating heads design which for a lot of mainstream blockbusters is used a lot in modern film to attract audiences usually through the star qualities of who is being shown. However, it could be argued that this interlinks with a secondary audience for the poster, that of the explorer. This can be considered when looking further into the posters design, as whilst it uses this, it again also informs us of much more of the narrative as seen once again with the car chase but also the slogan and our lead who is donning earphones, telling us this film is driven more by its narrative and its compelling story rather than its star power. Edgar Wright too, whilst he has gained a popular reputation, still finds ways to make his film much more unique to him through his creative editing techniques to make his film that much more visually interesting to watch, telling us this film will be much more unique than films like the FATF.
The films poster also tells us this is for an audience looking for something more than just a typical action crime film, as it reverses the roles of who were intended to support and align our ideologies with. This is because the posters leads also appear to be the films anti-protagonists again seen through their threatening manner. It tells the audience that not everyone is born into a life of crime, and that this life isn't for everyone allowing us to relate to their struggles.
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