Analysis of 2 movie posters in the same genre as my short film (horror/thriller)

Lauren Jackett

The title of the film is in the largest font, to stand out so the audience knows what the film is called. The title also gives the audience an idea of what the film may be about (psychological thriller). The writing is in quite to make it stand out and be very clear to the audience, similar to the quote because it has to stand out for the audience to read it and know whether they will like the genre of the film.

The quote above the producer/directors name is about the director mentioning, ‘master of shock’ which is a key phrase for the audience to judge whether they would enjoy the film or not. The quote is in white, which stands out to the reader, so it draws attention. The quote entails details of the film genre to allow the audience to decide whether they would enjoy the film.

The directors name is placed directly on top of the title, this signifies importance of the director. The writing is in a very light red/pink, which contributes to the mise-en-scene. This I assume is to connote the idea of blood (red) and gore to make the film seem scary.

The writing below the quote, directors name

and film title is informational writing about companies and names involved with the film. This too is

also conforms with the colour scheme, to

complete the mise-en-scene of a scary image.

The corridor is shown to be quite long and

seem ‘endless’ as her facial expressions

express feelings of lost and confusion.

The long corridor signifies a long and

endless journey, which the main

character shown on the poster is most

likely to endure during the film. The picture is quite fuzzy and there are lots of

doors, which may connote the character

to feel stuck and trapped in this

building. Using knowledge from the title and style of the

poster, she is in a hospital ward/mental

institute. The character and

corridors may also connote an idea of feeling trapped in

one’s mind as it is a mental institute.

The colours in the poster signify this is a horror film as it falls within a colour scheme of light pinks, reds and dark red/black.

This signifies blood or death. This also matches the writing which completes the mise-en-scene of the poster.

The facial expression on the girls face signifies entrapment and confusion. Her eyes are looking to one side, connoting she is trying to look for a way out or looking around her for someone. The open mouth signifies she is scared as she may be breathing heavily (from being scared) and also she may have been running away from someone, this may also signify she is running from a demon in her head

Analysis of 2 movie posters in the same genre as my short film (horror/thriller)

Lauren Jackett

The colours in the poster signify this is a horror film as it falls within a dark colour scheme. This is to scare the reader as the character in the dark connotes something may be arund them that they are unaware of. All the

setting and furniture are dimly lit to make it look more ‘spooky’.

In the poster, you can see the female

character is standing in the middle of the

room with her hands by her side. She is

looking to one side as if she is looking out

for something or someone. Her top has

quite a bright pattern which connotes she

stands out and may be a ‘target’ to her killer. You can tell she is in

the comfort of her own home because

she is dressed casually with bare

feet and the way she is standing signifys

she feels uncomfortable

(probably because someone else who

shouldn’t be, is in the house).

In the darkness, in the background of the

poster is a figure with a mask on. This is a

typical horror convention and

shows this is probably the killer as they have

a hidden identity.

The typography in the poster looks smudged and is brightly lit. This is to stand out and catch the reader’s attention, the smudge on the writing is intended to scare the audience as it signifies something sharp which may be a visual metaphor for the killers weapon e.g. a knife. The title, actors names, slogan and information are all in white to stand out and make the reader read it more than anything else on the poster as this gives them an idea of what the film is called, a slogan which tells them something about it but does not give away the storyline and saying it is inspired by true events is more likely to make the audience more interested in watching the film. The actors names are to persuade the audience to watch the film especially if they enjoy watching those particular actors on screen.

The mise-en-scene in the picture consists of light and dark colours (mainly yellows and blacks). This signifies the contrast beween good and evil, (black for evil – devil, and yellow for good – angel halo). The whole room looks quite neat and tidy and bby the posture of the girl and the figure in the background signifies that there will be a disturbance in the home.