BY SARA AVRAMOVSKA

DIRECTOR

The 2007 American Psychological Thriller, ‘’The Number 23’’ was directed by the American screenwriter, director and producer Joel Schumacher (Born August 29th 1939) who has also directed films such as Batman & Robin (1997) and The Lost Boys (1981). The film was written by Fernley Phillips and produced by Beau Tapiawas, released in 2007, February 23rd starring Jim Carrey. Although Carrey was nominated for Golden Raspberry Award for the worst actor and the movie did receive negative criticism, I personally believe that the film poster is simply excellent in terms of the use of black and white colour photography and its connotations, tonal ranges obtained through lightening etc.

FILM REVIEWS

• ‘’Genuinely intriguing in places and romps along at a satisfying pace for a conspiracy thriller.’’ Empire.

• ‘’It's rather easy to guess the plot twists, the script does tend to patronise the viewer and the final segment of the film casually abandons the central premise in favour of a more generic 'mystery' storyline.’’ IMDb.

• ‘’ Jim barely gets by as a dramatic actor, as a crazy on the loose in a thriller he’s more looney tunes than lunatic. ’’CINEMABLEND.

• ‘’ And it's strange. According to some Talmudic scholars, 23 is the exact age at which Jim Carrey stopped being any good. Twenty-three was the exact number of times I stood up in the cinema and shouted: "Why are we watching this rubbish?" Twenty-three is the number of times director Joel Schumacher should have been slapped for inflicting it on us. Twenty-three is the number of emails Virginia Madsen's agent should have sent her, begging her to turn it down.’’ The Guardian.

Black and White Photography – Connotations

Denotative meaning of B&W (Google Definition): ‘’ (of a photograph, film, television programme, etc.) in black, white, shades of grey, and no other colour.’’

Connotations of B&W photography usage

Our cultural impact, social beliefs and ideas of Black and White colour connotations are conspicuous in such a usage within Film Posters; the assumptions are reflective of the interpretations of colour connotations we face as a society overall. Effortless in its simplicity, Black and White is most frequently used within the Horror and Thriller genre film posters due to the many connotative meanings, which can reflect, foreshadow or almost project the key themes that the film may consist of. The colour white is usually associated with light, purity, goodness and innocence and harm-less, good achievements and deeds, cleanness and safety which may connote some aspects of Jim Carry’s character personality! even angels are imagined to wear white, white is also associated with hospitals and doctors as it is the colour used to promote many medical products within our society which could reflect the protagonists mental state of mind, perhaps he is in urgency for medical, psychological rather, assistance. In contrast, the colour black is associated with secrecy, which connotes mystery and fear of the unknown as a frequent theme within Thrillers in general. Black is also a symbol of death and a grief. In psychology the colour black connotes with protection from external emotional stress implying that the protagonist may be haunted, suffering emotionally and psychologically as a result of death and its mysteries. Furthermore when combining both together, Black and White, in a form of photography, it does not only benefit the technical terms of tones, detail, texture etc. Of Carry’s portrait however it perhaps reflects the theme of good and evil within the psychologically conflicting thriller. Good and evil is a conflicting aspect in itself, so Jim Carry’s personality may consist of both as suggested by the use of black and white within the film poster and the character as the protagonist is perhaps psychologically conflicted by both to a point where develops into a traumatised, supressed and increasingly insane character as the film progresses and the theme of good and evil turns into a matter which shapes his everyday life and actions, such as his way of thinking and performance towards others. Usually within Psychological Thriller, the character progresses from good to evil as a result of its surroundings affecting their emotional states, most commonly as a result of tortured relationships between ‘’obsessive and pathological characters.’’ (Wikipedia) emerging and into the most frequent themes including ‘’mind and perception, reality, identity and death as well as existence/purpose’’ (Wikipedia).

Black and White Photography – Benefits to Jim Carry’s Portrait (writing on his face)

Black and white photography is associated to be classic as it preserves a young age, the history of photography and its formality achieving a rather iconic, artistic and equitize result. It is in many ways expressively emotional and remains in abundant film posters within today’s era in genres such as Horror and Thrillers due to number of beneficial aspects to composition, texture and details, tone and contrast etc. of photography.

