Film Poster Analysis

This statement gives a small taster of what the audience can expect from the film and to engage them. As the typography is highlighted white, it is emphasised against the black background, which the audiences eye is drawn straight to.

The image used on the poster has relevance to to film title as it shows a person covering their mouth, as if they are trying not to scream or being forced not to. This is an effective graphic used as the woman's facial expression connotates fear. A very limited colour palette has been used. The majority of the poster is in black and white which makes the typography embolden.

Star personas, such as Courtney Cox, helping to promote the film

A one worded title, making it short and snappy which immediately absorbs the audience. This word is also iconic of horror, so we are aware that this is in the horror category. The text is also in a san serif font making it look very basic.

The colour palette for this poster follows the conventions of keeping colours basic but also eye catching. This poster consists of black, browns and oranges. This relates to the content of the film as the orange and yellow used for the title resembles the candle light colour. It also includes the image of the character literally buried alive so the audience is aware that someone could die, but leaves us asking questions as we are unaware of the outcome.

The film logo is very effective as again it the yellow tones relate to the limited amount of light there is from the lighter that the actor is holding. However, it also has patches of brown in which reminds us of the mud that he is buried underneath. This poster attracts the audience as it makes us unaware of whether he will survive or not as we believe it must be impossible to get out of that situation. It also plays on the audiences vulnerability as many people are claustrophobic, so these people can see this film without having to live this situation personally.

Sell lines help emphasise how amazing the film is to encourage people to see the film when released.

The star persona (Ryan Reynolds plays the character Paul Conroy) helps to promote the film.

Directors and other information also helps to promote the film if the audience has seen and enjoyed any of his previous work

Jennifer Connelly’s name has been placed here to help the star persona promote the film, so fans of her work are encouraged to see the film. This is also complimented by an image of a close up of her face which follows the convention of showing the star persona as well as the written name. Also with the actresses eyes looking to our left, it helps lead the viewers eye across the poster to reveal more information.

The title follows the convention of being eye catching to make us aware of the films name, so the audience can either research more information on it or know what to look out for when trailers and other information is advertised.

The colour palette consists of reds, blacks and oranges which are iconic of blood, death, fire and evil so the audience is immediately aware who the target audience is. We can also understand that the genre of this film is horror as we see the iconic hand on the left which resembles when people try to fight out of a situation, for example when someone is being strangled, they try to move their arms around.

Stating that this film is ’FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE RING’ implies that this may be a popular film for people who enjoyed The Ring.

The image chosen fulfills the convention of posters as the female character is positioned in the centre, with a medium shot of her. She appears to look like an average girl, and supports that having unknown people in horror films feel more realistic. This is also emphasised by the small description in white. This description also raises questions and keeps the audience engaged as we don’t know why the girl is going to hell. What has she done? We also get to see part of what we assume a hellish creature would be like as we see the hands pulling her down.

The title stands out against the dark background making it easier for the audience to be aware of its name. It is also an unusual title as we are not familiar with someone wanting to go to hell as it reads ‘DRAG ME TO HELL’ This is accompanied with fire (which is iconic of death, burning and hell) which is shown at the bottom of the poster. We associate hell as being down below, which follows this stereotype of being placed at the bottom. Using a female character also follows the stereotype of being weak, so could be rescued by a male character in the film. However, this is unrevealed.

Shows credits, and web site to show where audience can get more info, and ‘COMING SOON’ so we are aware of when released.

The colour palette immediately emphasises horror as it consists of red, black and white. It shows lots of darkness (low key lighting) to relate to the title of ‘HIDE AND SEEK.’ We see a long, mysterious hallway, with a girl at the end which looks as if she’s trying to hide, which relates to the name of the film. The red is iconic of blood, death and suffering. And black is of darkness and evil. The title and release date are the only words in white which help enhance vital information.

The tagline takes up almost half of the page to entice people to see the film. This has been done by altering on the saying ‘Come Out Come Out Where Ever You Are’ When people play the game of hide and seek. However, this reads ‘WHATEVER YOU ARE’ which raises questions of what evil creature is in this film?

Credits and release date to let viewers know when they can see the film. Also Star persona’s help promote film (Robert De Niro & Dakota Fanning

This image fulfills the conventions of an image used for a poster as it is a close up of one of the main characters who is positioned in the centre. The uninviting creature is looking down. So we get to preview his appearance. However, not his eyes are hidden, where eyes are stereotypically known as the window to your soul and helps us to understand someone’s personality. This engages the audience as information is withheld.

The colours of reds, browns and blacks are iconic of fear and evil, so the audience is aware that the film is of the horror genre. He is also holding a sharp weapon which is iconic of horror and implies that this character is the ‘baddy’ in the film.

The tagline implies that this film will be a ‘NIGHTMARE’ which encourages the audience to see it if it’s scary. The title represents blood from the colour red, which means death is involved. This also makes the title and date embolden against the dark background. The credits included also fit the conventions of posters.

The picture used is a shot take from the film. The shot consists of low key lighting which fulfills the convention of scary films being set at night to emphasise the tense atmosphere. It also looks very realistic which worries the reader to believe that there is an element of truth which helps promote the film.

Taglines encourage audience to see the film as they challenge (or dare) you to see the film. Stating that it is one of the scariest movies of all time helps encourage people to want to see it and feel the adrenaline.

Shows the time of ‘3:08:26am’ which makes people worry that something could happen to them at this time of night. Set at night and in darkness creates more tension

Cold colours of blue used helps create the sense of a spirit, as when ghosts are around, people believe it goes cold. Red represents blood or death which stands out against black. Shows audience release date and website.

As the viewer I immediately question who is the female character? Why is she hiding her face? From her clothes and the way she is positioned on the chair makes me believe she looks like she is from a mental hospital, which is also enhanced by the prison like location she is in. The face is usually known as being able to estimate what a person is like, and hiding it makes us think the character is ashamed or not letting us in. It makes us question her role in the film.

The colour palette is very dark and atmospheric which helps promote the film as a horror. The girl in dressed in a white hospital gown contrasts against the black background. This is also the same with the text, which is a convention of all posters so important information is noticeable. We can clearly see that it is released March 2005 and the title is ‘the ring two’ It is also ironic as the O from the ‘two’ makes it look like a halo above her head, which implies she is angelic. However, she looks like a mental and evil character. ‘Fear comes in full circle’ connotates that it is a horror film. This also emphasises the large O in the title ‘two’