Horror, Hybrid, Other Genre

1. Film Poster Analysis

2. ‘From the makers of’ is a clever selling line as it catches the audiences
attention by highlighting other well known films made by the same people. The title, ‘Insidious’ is the Quotes from other sources
This is a massive help when promoting a new film as people will often trust in the biggest, boldest font increase the audiences
producers of previous films they have seen and enjoyed watching, and expect on the poster, making sure expectations of the film, and
this film to be of the same standard. This links to Tom Ryall’s genre theory, to catch the viewers convince them to go and see it
that it provides a framework of structuring tools which in turn act as a form of attention, as it’s the most when it’s released as it becomes
supervision over the work of production film makers and the work of reading crucial part of the poster. evidence that it is worth paying
by the audience. for. The most important words
such as ‘scary’ and ‘sheer terror’
have been put into a bigger font
The blue/grey colour scheme to make them stand out,
seen in this film poster has catching the audiences
become a widely used attention.
convention in Western
countries in recent horror. The
tone of the colours suggest The use of child actors in horrors
death, coldness, and mystery. has become extremely popular
This entices the read and urges since the release of The Exorcist
them to find out more, by then (1973). Having the picture of the
watching the film. child in the foreground of the
poster intensifies the importance
behind the character. Typically
The background of the poster children are seen as a sign of
is always very important as it purity and innocence, which is
gives the film a setting. Here clearly opposed in this poster-
we see the all-American home, scaring the audience who view
which in most films is a place it. Adding to this, the boy has a
of security for the characters. straight face, and has direct
In the window is the silhouette audience address. Or at least he
of a demon, which gives a The strap line, ‘it’s not the house that’s Credits are an important would if his eyes hadn’t been
preview as to what the film haunted’ puts a twist on the plot of the aspect of any film poster as ‘scratched out’ in the image. This
could be about, this then film before the audience has even they give recognition to the immediately forces the audience
furthers the interest of the watched it. The strap line is important as it companies and main names to ask ‘why?’ and increases their
audience. The flowers in the gets their mind working, asking questions involved in creating the film. chances of going to watch the
garden are dark and dead, that can only be answered by watching the They are almost always in film, to answer these rhetorical
which adds to the overall feel film and uncovering the mysteries. the same font, situated at questions.
of the poster. the bottom of the poster.

3. The background of this film The strap line on this film poster is incredibly effective as it reflects the The foreground image in
poster is almost completely Sci-Fi outer space image the producers are trying to achieve by having less this poster is of two
black, apart from the text on the poster. The strap line is especially effective due to the use of monsters, wrapped around
occasional star showing that it’s imperative words such a ‘no one’ and ‘everyone’. Also, by addressing the a world. This already gives
meant to be outer space. reader with the word ‘you’, it directly involves them with the film, and the audience a huge insight
Having this image as a backdrop gives a sense that what happens in the film could happen to them, this as to what the film is about,
increases the feeling of emphasises any scary moments throughout. and if they begin to think
isolation and seclusion which is deeper different ideas can
very typical of the horror genre, be gained from this image
and at the same time are alone. For example, the
clichés of every Sci-Fi film out possibility that is symbolises
there. This closely links to the that these two creatures
John Hartley genre theory, in have taken over the world,
that argues genres are agents or maybe that they’re
of ideological closure meaning bigger and more powerful
they limit the meaning and than anything else on earth.
potential of a given text. The This leaves the option to the
emptiness of the overall poster audience, to go and see the
then highlights and shows the film to find out what it
importance of everything else means. The monsters also
on the poster, and doesn’t look quite weird and scary,
distract from the information so the audience begin to
given as some posters do. have a feel for what the film
will be like, based upon the
look of setting and
The title, once again is the most ‘characters’. The fact that no
important convention on any film human characters appear
poster. Here, the title is in white on the poster, emphasises
to stand out against the complete the importance that the
In a film like this, CGI is particularly important to achieve monsters have over them
blackness of the background, creating a contrast
a high spec finish, therefore all of the producers within the film, showing the
that will catch the readers eye. In addition to the
companies have to be accredited for within the credits, audience that the film is
white ‘Aliens vs Predator’ is a bold word in red-
once again shown at the bottom of the poster, just like more about these two
‘Requiem’ which is defined as ‘A Mass for the
on the Insidious poster. Along with this, is a link to a things than anything else.
repose of the souls of the dead’. This adds a sense
website on which the viewer can find out more
of fear and mystery to the poster, and the film
information about the film.
itself.

4. The actor Jack Black is definitely the first The use of the strap line ‘we don’t need no education’ is effective as it’s recognised from
thing the audiences eye is drawn to on the Pink Floyd song ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ which continues to make the link
the poster. A known actor is an especially between the film and its reference to rock music and school children.
effective way to increase sales, as many
viewers already have an emotional
attachment to said actor after seeing The title, ‘School of Rock’ is the
them in previous films. He is known to biggest boldest font on the poster,
play comedic roles and instantly the similar to Insidious. It’s also been
audience notice that due to his famous given a 3D effect by the use of shadow
comedy role background, this film most and bevelling using Photoshop to
likely follows the same genre. Jack Black is make it jump from the page, attracting
most well known for being in the the attention of the viewer.
successful band Tenacious D, which links Underneath this, is a box with text
in with this music based comedy film, as inside, that seems to be mimicking a
we can see from the poster alone. Direct kind of stamp that might be used
address from Jack Black makes the whilst marking children's school work.
audience feel personally involved with the Mise en scene is represented by the
film, as though he is inviting them in to costumes the children in the background
view it. of the poster are wearing. Their clothes
are over the top and ridiculous looking,
The credits are also added in at the to show the comedic side of the film, and
bottom of the poster, just the same as to make it instantly recognisable as a
Insidious and Aliens vs Predator, this comedy to the audience so that they
confirms that typical font, size and don’t become confused by any miss-read
position is a convention that barely signs. We notice that their costumes are
changes through different posters. based on school uniforms, and then
However, as a extremely slight difference, uniquely transformed into something
the credits on this poster have been more creative and bizarre. This then
cleverly ‘stacked’ to fill up more of the brings the audience back to the fact that
white space around the main images. This the film is about school age children.
is so the poster doesn’t look overly
boring, as too much blank space can look
unprofessional and be off-putting to a As there’s already so much going on, the producers have opted for clean white background so
viewer as it could indicate that there’s not that it doesn’t take away from the images of the actors within the film. The colours are very
much in the film. bright, this could symbolise the age or possibly the psychographics of the target audience.