Hide and SeekPoster Textual Analysis

The main image in the poster is of a little girl hiding behind a door, who as an audience presume is the main protagonist within the film, immediately making the viewer wonder why the girl is hiding and from what. The unfocused image gives the impression that something is looking for the girl and is looking down the dark corridor with the main focus on the girl. This creates a void that entices the imagination and makes the viewer wonder what the girl is hiding from, thus creating tension and uncertainty. The girl in the poster appears to be holding something in her hand, possibly a knife or a sharp object. This immediately causes anxiety in the audience because it is not something you would see in every day life, which would get the audience asking questions whether she is good or bad in the film. The young girl is standing in front of a white door which has connotations of being ‘good’ and innocent which could sway the audience to believe that she is good, but under the influence of something ‘evil’. She is wearing dark clothes though, which has connotations of being ‘bad’ and ‘evil’.

The colours used within the poster are predominately red, white and black, which are the stereotypical colours used in a poster for a horror film, which this film is. The colour red is used in the carpet makes the audience believe that there could be blood involved within the film, which could explain the reason why the young girl is carrying a knife. On the carpet there is a faint shadow shown creating a sense of ‘unknown’, which could get the audience wondering what it is heading towards the girl. The black background creates the effect that the audience are watching what is going to happen through a peep hole. By engaging with the audience in this way it attracts the audience to want to know what is going to happen in the film, encouraging them to go and see it when the film is released.  

The tag line ‘come out come out whatever you are’ immediately attracts the audience as it is very dominant over the page, and the reader might automatically read it as ‘come out come out wherever you are’ as this is a phrase which is linked to the game ‘hide and seek’, the title of the film. With the use of the use ‘whatever’ instead of ‘wherever’ in the phrase causes the audience to believe that there is something that is unknown playing this game with the young girl in the poster. This adds tension to the poster and is almost left as a cliff hanger as the audience will want to know ‘whatever’ is. This play on words acts as cue that will help the viewer to remember the film.  

The main protagonists actors names ‘Robert De Niro’ and ‘Dakota Fanning’ are written at the bottom of the poster. These are the only well known actors within the film which is why they are included on the poster and none of the others are. This is unusual as we usually see this at the top of the page attracting the audience to see the film. Instead they have written the names above and below the title of the film, so the names are still seen clearly by the audience and have also be written in a different colour to the title so they stand out. The title are the release date are written in white to stand out from the rest of the page and to make it easier for the audience to know when to go and see the film. The title has been written in a different font, one which looks like it has parts missing, giving it a sense of mystery. The extra information in red is situated at the bottom of the poster as it is the conventional position for the logo of the company that produced the film to be situated.