The Insidious film poster uses several techniques to attract audiences. It prominently features a sinister looking boy against a dark background with the title in red and white to suggest danger. The short depth of field focuses attention on the boy rather than the typical house setting. The boy's red pajamas and the word "Insidious" in his eye hint at something being wrong with him. The tagline "It's not the house that's haunted" and inclusion of actor names aim to spark curiosity and draw viewers who are fans.

1. INSIDIOUS FILM POSTER
ANALYSIS

2. Insidious was made by the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw. Referring to this on
the poster draws an audience in as they already know it will be a good film as it is made
by the people who have already produced two good selling films.
The title of the film stands out clearly as it is mostly in a strong white colour against a
dark background. The style of the title is also unique as part of the title is red. The
connotations of red are danger and blood. This suggests to the audience that the film has
a dangerous dark side to it.
The big old house in the background is a typical convention of a horror film. The sinister
looking boy goes against the average codes and conventions of a young boy as young
boys are perceived as being ‘good’. This could relate to binary oppositions as the boy is
opposite to normal boys. This could draw an audience to the film as the audience want to
know why he’s different.
The main image has a short depth of field as the boy is in focus and the house is out of
focus. This gives a subtle hint to what the film is about. The main focus of the poster is
the boy and not the house, which is unusual for a horror film as most of them take place
in a big old house. This will draw in a bigger audience as they will believe it is different to
other horror films they have seen.
Most of the main images colours are all drained. This gives the film poster a dark and
eerie feeling. The boy’s pyjamas are red which suggests danger towards the boy. Also,
because the image is of the boy in his pyjamas, the audience may think, ‘why he is in his
pyjamas, is there something wrong with him?’ this gets the audience thinking and
encourages them to watch the film as they want to find out why. Having a dull main
image makes the title of the film stand out.
Also, inside the boys eye, the word insidious is written there. This could suggest to the
audience that something supernatural is wrong with the boy. I think this will draw an
audience as I find films with supernatural children is are scary as it is opposite to what
they are perceived to be.
The tagline ‘It’s not the house that’s haunted’, is a quote from the film and the teaser
trailer. This tagline encourages people to see the film as they want to know what haunted
if the house isn’t. This relates to Barthes Enigma theory as the audience want to solve
the mystery of the film and therefore will watch it.
Having the actors and actresses names on the film poster also attracts an audience. This
attracts an audience because if someone is a big fan of Patrick Wilson, then they may
decide to watch this film as he is one of the main actors in Insidious.
There are also the film institutions at the bottom of the poster. These are the company's
logos that created Insidious. These help identify what genre the film is as most film
companies stick to a certain genre, for example, Working Title productions tend to make
romantic comedies.