Ancillary Task - Analysis of Horror Posters

In order to come up with a final poster, we must ensure that we take into account posters that fit into our chosen genre, I have chosen three posters which stand out to me and fit the typical codes and conventions of a horror poster.

Firstly, The Ring. Directed by Gore Verbinski in 2001, the ring tells the story of a journalist investigating a video tape which seems to cause the death of anyone who watches it within a week. At first glance of the poster, the title stands out the most being in the perfect position to draw the focus of the audience. "The Ring" is a rather vague title creating many enigmas as it could in fact have many different meanings giving off a horror vibe. This is enhanced by the apparent handwriting the title is written in, almost as if it is written by a child, and also making the audience wonder why it is written this way. This is further reinforced by the fact it is written in white giving off the innocence of the child.

The picture of the circular ring itself is clearly connoting what the film is about, and as is it is somewhat faded and distorted it represents the horror genre. The films tag line "Before you die you see" gives off enigmas to the audience, making them wonder what in fact they will see, thus drawing them into the film to answer them un-answered questions that the tag line is so subtly posing.

Through the colour coding that the poster is showing it is very clear that the film itself is a horror. Black being the main backdrop of the poster represents death and darkness, whilst the white gives off a contrast that makes the poster stand out and entice the audience. This is also supported by the distorted handwriting and fade image giving an omnibus feel to the poster, as at first glance, the audience is unsure of what the film is about as the poster is only offering subtle clues which are hard to follow.


Secondly, The Eye. In the film a woman receives and eye transplant that allows her to see in to the supernatural world. At first glance of the poster the main focus is in fact the image of an eye. One thing i like about this poster is that it is unlike many others from the genre horror, as the lighting itself is at an extremely high key but around the eye the shading is of an extremely low key. This lighting shift could perhaps give the audience the impression that the person who's eye this is may appear as normal through the high key lighting, but could in fact hold a very dark secret which links to the persons eye, and in turn showing the film is within the horror genre.

In terms of the text, the title of the film links to the image being shown, "The Eye" appears directly bellow the image and the fact the the word "Eye" is written in bold block capitals suggest that the film revolves around this and connotes that the film is based around an eye. Its also noticeable that the poster shows the name of an extremely well known actress, this marketing technique could some what convince people to see the film just to see the main actress "Jessica Alba", also the fact that it appears just in the middle of the text and the image suggests that her eye is the focus and with her name being written in a red font suggests anger, danger and blood linking it back to the chosen genre of the film and letting the audience subtly know what they are getting themselves into.

Lastly, Gothika tells the story of a woman who wakes up as a patient in an asylum with no memory of why she is there or what she has done. When fist viewing the poster it is clear to see if follows the typical codes and conventions of a horror movie poster with its low key lighting, however, it has its own stamp on it with the blue colour used, connoting evil and a cold feeling. The cold feeling is supported by the apparent rain which appears perhaps suggesting that a main theme in the film is the weather or maybe even the film itself takes place within a storm.

The point made previous about the storm can be linked directly to the font used on the title "Gothika", the colour appears to have a somewhat, electric blue feel to it, as if it were the same colour of lightning. Likewise to "The Ring" and its font the font used on the title appears to have been written by a child, with its oddly placed capitals and strange font itself giving off a haunting feel to the poster and suggesting that perhaps a child plays a huge role in the film. The picture itself is of what appears to be the protagonist Halle Berry, its clear to the audience that the person being shown is Halle Berry is due to the text stating the name of the main character, something that many posters seem to do as another marketing technique. However, this is not a standard picture of the actress it shows her face looking dazed and confused, directly at the person looking at the poster, enticing the audience to look at the poster and notice on her left arm are the words "Not alone". It appears that the writing on her arm matches that of the title perhaps suggesting that what we can only assume of a child wrote this on her and is perhaps haunting her, which is shown by her facial expression.