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 theofficial poster
which is used to advertisethe film. I chose to analysethis 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 analyseit so that I could pick out thereasons as to why it was used.
The film contains features similar to thefilm I am creating as mineis also a psychological
horror film so I wanted to find a film that had a similar narrativeto my own where the
main protagonists mind is deteriorating. The style of the poster is particularly scary
because it shows where themovieis set so it frightens theaudience as they can imagine
what horrors lie within the cabin.
General layout film poster conventions arefulfilled in this poster as the main imagetakes
up the entire frame which is common for a horror film poster as the main image is the
most important featureon the poster as it gives the audience the main indications as to
what the narrativewill include. However, it mainly breaks conventions as thetitleof the
film is placed at the top of the frame in the poster 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 narrative takes place in the
middleof thewoods, surrounded by ice and snow. This setting is typical for a horror film

2. and follows horror conventions as thereis usually a lonely, isolated setting which makes
it more frightening for theaudience as they are all alone and there is no onethey can go
to for help when the antagonist strikes. It also means for the audience that there is no
escape because they are in the middleof thewoods and it would be very difficult to find
the way out. The setting causes the audience to form expectations about the film’s
narrative as they would assume that one of the main characters is going to go through
somepsychologicaltorturethatwillcausethemto begin murderingtheinhabitantsofthe
cabin which in turn makes it morefrightening. Natural lighting is used on this poster as it
is coming from the sun behind theclouds and is shining down on the background setting
which also gives the impression of the characters being surrounded by nature and all
alone. But also, available lighting 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. This is becausethey both do notappear menacing and do not givethe
impressionthattheyaretheantagonistswhichisbecausemanyconventionsofthetypical
horror film antagonist arenot followed/shown. Themise-en-scenematches thesetting as
their costumes appear to becoats which wouldmakesensefor them to wear if they were
surrounded by cold weather and snow. It could also signifyhow they aretrying 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 thetitleof thefilm
as they areboth staring with wideeyes at somethingnot in theframewhich 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 the main 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
atmosphereof cold and sinister to referencethe eerie feel around thecabin 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 the
audience’s attention to them and signals to the audience immediately that they are
important to thestoryline. Thebloody handprint on thesign at the bottom of theposter
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.

3. Don’t Blink is the titleof the film being promoted in the poster and the meaning behind
this could bethat thecharacters shouldn’t blinkif they areat thecabin becauseonefalse
movecould lead to them being dead. This is slightly typical of a horror film as it links well
to the narrativeof the film and gives the audience a hint as to what it is about. The font
of the titleis 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
thefilm on top of thepsychological onewhich could beused to draw in a wider audience.
The size of the title is very large and compared to the other text on the page it is the
largest which could be so it stands out more and 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 be taken lightly; this is one of the factors that would be used to
frighten the audience.
The colour white is used for the title which could link to many things; such as the snow
which covers the ground in themain imageor thefact that thecharacters shown arethe
purevictims in thestoryline. Thewhitetitleis placed on top of a black background which
could also hint to the fight 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
theframe,abovethemainimage.Thisisnota typicallayoutas onmosthorrorfilmposters
thetitleis placed towards thebottom of theposter, underneath themainimage. Thetitle
may have broken conventions and been placed here to make it stand out more so the
audience pay moreattention 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. Thetaglineis made moreeffectiveby the
useof ellipsis at the end of the statement as it means that therecould bemorethat isn’t
said in thetaglinethat may beused to help them stay alive. The taglineanchors the main
image as it adds to the fear factor created behind the cabin shown in the setting and it
reveals more about the narrativethan the image did which should help the audience in
being persuaded to watch the film. It also maintains a sense of intrigueas the audience
may be wondering if indeed they are next to be killed by theantagonist 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 the narrative as they madeit so theaudience would bedrawn to it. It is
displayed in a medium sizeso it is bigger than most of thetext in the framebut not more
than the title which suggests that the title is more important than the tagline and the
audienceshouldpaylessattentiontothetaglineandmoretothetitleas it maygive away
more about the narrative. The tagline is positioned towards the bottom of the poster

4. underneath the main image. This is a typical layout for a taglineas they want you to pay
more attention to the main image rather than the taglinebut enough so you still read it
and get more of a feel for what the storyline is about.
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 areshown on theposter to lurea wider
audience in to watch thefilm as the audience would recognisetheactors who star in the
movieand if they are well-known they could attract more people to watch the film that
maybearen’t fans of horror films but just enjoy theactors’ work. This could also suggest
genreasmaybethatactoronlyworksinhorrorfilmssotheaudiencewouldinstantlyknow
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, blue and black. They each create
a similar atmosphereof theunnatural and they createan eeriemood. Thecolour scheme
is used to signal genre and sub-genre as the colours are conventional 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 thefilm Don’t Blink as it
showcases everything theaudienceneed to know in order for them to decidewhether or
not they want to go watch thefilm. I think theposter will bevery successful in luring in its
target audience as it is obviously advertising a horror film and I’m sure horror film fans
would beinclined to watch thefilm after seeing theposter which clearlyshowsthehorror
and torment thecharacters will haveto go through. It is also very successful in suggesting
the film’s narrative whilst also not giving too much away as the main image, title and
tagline all give the audience hints to what the narrativewill include but not enough for
them to know how it ends which would beenough to persuadethem to watch thefilm to
find out for themselves.