Paranormal Activity Poster Analysis

Purpose of Posters

Film posters are form of advertising that help to raise awareness of an upcoming film

release. Posters often follow a variety of conventions including having a striking image, the

film title, actors/actresses names, the release date, age certificate, and director or

production names. These details provide a consumer with all the information they need to

know about the film and the style and appearance of the poster will help audiences identify

what the film’s genre is. Film posters can be displayed in a variety of places from being on

street billboards, and buses to featuring in magazines and online.

Paranormal Activity Poster

Image

The image used in this poster introduces an

audience to the two main characters and the

setting. From the rule of thirds, the eye is drawn

to the female character who is pointing to a

mysterious figure at the door and it is this that

highlights that the supernatural will play a role in

the film. From first impressions, a sense of

normality is created as the setting appears very

ordinary and modern and therefore this is more

relatable to the audience. Similarly, the

characters seem young in this image as they do in

the trailer so they can be seen to reflect the

young target audience that the film is aimed at.

The choice of using an ordinary house as a setting

is a convention of the horror genre as something

with this normality is portrayed with an

unexpected twist.The bedroom in this image

would usually be associated with comfort and

safety however the darkness and mysterious

figure creates a sense of fear and danger.

Furthermore, the image appears quite grainy to

reflect how the events are being filmed on a video camera and this look with the time in the

corner makes the image gain verisimilitude. Using the time in the corner reflects how the

events are happening at night and again, this is a convention of horror as events often

happenin the darkness to add to the unknown and eerie atmosphere.

Colour

The colours used in this poster are kept to 4 colours; black, white, red and blue and each of

these can be associated with the horror genre. Firstly, using black is a typical convention of

the horror genre as this is associated with the unknown and provides a sense of danger as it

is often linked with the theme of death. The white text against the black background creates

a ghostly feel in which this is relevant to the supernatural plot line and the red for the film

title connotes the idea that the characters are in danger. Finally, the colour blue in the text

and the blue shade across the image not only highlights the night vision of the camera but

suggestsa cold and chilling atmosphere which is often associated with the supernatural and

ghosts.

Text

The title is written in a text that is larger and in a different colour compared to the other

text on the poster, this enables the title of the film to stand out. Also, the blurriness of the

red title reminds the audience that the film is based on video footage. Similarly, most of the

text uses capitals suggesting an intimidating tone which again is fitting to the horror genre.

Language

The slogan “what happens when you sleep”

directly talks to the audience as it makes them

question what does happen during the night as any

activity that occurs is often unknown to them due

to them being asleep. This slogan may encourage

audiences to view the film because they are

intrigued to find out happens to these characters.

Similarly, through “Don’t watch it alone,” tells the

consumer that this film is of the horror genre and

that watching it alone will be frightening. Audiences expect a horror film to entertain them

through fear and by including a positive film review on the poster suggests that this film is a

success through using phrases such as “scariest movies of all time” and “it’s hard to ignore

the imprint it leaves.” The critics, ‘Bloody Disgusting’ specialise in reviewing horror films so

by including this suggests that the film is a success as it has received a praising review from

these critics. Furthermore, by suggesting that “you will be affected” and “nightmares are

guaranteed” feels like the film is challenging the audience to see whether attending the film

will psychologically affect them and “guaranteed” suggests that the film will meet the

consumer’s high standards.

Layout

The layout of this poster is fairly simple but attention is drawn to the main image in the

centre, particularly the two characters. This is because the poster is fitting to the rule of

thirds, meaning that the eye is drawn straight to them. From looking at these two

characters, the consumer then sees the female character pointing and this directs the

consumer’s eye to the mysterious figure at the door.

The organisation of the text is kept quite structured in that the consumers eye follows the

flow of how the text has been positioned this could be linked to flow of the film reel which

reminds an audience that Paranormal Activity is based on video footage.

Advertising

The Paranormal Activity poster offers a demand service that encourages potential audiences

to demand the film if it is not playing in their area. This is because the film was a low budget

horror meaning that it was not shown in all cinemas. By doing this, it may be easier for the

producers to see how successful the film will be as they can see who and where their

audiences are. Similarly, the films website is also advertised where the films trailer and

other information can be found to entice audiences.

Barthe’s Enigma Theory

Barthe’s enigma theory is based upon the idea of creating mystery for an audience. This can

be applied to the Paranormal Activity poster as mystery is created through various aspects

of the poster. Firstly, the mysterious figure at the door creates an enigma as it is ambiguous

to the audience who or why this figure is there. Similarly, the language used, “what happens

when you sleep?” causes consumers to question what really does happen and therefore this

may entice audiences to go and watch the film.

Influences

From carrying out this textual analysis, something we have been inspired by is the language

that has been used in this Paranormal Activity poster. Particularly, the slogans as these

directly talk to an audience. We think that we will aim to directly talk to our consumers in

our media products as we think this is successful for an audience to gain a more personal

connection to our media.

Using a review in this poster reflects how this film is good enough to gain critic attention, so

it is possible that we will include a review of some sort on our poster as this will help our

film to gain attention.

Finally, the style of the text used for the title visually represents how this film is shown

through video footage. It could be interesting if we could use text to portray a message

about our film. For example, we know that we are planning to use toys in our trailer so

perhaps the text style could have a childhood style to it.