Research into Film Posters

This film poster contains many connotations. The background of this poster is black with small white font for the actors/actresses at the top of the poster. The use of black and white contract is to make the actors names stand out.

The title takes up the length of the poster and is in bright yellow. Even thought the characters are layered on top of the title, the title still stand outs because of the bright colour.

The tag line at the bottom is a small font but in capital letters saying ‘shut up. Kick-ass.’ This connotes rebellion due to the use of a rude saying ‘shut up’. This tells us that the characters in the film don’t follow the laws/rules and rebel against society.

The way the characters are positioned tell us the guy at the front is the main character and maybe even the hero. The fact thy are all wearing a costumes suggest they want their identity hidden and unknown. There appears to have 3 characters behind the main characters, 2 males and 1 female. The man in the upper left is wearing a mask which has strong similarity to the Batman costumes. This gives a feeling of recognition to the audience and interest Batman fans. The upper right hand corner gives off the feeling of danger, the black mask and the colour red enhances this connotation. It makes the audience question whether he is the antagonist. The girl in the purple looks the youngest and the colour purple connotes that she is a female. She looks as if she is the only one in her teens and this would appeal to a younger audience which are a similar age as her. The audience is able to make their own

judgements on this characters due to their costumes.

The use of a shatter mirror effect showing half of a live person face against the other half as a skull connotes that the binary oppositions between life and death. The bullet hole in the shattered mirror connotes that the series of events that will take place all unravel from one specific incident.

The main colours on the poster are black, white and different shaded of blue. The black connotes darkness and creates a sense of non-appearance from live or evil. The black and white contrast with the black background creating focus on the blue and white. This connotes the idea of escape.

The woman’s face takes up 1/3 of the poster creating focus on subject matter. The connotes that this characters has great importance throughout the film and is likely to be the main character. The eyes of the woman have been blacked out by shadows, this connotes soulless and death. the eyes appear to be really dark contrasting with the white skin. This connotes that darkness will overcome good. The open mouth is made to appear to be screaming at you as it is the centre of the image. This connotes fear and the screaming is like a direct message to the viewers.

The phrase ‘rest in pieces’ is placed at the top of the poster, the phrase itself is a play on words ‘rest in peace’, this connotes there will be death involved but the character who dies will not die gracefully/peacefully.

The trees in the background gives a sense of mystery and darkness. The trees become less clear as hey get further back which can connote another world beyond yours. This also gives the audience a sense of uncertainty due to the fog/mist. The background is a sepia tone which makes the main characters stand out and makes them the main focus.

The moon in the corner is bright and is the only single light source giving a sense of darkness and mystery. This also ties in with the name of the film and suggest that the moon may have some relevance to the film.

The antagonist has a iconic look on his face and his face is turned towards the other person which shows there is conflict between the two male characters. The two males have their fists clenched which emphasises the tension and anger they both have.

The main light is on the characters faces which draws your attention to their face expressions. The female character expression gives the impression that she is confused and vulnerable. The shows the audience that perhaps she is the reason behind the two males hatred. She is also looking straight ahead rather than at the other two which could mean that she is impartial however her hand is placed on Jacob’s arm which shows that she feel safe and secure around him and emphasises her weakness.

Edward’s dark clothing has connotations of him being evil and sinister compared to the other two characters giving a connotations that Edward is the ‘bad guy’.

The thick mist at the bottom of the poster creates unnerving and supernatural emotions and exaggerated the theme of it being mysterious.

The title of the film is in yellow/gold colours and stands out from the rest of the poster. The font is simple but effective and has an old rustic feel to it.

The tall buildings and skyscrapers immediately put a location to the audience's mind which is America. American audience will be able to relate more to this as it looks like it is their country that is being destroyed. There is a lot of things flying in the background suggesting that the main character is responsible for this chaos. Also a machine gun in the antagonist's left hand also connotes that he is evil and he has caused disorder in the city.

The main character is the main focus point in the poster. His face is partly in shadow which connotes that he has much darker intentions than first impressions. Also his facial expression is extremely sinister. There are scars on his face and the clown face paint is very intimidating. The scars on his face is partially hidden in shadow which suggest he doesn’t want people to see them. The clothes he is wearing are not of a normal fashion which connotes that he isn't normal either. Many people will recognise him as the infamous ‘Joker’ from the batman series and will be able to link this new adaptation with the cartoon version.