The black and White photography used within ‘The Number 23’ accentuates the light and shadows of Carry’s portrait; shadows appear deeper while highlights are enhanced obtaining a rather mysterious and ambiguous effect, evoking an uneasy feeling within its audience while the dramatic shadows are bought to the audiences attention and the tonal ranges are enhanced effectively through the high contract that the image consists of. Furthermore this is allowing Jim Carry’s facial features and facial expression to protrude, but also the calligraphy or projection roughly written, rather scribbled across his portrait. The image seems to articulate emotions that words can not describe and it evokes a sense of disorientation due to the scribbles writer across his face such as the number ‘’23’’ and ‘‘help’ ’that furthermore imply that the character is psychologically tormented. As a result the audience are deceived to question weather the protagonist presented is

the victim or the predator as the scribbles suggest he is in need of help, either as the victim of the number 23 or as the predator caused by his tortured soul in need for a cure. Due to film furthermore admitting a firm connection between the audience off-screen and the protagonist, as both are psychologically confected indeed. Moreover our eyes are used to seeing in colour, by removing it from the image helps, almost forces the audience to focus entirely on the characters emotional state, there is no hue present to evoke distraction. The image of Jim Carry’s is no longer colour dependent and all existent distractions in colour photography are muted such as the colour of his eyes or hair, realistic skin tone etc. lighting becomes detail orientated emphasising imperfections such as lights and shadows, lines (wrinkles) and pores which makes the audience of-screen feel up close and personal with the character, stronger emotional connection is established. As you are able

to notice, Jim Carry’s grim settled lips and under eye circles are exposed through the vigorous contrasting black and white effect attaining a skull like deathly-hollowed outlook, accomplishing an unsettling atmosphere, indicative

to the ominous plot-line of the film. The frowning, strained eyebrows bought together and wrinkled forehead as a part his facial expression indicates displeasure, confusion and concentration while it also exposes the rough and psychopathic nature of the film setting an unpleasant and distasteful atmosphere, which is indeed appealing and triggering to Thriller audiences in its peculiar ways. Furthermore, in contrast to the

psychotic connotation of his facial expression along with the dark under eyes, I feel rather sympathetic towards Carry’s character, as the Black and White photography evokes the emotional connection to the off-screen audience suggested by his eyes. He is represented as rather dark and mysterious, however intense in terms of a tortured soul to a point where the audience feels empathy towards his character and the way it is portrayed through his facial expression. This is furthermore emphasised through the close up camera angle and direct mode of address triggering and intimidation almost within its audience, which is a part of the typical Psychological Thriller/ Thriller film poster connections.

The Title and the number ‘’23’’ and its significance The repetition of the number ‘23’ calligrapher or projected on Carry’s face reflects the key theme of the film and its importance. The audience immediately know that the film is a thriller indeed and the number ‘’23’’ is a significant theme of the film also clearly suggested by the film’s title. The number 23 has many connotations to furthermore emphasise the unsettling plotline and echo events in the protagonist’s life:

- (more of 23 enigmas on: http://askville.amazon.com/number-23-special/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=4060915)http://www.slashfilm.com/why-the-number-23-is-so-mysterious/ )

- ‘’ The 23 enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23.’’ (Robert Anton Wilson wrote a book ‘’The Illuminatus Trilogu’’ that explores these interesting coincidences regarding the number 23)

-The circulation of blood through the entire human body takes 23 seconds.

-‘’The male and female each contribute 23 chromosomes during conception.’’-“Two-thirds or, 2/3, is equal to .666.’’- ‘’ The Titanic sank the morning of April 15th, 1912 (4 + 1 + 5 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 2 = 23)’’

The Title and Anchorage

The Title. The Number 23’’ is situated on the left hand bottom corner juxtaposed only slightly over Jim carry’s face. This possibly suggests and emphasizes his importance of his character within the film as his portrait is only slightly covered, therefore the title does not act as a form of distraction of Jim Carry’s facial expression (a further development of a stronger connection to the protagonist and the off-screen audiences is established).

Moreover, the title is perfectly arranged in order to contrast the usage of white against the black background furthermore implying the good and evil existent within the film (as I have mentioned previously due to its connotations) enabling it to stand out as its size is rather small. The number ‘’23’’ and its significance may act as a spoiler within the title therefore I believe that it does not match the code of ambiguity and mystery contained within Psychological Thriller films or Thrillers in general; it provides away the plot-line once you search the significance of the number ‘’23’’. While the whole film title is written in bold, ‘’the number’’ is written in lower case letters while the actual number ‘’23’’ is in larger font furthermore entailing its influence on the plot-line.

ANCHORAGE

‘’Jim Carrey’’ is written across the top of the film poster page in bold and capital lettering font to signify his importance. Jim Carry is rather a famous, and well respected character within the film industry, therefore the placement of his name provides an eye-catching recognition for audiences along with the use of the colour red which contrasts against the Black and White usage. Carry offers a large fan base based on his previous movie contributions. Due to this his name is a promotional method therefore the film to attract a larger group of audiences. ‘’the truth will find you.’’ A play of words

deliberately situated on the right hand side in rather small font, intriguing towards the audience as you have to observe closely at the movie poster in order to read it; establishing a further sense of mystery, however it is still noticeable as it is written in the colour red, contrasting against the black background while also tying the look of the poster together along with the actors name written across the top of the page ‘’Jim Carry’’. The use of colour red achieves a further establishment due to its colour connotation which I will address below.

