Trance (Post-Viewing)

Disclaimer - This article was written after seeing the movie, Trance, and is in reaction to my previous poster analysis article for the film. I have done my very best to avoid spoilers but i cannot guarantee that there aren't any.

Ok, so yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing Danny Boyle's latest movie, Trance, and although I felt that the film was slightly too self-indulgent at times, I generally enjoyed it. However, it does give itself far too much credit for trying to deceive the audience, which then requires the audience to suspend all logic and disbelief.

One aspect that is truly commendable though, is the movie poster. A few days ago I wrote an article that critically analysed the poster (seen on the right), attempting to determine potential character traits and basic plot developments using only the image provided.

Though it may not seem evident at a first glance, this poster is extremely informative, which it achieves without giving too much away. Naturally, it would be impossible to determine major plot-points without seeing the film, and why would you want to? Knowing too much is as bad as knowing too little and makes the whole experience boring.

This poster is visually engaging enough to entice cinema-goers into seeing the movie outright, but if you're particularly astute and pay slightly more attention to it, you can identify some intriguing information about the three main characters (see Trance (pre-viewing) article), which actually makes the cinema experience all the more rewarding.

The additional information is very subtle, but everything in this poster is relevant and included intentionally in order to compliment the film. It has been carefully constructed to provide the prospective audience with enough information about the genre, narrative and star-power but has been careful not to ruin any major plot-points.

Consequently, this is an excellent poster for an enjoyable movie, which delivers on everything that is implied in the image. The marketing team has clearly treated it's prospective audience with respect and hasn't opted for a lazy approach, that uses meaningless images for a basic impact.

This is a perfect example of a distribution team that have complete confidence in their product and have demonstrated this by compiling an effective poster that both intrigues and informs you, whether you realise it or not.

Trance is currently on general release in the UK and limited release in the US.