This is my third poster analysis for my A2 media studies coursework on horror films.

1. Poster Analysis Three
This poster is promoting thepsychological horror film Don’t Blink; it is the official poster
which is used to advertisethe film. I chose to analyse this film poster because I thought
that it was very different to other existing psychological horror film posters that I have
seen and I wanted to analyse it so that I could pick out the reasons why it was used. It
does sharefeatures with the film I am creating as mineis also a psychological horror film
so I wanted to find a film that had a similar narrative to mine where the main
protagonists mind is deteriorating. Thestyleof theposter is particularly scary because it
shows where the movie is set so it frightens the audience as they can imagine what
horrors lie within the cabin.
General and layout film poster conventions arefulfilled in this poster as the main image
takes up theentire framewhich is common for a horror film poster as the main image is
the most important feature on the poster as it gives the audience the main indications
as to what the narrativewill beabout. However, it mainly breaks conventions as thetitle
of thefilm is placed at thetop of theframein theposter which is unconventional as they
are usually placed underneath the main image and there is no institutional information
present on the poster which is also unusual as it is a common feature on film posters.
The setting of the film that the poster presents is that the storyline takes place in the
middleof the woods, surrounded by iceand snow. This setting is typical for a horror film

2. and follows horror conventions as thereis usually a lonely, isolated setting which makes
it scarier for the audience as they are all alone and there is no one they can go to for
help when theantagonist strikes. It also means for the audience that there is no escape
because they are in the middle of the woods and it would be very difficult to find the
way out. The setting causes theaudienceto form expectations about thefilm’s narrative
as they would assume that one of the main characters is going to go through some
psychological torture that will cause them to begin murdering the inhabitants of the
cabin which in turn makes it morefrightening. Natural lighting is used on this poster as it
is coming from thesun behind theclouds and is shining down on thebackground setting
which also gives the impression of the characters being surrounded by nature and all
alone. But also, availablelighting is seen coming from inside the cabin which showcases
that someone is inside the cabin maybe putting on all the lights to protect themselves
against the dark evil that wants to harm them.
There are two characters featured in the main image of the poster who seem to be the
main protagonists. The mise-en-scene matches the setting as their costumes appear to
be coats which would make sense for them to wear if they were surrounded by cold
weather and snow. It could also signify how they are trying to protect themselves
against the villain by covering up and wearing many layers as it may make them feel
moresecure. Their facial expressions connect very well with the title of the film as they
are both staring with wideeyes at something not in the frame which links with the title
Don’t Blink as maybe they believe that if they blink, they will die because they will not
see whatever is coming for them.
The colours shown in themain image mostly are white, blue and black. The white could
represent the snowy weather but also the fact that the protagonists are innocent and
good; which may be the only things in that area that is not evil. The blue could give the
atmosphere of cold and sinister to reference the eerie feel around the cabin and that
the villain could be waiting for them. The colour black signifies death and evil lurking
around the cabin which automatically links to the antagonist who is either waiting for
them outside of the cabin or within the characters themselves in their mental states.
The characters themselves are positioned at the top-centre of the poster which draws
theaudience’s attention to them and signals to the audience immediately that they are
important to thestoryline. Thebloody handprint on thesign at thebottom of the poster
in the main image signals genre to the audience as blood is a clear piece of horror
iconography which indicates that it is a horror film which should attract horror film fans
to go watch it.
Don’t Blink is thetitleof film being promoted in the poster and the meaning behind this
could be that the characters shouldn’t blink if they are at the cabin because one false
movecould lead to them being dead. This is slightly typical of a horror film as it links well

3. to the narrativeof thefilm and gives the audience a hint as to what it is about. The font
of the title is a large, bold, serif font which is positioned at the top of the film poster. It
also has a ghostly effect on it which could show that there is a supernatural element to
the film on top of the psychological one which could be used to draw in a wider
audience. The sizeof the titleis very largeand compared to theother text on the page it
is the largest which could beso it stands out moreand the audience are instantly drawn
to it. The serif font could represent the seriousness of the situation that the characters
are in and that it shouldn’t betaken lightly; thisis one of the factors that would be used
to frighten the audience.
The colour whiteis used for thetitlewhich could link too many things; such as the snow
which covers theground in the main imageor thefact that thecharacters shown are the
purevictims in thestoryline. Thewhitetitleis placed on top of a black background which
could also hint to thefight of good versus evil in the film and that in the end of the film,
one of them would have triumphed over the other. The title is positioned at the top of
the frame, above the main image. This is not a typical layout as on most horror film
posters the title is placed towards the bottom of the poster, underneath the main
image. The title may have broken conventions and been placed here to make it stand
out more so the audience pay more attention to it as it is clearly a piece of advice to
those in the film if they want to remain alive.
“You might be next…” is the tagline on this poster promoting the film Don’t Blink. The
meaning suggested through this taglineis that there is clearly a serial killer on the loose
and anyone could be next to be killed by them. The tagline is made more effective by
theuse of ellipsis at theend of thestatement as it means that there could be more that
isn’t said in thetaglinethat may beused to help them stay alive. The tagline anchors the
main image as it adds to the fear factor created behind the cabin shown in the setting
and it reveals more about the narrative than the image did which should help the
audience in being persuaded to watch the film. It also maintains a sense of intrigue as
theaudience may bewondering if indeed they are next to be killed by the antagonist so
it could make them want to watch the film more to find out.
The tagline’s font is an uppercase, bold, black, sans serif font which straight away means
it is important to thestorylineas they madeit so theaudiencewould bedrawn to it. It is
displayed in a medium size so it is bigger than most of the text in the frame but not
morethan thetitlewhich suggests that the title is more important than the tagline and
theaudience should pay less attention to thetaglineand moreto the title as it may give
away more about the narrative. The tagline is positioned towards the bottom of the
poster underneath themain image. This is a typical layout for a tagline as they want you
to pay moreattention to themain image rather than the tagline but enough so you still
read it and get more of a feel for what the storyline is about.

4. Other text that is featured on the poster is the names of the actors who star in the film
e.g. ‘Brian Austin Green’ and ‘Mena Suvari’. They are shown on the poster to lure a
wider audience in to watch the film as theaudience would recognisetheactors who star
in the movie and if they are well-known they could attract more people to watch the
film that maybe aren’t fans of horror films but just enjoy the actors’ work. This could
also suggest genreas maybethat actor only works in horror films so the audience would
instantly know what genre the film was if they saw the actor on the poster. The poster
doesn’t feature institutional information which is not conventional of a film poster as
most of them do show institutional information at the bottom of the frame.
The colours that mostly dominatetheposter arewhite, blueand black. They each create
a similar atmosphere of the unnatural and they create an eerie mood. The colour
schemeis used to signal genre and sub-genreas the colours areconventional of a horror
film poster so fans of horror films would quickly takenote of this and recognise that the
film is of the horror genre and one that they would most likely enjoy.
Overall, in my opinion this poster is very effective in promoting the film Don’t Blink as it
showcases everything the audience need to know in order for them to decide whether
or not they want to go watch the film. I think the poster will be very successful in luring
in its target audienceas it is obviously advertising a horror film and I’m sure horror film
fans would be inclined to watch thefilm after seeing the poster which clearly shows the
horror and torment the characters will have to go through. It is also very successful in
suggesting thefilm’s narrativewhilst also not giving too much away as the main image,
title and tagline all give the audience hints to what the narrative will include but not
enough for them to know how it ends which would be enough to persuade them to
watch the film to find out for themselves.