textual analysis of horror poster conventions (kieron)

Evaluation of the design of horror film posters

I have chosen the horror film posters below because they all have a similar style of design and layout. The top four are the most similar in design in that they all use the same convention of a black background with the subject dramatically lit from above highlight certain feature to create a feeling of fear or terror. The top two posters are the most comparable in design because both subjects fill the top half of the layout and are lit from a certain angle to conceal the bottom half of their faces and highlight their eyes this creates a dramatic effect. Both of the posters have their titles at the bottom of the page and use red and white typography and state the films directors and actors beneath the title, the font design of both film titles reflects the content of the film for example ‘Mirrors’ has a mirrored R in the middle of the title and ‘Rec’ is base of the design of a recording symbol as found on the video camera. The main difference between the two is that ‘Mirrors’ does not have a tag line where as ‘Rec’ does and also has some information place in the top right hand corner.

The film posters for ‘Scream 4’ and the ‘The Descent’ use similar conventions to the films above in that the use a black background with a face as the main subject, the lighting is used for dramatic effect and the film titles and information are at the bottom of the page and use a white font. I have chosen these two posters because they both have images that have been manipulated to suggest what the content of the film might be for example the mask in ‘Scream 4’ has been digitally manipulated to become a knife this is the famous murder weapon from the Scream series and shows the audience that the mask and the knife will be a central theme to the film. The image in ‘The Descent’ has used lighting to represent what the film might be about, the light is made to look as if it is seeping through a crack in a rock this gives the effect of being trapped underground.

These posters use less of the same convention as the others; they still have a close up on the subject and the title at the bottom. ‘Shutter’ uses a background of what looks like a digitally composed collage of photos and imagery instead of a conventional black background, the montage of photos have been put together to create a human skeletal creature. ‘Quarantine’ have a close on a woman reaching for help but a night vision filter has been placed over it. ‘Quarantine’ also has the most writing as the designer has put a story at the top left of the poster.