Semiotics Assignment 2- The Hobbit Poster

• Subject surrounded by lighter background suggests character's inherent goodness but dark border implies growing malice or sense of doom.
• This same impending sense of doom, sadness and darkness of heart is emphasized by the heavy shadowing on the subject himself.
• Subject's stance references respect or mourning and fatigue. Fatigue is emphasized by the dirt and wear on his wardrobe and skin.
• Blue on the subject's wardrobe symbolizes loyalty and dependability but also depression, emphasizing the mourning posture. In fact blue is the color of mourning in Korea.
• Greeks believe that the color blue wards off "The Evil Eye" implying that the evil eye of Sauron is already upon our subject due to his acquisition of the ring in the first movie of this series. Mind blown.
• Blue on the pillars creates an air of tranquility and calm, but when combined with the dead weeds and the ravaged pillars it creates the idea of eerie silence and sad needless death rather than a benevolent calm.
• Just like spring is associated with life ad rebirth, the winter and snow in this environment are associated with death and withering. This goes back to the Greek mythology of the harvest goddess Demeter mourning the loss of her child Persephone to the god Pluto for part of every year.
• Subject's sword is half bright and half dark, implying the benefit of the weapon's defense but the darkness of battle and the death the weapon causes.

• The dark side of the sword is nearer the subject as if reflecting his general energy, including both the sadness of mourning and the evil of  the Ring possessing him.

• The subject's Dwarf-made chain-mail is perfectly clean and one of the brightest parts of the picture, emphasizing the beauty and protective aspect of the garment, while drawing the viewer's eye. The sword and chain-mail, both war attire, imply battle and serve as the brightest and most eye-catching aspects of this poster, and draw attention to the film's plot and title, "The Battle of the Five Armies".

• Rather than directly point out that this is the last film of the series, the poster gives the feeling of finality with the tagline "The Defining Chapter", beautifully contrasted against the black shading. It purposefully draws more attention to itself than the film's actual title, the effect of with causes the observer to read the title as 'HOBBIT: THE DEFINING CHAPTER'. Or even more simply:  'HOBBIT: THE LAST PART'.

This is a great poster on its own, but after analyzing it closely, I admire it even more for the obvious thought and care that went into this piece of art.