Poster Analysis

Poster Analysis

• 1.
  Main Image The unconventionalhorror colours of yellow and orange are used in this poster which is unusual to the horror genre. Despite this, the colours tie in cleverly with the film’s theme of the ‘dawn’ which is a key indicator to the audience as to what the film is about. The image also shows an array of distorted bodies facing towards the front of the image. The image has a clear link with the title, therefore we can tell that these bodies are zombies. The audience can tell by the image that there are many of them and it is possible that there is no way out for the characters in this film. This is represented by the blackness that covers the silhouettes of the zombies at the front of the image. Black represents death therefore the poster foreshadows that coming into touch with these zombies will only lead to death. The image has also been edited to look as though the silhouettes have blood dripping from their feet over the purity of the white background. This may create fear in the audience due to the connotations with blood and pain. Typography Bold and capitalised like newspapers to show seriousness of the event to the whole world, thick and strong with use of many straight lines to represent institutes and army style living. Release Date Leaves the audience on edge and it will mean that they will be constantly looking out for the film. The way the phrase ‘Coming Soon’ has been used not only connotes that the film is coming soon but also suggests that the zombies seen on the poster are too. Tagline The word Hell is associated with bad people who hurt others in terrible ways, therefore, this makes the audience think deeply into how terrifying hell may be and the fact that people are coming from there would increase the fear they feel whilst they are watching the film. Title Clearly tells the audience what is going to happen and hints at the genre of the film. The word ‘dawn’ represents the awakening of something or the start of an event and the use of the word ‘dead’ contrasts this idea and proposes the idea that the dead are alive. This use of a contrast in the title makes the comfort zone of the audience – which is in the daylight – seem scarier than once before. This would put off the audience because it is usually conventional for horror films to have their fear centred around night time and the dark. Additional information The billing board is quite plain and fades quite well into the white background at the bottom of the poster. The grey colour of the typography prevents it from drawing away the attention from the main image or title which have the most importance within the poster.
• 2.
  Title Red colours areincorporated in order for them to link in with the blood on the zombies face and the blood that is splattered on the side of the poster. This makes the title stand out slightly less than the image however the colour match allows the audiences’ eyes to naturally go to the title of the film from the image. It is very unconventional for film posters to have a white background however in this poster it works as it represents the purity of the humans being taken over by death, which really stands out over the white background. Main Image The main image shows the main half of a man’s face who is infected with a disease. It is clear to the audience that he is a zombie of some sort. The fear from this image is drawn by the audience knowing that this man was once human, and by the fact that he is wearing a normal shirt that any man would wear it reinforces this idea. The man also has a red shirt on underneath this plain shirt and this represents how dangerous he is due to the connotations of danger with the colour red. Although the man looks like a human, he is dead underneath it all. Red is also the main colour across the entire poster therefore it links in well with the rest of the colour scheme. Typography The typography is quite sharp and thin which connotes that it is something to be fearful of such as a knife. The letter ‘N’ has a trail of blood that drips down from the letter which reinforces this idea of death and pain. The fact that it is red also adds to this effect. Tagline The word Hell is associated with bad people who hurt others in terrible ways, therefore, this makes the audience think deeply into how terrifying hell may be and the fact that people are coming from there would increase the fear they feel whilst they are watching the film. Represents that it may be too gory and explicit for younger audiences. The fact that they have placed the rating on top of the blood splatter represents this and reinforces the idea that the film is going to be quite dark and scary.
• 3.
  Title The layout ofthe title is shown in a specific arrangement in order to show the word ‘Devil’. This has been done to show that the thing that the characters in the film need delivering from is the Devil, this is highlighted by the fact that the letter ‘D’ in deliver is in bold as well as the word ‘EVIL’ to make the word stand out to the audience. The title is also in white, which represent purity however the title suggests otherwise making the colour a paradox. The white colour has a cracked effect on the word Devil in particular which shows that the purity has been broken and may not be restored within the film. Main Image Mainly black background however the flooring is shown with letters that could be used on Ouija boards surrounding the man – psychological and paranormal themes. Small girl can be seen dirty and bloody, holding a set of keys with her mouth. The man in the image appears to be trapped and the keys that the young girl is holding suggests that he is in compete isolation. There is also a slight blue colour tint to the flooring within the poster which automatically creates a sense of sadness within the audience, as well as creating a cold atmosphere. Typography The typography is shown in all capital letters which represents its dominance and importance on the poster. It can be represented as upper class typography due to its association with writing that may be used in old fashioned homes and in wealthy jobs and business’. This suggests to the audience that the film is set in some sort of Manor House which makes the film creepier because the audience would assume that a place like this is safe. Tagline The tagline directly addresses the audience and makes them seriously question whether or not they have seen true evil. They are also questioned as to what is true evil, and this makes them want to watch it to investigate. This links in with the main image also due to the man not looking at the creepy girl at the top of the image. This suggests that even though he has seen true evil, he cannot bare to look at it any longer. This suggests to the audience how much fear is going to be created by the film which they may find exciting. This would push them to want to watch the film more and to investigate this ‘true evil’ further. Release Date There is also no release date on this poster and this is shown by the ‘Coming soon’ statement at the bottom of the poster.
• 4.
  DO’S AND DONT’SOF HORROR POSTERS DOS Keep it minimal – having too much information or detail in the poster may lead to the audiences being overwhelmed and therefore not being drawn into the poster. Use capital letters! – using capital letters on the most important information such as the title and tagline emphasises their importance and helps the audience to remember the film title better. If they remember the title they would feel inclined to watch it due to them beginning to feel curious about the film. Have a focal point – it is always important to get the main image to have a focal point for the audience to look at (this is normally a convention of the horror genre). This will make the poster stand out more and be more memorable for the audience. DONTS Make the image too abstract/cluttered – having too much detail in the image will not allow the audience to remember the image as a whole meaning they will forget about it. This will mean there will be a limited interest in the film. Use unconventional colours – using colours such as pinks and blues could make the film appear less scary making it less effective towards the target audience.