Poster Analysis By: Miriana Younan

The poster above promotes ‘The Possession’, a horror film that could be placed within the supernatural or possession sub genre. When watching this horror film, the audience see how an evil spirit can possess a little girl and turn an innocent child into something so terrifying and horrific. I picked this poster to analyse as the image they have used within this poster is terrifying and really gives me the chills and it’s also within my group’s sub genre. With this in mind, I will be able to analyse the poster and take ideas and inspiration from it too.

This poster includes the main conventions of its form. The image itself dominates the frame and presents the audience with a clue as to what the film’s narrative is about and what the source of terror is. Other conventions that appear are text-based conventions, such as the film title, a tagline “Darkness Lives Inside” and institutional information.

The poster’s mise en scene does not really present a setting which could suggest where the movie takes place, although if the audience makes the assumption that this is an interior wall, then they may guess that the family home features. The background is plain and this just lets the audience focus on the image itself, while the character dominates the frame. It makes sense for the girl to be dominating the poster, because she is the main character of the movie and her character plays an important role. The placement in the middle of the frame takes advantage of the rule of thirds and reinforces her importance. The first thing that the audience notice is a hand coming out of the girl’s mouth. As obviously it is very strange and suggests that there is something inside her. The hand looks very old and gruesome, as it is slightly scabbed, darker than the girl’s face and the nails are dirty. This suggests that whatever lies inside the girl is quite ugly and evil. The facial expression and

Poster Analysis By: Miriana Younanbody language of the girl clearly shows that she is frightened as she has her head up and mouth wide open. As you can see the hand is also pushing the girls face down which suggests it’s controlling her and taking over her body, the evil spirit won’t let her win. Also the girl’s neck is stretched and looks stride this shows she is trying to push back on the evil spirit and not let it win. The background of the image is quite dull and grey and the cold texture gives it the feel that there is no hope and the misery won’t end. The colours connate darkness and death and the grey connotes the isolation of the girl and white lighting shows the girl’s innocence and purity which contrasts with the evil that lies within. Dark shadows surrounding the female reflect the fact that darkness is engulfing her and taking over her mind and body. The dull colours also suggest mystery, which will therefore make the audience more determined to know what is going to happen with the girl.

The costume the girl is wearing is a dull grey colour, which again suggests fear and misery and mystery with regards to the fate of this girl. The grey colour also suggests a loss of hope and the idea that you can’t run away from the evil spirit that possesses her. Also what the girl is wearing will remind the audience of a hospital gown, which could suggest the girl really needs help and that only professionals can help her.

The title of the film is ‘The Possession’ which already tells the audience that it could be about someone being possessed and since the girl is in the image she could be the possessed one. The colour of the title is white which suggests that the possessed girl is innocent and pure and the evil/devil spirit possesses an innocent girl. This white title is placed on a dark background, which makes it grab attention more effectively and reminds the audience that there is both good and evil featuring in this film. The title looks like it has been scratched and distorted as if someone has tried to hide what the text reads, as if trying to hide a terrible secret, and also it looks like a cross has been drawn through it. The cross relates to the narrative of the film, as possessions and exorcisms are often associated with and linked to religion. The title is placed towards the bottom and middle of the poster this could be because the audience will straightway be attract to the image to see what’s it about and then they will see the title of the film when they are ready to find out this important piece of information.

The tagline of the film is ‘Darkness Lives Inside’ which is also white to signify the purity and innocence of the girl, but the choice of colour is quite ironic seeing as the tagline refers to darkness and evil. Because the tagline is right under the title the audience will see it straight way as soon as they see the title, adding to the meaning created through this first piece of text. The word ‘darkness’ links to the dark hand of the evil spirit residing inside her.

Other text on the poster is right at the top of the poster: ‘based on a true story’. This draws the audience in and makes the film seem even scarier, as it suggests that something like this could happen in real life and to them. The colour of the text is black, which makes it grab attention more alongside the other text on the poster and this colour connotes death and fear. Other text is the institutional information which is always seen on all film posters and also there is the release date which is in red which makes grab the audience’s attention and as it connotes danger and blood it could suggest to the audience that danger is coming their way when they watch the film or even in their own lives.

The most effective conventions seen on this poster is the image and the film title. The image works effectively as it grabs the audience attention and it also scares them as they have never seen a hand

Poster Analysis By: Miriana Younancoming out of someone’s mouth. This will also lure them to watching the film as they want to find out what is that hand coming out of the girls mouth. The title is effective as it says a lot about the film without giving too much away, the white, the distorted and scratched out front shows the audience that it is a horror movie and it’s a battle against good and evil. The title and image link in with each other as the white colour in the title represents the purity and innocence of the girl in the image and the scratched out and distorted font represents the evil hand coming out of the girls mouth.

Overall, this poster will be successful at luring in the audience and they have effectively used the image to grab the audience’s attention. At the same time, the poster is not giving too much away and so it’s leaving the audience with a lot of questions to be answered and they will be only answered by watching the movie.