3. Poster Overview
By looking at the images on the previous slide you can see that each poster is created and designed to advertise horror
slasher movies. By looking at each of the posters you can see that they all use the similar conventions of horror posters. It
gives the audience an idea of how a slasher horror poster would look like and the different kinds of features and elements it
includes to make the poster look successful.
In this section you will see me analysing the different posters as this will allow me to get a broader understanding on what
features I would need to include in a poster to satisfy and meet the expectations of an audience. I will also be able to
understand how to make the poster look unique and professional by including the basic conventions whilst creating the
poster. I would also be able to develop an idea on how I could create a link between all the promotional packages I am going
to create.
Moreover by getting an overview and analysing all the horror posters will also help me discover what I would need to include
whilst making the promotional package. It is important that I take all the basic conventions of horror posters into
consideration for example taking a photo in low key lighting and using a dark background from the poster.
When you look at all the posters you will be able to see that they all use the same conventions but they still manage to make
their posters look unique and different from others. It is important that all posters include a title, a tagline and a main image.
This is the basic foundation needed to make a horror poster. If you want your horror poster to be successful it is important to
take into consideration all these basic conventions.
Four in eight posters have an image featuring of one person this is very common to see in slasher horror posters. This
reinforces the idea that there would usually be one main character in the film and there would mainly be images of the killer
or the victim featuring in the poster.
It is common to see blonde girls who flirt a lot be the first victims that get killed in slasher movies. This could be due to the
fact that girls who socialise a lot, seem to be very outgoing and gets on easily with people very quickly so girls who are quiet
and don’t talk a lot would usually be isolated from society. So when you look at the ‘Scream’ poster the image appears to be
zoomed in, to clearly show the facial expression of the girl.
4. The title is very important in a horror poster. A title is used to identify a film. Most the titles are written in a specific way to reflect what the film is going
to be about and what it may include. A lot of the titles use specific colours to make the audience understand what may happen in a film. For example
you will be able to see certain titles written in a red colour font this is usually used to reflect the idea that someone may be murdered in a film. The red
usually represents blood which means that it symbolises killings that may happen in the film. By looking at the 8 posters on the second slide you would
be able to see that there is a dark background used in most of them. So by using a bold red font it could also give an idea of death as usually black and
red represents death. So this gives an impression to the audience that death is involved and it strengthens the idea of the slasher elements included in
the film.
Most the titles are written in a simple font usually to make it very unique and clear about what the film is. If you look at most horror posters they try not
to use fancy fonts as it just makes the title harder to read. The use of a simple font could also symbolise the nature of the films. It could reflect the idea
that the events that happens in horror films are not extraordinary they could happen to someone who is living a simple and normal life.
If you look at the poster of ‘The Orphan Killer’ you would be able to see that the font is very simple but uses a bold red colour in the title. So this is
trying to reflect the idea that in slasher movies there are going to be violent killings taking place. By using the colour red and making the font look
simple but unique is a simple convention of horror posters especially for slasher films.
Furthermore, you would be able to see that all the images of the posters I included in the PowerPoint have used the same colour font. They either use
red or white. The use of the colour white also gives us an idea of the innocent people being trapped and killed in the horror movies. The use of white
behind a black dark background could show us that someone who may be living a normal good life could be turned into an evil and horrible life. It could
make us think that nothing is permanent.
The age range for horror slasher films starts with 16+. So from this you will be able to understand that horror movies are aimed at a fairly young target audience. In
contrast to slasher films the supernatural horror films require more thinking this can be both psychologically and intellectually.
Title
5. Slogans and Strap lines
Slogans/ strap lines are very important in posters. They are one of the main factors that play an important role because they give the
audience an idea on what the film is going to be about. Slogans/ strap lines give a flavour about what the story is going to be in a film.
The strap line of the movie ‘The Sleeper’ is ‘if i die before I wake’. By reading this strap line you could feel a discomfort and it almost
guarantees you that whilst watching the film you will feel very disturbed and uncomfortable. As this strap line says ‘before I wake’ it
could also give an idea that someone could be killed in their sleep. This strap line is very strong and can make people feel very nervous
and anxious just by reading it. You would be able to see that the most common things the audience fear of is what is reflected in a
poster. Some people could be scared that something may happen to them at night because it is usually dark so it will be less likely to
see things. So the idea of getting killed in the night could make the audience feel very conscious and paranoid.
Another tagline that is very unique and grabs the audiences attention is the one used for the ‘Scream’ poster. ‘Someone has taken
their love of scary movies one step too far, solving this mystery is going to be murder’. This almost guarantees that the audience will
get scared when they watch this movie. So this gives an idea on what the audience can expect when they watch this film. It also gives
an impression that the situation of the victim will be inescapable and will end in death. Most slasher movies have similar meaning in
their strap lines. The main idea of using a strap line in a poster is to get them terrified and get feared about them losing their loved
ones.
On the other hand most horror posters use or emphasise a specific word to make the audience feel uncomfortable. When you look at
‘Alone in the Dark’ poster you could see the word ‘blood’ being used. Usually this represents and symbolises death.
6. Images
Images are very important in horror posters. They play a big part as this is what gives an impression of what the narrative would be
about in the film to an audience. When you look at the poster ‘Don’t Breathe’ you would be able to see a character in the film looking
scared and covering her mouth. This represents the idea that someone may try and want to kill her and that she is trying to escape from
the killer. An image tells a lot about a film e.g. by looking at the facial expressions of a character, by looking at the props used in the
image and the weapons that they have in their hands. All the eight images clearly signifies that the poster belongs to a horror genre and
the main role of the image is to scare the audience.
There are two out of eight posters which have masked killers featuring in it. The masked killers are both wearing dark clothing. This
could represent the dark side of their personality and could also represent that they are isolated from everyone else in the film.
In the poster for ‘The Sorority Row’ the mise-en-scene represents the images of each character screaming and a weapon go across the
image. This is a general convention of a horror movie. You would always be able to see the girls screaming rather than the boys. On the
other poster the ‘Scream’ you could also see the girl getting ready to scream. So like the several other slasher horror movies you
always could see the female play the protagonist role and the male play the antagonist role. This comes back to the idea on how boys
have more authority and power than girls.
When you look at the image of ‘Friday 13th’ you could see that the image is taken in a low angle shot. A low angle shot is generally used
to make the character look more powerful and more dominating than us. There is an extreme close up used on the poster ‘Scream’. It
clearly shows the facial expressions of the character however there is only a limited amount of the sections of the image that can be
seen. This is mainly to make the image grab the audiences attention.
