This poster analyzes the poster for the psychological horror film "The Silence of the Lambs". It summarizes that the poster depicts Jodie Foster's character Clarice with a moth covering her mouth, suggesting she has a secret. Through the use of colors like red and black, as well as lighting and Clarice's eyes, the poster conveys a creepy and mysterious atmosphere. It also effectively draws in audiences by hinting at the deeper narrative without revealing too much, making viewers want to learn more by watching the film.

1. Poster
Analysis

2. Introduction
This poster promotes ‘The Silence of
the Lambs’, a psychological horror film.
In this film, Crawford wants Clarice to
interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter; a
psychiatrist who is also a violent
psychopath whose serving in prison for
life after committing various acts of
murder and cannibalism. Crawford
believes that Lecter may have insight
into a case, and that Starling, an
attractive young woman, may be the
bait to draw him out. I chose to analyse
this poster because I liked the effect of
her face blending in with half of the
background, and the fact that she’s
stopped from talking because of the
moth. Although not a particular scary
poster, the genre is shown through the
use of the red, and the skull on the
butterfly’s head.
Poster Conventions
This poster follows conventions by having
the institutional information placed at the
bottom, along with the title of the film.
The image also dominates the page
which is another convention. Through the
use of red, white and black, the audience
know that this is a horror film
immediately, as these are commonly
used colours for horror film posters.
Direct address is also made, whilst the
character appear emotionless, two more
conventions of psychological horror
posters. One convention that has been
broken is the fact that there is no tagline
on this poster; this is unusual as usually a
tagline is placed at the top of posters to
reveal to the audience what the film is
going to be about, in order to pull them
into watching the movie.

3. Image
In this poster, the background is black and white, rather than having a location shown. This links to
psychological horror poster conventions as posters usually present a plain colour rather than a setting.
The poster shows a contrast between light and dark; the woman’s face is pale white, and as you look to
the right of her, the image fades into darkness. This suggests the presence of good and evil in the film,
whilst immediately telling the audience what genre the film belongs in. Her face is not clear, and this
suggests that she’s hiding something; the audience would then go and watch the movie in order to find
out what it is she’s hiding. Key lighting is used coming from the left to illuminate her face on one side, and
shadow her face on the other. This again hides her face slightly, and makes the audience feel uneasy
about her.
In this image, her costume is hidden from us because the image fades into black. This links to the horror
theme of having a hidden identity, and creates a sense of mystery in which the audience are eager to find
out about. The look on the girls face appears to be innocent, relating to the ‘lamb’ in the title as Lambs
have connotations with God and purity. She is also making direct address to the audience, which pulls
them into watching the film. Over the girl’s mouth is a moth, linking to the ‘silence’ in the title as the girl is
restricted from talking. However, this moth has a skull on the back of its head, showing connotations of
death and evil, warning the audience that the film is going to contain scenes of violence, linking to the
genre of film. This moth could be used to represent change for the killer, from something ugly into
something beautiful. When looked at closely, the moth is cleverly made up of several naked woman; this
links sex with death, which creates a creepy atmosphere for the film. It also links to the film where a body
is found with a moth stuck in the throat of the dead person. The colour of this moth is red/orange, linking
to blood and the horror genre as a whole. The girl’s eyes are also red, signifying evil and death; this
suggests to the audience that she’s the antagonist in the film.

4. Title
The title of this film is ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’, which suggests to the audience that
someone innocent is being hurt; the lamb has connotations of innocence and sacrifice. In
order for a lamb to become sacrificial, it must be killed under ritual circumstances; this is the
case in the film with the Senator’s daughter being help captive by the serial killer. Lector’s
victims are perceived to be innocent and trusting in the film, just like these ‘lambs’. Also,
when lambs are being led to be slaughtered, they go quietly, which hints some of the
narrative to the audience. When Clarice is young and sent to live with her relatives, she hears
the screaming of the lambs that are being slaughtered; she tries to save a lamb, but it fails.
When she is an adult, she has a recurring nightmare that features the cries of these lambs.
This links to the psychological sub-genre through the idea of having nightmares, and links the
title by hinting to the audience that something innocent is going to be killed in the film. This
increases fear for the audience by thinking they could be hurt for being innocent.
The typography uses a sans-serif font, and all lower case-letters; this makes the poster looks
tidy, while emphasising the sadness of the title. However, usually film posters feature the title
being bold and capitalised; it could be different for this film because the producers wanted the
audience to focus more on the content of the film, rather than the title, as the content is what
deserves the most admiration. The title is the largest text on the page, in order to make it
stand out, and catch the audiences’ attention straight after they look at the image. This is
important because the name of the film will then be stuck in their heads, so when it’s released
the audience will be inclined to watch it. The title is written in a light red/orange colour; this
symbolises the idea that it’s a psychological horror, not a horror that’s based on blood and
gore. The title, the moth and Clarice’s eyes are also all the same colour; this could suggest
that she’s hiding something she’s seen, and needs to be silenced. Following conventions of
horror posters, the title is positioned at the bottom of the frame; this is because the audience
will look at the picture, then go down to look at the title leaving it stuck in their heads.

5. In terms of taglines, Silence of the Lambs doesn’t have a tagline; this could be
because the producers don’t want to give any information away, or overcrowd the
poster.
A convention of horror film posters is to have the institutional information placed at
the very bottom in order to stop it distracting the audience from the more important
features. This institutional information reveals to us that there are multiple
production companies involved, suggesting a production synergy; this indicates that
it may be a less mainstream film than others. The director of the film is written in a
box, signifying his importance compared to the other people involved in the movie.
There is also star marketing seen on this poster; above the title, ‘Jodie Foster /
Anthony Hopkins / Scott Glen’ is written. This interests the audience because they’d
more inclined to watch the film if they’re a fan. In order to keep the symbiotic link,
their names are written in lowercase, to remind the audience that they’re not the
most important thing about the film.
Under the title, this poster features ‘from the terrifying best seller’, telling/reminding
the audience that the film is based on the book. This is a clever selling point
because those who read and enjoyed the book would be excited to see it come to
life in a movie. This also reminds the audience of the genre of the film, attracting
horror fans by telling the audience its ‘terrifying’.
Other Text

6. Colour
Dominating this poster is white, orange and black; conventional colours of horror film
posters. However, orange is used rather than red. This reminds the audience of the fact
that this is a psychological horror, and although violence is used, it’s not solely based
about death and gore. The posters uses black and white, setting the theme of Good
versus Evil; the woman is shown in white, suggesting she’s the protagonist. However,
the black background appears to engulf part of her face; this could refer to the idea that
the darkness is being bought to her, making her evil. Orange is also the colour used in
the middle of traffic lights; green has connotations of good and red has connotations of
evil. This links to the idea that she’s in the middle, being pulled away from good into the
evil. Orange also has connotations of deceit and distrust, reminding the audience that
she’s hiding a secret; this links to the idea of the moth covering her mouth.
Conclusion
Overall, this poster is effective in luring in the audience because of the simple colour
scheme, and the use of orange, making the poster stand out from afar. This poster will
be successful because it tells the audience that there is a deeper story behind the
image, and this will make the audience want to find out what it is. This poster is also
successful in suggesting the film’s narrative without giving too much away; we know
she has a secret she can’t tell, and we know she’s seen something she shouldn’t have
through the emphasise put on her eyes and mouth. Direct address is also made to
attract the audience, pulling them in by making them believe that this is made for them
to watch.