Insidious 2: film poster analysis

The colours used in this poster follow horror poster conventions. The
creators have taken all colour from the imagine, excluding the red text. They
have used the black and white filter to connote the idea there being no hope or
happiness in this film. It also represents the ideas of darkness, creating a tense
atmosphere just by looking at the film poster. While the filter creates the sense
of hopelessness, the red text can be linked by the audience to blood, or evilness.
This will ultimately allow the audience to identify the genre of this film. A small
child is visible in the centre of this poster, there is a small ray of light focused
around where he has sat. Instead of giving the sense of hope as light
conventionally
does, is tells the audience that the child could be a victim of
the
antagonist, the light being the focus of the antagonist. The
small
amount of fog in the image connotes the danger behind
the
child, the possibility of what is to come for the child.
The masthead for the film is positioned
towards the bottom of the poster, under the
image and the tag line. The masthead its
self is in a clear, simple font but is fairly large.
The
creators have used a simple font to avoid
distracting the audience from the rest of the
image and to
stop the poster from looking to busy. The tag line
of it will
take what you love most is an effective way of
confirming to the audience that this poster is
indeed for a horror film. Using the word it will make the audience question what
it is and possibly help them link it to the first film. The direct address used in
this, you, has created a sense of dread toward the reader as it has made it
personal to the reader. The release date is placed even lower than the mast
head, giving the audience reason to look at all of the poster and not just parts of
it, it is also useful information if the poster has sold the film to the audience. The
use of the hashtag for the film suggests it is popular throughout social media and
with a younger audience.
The use of a child being the main focus of the post will intrigue the target
audience and make them question the significance of the child in the film.
As
children, we were vulnerable and unknown to the dangers of the world, such as
being alone. The baby can be seen reaching out to the darkness which creates
the idea that he/she has been tempted by the antagonist already and is trying to
reach out for its help. In regards to the camera view, the baby has been placed
to look as if theyre far away or out of reach. This tells the audience that the
child is in need of help and make them question why the baby is alone.
The target audience suggested would be in the age range of 13-25, quite a big
gap for any film. This has been concluded by the layout of the poster, its
simpleness and the PG sign seen in the bottom of the film poster. My reasoning
behind the large age gap would also be the use of the child in the image,
something that would affect adults more emotionally than young people. Again,
due to the use of the child in the image, this film is likely to be targeted at

women as they are shown as being more emotional than males, especially
mothers.

Saw 6: Film poster analysis

The colour scheme is noticeably similar to the insidious 2 poster
analysed previously, of black, white and
red. The black and white background tells
the audience the idea of the darkness
surrounding the victim, the lack of colour
conveys the ideas of hopelessness. Using
the red colour down the poster will draw the
audiences eye from top to the bottom of
the image, making them look at the
entirety of the poster. The release date has
also been printed in the red colour which
will further draw the audiences eye. This
bright red used is conventional of horror films
and connotes the idea of evilness, blood and,
in the case of this poster, sex. This allows the
audience to identify genre of horror. The
lighting used in the poster show some sort
of
machine that a woman is sat in, by seeing
the chains against her ankles, the audience
can see that she is being forced into the seat.
The image of a women sat on a chair with a pig head connotes the
gore featured in this film, along with the red cloth draped over her body.
Her high leather looking heels tell us this film is under the torture porn
sub-genre of horror as they are conventionally worn by women working in
the sex industry and are objectified as sexual.
The font used in the image is typical of horror genre, with different
sized letters in a mixture of upper and lower case, however the IV is clean
cut and sharp. The release date and strap line is written in a very simple
font, making it clear to read, both of these in capital letters making them
stand out for the audience. The tag line Its a trap gives the audience an
idea of what the film will feature, tricks, torture and you guessed it!
Trapping people in machines and situations such as seen in the image
used.
By looking at the Saw 6 poster, I think it is clear to see that the film
is mainly aimed at the older male audience. The female, being seemingly
helpless and in need of a hero the male gaze theory supports this. The
way they have dressed her in red and wearing leather like high heels
connote sexuality, something males conventionally looker for. The fact she

is in need of help is conventional to horror films and symbolises the idea

of the final girl theory set by John Carpenters 1978 horror Halloween. This
film would be for older males, from 18-30; we can base this from the idea
of sex and the amount of gore symbolised from the use of the pigs head
something women typically dont want to watch.

Attack of the crab monsters: film

poster
analysis
Attack of the crab monsters
is a film that was released in
February 1957. The image
used is of a victim and her
assumed killer, the victim
follows the conventions of
horror films by being a
blonde attractive female that
we can assume is in her
bathing suit this links to the
idea of the final girl theory
seen in Halloween (1978)
and we can further link this
to the male gaze theory. The
clearest sexual connotation in this film poster would be the fact the victim is
wearing many clothes and her large bust area it is clear she is the victim from
her facial expression and how it connotes the fear she is in.
The killer in this film dominates the poster, being a bright red antagonised
follows the idea of red connoting danger and follows the same conventions as
the other film posters I have analysed. The killer not being human is also a
convention of the horror genre, creating an added scare factor to the audience.
Also, by making the killer not human fits this film into the sci-fi sub-genre of
horror. The creators have compared the antagonists size to one of an adult
female, which tells the audience that the killer is very powerful and able to
manipulate humans by using its size. The danger connotes from not only the red
colour of the antagonist, but by showing its teeth and large claws it is clear that
we are not safe from this predator. There are people visible in the background
who seem to look as if they are cowering from the monster and arent helping
the victim this magnifies the idea of the monster being too powerful to fight.
The font used in this poster is large and simple which challenges the
modern conventions of horror posters as seen on the Saw 6 and Insidious poster.
The bright yellow colour used on the masthead also challenges modern
conventions, but follows the conventions of sci-fi posters. The clear fonts used
make it simple and easy for the audience to read. The strap line From the depth
of the sea A TIDAL WAVE OF TERROR makes it clear to the audience what is
too come in this film (if the title doesnt already say enough). By putting the last
few words in capitals, the creators have made the idea of fear and horror clear.

They have also used a sea pun by using tidal wave, which tells the audience
even further if they havent understood already that this film includes sea
creatures.

The target audience of this film would be males, this links back to the idea of
Laura Mulveys male gaze with the use of the sexualised female on the front and
by being a hybrid genre of sci-fi and horror will draw males in as sci-fi films have
a larger male viewing than females at the time of this release.