All six film posters share common conventions of the slasher film sub-genre. Nearly all feature a tall, strong male protagonist attacking or standing over a female victim, usually with blonde hair and blue eyes. They also prominently feature weapons like knives and chainsaws being wielded by masked or unknown protagonists. The posters employ dark color schemes with red used to signify blood and danger. Composition places the protagonist centrally with the title at the bottom and other text elements placed consistently. Camera angles show the protagonist in medium shots from low angles to make them appear powerful and threatening.

1. Film Poster Overview
The six postershave beendesignedtosuccessfullypromotefilmswithinthe slashersub-genre.
Throughcarrying outan investigationof themandbycomparingthemto each other,itis possible to
identifysharedfeatureswithinthemandtoestablishrepeatedpatterns.
All six posterfeature typical filmposterconventions.We see exceptedgeneral conventionsinall,
such as a title,alwaysthe largestandmostsignificanttextinthe frame,animage thatdominated

2. the frame and that signalssomethingimportantaboutthe film’snarrative,aslogantoanchorthe
image and,as expectedof ahorror filmposter,horrificimagery.
In addition,we see otherpatterns.Interestinglyenough,almostall of the postersfeature mise-en-
scene of a tall,strong male protagonisteitheralone inthe frame orattackinghis female victim.
Usually,asshowninthe postersthe victimisa female,conventionallywithblondehairandblue
eyesespeciallyshowninthe posters‘Maniac’and‘Scream’.Thisshowsusconventionsof the slasher
sub-genre due tothe characteristicsof the female victimthe audience canrecogniseherbeingthe
sacrificial lamb.Inthe poster‘Maniac’the protagonistholdsthe headof hisvictimwithbloodonthe
floor, typical narrativesdiscussthat blondesare conventionallyknowntobe promiscuousand
therefore punishedfortheiractions,inthisway the protagonistisholdingthe victims headinaway
that issexual. Thissuggeststhe victimwaspunishedforherpromiscuousways.
Alternatively,whenit comestoiconographyusedwithinthe mainimagesof the postersthere are
presentationsof maskedorunknownprotagonistswithweaponssuchaswieldingknives,daggers,
chainsawsandblood.Inthe case of the slashersub-genrekeepingthe protagonist unknownis
crucial because itkeepsthe elementof fearalive,andalsokeepingdistancebetweenthe killerad
audience byusingthe maskkeepsthe relationshipcoldasitdoesn’tallow usto understandorfeel
for the killeran example of thisisusedwiththe poster‘Scream’,the filmgoeswiththe storyline of a
serial killergoingaroundkillingagroupof teenagerswhoare all friends, the protagonisthappensto
be one of the friends.Inthiscase the protagonist isbehindthe victimwithhishandscoveringher
mouth,the fact that she ispositionedinfrontof himletsusknow thathe isdisguisinghimself asa
‘victim’toyingwithhis‘friends’whenactuallyhishandsshow hisaggressionwhilehe ispunishinghis
firstvictimwhichisthe sacrificial lamb,the audience cantell because of herblue eyesandblonde
hair.
Also, ‘Halloween’ showsthe protagonistwithHalloweenpumpkinmaskholdingaknife.Similarly,
the use of weaponse.g.knivesandchainsaw are conventionallyusedinhorrorsratherthandrugs or
gunsbecause of the painful andgory detail attachedtoitfearsthe audience more.Incontrast,if a
gun wasto be usedinsteadthe deathwouldbe tooquickandlesspainful whichwouldn’tappeal to
the slasherhorroraudience whopreferslow,unorthodox waysof murder.Anexample of thiswould
be from the poster‘TexasChainsawMassacre’where bythe protagonistisholdingahuge chainsaw
whichisa veryinhumane wayof killingsomeone.The waythe camerais positionedalsomakesit
lookbiggerthanit actuallyismakingitlookmuch more fearful.
The colour scheme usedwithinthe postershave similaritiesinthe waythattheyall use dark colours,
such as black,greyand red.These are conventionallyusedinall horrorsaswell asslasher.
Specificallyslasherfocusesonthe use of reddue to blood.Thiscan signifydangerandvictims.Asan
example the poster‘A Nightmare onElmStreet’hasusedrednotonlyinthe majorityof the posterit
isalso instilledwithinthe title whichshowsasymbioticlink.The significantuse of redwithinthe
postermakesthe floorlooklike it’scoveredinblood.Howeverinalmost,all the postersthe actual
protagonistisnevercoveredinredbutalwaysina darkercolour suchas black or shownas a
silhouette.Thissuggeststhatthe protagonistsisof amuch evil entity.
Whenwe lookat compositionwithinthe frame of the postersall of themhave similarities,suchas,
inalmostall of the postersthe protagonistisplacedinthe centre of the frame alongwiththe title
mostlybeingtowardsthe bottomof the poster.The sloganisplacedeitherontopof the title or
placedonits ownat the topof the page.Whenthe institutionalinformationisplacedonthe poster
it isplacedat the verybottomof the poster.All these conventionshave symbiosistothe sub-genre
of the filmposterdue tothe it needstobe presentedtothe audience i.e.usuallywhenthe

3. protagonististakingupthe mainimage especiallyatalow angle the title ismore likelytobe placed
at the bottom.
Whenit comesto camerashots andangles,conventionallythe protagonistis shownthrougha
mediumshotat a lowangle.Thisisconventional because the protagonistismeanttobe inpoweras
the audience are meantto fearhim.Also,takingcamera shotsat a low angle heightensthe
protagonist’smanlyfeaturesi.e.tallerandmore masculine.Usuallythe purposeof the mediumlong
shotis to be aware of the protagonist’sappearance andwhatcouldbe hisunique psychopathtrend
e.g.thiscouldbe throughhis clothing,weaponryormask.Anexample of thiscanbe takenfromthe
film'TexasChainsawMassacre'because
As forlightingwithinthe mainimage of slasherfilmpostersIsthe factthat is usesmostlyprofileand
ambientlighting.Usuallyinhorrorfilmsprotagonistsare likelytobe seeninprofilelightingasit
portraysthisideathat theypossesstwoidentitiesinasense of the slashersub-genre one side being
psychopathicandthe othera regularpersonhoweverthisisusuallyseenthrough theirwhitemasks
whichmeansthe humanside isseenasinnocentwhocan’tcontrol theirpsychopathicways.