The poster creates expectations that the film will be good like the popular horror film Saw from the same directors. The dominant image is a terrifying puppet staring at the audience, corresponding to the film's theme of manipulated children's toys. Conventional horror film poster colors of black, red, and white are used, with the puppet emerging from the black background and the tagline "if you scream, you die" in red, warning the audience. Additional information and a link to the website create interactivity for the audience.

1. At the top of the poster it points out that this movie is coming from the same directors and
producers of Saw which is a widely popular horror film. If the target audience have seen Saw
and they enjoyed it then this piece of text sets an expectation that this movie should/will be
just as good, it sets a standard for their films.
The dominant image on the poster is of a puppet/doll and a disfigured hand. It’s a close-up
shot of the puppets face, it’s at eye level it’s as if the puppet is staring directly at the
audience, involving them in whatever fear it’s trying to create. The puppet is the centre of
attention, the first thing the potential audience will see is this puppet, and the actual filmis
based on the idea of puppets, dolls and a ventriloquist. The disfigured hand seems more
human which could connote that the puppet shown on the poster has a human aspect to it
and its wounded which corresponds to the theme of manipulated children’s toys. Children’s
toys are meant to be a representation of innocence and playfulness but this image gives of a
dangerous feel; the puppet looks terrifying with its sinister smile. Toys are meant to be
appealing to children but this would scare a child instead.
The poster has the conventional horror film poster colours which is black, red and white.
Black signifies darkness and fear. It can also represent isolation and emptiness. In the poster
the background is all black which could represent the puppet coming out of the darkness
Createsexpectationfor
thisfilmasSaw was a
widelypopularhorror
film.
The image of the puppet
isdominant.Handis
disfiguredandwounded
whichcorrespondstothe
theme of manipulated
children’stoys.
The moviestagline in
red. Danger andblood.
Word ‘die’tiesinwith
deathand blood.
Conventionaladditional
informationforthe
audience.
Image focusedinthe
middle withanall-black
backgroundcouldshow
that it’sisolatedand
centre of attention.
Title of the filmis in
largerfontthan other
text,itshows
importance.The word
silence juxtaposeswith
the fontas the fonthas
a sort of echoeffect.

2. alone which instils fear in the audience. Red connotes blood and danger. It’s conventionally
used in horror posters especially if it’s a gory film. The tagline is written in red, it mentions
that if you scream you die, as it’s written in red it could be seen as a warning to the
audience perhaps, or it’s a warning to the characters in the film. The audience will have to
watch to find out. White can represent innocence and purity; it can also represent ghosts
and feelings of loneliness and isolation. In the case of the colour white being shown in a
good light it would usually be associated with children as they are young and innocent or
with the dead in some cases as they are dead and can cause no more harm (unless they
haunt people).
Convergence is used at the bottom as there’s a link to a website, this creates interactivity
and allows for deeper communication with the audience.
Simple colourpalette
of white,greyand
black
Simple buteffectivetag
line.Tellsusexactly
whatthe filmisbased
on and whatit’sgoing
to be revolvedaround.
Dominantimage of
kevins other
identities,the 24th
beingportrayedas
the largest= more
significance
Couldbe seenasa
spoiler
The title isinthe
biggestfont,follows
conventions,hasa
choppy/spliteffect
correspondswiththe
title

3. The title of the poster is in the largest font which follows the usual conventions of horror
film posters. It’s in the same blackish grey shade as the image on the poster. The colour
black denotes darkness and fear, in this case its representing just a few of Kevin’s (the main
character) ‘shadows’ (personalities). The largest shadow is also represented as his 24th
personality, it’s the largest one which shows that it holds the most significance and it’s the
most dominant as it takes up more space of on the poster. This shadow holds the most
aggressive stance compared to the other 3 shadows that are standing in a ‘normal’ position,
this could connote that the nature of this ‘shadow’ is how its aggressive and distinctly
different to Kevin’s other personalities.
At the bottom of the poster the word January is in red which is the only thing in another
colour besides black and white. This could’ve been done so it stands out from the rest of the
poster and the audience have an idea of when it comes out but not the specific date. For the
specific date they will have to google the film which will lead them to the trailer and build
up a hype to watch the film.
The entire background of the poster is white which could denote isolation and loneliness
and this is parallel to the theme of the film where the main character is very distant to
humanity and is secluded. The colour of the text all contrasts to the background so it stands
out and catches the audience’s eyes rather than blending in with the background.
Overall I think this poster both challenges and enforces the common codes and conventions
of a horror film poster. The colour white is very dominant in this poster whereas black or red
being the dominant colour is more conventional. However the contrast between black/grey
and white links to Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposites, here it links to good vs evil. Some
of Kevin’s personalities are good for example on of his personalities includes a young boy
who is innocent and unaware of the reality around him. Whereas some of his personalities,
especially his 24th one are pure evil.