Merlin TV Poster Analysis

This is the television poster for the show Merlin. Unlike the other there is no logo or time for when it is aired. For the top third of the page the background is white with snow, and a mysterious looking tower on the right.      It provides a major contrast to the bottom two thirds of the page which is black. In front of the snowy landscape is the name of the show in large, old looking gold font. It is the iconic logo for the show, and that is the way it is shown on their merchandise and in the show itself. So when people see it later on they will know where they have seen it previously straight away. Everything is dark on the poster expect from that so it gives the audience a sense of mystery.
The genre for the show is fantasy. And there are lots of things in the poster that are indexical to the fantasy genre, and also the well know Arthurian legends.  This is things like swords, fire, Merlin about to perform magic and Morgana along with the other obvious characters.
Then in the middle of the page we see the main five protagonists. Four are the same size, and then one of them is a lot larger. The top two are Gwen and Morgana. Because they are so iconic to the show, and people would know about their rivalry, how they were friends and then after Morgana turned evil, they became fierce enemies. Gwen is bathed in light and is looking majestic in fancy clothes and fine jewelry, and Morgana is cast in shadows with her hood up wearing dark clothes looking sullen.
The bottom two are Arthur and Gaius. All of the characters in the poster are giving the audience a direct mode of address. Arthur is holding a sword, and looks to be wearing chain mail and armour. This tells the audience that he is the strongest of the characters shown, and that he will be the hero of the text. Gaius is clearly the oldest member in the text, and he looks quite odd next to the other four young people on the poster. He could be the father figure for them.
Then, directly in the middle is Merlin- the main protagonist  He has the biggest space on the poster and this shows his importance. He has a ring of fire around him and has his hand raised in front of him, giving direct mode of address. This creates the enigma of why is he more important than everyone else, what else can he do?