The Conjuring Film Poster Analysis

The poster contains standard poster features such as: picture, tagline, credit block, release date, enigma and director. The poster doesn’t contain any star names, but the tagline uses “the Warrens” to serve the same purpose. The Warrens were renowned ghost hunters so having their name used on the poster will interest people and connote horror. The director is known for popular horror films so audiences will be interested in this and will be more likely to watch the film because of the success of the director. The house in the background is used as an enigma because the audience doesn’t know whether it’s the house itself or the people in the house causing the disequilibrium in the film.

The main colours used in the poster are grey, white and black,. The colour grey symbolises stability or calm, this could be representative of the Warrens role in the film, to provide relief from the spirit that is torturing the Perron family. White symbolises innocence, this could show that the Perron family are victims in the film. Black is often associated with evil and mystery, showing that the antagonist of the film is going to be unknown.

There aren’t any obvious symbols on the poster that the audience has to decode.

The tree with the noose in the foreground is one of the main images on the poster and is represented photographically. The jagged tree and the noose hanging from it make the poster disturbing for an audience because the noose symbolises death, which clearly connotes the horror genre. The home in the background of the poster is another of the main images and it is also represented photographically. Typically houses represent shelter and comfort, having an image of a house on a horror movie poster suggests that the home will be invaded – this can give the poster an eerie feeling, making an audience more interested in the film.

The film is rated a 15 so the audience is likely to be teenagers and young adults as horror films often appeal to this demographic.

The messages are both visual and verbal. The visual messages on the poster are used to give a creepy feeling to the poster and to intrigue audiences, the noose symbolising death and the house in the background which could connote some sort of invasion. The verbal messages on the poster include the title, tagline, release date, director and credit block. Most of the verbal messages on the poster are used to connote the genre, the title of the film is eerie and suggests something supernatural; the tagline mentions “The Warrens” who were paranormal investigators also shows that the film is likely to be a horror and the director has directed films including Saw and Insidious which are both horrors.

Horror films are often set in secluded locations, the house in the poster appears to be in a field which shows this convention. Houses are also used often in horror film posters because they are often creepy and have the potential to be haunted. The dark colours and the fog also show typical horror conventions, many horror films use fog to create tension because it creates mystery as to who or what is the villain of the film. The noose used on the poster is also a convention because props associated with death, e.g. firearms, knives, etc, are often used in horror films.

No stars are used as USP’s on the poster, however using “The Warrens” in the tagline could serve the same purpose as they were famous paranormal investigators and have had films previously made that were based on some of their most famous cases, for example The Amityville Horror.

Horror is promised in the film, the images on the poster are used to connote the horror genre. The noose symbolises death, the tree in the foreground is jagged and eerie and the house in the background could be associated with the supernatural, i.e. a haunting. The title and tagline connote horror because the title of the film already suggests a link with the supernatural and the tagline mentions well-known paranormal investigators, again suggesting supernatural themes and therefore promising horror.

No expert witnesses are quoted on the poster.

Attention is gained through shock, having a noose on the poster is an image that is likely to draw attention because audiences will be surprised and possibly slightly disturbed by its use.

The tagline works by shocking audiences, the tagline says that the film is “Based on the true case files of the Warrens”. The use of the word “true” is surprising for an audience because films which use the supernatural are often fake and exaggerated, by giving the film a sense of realism it is likely to intrigue audiences because they know that they will be scared by the film because it’s more real.

Overall, I would say that the poster is good. It has a good balance of verbal and visual messages which connotes the genre and doesn’t give the audience too much to look at. The images on the poster are eerie and make the poster more creepy, which makes the target audience more likely to watch the film. The poster doesn’t reveal anything about the plot and effectively uses an enigma to interest the audience.

The poster communicates effectively with the audience because it makes the genre (horror) and subgenre (supernatural) clear, meaning that the audience knows what to expect from the film.

There aren’t any alternative meanings which could harm the marketing message. Arguably an audience could think that the film was a documentary because the tagline says that it was based on “true case files”, however I think that this is unlikely because other (fictitious) movies are also mentioned on the poster. The poster isn’t overtly offensive, however some people may have a problem with the use of a noose on the poster. Some people may think that it’s inappropriate to use on a film poster as children have the potential of seeing the poster and the image of a noose.