Movie Cover and Trailer Analysis (REVISION)

Scarface is a 1983 American crime film. The film is about a Cuban refugee Tony Montana who arrives in 1980 Miami with nothing but rises to become a drug kingpin creating the name "Scarface".

The layout of the design was done in the early 1980s. Its a unique design for a movie as it has not been seen for any other movie covers or for magazines. The similarities are presented in the layout with a large title at the top of the cover as well as the a picture of the main individual on the front. The purpose of this design is to focus on the character Tony Montana/Scarface (Al Pacino) on the front of the cover. The way Pacino plays Scarface can show that he is an iconic person. Also, Pacino has played many roles prior to Scarface such as the Godfather (1972), Heat (1995), Carlitos Way (1993) portraying him as a symbolic person. The way he is represented on the covers draws attention from the audience as they will summon if he is a good or bad character in the film, determine if they should watch the film or not. The colour of the design is a basic as it only shows two basic colours which are black and white. Although its basic, the two colours could show two personas of Scarface, the white side showing the heroic and symbolic character of him and the black side being the dark and cold-hearted character of him. The colour of the title is a bright red colour which could portray death or violence.

On the cover, there is only one prop which stands out, being the gun. In the first poster, we can see how Scarface is just holding it down. Its not similar to how he holds it in the second poster, but it still shows us that this movie is based on crime and violence. The second poster is very different to the first one as he is holding it in a position to kill someone. From this, we can clearly see that this movie is associated with crime and action, giving the audience an indication of genre.

Typography can be seen on the movie cover. Firstly, the bright red title is used to stand out and attract the audience. However, the main piece of text is on the left hand side of the cover. The quote states "In the spring of 1980, the port at Mariel Harbour was opened, and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun-washed avenues of Miami...wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana. The world will remember him by another name...SCARFACE." This quote is about how refugees moved for where they came from to the USA destined to live the American Dream. One of them found it (Scarface) and lived life with wealth, power and passion. The quote is used to attract the audience but also making them think upon how life was for refuges back in the early 1980s. The quote is also important because its based on a real subject of history. The film gives a good representation of the life of a refugee and how he lived the American Dream. Because of this, it may prompt the audience into watching them film.