Film poster analysis

I have decided to look at psychological horror film posters to analyse and compare their conventions to ensure I produce an effective poster which will meet the proposed purposes.

The poster for 'The Conjuring' meets a purpose of a film poster which is to clearly show the films genre. The poster does this by using an image of a deformed tree with a hanging rope which automatically suggests death to the audience which is a convention of horror. Overall, the poster is effective as it provides information that the audience will need to know such as the release date, name of the film and institution. The release date is in bold as well as being the last thing the audience read so they will not forget it. The poster also persuades the audience to watch the film as it leaves them asking questions such as whose shadow is underneath the rope?, Who lives in the house? etc. so therefore they will watch the film to find out. 

This is a successful film poster for 'The Strangers' film as it meets a purpose of a film poster as it provides important information on the upcoming film such as the name, the institution, website and famous actors. However, one of the most effective feature of this poster is using an image from the film as the dominant image. This is because it shows the audience what to expect from the film which builds excitement for the audience before they have even began to watch it. Furthermore, the poster uses a woman as the dominant character which also draws audiences in as this challenges stereotypes so makes them want to watch the film to find out why she may be the protagonist. 

Finally, I analysed 'The Purge'. I felt as though this poster met the purpose of advertising the film to an audience as it creates hype with the audience by using #survivethenight at the bottom of the page. This is so audiences use the hash tag on social media to make other people aware of the film. This form of advertising links to the two step flow theory as the media will influence the audiences opinions on whether they should watch the film or not.  Furthermore, the poster makes the genre clear with the use of a mask which links to the iconography of a horror film. Masks are key conventions of a horror and when seen, people automatically associate them with horror films. 

What have I learnt and how I will use this research?

Overall, all of these posters clearly identify the films genre, therefore this is what I need to ensure I do, however I could do this by using a dominant image of the antagonist in the film like 'The Purge', or I could consider using creepy tag lines such as 'inspired by true events' like 'The Strangers' as this makes audiences feel tense before they have even watched the film. As well as this, tag lines like this are used a lot for psychological horrors. Furthermore, I have learnt that the title can be effective no matter where it is positioned on the page. Each of these posters has the title of the film in a different place yet it is still clear to the audience what the film is called, therefore, I will determine the positioning of the title depending on which image I use but still ensuring it is eye-catching. I also need to make sure my poster will create hype by using social media links and websites like these posters as this will make more people aware of the film.