The document discusses conventions used in psychological thriller film posters. It provides two examples: the poster for Black Swan and the poster for Orphan. For both posters: - The main image focuses on the protagonist's face to emphasize the mind of the characters. - Dark colors and low lighting create an unsettling atmosphere. - Reviews, actor/director names, and release dates are included for marketing. - Imagery and text are purposefully designed to intrigue audiences and hint at themes in the films around ambiguity and good vs evil.

1. Psychological thriller poster
BY LEAH WALKER

2. Conventions
 The colours used are mainly red and black as they connote danger, violence and blood.
 Also low key lighting is often used on the main subject to create mystery. The background is
often dark to emphasise this and to create an unsettling atmosphere.
 The main image on a psychological thriller film poster is usually a close up of the protagonist. This
is because psychological thrillers focus on the mind of characters.
 The title is usually placed at the bottom of the poster, and the director and actors at the top.
Usually the film has a famous actor/director therefore this placed at the top so it will be the first
thing people see and it will draw them to the film.
 They also include a review of the film to make people interested and want to watch it.
 Finally, the date is put on the bottom of the film poster in order to let people be aware when the
film is coming out.

3. Black Swan
The main image is the actresses face which
dominates the poster. From this image we know she
will be the main character in the film and that
something may be wrong with her from the crack in
her face. This makes the audience intrigued as you
want to watch the film to understand why her face is
like that. In addition to this she is making eye contact
with the camera which creates an eerie effect.
The background and the title is black which
are typical psychological thriller colours. This
colour contrasts against her pale skin, this
creates an unsettling atmosphere about the
film. The bold title also stands out which is
important as we need to see the title clearly.
We see a film review in white colouring, this is
done to stand out against the black
background. It is important to have a film review
on your poster as people need to know that the
film is worth watching.
The actors/actresses names are also shown on
the poster. The names are in capital letters so
that they are seen clearly on the poster. As the
film has well known actors in it is important to
show their names as more people will want to
watch the film because of this.
The contrast of the light and dark on the
poster could represent a theme in the film of
good vs evil which may be something explored
in the film. This also creates ambiguity as we
are unsure what the film is really about.
The writing at the bottom of the page Is in gold font, this
makes the poster different as this writing is usually in
black. The Layout of this follows typical conventions for a
psychological thriller as the main image is the centre of
the poster and the writing and cast names are at the
bottom. This is how I would want to set out my poster.

4. Orphan
The protagonist is central to the poster and automatically
gets our attention. She is looking into the camera
however an effect has been used so that her eyes look
black. This makes her look extremely evil and sinister. The
mise-en-scene of the image also creates an eerie effect as
she is wearing old fashioned clothes and her hair is very
child-like which could connote that in the film she
appears innocent but in reality she is the opposite. In
addition to this she looks very pale and thin as we can see
the shadows of her cheekbones and around her eyes. This
makes her look almost dead which could foreshadow a
key moment in the film.
The title is in white which could connote the innocence
of Esther. The font also looks as though it has been
scratched on which creates a sinister effect. The release
date and the billing block is in white to contrast against
the dark background however the tagline ‘can you
keep a secret?’ is in red to create emphasis on this. Red
connotes danger and blood therefore we are intrigued
to find out this secret.
This is the tagline for the poster and
creates synergy with the film. It intrigues
us as it foreshadows that Esther isn’t a
innocent young girl and she is about to
cause trouble for the family she is living
with. The fact that the tagline is In capital
letters creates a sense of urgency and the
full stop a the end creates a serious tone.
The colours used are dark green, blue and blue
which create a cold effect for the viewer. This
breaks the norm of typical psychological horror
film poster conventions as whites, red and
blacks are usually used. This could have been
done to create the idea that this is not a typical
psychological horror film and there could be a
twist.