CONVENTIONS OF HORROR POSTERS

WHAT IS A FILM POSTER?

• They are normally an image which connotes the actual film being promoted. The size of film posters are normally A3 (international size), they do however do larger A2 posters for outside uses or depending on where the posters are seen. As you can see here this is a larger poster within a cinema:• As the audience we are able to distinguish what a

poster is from some of the conventions such as the billing code, logos, main protagonist and the masthead.

WHAT IS THE BILLING CODE?

• The billing code is normally at the bottom of the poster and it says the actors, directors, production team, and cast on there.

DRAG ME TO HELL ANALYSIS

Drag me to hell is an award winning horror movie shot in 2009.

• From the main image on the poster it is clear to the audience that she is the victim within this movie. The movie follows the stereotypical convention for a horror poster by having the main character as a female; the female represents them as being weaker than males and normally more defenceless when it comes to the villain. From her facial expression we can tell she is being pulled down by the hands holding onto her and is scared. From just the main image we can tell that this fits into the horror films/posters.

• From the mis-en scene from the main image we can tell that this woman is some-what normal/average. This creates more tension and would scare the audience more because it is just a ‘normal’ person like us and it makes us think what if we was in that position?

From these two images we can see that the villain has no face present which gives makes us think that the villain is ‘supernatural’ it is as if the supernatural villain is pulling down onto the woman and dragging her towards the fire which may be represented as hell. This links in with the title of the movie ‘drag me to hell’

• In the back of the photo we are able to see a large American styled house; this may suggest that this house is the victims. The house however is surrounded within the darkness which could signify the unknown and evil in and around the house. With all the doom and gloom surrounding the house it gives us an idea that something bad may happen within the house.

• On the poster we see a tagline which says ‘Christine Brown has a good job, great boyfriend and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to hell’. As soon as we read this it has us hooked, why is she going to hell is the question we automatically think. From just this tag line it gives us an overview of the main character by giving us her name and a little bit about her.

This font is very basic which allows us to read it easily. It is in white which tells us that there is some purity within this movie. It does however stand out on the fires red and orange colours; this does not however steal our eyes from the main image.

• Right at the bottom of the movie poster it has the billing code, this is the last part of the poster that the audience would look at because it is the smallest and kind of blends into the background. The billing code tells us the actors, actresses and tells us whether the director is reputable and they know who It is. Underneath the billing code it says the words coming soon rather than the official release date. Again the movie website is underneath the ‘coming soon’ in an even smaller font which would be harder to read but it still promotes the movie.

THE EXORCIST ANALYSIS 1978

• The exorcist is a movie which was made in 1978, in its time it was deemed the scariest movie for many years as it had graphics and special effects which none had seen before.

• The main colours on this poster are black and white. These are typical conventions of a horror film. While the black has connotations of evil and darkness the white contrasts and show the purity and innocence within the darkness of the movie.

• From this image we can see a bright white light coming from the left window on the first floor, this gives us the idea that there is something in that room which the silhouette is drawn to, somewhat eerie. The way that the silhouette is standing under the white shinning light it shows that he is a main character and from the white light it gives us the impression he is a good character. He is standing in between a gateway to a house.

• The layout of this poster is very minimal which then allows the audience to use their own imagination and it doesn’t give any of the story away. • The film title is placed at the bottom of the poster

in the middle, the colours of this text is lilac and grey; this creates contrast to the rest of the poster which allows it stand out from the background. With the font being very simplistic, bold and sharp it stands out which would leave an impression on the audience meaning they would more than likely remember the movie title easier.

• There is also a tag line on this movie however this is a quote from the director as it says ‘the scariest movie of all time has returned in a version you’ve never seen’. With the writing in white again it stands out against the dark black skies of the poster but has a chill about it. With the words ‘version you’ve never seen’ underlined it tells us that no one on earth has ever seen a movie like this before and it is one of a kind.

INSIDIOUS ANALYSIS

• Iconography: The colours on the poster are mainly dark the conventions are associated with the film. The black and grey colours connotes the darkness and terror. This links to the film being evil and having a sense of possession about the film. The low key lighting foreshadows the innocence of the child being influenced by the evil. • The props used on this poster are nothing special.

The pyjamas the child is wearing still signifies his a child and his childhood is still present.

• The background is of an establishing shot of a house, this tells us that the little boy lives in this house. The house is seen to be isolated which shows us that no-one is around; again we can see that there are dark shadows appearing over the house representing that there is something dark and sinister is about to happen.

• The main title ‘Insidious’ is in the conventional horizontal way which makes it stand out from the other words. The two letters ‘SI’ are in red- this could mean the word ‘Yes’ in Spanish however I do not feel that this has any relevance to the movie. Underneath the film title we are able to see the billing code and the tag line ‘its not the house that’s haunted’ this suggests that the little boy is haunted and it has nothing to do with the house.