FIILM POSTER OVERVIEW

The eight posters, shown on the previous page, have each been specifically designed to promote films of the supernatural subgenre. By comparatively analysing the shared conventions and features of each poster, it will be possible to establish a general idea of how a professional, appealing supernatural horror poster should look like.

Furthermore, by analysing these posters, it will allow me to understand what the typical target audience look for/expect when it comes to a supernatural horror poster. It will also allow me to develop an understanding of how to develop symbiosis across the entirety of my promotional package,

Generally, it will also give me an idea of what to actually include on my poster. Features such as setting, props, colours and the main ‘horror’ are recurrent across all horror movie posters, and what is included in each of these features will inspire my final poster.

Each of these six posters feature common poster conventions, each sharing various similarities with the others while retaining their own identity. These include:-the title-an image that dominates the whole frame/iconography-a tagline/slogan-rule of thirdsIn order to recognise how synthesis is created across the supernatural horror genre, each of these must be comparatively analysed in relation to the posters. THE TITLE

In terms of the titles used, numerous comparisons can be made. Four out of six of the posters use a predominantly white, simplistic font, and all are placed in the bottom third of the frame. The use of the colour white is suggestive of ghostly apparitions and the ‘afterlife’, tying in with the more spiritual side of the genre and allowing the viewer to gain an insight into the nature of the film. Furthermore, the fact that the backgrounds are mainly black across the six posters allows the white to provide the greatest contrast available, almost appearing to rise out of the darkness – again, strengthening the associations with the supernatural elements of the films. Also, the simplistic fonts used across the majority of the posters accentuate the sophisticated nature of the films. Supernatural horrors are often considered to be more intellectually stimulating than subgenres such as slashersand gothics, and the use of an almost minimalistic font is implicative of that attitude. For example, the simple ‘bebas’ font of the insidious poster contrasts substantially with the almost cartoonish, heavy red font of ‘the nightmare on elm street’ poster, a typical example of a slasher film. In conjunction with this, therefore, certain conclusions can be made regarding the six posters displayed. The simplistic white title is only used for ‘The conjuring’, ‘Mama’, ‘insidious’, and ‘rec’ – all of which are straightforward supernatural horror films. The remaining two use noticeably different styles of writing, and this is due to the fact that they are also considered to belong to the possession subgenre.

This explains the alteration in fonts, as possession films such as ‘the possession’ are aimed more towards young adults/teenagers than supernatural horrors. This is due to their focus being shifted away from the intellectual/philosophical aspects of most supernatural horrors, towards more traditional scares – using gore, contortion, and religious imagery to great effect. Consequently, this explains the eroded/disassembled font used for ‘the possession’ – it creates a more chaotic feel that is more associated with a typical possession film. Despite the synthesis across the other four supernatural horror titles, however, each retains their own identity that allows the viewer to make allusions to the narrative of the film. ‘rec’ utilises a small red ‘record’ icon next to its title, and the fact that it appears slightly out of focus implies that it is a ‘found footage’ style of horror. Similarly, insidious 2 highlights one letter in the colour red, illustrating that the evil supernatural forces within the film are more prominent and visible than other horrors of the subgenre. Each of these small alterations is designed to offer something attractive and new to the experienced horror viewer while ensuring that they can easily recognise the subgenre and their expectations can be met and exceeded.

ICONOGRAPHY/USE OF IMAGEOn all posters excluding ‘the last exorcism’, the main threat/horror is partially or completely hidden, which serves as a typical convention of supernatural horror films. The effect of this is to entice the viewer to watch the film by retaining an element of secrecy that they will only be able to find out if they watch it – what does the evil look like? As well as these images providing a tantalising insight the narrative, they signal the type of supernatural horror the audience can expect. For example, ‘mama’ and ‘the possession’ both only show a small physical part of the evil – seen with the hand rising out of the mouth and the decomposed state of the body the little girl clings to. the internal struggle of the creature within, depicted by the stark imagery used in ‘the possession’, suggests a supernatural more associated with possessions, exorcisms, and gore, whereas the decomposed arm and ragged clothing of ‘mama’ suggests a more ghost/undead-orientated horror film.Although the colour black is dominant across the majority of images, it can be said that the general colour scheme of each of these posters varies significantly, giving each film its own unique appeal. brown, greys and blacks of ‘the conjuring’ signify that the main source of the horror is rooted in the past, as an almost sepia-esque aesthetic is achieved in the combination of colours. The lack of any defining characters – even the doll is seen at a distance – suggests that the hauntings within this film will affect several characters and will be more sporadic than a motivated spiritual attack. Similarly, all-consuming darkness of ‘insidious 2’ implies that everyone within the film is at risk from an otherworldly force hidden within darkness, although there is more focus on the centrally located child being the first victim. The use of grey fog further strengthens the idea that something is obscured and all-consuming within the darkness.

