2. TheSilenceoftheLambs
A Death’s-head Hawkmoth is
featured over the pale face of a
woman: this is because
Hannibal Lecter’s victims are all
women and he also collects
moths, which appear in most of
the crime scenes throughout
the film. The skull design on the
moth is Salvador Dali’s ‘In
Voluptas Mors’ which translates
to ‘A Desirable Death’
photographed by Philippe
Halsman using women’s bodies
to form the final skull shape.
The fact the piece focuses on
the women’s body form as well
as being titled ‘A Desirable
Death’ ties in well with the film
and links well with the movie
poster.
In this powerfully monochrome graphic, little detracts from
the intensity of the amber eyes and the main focus of the
moth, which provides the shock value of this thriller/horror
poster. The title presents a similar colour to signal its
importance but, unusually, it is in lower case font with no
capital letters at all, which reflects the sinister quietness of its
meaning: not only are the lambs silenced by slaughter but so
are women through the film
3. TheSilenceoftheLambs
The single most important trait of this
horror/thriller trailer is to alarm the audience
and get inside their heads; the same way
Hanibal Lector gets inside Clarice’s head.
The methods used to do this include rapid
hard cuts, making the face of Hannibal
Lector flash on screen in a menacing way
accompanied by jarring abrupt sounds. The
characters are often framed through prison bars which slide with unnerving scraping
noises that alarm and distress us.
The narrative is anchored by a voice over that tells the audience that a killer is on the
loose, making the audience fearful of everything see. Clarice’s inexperience as a
rookie FBI agent makes her vulnerable to Hanibal’s taunts. Cross cuts with rapid
edits and jarring sounds evoke her mental disintegration as he threatens her.
This is a very effective trailer for one of the most recognised and renowned horror/
thriller film ever produced.
4. ShutterIsland Clear focus one famous actor ‘Leanardo D,Caprio’
featured in film to entice an already existing group
of audience who appreciate his acting.
Directors name ‘Martin Scorsese’ present in
posters to indicate film quality based on his
previous work, as well as attract existing fans of
his work.
The Island is featured in the very centre of the
poster implying its isolation and solitary, its been
created by collage making it look fractured and
fictitious. This hints to the story narrative as
what you see is not what is scenes.
The title is in red making it stand out from the
rest of the poster this is to draw attention and
ensure the viewer sees the films name.
The line ‘someone is missing’ is present to allure
audiences and leave them in suspense wanting
to find out who is missing and what happens in
the film.
5. ShutterIsland
The film cuts across the horror, thriller
and crime genre. All trailers act as
advertisements for the film, to entice
target audiences. The trailer tracks the
apparent investigation of missing
patent: Rachael Solondro. Leonardo
DiCaprio plays the protagonist; an
investigator invited to the island to help
search for the missing patient however
things are not as they seem. The trailer
builds suspense and raises questions, due to the shocking characters and mysteries
yet to be found out. Mise-en-scene is prevalent throughout the trailer, clouds are
always present in the shots filmed outside; a blue tint has also been applied to create
an unsettling and eerie atmosphere, The setting of the trailer is a Mental Asylum on
an off shore island, this is a significant part of mise en scene as it shows the asylum
is at the centre of the films narrative and emphasises how far away from society the
characters are.
6. TheGoodFellas The three main actors are featured
within the movie poster, as well their
names above; this is to attract an
audience who are already fans of these
A list actors.
Original quote from the real gangster
‘Henry Hill’ reads ‘As far back as I
could remember Ive always wanted to
be a gangster’. Henry Hill is a
character in the film played by Ray
Liotta and the line is extremely
prevalent and memorable within the
film.
The films title is the only text in the
poster in a bold font, this makes it
stand out due to the text thickness as
well as being in white while the rest of
the poster is in black.
Text reads ‘A Martin Scorsese Picture’
To draw attention to the famous Italian
American Film maker who already has
an existing following
7. TheGoodFellas The Goodfellas (1990), illustrates on
three decades of the mafia, the main
focus is on Henry Hill, who achieves
his life long dream of being a gangster
at the age of 14, seeing his crime life,
love life and drug life, Goodfellas
shows the true representation of what
having a role in the mafia brought, with
a volatile and aggressive psycho as a
best friend, and murdering partner,
Henry and the mafia members lives
start to unravel.
The film trailer opens with Henry Hills iconic Monologue “As far back as i could remember, I’ve
always wanted to be a gangster.” The monologue is layered over classic 1950s-60s songs. This
creates a feeling of nostalgia as we see shots of Henry growing up and being influenced by the
mob and the ways which they do things. The music in the background is very cheerful and
upbeat, creating contrast between the music and the horrific scenes of violence which are being
shown in front of us. Martain Scorsese has chosen the soundtrack well to match the decade in
which the film is set in.
