Film Poster Analysis

Elizabeth Adeoye DRO6

Credits- these are a typical convention of a film poster

The title is placed at the bottom of the page, giving room for the attention to be given to the image on the top of the page. The text uses a gold color with an italic font, by using this font, this film poster has a “fairy tale” type connotation .

Previous credits- most film posters use this as a way of guarantee and also as a way in prompting audience expectations.

This film poster does not have a certificate or positive quotes which shows it goes against the typical conventions of film posters.

In this medium shot it emphasizes the evil looks and the body language of the witch/stepmom. She's displaying a knife which creates a daring look she gives to the audience. Her hair is tied away from her face, which gives her style and makes her slightly less evil and makes her trendier. This image takes up most of the poster, as we have black birds emerge from her cape, in doing this we will automatically associate this character with death and being evil. The witch is not featured in the title, but by this image she is associated with being evil. The other characters are built around the the witch again emphasizes the character of the witch. By placing the character one on top of the other, it creates different layers, making the audience pay attention to each of the characters, its also a good use of levels.

Target AudienceThe use of this dark tale, which has been adapted to attract an older audience. By doing this the film will be able to draw in a new crowd, the film will be able to bring out the dark, horror and thriller aspects of this film which will be more appropriate for the audience.Tone and RegisterThe setting of this film is in Edwardian time, this again helps to attract the older audience. It gives the film more advantage in attracting this audience. This poster creates a very dark, scary atmosphere. The black birds in the main image the audience immediately that this film will have some aspect of horror.

Representation In this film poster cover, they have made the villain ambiguous. The females in this film poster are made to look powerful, which isn’t a typical fairy tale convention, the use of black clothing for the main character connotes that she is possibly the villain, and also helps to represent the chosen genre of dark fantasy. By having two of the characters looking directly at the audience it will create a degree of intimacy between the audience and the actors. By the use of dark clothing, we can establish that the film will be one of a dark fantasy. Also the props used in the film poster will help the audience to know the era of which the film is established in.

Effect and effectiveness This film poster is effective in the sense it portrays the dark fantasy very well mainly through dark lighting and the weapons in which the characters hold. The use of technology such as having background images and also to have the illusion that the birds are escaping from the woman’s cloak is effective in drawing in the attention of the audience. We are automatically intrigued through the use of previous quoting and also in the ways in the audience feel included by having the characters give eye contact. I believe that the audience will be interested in this film because of the use of costume, in the ways the creators have used costume and still made it relevant to a more modern audience. I felt that the heavy use of imagery was effective because it created an atmosphere of cold and the audience are more likely to already understand the narrative of the play.

Credits -typical convention of a film poster.

Previous credits- most film posters use this as a way of guarantee and also as a way in prompting audience expectations.

The film title is situated at the bottom of the image, which will draw the attention into the main imagery. Also the use of gothic text again helps form the genre and also the narrative of the film altogether.

The imagery of hands being taped automatically already creates a horror genre, it is a typical convention for female characters to be portrayed as inferior and unable to defend themselves. In doing this the female audience are automatically drawn into this film, by the use of red, it connotates danger, passion and lust, by having such heavy meanings by the simple colour of red, the audience will be drawn into the heavy emotions which may be shown within the movie. In addition to this by having a single image, with a dark background with eyes coming through some blinds, the audience will be more likely to analyse the film poster, I think that this poster is very effective in drawing in the attention of the audience and also in portraying the horror genre. The main colours used in this film poster are red, grey and black, these colours together connote danger and a dark atmosphere. the image of the eyes are placed photographically in the background, this will create a quest and when they are discovered the audience will be particularly thrilled by this.

Rather than using images of the celebrities, by having them quoted celebrity, this film poster is aimed at an established audience who will be familiar with these people. This will create audience intertexuality. This within itself is a typical film poster convention.