Both of the characters shown in the insidious and ‘the conjuring’ posters are at a distance, suggesting that they do not serve as central to the narrative and are only mere victims. Furthermore, the fact that children are used in these and ‘mama’ corresponds to typical horror conventions - audiences expect to see some form of haunted/possessed/spiritually aware child in almost any horror film. Abiding by these conventions in ‘mama’, ‘insidious’ and ‘the conjuring’ indicates a narrative that the audience will be accustomed to, ensuring that they know they will be in for some guaranteed scares. Moreover, the colour white is also used for great effect across a range of posters. In ‘the last exorcism’, it serves as the dominant colour and symbolises a religious presence linking in with the afterlife, and with the decay and position of the possessed girl imitating jesus on the cross, it serves as a corruption of those pure religious ideas. This use of lighter lighting is also present in the other possession film,

‘the possession’, to similar effect. In ‘mama’, however, white is used to portray the innocence of the little girl being held as a victim/captive by the evil force.The use of props across all posters is minimal, and this in itself is representative of the genre. Supernatural horrors rely on the evil forces themselves to provide the scares, whereas films such as slashers and gothics tend to rely on imaginative murder weapons and terrifying environments to lure audiences in. the props that can be seen, however, are mainly non-lethal, everyday items – placed within the image to imprint on the viewers’ psyche and make them question the seemingly innocent items’ purposes. The babies chair and doll in the consecutive posters of ‘insidious 2’ and ‘the conjuring’ emphasise this idea, as these are items commonly associated with childhood innocence – and from their central positions within the poster, it is clear to see that they are likely to be corrupted by the horrors in the film.

The Conjuring – ‘Based on the true case files of the Warrens’

Mama – ‘A mother’s love is forever’

Insidious Chapter 2 – ‘It will take what you love most.’

The Possession – ‘Darkness lives inside’

The Last Exorcism – ‘If you believe in God you must believe in the Devil.’

REC – ‘Experience fear.’

TAGLINE/SLOGANS

Each of these taglines/slogans attempts to consolidate what viewers have already assumed about the film, as well as providing a small insight into the narrative itself. The conjuring’s tagline plays upon the idea that it is based around a

true story, which is a common, well-familiar way of providing viewers with guaranteed scares. Furthermore, the use of the word ‘files’ officialises the slogan, giving it a sophisticated feel reminiscent of the sophisticated brand of horror the film offers. However, the slogan of ‘mama’ differs from the approach of ‘the conjuring’, turning a seemingly innocent, commonly-spoken saying into something much more sinister. This is due to the ‘mother’ portrayed within the image, who appears to have lived ‘forever’ due to the decomposing state of her body and clothes. This slogan also suggests

that interfering with this bond of love will have severe circumstances and that this maternal figure is the main antagonist of the film. Similarly, the slogan of insidious 2 also expands on this idea of ‘love’. Consequently, this

indicates that audiences’ greatest fears often involve someone interfering with/stealing those closest to them, and the fact that both of these films focus on that fear suggests that it is also a guaranteed way to terrify viewers.

Proceeding on from this, the taglines of ‘the possession’ and ‘the last exorcism’ are also similar. By using the word ‘darkness’ in ‘the possession’ slogan, associations can be made with the devil, as he is considered to be the epitome of darkness – and the devil is directly mentioned in the slogan of ‘the last exorcism’. Moreover, the fact that it ‘lives inside’ works in correspondence with the internal struggle of the image, as well as enforcing the possession genre the film falls under. ‘The Last exorcism’ expands upon this by including a stronger religious theme within its slogan, which is designed to prey upon the religious population’s beliefs and twist them into fear by using a rhetorical question and direct address to force audiences’ into considering the question asked. Also, it implies that the devil will play a central part within the narrative, and this is often seen as the epitome of horror and evil. ‘rec’, however, opts for a more minimalistic slogan, making it easier to remember for viewers. ‘experience fear’, as simplistic as it is, implies that audiences will be scared, and the use of only two words in this makes it seem assertive, as though there is no way that the audience will not be scared.

Rule of thirds

Another common convention of film posters is the utilisation of the rule of thirds. Within horror film posters, it is common for the central figure/focal point of the image to be placed in the central/top thirds of the poster, the background in the top third, and the title/slogan/production information to be placed in the bottom third. Excluding some minor alterations, each film poster abides by this general rule and are almost identical in terms of layout.

Certain posters do challenge the strict guidelines of the rule of thirds, however -both ‘rec’ and ‘the last exorcism’ place the demonic figures in their images in varying positions, with ‘the last exorcism’ placing the possessed girl in the top third and ‘rec’ allowing the figure to dominate the entire left side of the poster. With ‘the last exorcism’, this allows the horror to be seen at a distance and in a seemingly impossible position, fully allowing the viewer to recognise that the girl is possessed. With ‘rec’, the figure forces the audience to get ‘up close and personal’ with the horror, which is reflective of the found footage style of film that it is.

By comparatively analysing the film posters shown, several important conclusions can be drawn with regards to the production of my own poster. Based upon my

observations, my poster image will contain little/no props, and will instead rely on the horror shown to provide the ultimate lasting ‘scare’ effect. Unsurprisingly, black will

be the most prominent colour, with minimal lighting used to accentuate the darkness – much like ‘insidious 2’ and ‘rec’. A single, stark figure will dominate the image and

will take up almost the entirety of the poster, similar to the stance of the figure in ‘rec’ but with further emphasis on terrifying the target audience with a visual scare –

similar to ‘the possession’. The title will be in a thin, simplistic font, as I believe this will not detract attention away from the image itself – as successfully proven by the

poster of ‘mama’. Overall, a variety of combining aspects from each of these posters will be utilised as direct influences for my own poster, allowing it to stay relevant

within the genre while remaining unique and true to the narrative.