Print Based Research: Posters

Initial Ideas

 

From our textual analysis into film posters and magazine we then deduced what the common features were across these mediums. We found that within the horror genre, similarities in the posters lay within the shot type used, character used, colours used, fonts used and text that was used to connote the horror genre and make it an effective and appealing poster.

Common Shot Types:

• Long Shot
• Wide Shot
• Establishing Shot

All of these shots are effective because they either clearly show the character in full view as well as showing some or all of the mise-end-scene to add to the horror genre. It is prevalent from the top three posters which exhibit the said variety of camera shots that they are all equally effective whether they are close up shots or establishing ones. The close up shot used on the Annabelle poster draws the audiences eyes straight to the terror that this doll exerts by for example, the blood that is coming from her eyes. Contrastingly though, we found The Conjuring and Insidious posters equally effective because the long/establishing shots that are used create a more dark atmosphere and show the character in complete isolation.

Common Colours:

• Red
• Black
• Grey
• White

From our textual analysis these colours were the once that were most commonly used. This is because they all connote the horror genre and are visually very eerie and spooky.

All of the common colours that we found were used from our textual analysis are the primary colours that are used in all of the horror film posters in the above mood board. Red is a colour that is often used in promotional horror mediums; especially when the sub-genre of the film is slasher because it obviously connotes blood and danger which are often themes that occur in most horror films. It also is quite a striking and alarming colour against the usual dark background which makes it even more eye catching from and audience member point of view.
The colour black connotes darkness and emptiness and is more often than not always used in either horror film posters as a colour or in the actual trailer where the darkness is represented through lighting. The colour black is effective on all of these horror posters because a common phobia people have is of the dark, so by using this colour it is trying to reinforce the scary aspect that horror films aim to achieve.
Finally, white and grey colours are used in all of the above posters because these have more of an eerie and ghostly effect. White also connotes purity which juxtaposes the themes that run through horror films, therefore adding an interesting contrast into the posters.



Character Used:

• Child Protagonist

This feature was simple to analyse because all of the horror film posters we looked at used a child as their main protagonist. This is because they are seen as weaker and more vulnerable characters who more often than not are the antagonists in the film which contrasts with the audiences perception of young children. We think the fact that children are often used in horror films and their posters adds a shock factor to them because you wouldn't expect such young persons to be associated and involved in such brutal and antagonising situations. This makes the audience empathise with the younger characters and also heighten the element of horror as audience member wouldn't want to see harm to come to these characters.

Text Used:

• 'Once you see him, nothing can save you'
• 'Based on the true case files of The Warrens'

Often the posters would have a tag line which would be directly aimed at individual audience members through the use of personal pronouns such as 'you' which would torment them by creating that horror atmosphere before they had even watched the film. It is also used as a method to immediately get the audience interested in the film and raring to go and watch it.


Fonts:

One thing that these fonts taken from a variety of horror posters have in common is that they all coincide with the main three colours that are used on horror film posters (Red, Black and White.) They are all placed differently on the posters, for example, some names are at the bottom of the poster whilst some are at the top of the poster. Despite this though they are all still eye catching and stand out to the audiences eye. A common effect that is used in the above fonts is a scratched effect whereby it looks as though the name of the film has been scratched into something which ultimately gives it a more creepy feel to it. 'Creep', 'Captivity', and 'The Possession' execute this effect. 'Insidious' and 'The Last Exorcism' are in the colour red and especially from 'The Last Exorcism' it's impression on the audience is that this has been written using blood to portray the horror genre. The spikes that appear at the top and the bottom of the letter I in 'Insidious' could be representative of weapons or violence that is executed in the film.
From the analysis of fonts used on horror film posters we can deduce points to help us when considering the font for our poster. We would consider using an effect such as the scratched one to portray a certain element of horror that appears in our trailer, whilst colour wise, we would chose from one of the three main colours- Red, Black or White.

The Insidious 2 poster is one that intrigued us the most and the one that we found most appealing. The red colours really stood out against a predominantly black background and therefore caught your eye immediately. We liked that the child was facing away from the camera because it was as though it didn't want to be identified which adds the level of unknown to deepen the horror aspect. The fact that the child is included in a baby stroller type toy heightens it's vulnerability because it is showing that it's not able to do a simple thing such as walking yet, however it is one of the main characters that the horror lies around in this poster creating a real juxtaposition. As with all horror posters that we have analysed, the layout is very simplistic and effective, with on the essential information such as the name of the film and the release date being included. We would want to also use a similar format of a simply layout because the more detailed information can be included in the magazine cover that we will be making.