“Coming soon” informs us that this is a teaser poster rather than an official release date. This means that the audience will need to be proactive to find out more about the film and to make them aware of the film coming soon so they should expect to see magazine articles, news reports etc. which will contain more information about the upcoming film.

This is a modern film and along with this is a fan base of fans that are wanting to see films that are sequels or directors of other popular films that the fan base enjoys. For this film poster, they have included the director of “Saw” and “Insidious” which lets the audience know that their may be similarities and if they enjoyed “Saw” and “Insidious” they will enjoy this upcoming film.

This is a hook for the audience, informing them that this horror film is based on a real situation which makes the audience feel at edge as they expect this movie to be really scary and having a real life situation being the same as a horror movie will make the movie even more frightening.

This shot is a long shot, where we can see the surroundings of the main focus and the focus of the photograph which is the protagonist sitting on the chair. The long shot is used to show the audience the surrounding background which appears to be a dark, old room which is very mysterious leaving the audience questioning the relevance to the background and how it is going to be used in the film. It also gives the audience a glimpse of the surroundings they should expect to see, being very dark and dull along with the main focus of the film being a women.

A doll-like figure is sitting on the protagonists lap in the poster. The doll like figure has very heavy costume make-up on and appears to be very child-like. The doll is sitting on the protagonist which indicated that they are close in relationship or they are working together in the film as an evil pairing. This could also suggest a very child like theme, along with the rocking chair that they are sitting on suggests that the protagonist is a mother figure and that the film is going to be based around the idea of nurturing. The protagonist we see in the poster is facing west and is not looking at the camera. The protagonist’s face is hidden which leaves her long, scraggy hair and white blouse and mother-like outfit. The idea of not seeing the protagonists face leaves the audience questioning her relevance throughout the film and what she really looks like. Not knowing what the protagonist looks like makes the audience feel tense towards the situation as they do not know what they should expect from the film leaving the idea of mystery behind.

The denotation of this poster reveals that the woman is sitting with her back facing the audience and the audience cannot see her face. This connotes that the women is being ignorant and suggests to the audience that they do not want to give too much away within the poster as it will ruin the plot of the film. This is a good way to attract the audience’s attention as they want to know more about the protagonist and makes them want to watch the film to find out the answers.The denotation of the rocking chair is very symbolic as it has the connotations of old, haunted and danger. Generally, in horror films, rocking chairs are used and somebody is never on the chair it is just always rocking back and forth. This suggest to the audience that the protagonist may just be an illusion that is going to cause the trouble but the audience is not going to be able to see her. This is a very effective way of leaving the audience thinking about the possible storyline and relevance behind the rocking chair and leaves the audience’s imagination open to other ideas. The denotation of the doll-like figure sitting on the protagonist has the connotations of evil, team work and power. Having the two possible protagonists on the front cover of the poster is very unusual and leaves the audience questioning if they are both going to be working together creating a storm in the film or if they are just on the front cover as they are going to be featured in the film a lot. This is a very good way to get the audience wanting to watch the film as they have a lot of hints in the poster that they will think of and will go onto watching the film.

The purpose/message behind this poster is to convey motherhood in a negative and controlling way. It is obvious to the audience from the first glance that the protagonist is very controlling and is a very strong, powerful reason behind the storyline. These elements attract the audience as it shows the conventions of a horror film being a female protagonist as it challenges the stereotypes of all men being very controlling and leaves the audience questioning what the protagonist is going to do in the film and how her actions are going to effect the storyline.

This poster is a very effective way of making the targetaudience engaged to the story behind the poster. Having a dark background and features conveys death and pain and this reflects on the idea of the two characters within the poster. The doll in the photos face appears to be very slanted and is very intimidating and shows elements of paranormal as a doll-like figure would not be alive in the real world. These elements attract the audiences attention as the audience would thrive of the idea of paranormal activity and would be interested to know how the doll-like figure and the protagonists roles

Intertextual references in the poster that is other media to do with the film for example www.theconjuringmovie.co.uk is used indicating that other media platforms are offering more information about this upcoming film such as more information on what the film is about, when the film is going to be released etc. This intertextual reference may also reveal the trailer of the film to the audience and other things such as clips of the film which helps to promotes the film. This makes the audience aware of where they can find out more information if they are interested in knowing more about the film and even going to watch the film. Having a website that is related to the film is a good way of marketing the film as a lot of young people use the internet a lot more than they read things such as newspaper articles as everything is now available online. The conjuring poster is also online on various social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Reaching out to young adults online makes it easier for the target audience of teenagers/young adults to be able to view and see the poster. It also means that the poster is viewable from portable platforms making it a lot more accessible.

The definition of “Conjuring” is “the performance of tricks which are seemingly magical, typically involving sleight of hand.” This anchorage is telling the audience that the word “conjuring” links in with the poster as the people in the image look very abnormal and the idea of “magic” is very abnormal. The characters in the poster look very abnormal as the doll-like character would not be a real life person as the character looks very abnormal by the costume and the make-up they are wearing.

The target audience of this poster is 15+ to around 20. Targeting young adults is very important for creating a horror film as the view of teenagers striving off the idea of excitement and shock from the Horror films. Teenagers and young adults are more likely to watch Horror films than people aged 30+ as other films are targeted at the elder generation that are not targeted at the younger generation. Having a target audience makes the producers more aware of the things they should include in thing that are relevant and relate to the audience. The target audience being teenagers, in the poster they have used the idea of a child-like character being turned into a possessed doll which attracts the target audience’s attention as they begin to wonder the realistic features behind the doll and leaves them questioning the relevance in the doll. Without having things that are relevant to a certain age group, companies will not get the target

The representation of children in this poster is that they are stupid and this is represented by the costume make-up that is on the child. The child appears to be wearing very heavy clown-like make-up which shows the audience that the child could be considered a puppet. This links to the stereotype of children being controlled by adults and how they behave. This stereotype will be well-known by the teenagers as they will be able to relate to the stereotype and being able to relate to stereotypes will ensure that the audience will enjoy the trailer and want to watch the film as having some kind of storyline that people can relate to will draw their attention even more.