The dark clouds in the background suggest that evil is looming with the antagonist moves through the city. Pathetic fallacy is used as the weather mimics the characters emotions. Also the actors names are paced at the top of the poster, giving the audience information on who is starring in it. this allows the audience to make up their mind whether they want to see it. The production company would not place the actors names unless they are big Hollywood stars.

The antagonist posture is tense and the clenched fist suggest that he is an angry person who does not reason peacefully. The paint on his face is a way to hide his identity and remain anonymous. The audience will quickly jump into conclusion that he is the villain portrayed within the film.

The bat behind the text at first looks sinister as it is placed upon a shining light. This would normally suggest evil overwhelming good. However the bat is the symbol of Batman the hero. This white colour of the font also symbolises good. This connotes that ‘The Dark Knight’ is good. Although the words ‘dark’ suggest evil, ‘knight’ suggests goodness.

This poster has elements of supernatural which establishes the target audience. The poster coveys horror and pain which can be expected in the film. It is clear that the main focus of the poster is the victim in the film. The film has followed stereotypical horror conventions of having a female victims as they are seem as weaker than men and defenceless again the villain. Her facial expression shows pain and the hands are torturing her which also gives a sense that she is processed. These element attract the target audience of a horror film such as ‘The Exorcist’.

The mise en scene connotes she is an average person, this makes the film more scary because the audience can imagine themselves in this position.

The hands on the victim tells the audience that the villain in this film is something out of the ordinary. The hands appear mummified and inhuman which suggest that the villain is supernatural. They are grabbing the female victim and pulling her down into the fire. The fire connotes hell and the devil. The element combined with the hands reinforces the title as it appeared they are dragging her to hell. The fire are in orange and red tones which contrast to the other dark colours and therefore the fire becomes a main focus of the poster.

The setting in the background is an suburban home which one again scares the audience more because it reminds of how average the victim is. This means that the audience can relate to this character and feel more empathy for her. What this does is that it creates a bond between the film and audience. The house is surrounded by darkness which suggest that it is the victims house as darkness signifies evil and the unknown lurking. The minimal lighting in the house joint with the dark and gloomy atmosphere, connotes something bad may happen.

The tagline reads ‘Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to hell.’ This is a hook for the target audience because it already supplies them with lots of questions such as ‘Why is she going to hell?’. This informs the audience and makes the audience more involved as they are beginning to find out more about her just by reading the poster. The title font is simple as it tries not to steal attention from the main image but still stands out against the fire.

The credit block is at the bottom and is the last thing the audience looks at. The credit block acknowledges the cast and crew involved in the productions so the audience can see whether a reputable actor/director are involved in the film. This is a teaser poster as it says ‘coming soon’ rather than stating a release date. This indicates that the audience will have to be proactive to find out more information about the film and look out for official trailers and posters.

The target audience would look at this film poster and firstly observe the couple sitting up in bed, this signal the location that they are in their bedroom and that the supernatural horror film has conventionally been set in their home. The characters are pointing at the shadow on the door, this shows that a ghostly presence is in the room indicating that this is a horror movie involving supernatural/inhuman nature. The audience will then look at the top of the poster where they would read a film critic quote describing Paranormal Activity as ‘scary’ and that ‘nightmares are guaranteed’ these words confirms that this film is scary. At the bottom of the page the tagline and title I s revealed. Glimpsing briefly at the poster, the audience would learn the genre of the film by the conventions.

The camera shot appears to be a long shot which establish that this couple is in their bedroom at night time. The fact that the lighting is dark establishes the time and that something has woken/scared them. The disruption is evident as we follow the direction of the woman's finger. On the left, you see a black disfigured shadow on the door. The long shot is used so that the audience gather knowledge of the setting and genre.

Other uses of colour include the red, white and blue font over the black background. It is conventional of horror movie posters to use the colour black as the background because it complements the theme of mortality, the hour of darkness, evil spirits and demons, torture and menacing pain. The shade of red used within the font symbolises blood, humanity and life. The uses of blue contrasts with the red, which distinguishes between the living and the dead, further suggesting the genre and narrative. The colour white has also been utilized within the text to reflect the idea of a ghostly presence, reflecting the idea of a spirit being caught in limbo, stuck in the middle between life and death.

The whole image is in blue tones and so the main colours consist of dark and light shades of blue. The door and bed sheets are lighter than the rest because they want the audience to look at these parts first. The audience will have a better understanding of what is going on in the poster. The darker areas are the bed, floor, shadow and outside the bedroom presents a most sinister view of the domesticated homely setting whilst expressing the gloomy obscurity of the narrative. Other colours used are red, white and blue font over the black background. It is conventional of horrors movies posters to use black because it complements