Sunday, 21 February 2010

Conventions of Horror/Thriller film posters

Firstly, one thing that is usually present on the majority of any film poster is the names of the actors that are in the film. This is usually done by putting the main actors names in a slightly bigger text to what the other actors names in the film would be. By doing this, it shows the people viewing the poster who the main parts in the film are played by, to which they may be more interested in.

As well as this, another main feature which is included on the majority of all film trailers is that of a title. This would usually be the main focus of the film, in addition to a picture which has been shown to represent part of the film. The text of the title would be the largest piece of text on the poster to make it memorable to the viewer of the poster.

The title of most thriller or horrors would also be in a contrasted colour to the dark tonal colours of the background of the poster. This is to make it stand out from the rest of the poster and make it clearly visible. By doing this it makes it easier for the viewer to see it and makes it easier for them to be able to remember the name of the film.

I have noticed, that in the textual analysis's I did, the overall colouring and tone of the poster seems to be quite dark. This is because dark colours have more connotations to having a dark and scary atmosphere. I would class this as a convention of a thriller or horror film poster because it has being presented on all three of my analysis's.

As well as this, another feature that can be seen on all three of the posters I have analysed is that the main character or characters of the film are featured on the poster. This is accompany their name on the poster and make even more easily understandable to the viewer of the poster who the main part of the film is played by, and what the main character of the film looks like.

As well as the character being placed on the poster, in all three of the posters I analysed, the character all had worried, scared or emotionless faces. This is to set the mood of the film through a still image. The fact that they look worried and scared shows the type of events that may be happening throughout the films, and makes it easier for the viewer to understand the genre in which the poster is advertising.

In addition to all the other text on the poster, there is also a tag line to the film, or a short sentence to give an idea of the purpose and context of the film. For example, on the 'Flight Plan' Poster this 'tag line' is just above the title of the film, and it says "If Someone Took Everything You Live For... How Far Would You Go To Get It Back?" By giving this line on above the title where it can be clearly noticed, it allows the viewer to recognise that the film is about losing someone and fighting to get them back, but doesn't go into detail. This would make the viewer develop more of an interest to find out what happens, but also gives them an insight to the film so that they already have an idea of what may happen.

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