Yasmin Watkins

Textual Analysis of Film Posters

Horro

r

Supe

rnat

ural

Hor

ror

Mys

tery

Hor

ror

Psyc

holo

gica

l Thr

iller

Horro

r

Supe

rnat

ural

Hor

ror

Mys

tery

Hor

ror

Psyc

holo

gica

l Thr

iller

*I have chosen these three posters because all three’s storyline surrounds a house as a premise.*The second two both feature a female protagonist,

which I aim to show in my own magazine front cover, thus it can give me ideas on how to pose my own models during the shoot for this

Main Image

*Conventions of a Film

Poster

Production Company information/ logosMain actors

Tagline

Tagline

Main Character

Film Title

Celebrity actors

Review Quotes

This research into different film posters will allow me to conform to conventions to influence my own ancillary task poster for my film trailer.

This is an example of a conventional poster skeleton layout, but film posters can include or most of these depending on the profile of the film/ its budget or production company

Religious themes connoted with the antagonist and house over each shoulder –like Holy Trinity

Film Title is placed in middle, in a bright white typeface to connote the supernatural

Celebrity actor placed at the top to draw attention and persuade the audience

‘In Cinemas Soon’ is made in the same eerie typeface as the title -branding

All text is CAPITALISED

to draw attention to

the important text

Warning of the Supernatural themes in the film

Production and distribution companies’ names/ logos

Eerie premise for the film is used as background

White, black and dark blue

colour scheme

allows the white to stand

out

Direct address is used with Daniel Radcliffe’s eyes, as he is looking directly at the reader, with his eyes in the top, middle-third

Film Title connotes the supernatural with a ‘£’ symbolising a keyhole which implies that something in the film needs to be opened -enigma codes

Celebrity actor placed at the top to draw attention and persuade the audience

Release date is enlarged to stand out

All text is CAPITALISED

to draw attention to

the important text

Production and distribution companies’ names/ logos are credited

An extreme close up of an older man’s eye is used for the poster background

Dark, sepia-toned colour scheme is employed

The eye has been edited to include an eerie setting for the film –and old southern plantation house, with an old man in a wheelchair facing away from the audience –enigma codes

Black, white and yellow colour scheme

Facial expression looks worried, as though she is hiding from something.

The door handle symbolises an opening to the darkness that makes up the left side of the page and represents the inside of the house in the plot

Release date is enlarged to stand out

Production and distribution companies’ names/ logos are credited

The two main actors’ names are placed at the top to draw attention and persuade the audience to watch the film

The light of the female protagonist on the left contrasts with the darkness of the house on the right, creating a juxtaposition

Uses a quote from a review to give readers a positive opinion of the film already

Rule of Thirds lines intersect with the door handle, the film title and Jennifer Laurence’s eye –creating key points of interest for the audience to look at