Textual Analysis There Will Be Blood

There will be blood is a magazine film review featured in empire magazine, a well-
known film review magazine, in line with total film. The magazine generates a mass
audience each month and moreover, generates a great audience rate due to the
products revealed in their magazine. Furthermore, house style is clearly evident within
this poster and holds importance to the audience as they are able to identify with (uses
and gratification theory) the poster.
The most dominant aspect of this review is the image; the
image holds great significance within the review due to it
dominating the text and more so being in
the rule of thirds, at eye level to the
audience. The colours used are extremely
enticing, with the most vibrant being the
orange in the background, dragging the
audiences eye to look at it and creating an
enigma as they will wonder why the
building is burning. Like most war time films, this product has stayed
within the stereotypical colours of using greens and browns, symbolic
to the war as war was fought on natural ground. This allows the audience to identify
(uses and gratification theory) with the product. Moreover, the smoke and fire could
potentially symbolise the evacuation of something and the
freedom that the war could bring or the peace experienced
after the war is over. The smoke is disappearing into the
sky, connoting the possible end and finalisation of the war.
The main character is evidently portrayed within this product as he is
represented as the only character in the image. He has been portrayed
as significantly dominant by being of a big built and standing tall. The
character wears the colour black which is symbolic to
mourning, hurt and pain, possible connoting him as the
villain (8 props character) within the product. However,
this has been challenged and has created a binary
opposition with the lighter shirt he is witnessed wearing,
as light colours connote purity and innocence, therefore,
possible representing him as a villain but a hero at the
same time, creating an equilibrium to unfold within the
narrative. As the character could have been bad turned good or vice
versa.
Additionally, the character is represented with
a stall underneath him, this could portray the
laid back attitude that people had towards the
war, further reinforced by him standing looking
Textual Analysis There Will Be Blood
at the fire rather than trying to put it out. It could also be represented of the limited say
the people of the country had in fighting the war. The pipe portrayed in the characters
mouth allows the audience to identify (uses and gratification) with the time period in
which the product had been set in.
The review challenges the house style to a certain extent, for
example, the actual reviewed product; there will be blood does
not follow the stereotypical conventions of house style as the font
and size are not the same as the rest of the review pages. However,
this has been challenged as on the side of the review page are other
smaller reviews which stay within the conventions of house style,
with the five star rating and the same font and size of it. Moreover,
the review on the actual
magazine article stays
within the convention of the stereotypical house
style of this magazine as at the bottom where
the article has been reviewed, the star rating
and the font is the same as the other reviews.
War is a significantly fragile subject due to many who were affected, in order to not
offend the audience by the use of language; this article limits the amount written about
the product, represented from the image being proportionately bigger than the text.
However, the text discussed stays within the product and is of a light content in order to
not offend readers due to the magazine appealing to young teenagers as well as older
people. The article has been written in columns and phrases, splitting one section of the
film from another, furthermore quotes from the product have been used in order to
entice the audience to want to watch the product as the quotes used are of an important
nature. The review links to the genre as it consistently has the war element brought into
the article, reinforcing the idea of what the product is about to the audience. The
narrative of the article flows through in a similar way to that of the product, for
example, it represents the good bits about the product (equilibrium), then the
unbalanced story line, represent the dis-equilibrium, however, not all is revealed as in
order to entice the audience an enigma is built up throughout the article, leaving the
audience with unanswered questions. This is used as a form of marketing as the
audience are enticed to go and watch the product in order for their questions to be
answered.
Conclusively, colour has been used significantly in order to appeal to a mass audience
and to allow them to identify with the product. furthermore, the use of house style
although slightly challenged has still been used, representing continuity with the
product reviews of that magazine.