Poster overview
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Transcript of Poster overview
The eight posters have been designed to successfully promote films within the
slasher sub genre. Through carrying out an investigation of them and by comparing
them to each other, it is possible to identify shared features within them and to
establish repeated patterns.
All eight posters feature typical film poster conventions. We expected general
conventions in all, such as a title, always the largest and most significant text in the
frame, an image that dominates the frame and that signals something important
about the films narrative, a slogan to anchor the image and, as expected of a horror
film poster, horrific imagery.
In addition to this, we see other repeated patterns. Interestingly enough, almost all of
the posters feature the villain, which is either portrayed to be somebody that is a
lunatic or that has suffered from a traumatising life changing experience that has
made that person want, crave and chase revenge. Each villain that is shown to the
public in these posters has a mask on. This is a convention is used to bring
suspense to the audience as they, like the protagonist, would like to know the
identity of the killer.
The main colours used on the Hatchet and Halloween film posters differ from the
others, as the popular combination of red, white and black are replaced with shades
of red, orange and black. These colours have been used as connotations of the
annual Halloween event itself, as well as the burning inferno that we associate hell
with. The red is signifying the blood that will be heavily pictured in both films and the
black signifies the darkness of the main characters soul as he (Michael Myers and
Victor Crowley) nonchalantly hunt down and kills his victims. Horror genre
conventions that are shown in this poster are the visual dark colours of black and red
which link to evil and blood and danger. In “My Bloody Valentine” the setting is a
slightly eerie one, 3 men who are believed to be the villains in this movie due to their
mysterious costumes and sharp weapons, are all passing through a tunnel. This may
show the audience or give away to the audience that this film is set below ground.
The dark may suggest the dark evil lurking in the sewers as well as the public’s
awareness of the happenings going on down there too; as they do not know of
what’s taking place. It is also a very unconventional location as many horrors do not
take place underground. The darkness is a typical convention of the horror film genre
as it relates to the childhood fear that people have of the dark. Texas Chainsaw
Massacre, I know What You Did Last Summer and Friday The 13th also share this
convention. The gas masks also help to create an eerie feel as they conceal the
three men’s faces, perhaps suggesting that they are not people with consciences
and as such are capable of committing brutal and horrific acts, suggesting that this
film is a slasher movie. Also the three colour combination of red, white and red
appear on the poster, similar to posters like ‘Friday the 13 th’ and ‘I Know What You
Did Last Summer. The fact that the audience are oblivious to whom the killer may be
is actually pretty common in slasher movies. As we can see in these six posters,
each killers identity is pretty hidden either via mask or by them being “soldiers of the
night” and don’t make their moves until darkness falls. The mask and costume that
the main characters are seen to be wearing is also a typical genre convention as the
antagonist would usually hide their identity throughout the film whereas in “Friday the
13th” the use of the lighting conforms to creating a juxtaposed feeling of tension,
suspense and fear for the audience’s poster. This use of low key lighting
foreshadows that the appearance of an evil, darkness and a villain will be portrayed.
This conveys a sense of fear, dread and anxiety for the audience. The background of
the poster denotes a stereotypical codes and conventions that are associated with
the film. For example, the indication of a forest woods and low key lighting signifies
that the setting of the film is in an isolated location. This establishes that audiences
convey a sense of fear, dread and anxiety creating an enigma of audiences
questioning ‘what are in those woods?’ Just like ‘My Bloody Valentine’, the text for
Friday the 13th is written in red, this establishes that red connotes to danger, warning
and death whereas the title “Halloween” shouts to the audience that the film is going
to be about something horrific, hence the name Halloween. The red, white and black
foreshadow that blood, gore and violence will happen throughout the film. The title of
the film creates an enigma questioning audiences to think what is going to happen
on Friday the 13th. This therefore leads audiences wanting to watch the film and find
out what exactly happens. Whereas on the “I Know What You Did Last Summer”
poster the title of the film ‘I Know’ is larger than other words and it connotes that it
something not to be known by others, something bad they’ve done last summer. The
text and colours connote stereotypical codes and conventions of iconography that
are associated with the film. For example the colours such as red, black and grey
signifies a visual picture of horror, darkness and terror. This establishes that the film
has various use of binary opposition for instance, dark vs. light and good vs. evil.
This is linked to Levi-Strauss’ binary opposition theory. The position of the villain in
the middle of this poster his body language and position signifies that he is a strong
and vicious. This connotes that the film is challenging the stereotypes of a slasher
horror because a villain is portrayed as a strong and intimidating. This heightens the
sensation of fear, dread and anxiety for audiences.
The use of a weapon that the Jason is holding in “Friday the 13th” is a machete; this
demonstrates that this film is associated with blood, gore, violence and terror. This
also foreshadows that the film will involve a heavy amount of gore, blood and not for
the feint hearted murders. This therefore conforms to the challenges of horror film
conventions because weapons are phallic symbol which cause harm and damage to
victims which are stereotypical conventions portrayed in sub-genre ‘slasher’. One
main symbol in Halloween film poster is the mask the man is holding in his left hand
and the kitchen knife that the man is holding in his right hand, this is significant as it
is the main weapons he uses to kill, his victims, whilst the main symbol in Hatchet
would be the Hatchet in his left hand; the importance of the mask is that it is used
throughout the whole film as we are shown both killers wear it in the trailer.
Attention is gained by the collection of pictures that build the face of Michael Myers;
it builds interest as the pictures are scenes from throughout the film itself. The main
figures/objects in the background of the poster are a collection of screen grabs from
throughout the film and made into the face of the famous “Michael Myers”. The
house on the bottom right is another main figure/object in the background of the
poster which is actually the house that he grew up in and returns to in the end of the
film. The red glow on the wall in the “My Bloody Valentine” poster may be there to
suggest that the people in the film will die violent deaths. The red in the title has
connotations of blood and is a generic convention of the horror genre. The pick axe
that the man at the front is holding takes centre stage, cutting through the title of the
film, which is probably there to illustrate that the film is in 3D.
The movie posters to “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Wrong Turn” differ
from the others. Unlike the others these two posters the protagonist or perhaps the
final girl takes up more space on the poster than anything else. In the “I Know What
You Did Last Summer” poster, all 4 main characters of the film are in the poster, as
well as the killer which is different to Hatchet and the rest that only show the killer.
This may show the audience that these characters are more iconic than the killer and
that at the end of the film, the final girl may prevail over her villain. The mise-en-
scene for the “Wrong Turn” poster presents an image of a female, believed to be the
main character or final girl, hiding behind a large poplar tree; gasping for air after
running away from her killer.
