Analysing a Film Poster

A quote presenting the film in a positive way and high rating of the film are clearly  shown to promote the film to the audience, to, essentially entice them. Capital letters, and a large bold font, and big stars are shown to attract the audience. Similarly to promote the film, they have shown a clear link to the films ‘saw’ and ‘paranormal activity’ this is to clearly highlight their target audience drawing them in with association to other films that have been popular in the past. A bold font has been used for the title of the film, the fact that the font is slightly broken makes it similar to the font of a ‘wanted’ poster, this is interesting and intriguing for the audience, as it makes it seem there may be a deeper meaning around the word. The slogan is beneath the picture of the poster, this intrigues the audience, whilst giving a deeper insight as to what the film may be about.

In the background is a house, the house is surrounded in dark trees and scary, heavy clouds, this implies that the house may be significant within the horror, it also typically –based on the genre- allows the to deduce that the house may be haunted, or evil in some way. The lighting however is unusual, as it slightly highlights the house creating a positive atmosphere. This could be accentuate the boy in front creating a contrast, making him stand out. It could also be to highlight some kind of higher power, making the house seem spiritual in some way. The composition is particularly interesting as the image of the boy has been layered over the house to almost make it seem he is protecting the house in some way. The contrasting lighting on each also makes it seem that the boy is some kind of dark essence over the house.

The boy has been positioned so it seems he is leaning over the camera, this makes it seem he is the antagonist, or evil character in the film, it also highlights him as a domineering force. It is a relatively modern convention to have the child as the ‘evil’ character, however, since the release of ‘The exorcist’ and ‘The Ring’ using a child as the antagonist has become a typical convention within a horror movie. The boy has been lit unnaturally to create a sense of discomfort for the audience, they audience made to feel uncomfortable as it again highlights the boy as a domineering force within the film. The boys costume is also particularly interesting, as it seems to be pyjamas. Again by bringing in something that is unfamiliar it creates a sense of discomfort, however, it also creates intrigue as it draws on the familiar becoming unfamiliar, typically seen in a horror film. The fact that the boys eyes are scratched out however, is the most discomforting feature. Firstly as it is a child, it touches a more sensitive subject, making the audience question why would want to hurt a child? However, it could also be implying a deeper meaning, as based on the Greek Sophocles of Oedipus where the psychic man is blind, this could be showing that, as the boys sight is taken, he is psychic, however, the fact that it is scratched could imply that he has been forced to be psychic and is taken by some higher power.