‘’coming soon’’ is written in bold white font in order to contrast against the rest of the casting anchorage and the black background to bring the attention to ‘’thenumber23movie.com’’ which is placed below it. This is an establishment of further form of promotional methods used in film. Within todays era many movie fans use the internet in order to find upcoming films as well as to buy tickets, and by having a website it allows the film to be financially successful by proving trailers, quick and simple access to online tickets and show times, reviews etc. in order to engage and entertain its visitors/audiences. However visitors expectations require an excellent website graphical design reflecting the movie genre and content as within minutes visitors/audiences want to determine, be persuaded weather they want to see the movie or not. Film posters are displayed as public exhibitions of film in various of different ways such as: in and outside movie theatres, DVDs, advertisements in newspapers and magazines, billboards/bus billboards etc. therefore by providing this website on the film poster, it established a increase in promotion as it is attracting visitors using other forms of media (newspapers. (technological convergence.)

The Billing Block is always common within film posters and film trailers to be right at the end. The credits and details to production are settled where main actors and actresses (Jim Carry) are named as well as the production teams such as designers, editors, crew, directors of photography etc. to signify their importance

REPRESENTATION

Male Representation – Gender

In terms of representation, I’m personally rather conflicted by this film poster, hesitant of weather I approve of its representation of the male gender or not. The male gender within our society is stereotypically characterised as masculine, a macho character most common within the 70s and 80s era (example including James Bond posters or literature plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (Stanley’s Character)). The male gender is defined as physically and economically powerful as well as socially successful. Studies by Earp and Katz (1980’s and 1990’s) within the male media movement as the male leading anti-sexist activists preventing gender violence within the media suggest that society’s view of real man is linked immensely to the ‘’tough guise’’ where boys and even grown men learn to only expose parts of their personality that demonstrate power, dominance (The Jock Male) while avoiding their soft, and emotional side in order to be seen as valuable and accepted as a cultural norm; this is our idealistic image of a man and over the years forms of media such as books and films have transmitted this message to the public shaping attitudes about heterosexual masculinity. In order to be seen as a ‘real heterosexual male’ you mustn’t get in touch with your ‘’feminine’’ side and expose a side of weakness, but as a male you must display aggression in order to win approval by both, female and male genders within our society overall. The media is the primary narrative of masculinity, as it is formed rather than given biologically. I believe that ‘’The Number 23’’ film poster supports this view of the ideal heterosexual male while it also contradicts it. Jim Carry as a male is clearly dominant as he is the ‘male protagonist’, he takes up on the lead role which is most common within our society as only 15 % of females have contributed to the film industry as protagonists according to Martha Lauzen’s study ‘It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World’’. Lauzen stated ‘’  “Moreover, female characters are less likely than males to have identifiable goals or to be portrayed as leaders of any kind’’ implying that Jim Carry as a male is dominant and powerful suggested by the film title placement, photography and the way it is connoted within the media world overall, however the movie poster suggests, in my personal opinion, that as he gains access into his internal emotions and thoughts, which is uncommon and almost forbidden for a male to do according to Earp and Katz study of our society, he becomes tormented! Does this suggest that as male’s attempt to gain and reach their emotional needs they become insane!? Bipolar possibly?! Does it reinforce the idea of masculinity within our society rather than simply Jim Carry’s fictional character? I believe it makes me feel quite bipolar as to whether I admire the presentation of the male gender, and perhaps it could reflect ‘’bipolar’’ as one of the films key themes. As I am unable to withdraw a clear conclusion of the posters representation and ideology and values, I believe that the poster is rather effective in terms of achieving its purpose: not only psychologically conflicting as a theme in the film but also within its audience’s suggested by it’s poster as well.

The Use of The Colour Red – Denotative meaning and Connotations

- Denotative Meaning: of a color at the end of the spectrum next to orange and opposite violet, as of blood, fire, or rubies.

- Connotation: as I have previously stated on our blog ‘’ Red is the first color to be seen within a rainbow and has the greatest emotional impact indeed. According to the Google's definition the color red is described as ''a color at the end of the spectrum next to orange and opposite of violet, as of blood, fire or rubies.'' however that is just its denotative meaning. The connotation of the color red however is known to scientifically cause a chemical reaction within our bodies, which rises the viewers blood pressure, speeds up pulse and causes a rapid breathing. For this reason red as I have mentioned before is the color used to symbolize danger, aggression and violence most consistently used for Movie Posters within Horror and Thrillers…’’

( Martha Lauzen Reference:

- ttp://variety.com/2014/film/news/study-female-characters-under-represented-in-movies-1201129236/

-http://variety.com/2015/film/news/women-lead-roles-in-movies-study-hunger-games-gone-girl-1201429016/ )