FILM POSTER ANALYSIS
Andrew
The trailer was approximately 2:42; the trailer is the same as any other paranormal activity you saw. It had a lot of 'jump scares', to convey that it is a thriller/horror film. The genre of the film is mostly based on horror and thriller. The trailer didn't give away much of the film, however it gave away some of the 'best bits', however the trailer showed how each character is portrayed. The genre of the sequel from (paranormal activity 1-5) is based on thriller and horror, however paranormal activity 6 (the ghost dimension) is based only on horror. This is because the title shows that it will be based on horror because of the word 'ghost' denotes that it would be a horror and you would expect to see blood, someone dying... Etc... From the trailer I expected the genre to be thriller as well as horror, because it had a lot of thrilling moments. The background also added more effect to the genre because it was mostly black in the background, the trailer also cut from one scene to another.
From 0:45 it used typical codes and convections of a thriller movie. It gave away most of the good parts in the movie, however it was still to our expectation that it would be based on the genres of horror and thriller. The overall storyline of paranormal activity 6 is the same as any other paranormal activity, however because this one is mostly based on horror, some bits will contain blood. Some bits did conform to what I expected in the trailer, but I didn't know that this film would only be a horror, I still thought that it would be based more around the genre of thriller and horror. Some bits showed thrilling bits, but the thrilling bits, went onto portraying horror bits, such as when the child sneezes the other child on the T.V says 'bless you' it was sort of that you would expect to see in a thriller.
As you can see the words ‘paranormal activity’ are in red. This connotes blood, this is normally used to portray blood because in a typical horror, you would expect to see a lot of blood and gore. This is often related to a dangerous situation, or it can cause a person to be in a harmful situation. Also the fact that there is a girl standing in the middle of the poster, it suggests that she is the main character in the film. Also because the girl is standing and facing the light, it could suggest that she is deprived of the darkness inside her. The background also denotes a typical child’s bedroom, however because the child has her back turned to us, this could suggest that she is suffering from a virus haunting her.
Josh
The male character has horns on his head. This directly connotes with the devil as the devil is commonly portrayed as having horns. This signifies evil in this character. Additionally the character has red eyes. This deep shade of red connotes with the devil for the same reason and additionally it connotes with blood. This furthers the connotation with the devil and also introduces a connotation of bloodshed caused by him.
The snake connotes evil, the origin of this is in relation to the bible and the story of Adam and Eve. Based on this it connotes with deceptiveness and cunning of the snake, and evil, in direct relation to the devil due to the snake in the garden of eden. As this is around the character's neck it could suggest that the character is like the snake in the story , evil and cunning. Alternatively, it could suggest that the character is being tricked by the devil or something evil, just as Adam and Eve was, implying a struggle between good and evil in this film.
The male character is holding a rosary, suggesting religious beliefs, christianity, contrasting to other elements of the poster signifying evil and the devil. Could suggest there is still good in the character, even though all other aspects signify evil and the devil.
The shadowy lighting around the corners of the poster denote a dark theme, which often signifies evil. Darkness is synonymous as a connotation to evil and ‘bad’ themes, also it connotes with death, giving an overall evil picture of the film.
The background denoting trees, without leaves, signify a forest in winter. In conjunction to the darkness it depicts the setting of a dark, forest at night in winter. Usually the use of these settings are commonplace in dangerous situations in films. Ones where the character has nowhere to run and where danger lurks in the darkness of the forest. This common use of pathetic fallacy could signify many different things. Firstly it could signify that the two characters seen are vulnerable in the forest and are in danger of things in the forest. Alternatively it could
signify that the characters are the danger in the forest and that they are to be feared, and that the dark winter forest is in their domain. Also it could suggest the danger involved in the film, and that possible death or torment lies in the forest, and that the forest itself needs to be feared. This provides many different ideas about the film.
The light surrounding the two characters denotes moonlight at night in the forest. It is possible to assume this is full moon, as it is a typical of thriller films to use pathetic fallacy like this to suggest some kind of supernatural threat as full moons connote with entities such as werewolves. These connotations exist as they are synonymous with films about supernatural entities.
However there is an alternative explanation which is in stark contrast to this one. This white light mainly surround the two characters. White light signifies purity, innocence, good, and contrasts with the other parts of the poster denoting evil and darkness. We can infer from this that it is possible that the two characters are the ‘good’ that are fighting the ‘evil’, denoting an antagonist protagonist struggle synonymous with thrillers.
In conjunction with this the girl character in the poster is dressed in a glowing light colour. Additionally she has a glowing light aura about her, as her skin is glowing. This connotes with angels which in turn signify godliness and heaven. This directly contrasts the depiction of the the male character who denotes a evil , devil like character. This also signifies the struggle between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in the film
The two lone characters, Isolated area of forest, suggest that the characters are hiding from something, possibly danger and that they are lonely.
Maxwell
The Unfriended poster effectively conveys the genre of the film. Throught its use of font, choice of visible text and the image used. The genre horror is clearly visible. The girl screaming in the picture is a obvious sign of distress and fear from what is going on in her situation so easily illustrates to the audience what the film will contain/ is about. Alongside the image of the girl, the text written in the search bar has a lot of different results that all relate to 1 girl and are negative. This is used to give insight to the audience as to what genre the film is and also to feed the viewer possibly some of the story line. The phrase “Laura Barns suicide” portrays the film to be dramatic or maybe horrifying so helps to display the genre of the film. Similarly, the girls facial expression foreshadows the danger and fear arising in the story. And denotes her being scared, so again connotes her to be in some sort of trouble. The background of the image being very dark is also a clear connotation to what the film relates to or is foreshadowing. Mnay films with a 'positive vibe' or comedic style will features very bright and vibrant colours to grab audiences attention. This poster does not, so suggests that the film itself will include something unnatural or out of the positive ordinary. Finally the font and choice of colour within the font is very efffective at conveying the genre to the audience. The red highlight of the letters 'Un' displays to the audience that it is clearly opposite of the word friend. The red is similarly used to portray the film as more deepy and fear inciting, red is a bold colour that often illustrates incoming danger or blood so is effectively used to convey the genre as Thriller with large elements of horror.
Juriz
The trailer for this film was approximately 2 minutes long and it had a lot suspense to it due to the music that was used in the trailer. It also had quick angle shots/ quick cut scenes to signify a typical thriller film. Also, it depicts that his daughter is being kidnapped in Paris and this connotes that there will be a lot of chasing throughout the film. In addition, it portrays the main character holding a gun which then connotes that there will be actions and pain/suffering. Towards the end of the trailer, you can hear heavy breathing which also supports the genre of Thriller, as there will be a lot of chasing/suspense.
From the poster beside, you could already tell that it is a Thriller film due to the dark background which connotes suspense and evil. Furthermore, you could see that Liam Neeson is running which tells us that there will be action and chasing in the film. The use of the blood coloured font and the black background is a typical code followed in a Thriller film. The red demonstrates blood, pain and death.
Evaluation:
This task was especially helpful as it formed a concept for our actual website design. Analysing film posters allowed us to compare similarities and how different styles and techniques are used to subconsciously display the genre to viewers. This was important and vital for me to learn as if there is not a clear distinction as to what the genre is. An audience would be less inclined to do it. The more professional and appealing/attractive a film poster is, the more attention and viewers it gets. I found this then leads to increased ratings and a larger number of people watching. So the interest gathered by viewing a film poster is crucial in attracting people to watch your film.
We did this so that we know what a poster for a film that features conventions of ours would look like and so we deconstructed it and said how this portrays the genre and style of film it is trying to get the audience to watch.
Maxwell St. Hill & Andrew Fernando