Poster AnalysisIn this section, I will be analysing three current slasher horror film posters to

increase my knowledge on slasher posters to help me design and create my own. The three posters that I will be analysing are; Friday the 13th, My Bloody Valentine

and Texas Chainsaw.

Friday the 13th Friday the 13th is a slasher horror film and is a teaser poster on promoting the film but also teasing the audience and encouraging them to watch the trailer and learn more about the film. I chose to analysis this poster because this film is very popular within the horror audience and shows many conventions of a slasher film. I also was drawn to the poster myself which makes it easier for me to analysis it. I especially enjoy the effects of this poster with the use of lighting.

Poster ConventionsThe poster follows the main conventions of a film poster with its layout being very general. Film poster conventions are as follows:- Largest text on the poster is the title of the film- Second largest text is the tagline- Clearly defines the genre of the film- Should be designed to attract the largest audience possible.- A date of when the movie is coming to the big screen or a ‘coming soon’- Institutional information at the bottom of the poster.This poster conforms to these common conventions of a film poster. The largest text is the film title ‘Friday the 13 th’ and also catches the audiences eyes because it is the only text that is red, apart from the date of the release. The background image also fills the whole of the poster with little text shown, this is also a common convention of a movie poster.They have also made the poster well understood in the fact that any audience would understand that this film is promoting the horror genre due to its lighting and colours such as red, black and white used which are stereotypically used in horrors.

ColourThe main colours that dominate this horror poster are black, white and red, which represent the horror genre and especially the slasher genre. This will help audiences recognise what genre of film this is. This creates an anxious atmosphere for the audience as the colours used are dark and shows the killer in a gloomy night so that you can barley see him, but enough that you can see his hidden identity and choice of weapon.

TaglineThe tagline features at the very top of the poster, where it is clearly readable for the audience and is the second largest text. It is all upper case which is used to heighten attraction. In addition to this the tagline itself is ‘Welcome to Crystal Lake’ which has a symbiotic link with not only the poster itself, because you can see the lake at the bottom of the page in a slight glimmer from the gloomy moon light, but also has a link with the trailer as the opening scene is conventional teenagers messing around playing water sports on a lake, Crystal Lake. The tagline is also used as a joke because no one will want to go or be welcomed to this specific lake as the antagonist shown is not very welcoming. It conveys that the antagonist is welcoming you to your death.

Other TextOther text that is used on this poster are things like the institutional text at the bottom of the page. This poster follows the conventions that all movie posters follow, that this text is the least important and is why it is such small text because the general audience doesn’t have an interest in the institutional information. Another text that is used on this poster which is seen as a common convention is the use of a specific promotional tool where they have ‘from the producers of ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’. This is used to lure in the audience because of the success of that movie will increase the chances of this movie being good also.

Friday the 13th ImageA poster is nothing without an image that can attract its target audience and this poster has a strong image that gets the genre of film across and attracts its target audience. The antagonist is surrounded by mist which means that he is unknown and the outcome of the narrative is unknown. Also the use of the mask is a common convention within horror movies, especially slasher titles. We can see that the antagonist here is wearing a mask but this can also symbolise the killers lose of identity due to his need of revenge. The lighting and colour of the mask could symbolise the evil force that is controlling him to kill mercifully.

He is also standing in an area that can be seen as a dark forest by a lake which is also another common convention of slasher films. This is used in the poster to emphasis the creepiness of a forest at night and we can tell that this has been shot in the night and the movie will largely be set in the woods at night due to the moon light behind the killer and the darkness that surrounds him. The lake represents an eerie atmosphere and looks to be possessed by evil because it is so dark and usually lakes are seen to be calm and not possessed. Furthermore there is reflected light that is bouncing of the surface of the lake which links to the tagline ‘Welcome to Crystal Lake’ and will stand out to the audience in order for them to recognise that the antagonist is standing over the lake. Moreover this will represent the power the antagonist has in the way that the victim that is looking up at him knows there is no escape. This is emphasised by the low angled shot used. In addition the contrast lighting allows the audience to see a gloomy, almost silhouette figure, who is the antagonist which adds the overall atmosphere and I personally believe this is very effective. The moon light acts as an exaggerated ambient light and also an effective back light.

Furthermore the camera angle used to shot the antagonist is a low angle, this is to show how strong and powerful the killer is, this will make the audience fearful of him, which is needed because if a horror movie antagonist is not feared, then he is no longer a killer. One of the main props used in this poster is the machete that the killer is holding. This is to show the killers weapon of choice and will show the audience what he is going to use to create those gruesome deaths that the target audience crave in slasher titles. In addition to this machetes are symbolical of death and murder, especially in horror films. The antagonist is also isolated and alone which represents that he is the sole person responsible of all evil that will take place in this movie. This also has a symbiotic link with the tagline because the killer is stood as if he was welcoming you as the viewer to your death. Furthermore the lighting used behind the killer is used to represent that to escape you will have to get passed him first, so the protagonist will have to fight of the antagonist in order to survive as everyone relates to going towards the light in order to get to safety. However as it is only a glimmer of light, it is highly likely that most, is not all, of the victims will not survive.

The gender representation is very conventional in this poster as it represents the male antagonist to be tall, strong and obviously masculine which will allow the audience to fear him more than a female character. The male antagonist is very stereotypical within this sub-genre through the use of camera angle and lighting the poster backs this up as it needs to so the audience can understand what sub-genre this film is from.

Title The title of this film is simple but effective as everyone is lead to believe that Friday the 13 th is a very unlucky day if it ever occurs, so just the tile alone represents that this film is a horror title. It is also red which represents blood and foreshadows that there will likely be a lot of it due to the gruesome deaths brought by the machete and also conforms to the convention of colours used in horror films.

ConclusionOverall this is a well designed movie poster to promote the slasher ‘Friday the 13th’ and can attract it’s target audience to go and watch the film. It is able to represent the slasher sub-genre well as audiences will know that this film promoted is a horror movie. Furthermore the poster conforms to the general conventions of movie posters and also follows the slasher genre conventions in order to entice audiences to go and watch the film and the poster also engages the audience by using direct address in the films tagline, ‘Welcome to Crystal Lake’.