In Kill Bill, the presence of a samurai sword which urma Thurman is holding establishes the film as a martial arts type of film, the sword is also an iconography of violence. There is blood on urma Thurman to represent a death of someone; this sets the genre of the film and places it as also a thriller. In sin city the use of diagonal rain is used, the light reflects off the rain and helps show more contrast between the light and dark and good and evil, looking at the poster it is clearly shown that Bruce Willis is the protagonist; as he is standing slightly in front of other characters; this is quite similar in kill bill as the protagonist is clearly showed; as Urma Thurman is wearing a bright yellow and the only character with a samurai sword. This is very common in a thriller signifier, making the protagonist stand out in some way.
The poster of Sin city also portrays a sexy woman (Jessica Alba) looking rather mysterious as her face is not looking towards the camera; she is looking towards the side, she appears to be wearing quite a sexy outfit; a leather trousers and a half leather top which is very tight and fitted on her and exposes her belly, this could depict that she is a fierce woman, putting Jessica Alba in the poster could have been used to attract the male audience, as she is also a famous celebrity this will attract a bigger audience. Bellow the poster; there is an illustration in black and white of a city which a man is entering, this could relate towards the name of the film “sin city” and could portray how there is no colour or hope in the city as it is just darkness. Both posters have famous characters on there posters; this could be the selling point of both of them, because by places famous characters on the poster it will persuade the audience the watch the movie.
The title “kill bill” could emphasize on the plot of the film, it is in a bold red colour which could denote blood, there is also a strike throw the word which represents the letters being sliced by a sword and sums up the film, that it is to do with fighting, knifes and a killing perhaps the killing of “bill”. The title of “Sin City” could create a sense that the film will be an 18 because it will most probably involved sins, death and sex; the word “sin” tells us that things that are not meant to be done in reality will be done in the movie and create a tone of “breaking the rules”.
The two posters combine several distinct elements in a coherent way while also managing to give a clear summary of the film. The connotations behind the use of the colours black and red are very diverse but the main reason why blacks and reds were used was to follow the codes and conventions of a thriller poster. They were able to subconsciously set standards showing it is a trusted and valued institution for there movie, by adding in credits. Quentin Tarantino is very well known for many Martial Arts films especially kill bill, he as also directed in sin city; which could show why there are a lot of similarities.