Tone and registerThis film poster is particular effective in the way it draws in the audience and also speaks to them through the use of imagery, by having such imagery and deep colours the audience will be able feel spoken to through images. By having the image of the eye in the background the audience will feel automatically included within the film poster, feeling directly spoken to. As there is very little informal text it will be best

suited for the target audience. Target audience It is apparent that the target audience are mainly those over the age of 18 as particular scenes which may be shown will be best suitable for that age. By having female hands it could be aimed at females within this age group, mainly because there may be a message to be delivered to this group. I believe generally that this film poster is aimed at those who enjoy horror films, being thrilled, anxious and scared, this poster is effective in drawing in this particular audience. In addition to this the target audience of this film poster, will be used to the idea of gothic horror films, through the quoting of particular actors which will create familiarity, the message of the poster is delivered simply through a mixture of text and images.

Effect and effectivenessThis film poster I believe is effective in drawing in the audience gaze, the way in which the message is delivered in having the tape holding up the females hands is particular effective in creating fear for the audience. By having the use of tape the audience already foreknow that the objective of captivity will be heavy in this movie. Also this film poster is effective in creating a horror feel through the one eye we can see in the background of the central image, so we know the objective of being watched will again be an objective in this film. This film poster is effective because unlike other film poster it doesn’t use celebrity USP, and still manages the draw in the attention of the audience. I like the way in which the poster is very simple and by the choice of text used in creating the horror genre, I prefer the use of merging two images together to create a final idea, the use of dim lighting and a glow around the central image is particularly effective in drawing in the attention of the audience. This film poster is effective in drawing in the attention of the audience because it uses typical gothic horror style text, and the use of a mystery character placed behind blinds. It could be argued that the poster may be offensive to feminist in the sense of the way the female is portrayed in the central image. Overall in my own opinion the poster is neat and executed well mainly by the central image, also it may be seen as boring because it doesn’t overload and use celebrity USP like typical horror posters.

RepresentationFemales in this film poster women again are portrayed as inferior which is typical of the horror convention. The horror genre is portrayed as very dark and eerie, which represents the audience as those who are intrigued by the darker side. The audience are also portrayed as being familiar with this portrayal of females.

Credits this film poster doesn’t use credits, which is unconventional of most film posters.

By using a different colour on the title, it will bring the audience attention to the title. This title uses colours such as orange and yellow, which may connote as a ray of hope.

By having the main image as the main line of drawing in the audience attention, by having the female character pressed up on against the glass casing of the sand pit the audience can directly see the expression on her face, in addition to this the audience will feel included within the film poster.

the use of a celebrity USP draws in the attention of male viewers by having the female “breast” displayed it could be argued that this film is targeted at females.

Tone and register This particular image is effective in speaking directly to the audience, this film poster uses direct speech “time is ticking” which will speak to the audience. The fact that she is crying elicits emotions within the audience, we sympathise with the character making it more likely for us to feel included within the film poster as an audience. The tone adopted within this poster is very inclusive, we feel we are also included in this sand pit.

Representation This film poster isn’t representative of the thriller genre, it could be mistaken for any other genre of film. The film poster is too simple in the sense the image draws in the attention of the audience but doesn’t rather hold their audience. We are unsure of the particular genre that this film is trying to represent. One thing that is clear through this poster is that female is the victim which is a typical convention of all film genres.

Target audienceThe target audience of this film poster could be argued to be those of 15 and over, it is rather ambiguous because the horror thriller genre isn't portrayed well in this poster. We are unsure of who the film is targeted at. It could be targeted at both male and females, through the emphasis of the females breasts as a way of drawing in the audience. The target audience could be argued to be Caucasian through the use of that ethnicity by the main image.

Effect and effectivenessThe main colours used in this poster are brown and white and through make up the very dark eyeliner. By using the colour brown it connotes an earthy feel and also creates a very dull atmosphere, this poster isn’t too effective in drawing the attention of the audience, it uses the celebrity USP as a way of drawing the audience into the film poster. The main objects in the background is sand, which will allow the audience to understand a sense of suffocation and it is effective in that sense of creating this illusion. The messages in this poster are primarily images this is effective in visually presenting the information to the audience. The poster isn’t quite reflective of the institutional context, we are unsure whether the institution is either gothic, horror or of thriller. I don’t like this poster because I feel it is rather boring and bland also the fact that neither the genre or the audience are represented well in this poster. This poster doesn’t communicate effectively with the audience, they aren’t as visually entertained like the previous film posters. The poster isn’t offensive in any way, but might be taken as an offense to other ethnicities as they aren’t represented in this film poster.