Deconstruction of Horror Posters

1. The colour scheme is black ,orange
and red. I believe these colour
capture the genre well and link to the
whole idea of horror. The warmth of
the colours create a sense of danger
and evil appearing like there is a fire
in front of her.
The black background is
commonly used for horror poster
as it is relevant to the genre. The
blackness creates a sense of
darkness and isolation as the
person on the cover is clearly
alone. This helps the audience see
how frightening this situation
must be and helps her seem more
venerable, in return making the
audience question what is
happening to her..
The whole design is very minimal
with just one picture used for the
main focus. The contrast of the
white text on the black background
helps it appear bolder even though
it is small on the poster.
The angle of gaze is not directly at the
camera but slightly above it. The panic in
her eyes intrigue viewers, making them
wonder. She looks like she is being forced
to watch something painful and that it is
making her feel uncomfortable.
She has hand covering her mouth
shows how she could be trying to
control her breathe and not be heard.
This links to the title of the films and
could be the way the makers wanted
to make a link. By the way the hands
look and how masculine it appears, I
personally see it as her being captured
by a man who plays as the villain and
in return is telling her not to breathe in
a torturous way.
DON’T
BREATHE
2016

2. ANNABELLE
CREATION
2017
The red title on the brown/green
background is eye-catching and
bold as well as tying into the
blood stain on her face . The fact
that it is in capitals signifies
importance. I find that they have
placed this perfectly as it doesn’t
take anything away from the
picture.
The image used is split into two
parts. The first is what the camera is
focused on. This may indicate how
the doll is more powerful and
deserve attention or just highlights
the idea that the audience should be
aware of its significance in the film.
There is then a women screaming in
the background . She looks tortured
and in pain from her facial
expression. I love the idea of how
she is out of focus to convey a
message for how unimportant she is,
of how her pain doesn’t really
matter. I find that this is a good
picture to help draw an audience
and make the question what is
happening so they eventually go and
watch the film.
The facial expression on the doll is
very sinister. It’s angle of gaze is
just over the camera, not directly
at us. This to me looks like she is
watching some else in pain and is
enjoying it thoroughly. Her mouth
is forming a smile and she looks
eerily happy.
The use of a doll very much
represents that this is a
horror film. Dolls are
commonly used to create fear
as they have a supernatural
element to them that people
are frighten of.
The colour scheme of the
picture comes across as
quite mysterious as there
aren’t may colours.

3. THE PURGE:
ELECTION YEAR
2016
The image conveys a message of
destruction. The men are carrying
weaponry and seem like they
intend to hurt others or defend
themselves. The costumes mirror
historical attire and it looks like
they are trying to make a joke
about it and could also show that
they are trying to appear more
important. The fire in the
background portrays a picture of
fear. Fires represent danger and
get out of control easily. This for
me foreshadows what may come
up in the film. It also has a figure
of the liberty statue and had used
the American flag. This reveals
the story line in the sense that we
understand this is some form of
rebellion.
The use of the masks creates
a sense of ambiguity . We as
the audience don’t know was
is hiding behind them or who
the people really are. The
unknown naturally creates
fear in humans and makes
them question everything.
The masks themselves are
frightening. The smiles forced
on them are very superficial
and fake.
The placement of the title
doesn’t take too much away
from the picture. It is big and
bold and presented in a unique
way. It has a slogan below it that
helps the audience identify the
synopsis.
Overall, I do think it does
link back to the genre
horror. Element such as
masks, guns and fire
would be connoted to
themes of this particular
genre.