This is a powerpoint on the conventions of Thriller posters.

1. Natalie Portman has a very serious
expression on her face, her eyes are
completely focused on the camera.
Because she is the only
person featuring in this
poster, it clearly indicates
that she is the protagonist
of this film.
Natalie Portman is shown
with a crack down her face.
This could portray that she
is coming to a breaking
point, so it could be a
metaphor. It could be a
metaphor for a number of
different things such as her
being under so much
pressure, ( as I know from
the title that Black Swan is a
ballet show, and ballet
dancers are always under a
large amount of pressure).
The title is black.
Black is authorial hint for
darkness, and therefore
would indicate in the film
that her story is going to be
dark and mysterious. Swan
being written in black is
interesting because swans
are usually white and are
associated with purity. This is
a massive hint about the
contents of the film, it is
easily misinterpreted.
You can vaguely see a
white feather in the
corner of the poster.
White represents
innocence, but that is
contradicted by the
black background and
title, as black
represents darkness.
Dark makeup is shown
on Natalie in this
poster, especially
around the eyes and
she is given a very pale
complex.

2. The type of thing you would expect to see in a thriller is good and evil fighting against
each other with a on going feel of tension, and suspense. In a lot of thriller films, the
antagonist is know, and the protagonist tries to intervene with the plans, a good
example of this would be ‘Dark Knight’. A film of this genre usually has a sense of
danger or of threat through out.
The story of the average thriller film will usually be shown from the protagonists point
of view. This point of view helps engage the audience in the on going events, and lets
them become closer to the character as they are able to see how the protagonists
reacts in different situations with different characters. Other points of view can often
help with revealing the plot for example showing clips from the villain’s point of view,
allowing the audience to understand him as a character when he is alone, or how they
used to act ( in a flashback ), which sometimes creates a sense of empathy towards
the villain.
During the scenes in which characters are just using dialogue, the audience can sort
of grasp an idea of what is going on, but never receive the full truth of what is
happening until later on in the film, so that it holds the mystery and suspense until
further on in the film. Usually the motive of the villain will be revealed more towards
the end of the film, it is then when the audience can finally match their thoughts with
the characters, or in fact change them.

3. The conventions of a thriller poster are always quite simple yet effective. There are
always hints on a thriller poster which will let the reader have an idea of who the main
character is, and possibly certain traits of that character, the situation they might
become involved in, or possibly even show hints of danger or mystery. There will
always be a tag line, this could be used to give a moral to the story or it can be received
as a warning. Cast members are always a major part of the campaign, as if the celebrity
is well known, then it will help to attract their fans to go and watch the film. This can
also apply to a director, if the director is well known for amazing films prior to the one
that is being advertised, the audience are more likely to trust that this film will be a
good one.
Specific things that may feature in a convention could be, a weapon, as thrillers are
known to use them. A serious look could be present on the characters face. There are
loads of iconic objects used within thriller films, and therefore they are more than likely
to appear in a poster. The posters are used to capture an audience’s attention, the
better the poster is, the more enthusiastic people are going to be to come and see it.

4. The characters teeth.
His teeth have the mannerism
of a wild, crazed animal
hunting for something, it is
sort of a smile also, which
indicates that this character is
excited about what he is about
to do.
The main focus of
the poster is Jack
Nicholson, he is
renowned for
playing strange and
often insane
characters therefore
the audience could
guess the theme of
the film is likely to
follow that of a
psychotic nature.
The character has broken
through a door. The facial
expression shown
suggests the character is
menacing another
character, possibly violent
and out of control
The eyes.
Jack’s eyes look fixated onto
something. He could be
staring at another character,
whom he is about to attack.
The hair.
His hair is out of place, I
think this adds to the
frantic look that the
character has, it adds to
the fact that the
character has been doing
something crazy.
The title is written in
black, and the directors is
written in red. Black is a
color of mystery and red
is a color of danger, this
gives hints about the
films content.

5. Iconic Thrillers