In the film poster, When The Bough Breaks, the central argument is that although things make look a certain way, everything is not as it seems.  The designer of the poster uses several elements to illustrate the central argument.  Some of the elements used are, sexualization of the female character, the contrast between the colors red and black, the title, the placement of the different images, and the text at the bottom of the poster.  These elements, though different all come together to make one argument.

One of the first things that the audience will notice about the poster, is the sexualization of one of the female characters.  The woman in the middle of the poster sticks out like a sore thumb, everything about her is different from the other characters.  She has a very seductive look on her face unlike the other character’s very serious demeanors.  Also while there are headshots of the other characters, the image of her is a full body picture.  In seeing this the audience can see that she is wearing a very revealing dress that shows her cleavage. The sexualization of the woman while the other characters look very serious allows the viewer to realize her seductive role in the movie.   The dress that she is wearing is also red, which can often be associated with meanings of lust and sexuality.  Another thing the audience will notice about the woman is that her background is also red, unlike the rest of the poster which is black.  This may cause the audience to sense some type of danger, as the color red can also be used to signal danger.  This contrast between the red and black colors may cause the audience to think that the woman is imposing some kind of danger on the other characters in the poster.  The red color might also signify some kind of danger on the relationship between the man and woman.  The red color from the background also drips down the poster on to the one of the words in the title which can remind the audience of blood.  The color red being used in that sense can also cause the audience to sense some type of hurt or danger.  

The designer also made it a point to place the woman in between the other two characters.  Placing the woman between the two characters can make it seem as if she is splitting them apart.  It can be interpreted as if the woman has caused the other two characters to turn their backs to one another.  The placement of the characters can also be viewed as the two characters having their back turned to the woman so they don’t realize the real threat that she possesses. The woman clearly looks younger and as if she still could be viewed as innocent and they could have underestimated her abilities to cause damage to them. The other two characters also have very serious looks on their faces which can also play a part in the central argument, the serious looks on their faces can let the audience know that something serious is going such as a life or death situation.  

Another element the designer uses is the title on the poster, not only the way it is written, but the actual meaning.  The words “When” and “The” are relatively smaller than the other words in the title.  The word “Bough” is a bit bigger than the previous two words but the word “Breaks” is a lot larger, and it is also split as if to signify the break.  Also part of the word is red unlike the other text which could suggest that the split or break is dangerous or harmful.  The way the title is written ties into the central argument because the words start out small and then they get bigger and bigger and then all of a sudden a portion of the words are red.  Kind of like some problems start out small but then they get bigger and bigger and then it turns dangerous. The title can also play into the central argument as far as its meaning. The phrase “When the Bough Breaks” is most often heard in the Nursery Rhyme; Rock-A-Bye-Baby: “When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all.” The use of the words “when the bough breaks” allows the viewer to think that maybe there is a baby or a child involved, and that can tie into the sexualization of the poster. Maybe one of the women is pregnant or has a child and it is causing some kind of tension between the characters, hense the use of the phrase “When the Bough Breaks.” 

The designer also wrote the words It All Went Wrong at the bottom of the poster which could be the most important part of the central argument because it brings the whole poster together.  When the audience sees the words “It All Went Wrong” at the bottom of the poster, the poster starts to make sense.  The audience realizes that at one point everything was going just fine, and then everything just got bad.  And the fact that those words are in red means that it was dangerous.  Everything was going good, and then the woman in the middle appeared and split everything up just like the images show. 

Using all of the elements of sexualization, the placement of the characters, the contrast between the colors, the title, and the text at the bottom the designer was able to make one central argument. All of these elements are quite different but when they are tied together they can all stand for the same thing. And by bringing all of these elements together the designer was able to make a poster that makes the movie worth watching. And to also let the audience know that everything isn’t always what it seems. After all, we all know looks can be very deceiving; the viewer may think one thing based off of the poster but it isn’t always safe to judge something or someone based on looks because nothing is ever truly as good as it seems. 

