Poster Analysis - Sorority Row

This poster is from a film called Sorority Row. It is a thriller/horror which is about a group of American girl's who are part of a clique. One of the girls wants to get revenge on a boy, so the group of them arrange her fake death, but it ends up going too far. The boy they are seeking revenge on takes it too seriously and kills her for real.

From this poster we can clearly see the dark tone of colours, which is conventional of thriller posters, as dark colours have connotations with a dark and spooky atmosphere. The use of the black colouring on the poster contrasted with the bright orange of the fire makes the rest of the poster stand out, such as the characters of the film in the middle.

The fact that all the girls are intertwined on the front of this poster connotes that they were close in relationships, meaning they were close friends. But what this also does, is show their limp bodies hanging over one another, giving the impression they are dead, which could also be seen from the complexion of their skin; with it being pale and motionless. By doing this, it gives the viewer an insight in to the sort of events which may take place within the film, such as death, making it an obvious thriller/horror.

The title of the film is done in white, and I feel this helps the consistency of the poster, as the white pale skin of the characters is brought through into the text of the film. In addition to this, the red line underneath the white text also borders the full poster, as within the middle it is almost just black and white colouring, where as the top is bright orange, so the fact the red is at the bottom helps surround the duller tones. The fact this is line is red also gives connotations with their being danger and bloody events happening, as red is iconic of this sort of thing.

Included on this poster is the names of actors playing roles in this film, and also the date in which the film comes out. These two things are iconic of film posters, as it raises viewer's awareness of the film, which may increase their desire to view it.

Poster Analysis - The Others

This is a poster advertising a film called the others. This is a thriller/horror about a family who are experiencing paranormal activity within their household. But a twist to the story reveals that they are the ones haunting the house and their ghosts are alive still.

The use of the dark colouring makes it obvious it's a thrilling and scary film due to the connotations that dark colours have with a scary atmosphere. The use of the black makes it seem as though it's dark, which is one of the most common fears, which in effect would straight away trigger the knowledge that it is a thriller film.

The contrast between the black background and the orange light works well to highlight the main character of the film but also to make part of the poster stand out and catch the viewer's attentions.

The title of the film is done in all capital letters which gives the effect of it being important, making the viewer think it's a good film. It is also done in white and faded orange, which is consisting with the colour of the main focus of the poster. This makes it easier for it to be noticed and makes it stand out from the rest of the poster.

The fact that the character on the poster is holding an old fashioned oil lamp makes it apparent that this film is set in the past; giving some extra insight into the film for the viewer, which may result in them having more interest in the film, or finding it a more interesting.

The actors name is placed on the poster, and this is the only name that is placed on this poster. Usually you would see the names of most other actors in the film on the poster. This may have being done as the main actor; 'Nicole Kidman' is a fairly famous actress, which would attract the viewer's attention without the help of anyone else's presentation within the film.

Poster Analysis - Flight Plan

This poster was put out to advertise the film 'Flight Plan', which is a thriller about a woman who is portrayed as being 'crazy' after her daughter goes missing on an aeroplane. The main actor in this film is Jodie Foster.

The use of the dark colours makes it come across as a thriller and dark tonal colours are related to dark atmospheres, which would be present in this film. The choice of colour has also being cleverly chosen as the light blue matches the characters eye colour perfectly, and the dark navy and black colours match her costume.

The way the name of the film is written coincides with the storyline of the film. As you go to the right of the text, it almost takes on the characteristics of a plane that is travelling at fast speeds. It could also be recognised as a plane that is becoming out of control and heading for danger, which is what the film is about.

The fact the text is white directly contrasts to the black and blue colours that are used for the background of the poster, making it obviously visible to the viewer of the poster. The white also matches with the colour of the text used to show who the main character of the film is. This is done to keep consistency within the poster so it's more appealing to the viewer's eye.

This poster, as well as most others, has the names of the actors included in the film. This is to show the viewers of the poster to recognise some of the actors and maybe develop more interest in the film.

Poster Research

For this part of my coursework I am creating a poster which will accompany the release of the film. I would most like my poster to be put out either on to a bus stop board, or within the magazine, as a double page spread pull-out in the middle, which I will be creating folling this section.

I have researched the dimensions of the posters I wish to develop.

The bus stop poster's dimensions will be as follow:

This means that while doing my editing on the photos to get them to a poster presentation standard, I will also have to arrange to do the poster within these dimensions so that will realistically be able to be put out as a method of advertising the film.


My other idea, of doing a poster which would be included in the magazine, which I have to do a front cover for, would just be two A4 sizes, as a magazine is typically an A4 size, and since it's going to be a double page spread, it's going to be two of these.

These dimensions would be: 460 x 300 mm (Width x Length).

After thinking about which option would be best to produce, I have decided that doing the poster which is included within the magazine is best, as I believe it would help the two products intertwine and be cleverly related.

Finished video

Animatic

Conventions of 'Thriller/Horror' Genre

Cinematography

One feature which can be seen in the genre of thriller/horror is the use of close ups. These are used frequently in this genre to create a sense of mystery for the viewer as they want to see more of what's around the subject being filmed, and it also allows the viewer to see closely what is wanted to be seen, or what emotion a character is showing.

Another feature which is used frequently in this genre is slow panning movements. These are used to show the viewer what is going on in the scene, but it's slow to make them want to see more in a shorter amount of time. These are usually used, as well, to introduce a surprising section of film when the audience is subject to something shocking or unexpected. This is used to introduce this because it allows the audience to see the whole shot or setting and make them believe that they know exactly what is in that establishment, and when something appears that they weren't aware was there, it create an even more effective action.

Dutch tilts are used in this genre as well. These are used to adds a sense of confusion for the viewer and to make it seem disorientating. This adds a sense of realism or connection between the audience and the characters on screen as they get to experience or see what the character is seeing or feeling. This is effective in the way that the viewer gets more involved in what is going on, which in effect, makes them more interested in what is going on.

Another feature which is often used in thriller/horror films is low angle shots. This is done to make someone appear small and helpless. It is a convention of thriller/horror films because in these types of films, more characters are in a weak position, and the use of the low angle shot helps the viewer recognise their position.

Editing

One thing which is used in this genre is shot/reverse shot. This is used in most other genres as well, but it is used to show the conversation between two people or their relation or positioning to each other. The shots included in this feature as usually point of view shots, which are used to show the audience exactly what the character on screen is seeing and to make them feel included in what is happening.

As well as this feature, montages are used to show this genre, again with most other genres as well, but they are used to show the audience a lot of the film in a short amount of time. This is done so that they are aware of the narrative of the story and become more interested in it, which makes them want to go see the film.

One thing that is included in most thriller/horror trailers, is the use of fast paced cuts. These are used to create a panicked feeling and to create the feeling that things are going to happen quickly, even though you don't want them to.

Another feature added into trailers of this genre is match on action. Again, this is used in other trailers as well, but is used in this genre to show the result of something, usually bad, happening. Although this is true, some times in trailers of this genre, match on action is not used, in such situations as something has happened and they are not showing the result. This creates the sense of mystery, and encourages the audience to want to see what happens.

Sound

One feature which is used in trailers of this genre is the use of dialogue. This is done to show the emotions and thoughts of the characters on screen to allow the audience to know what is happening and what effect it is having on the characters.

Another feature which is seen in thriller/horror trailers is the use of a voice over. These are used, again, to show the audience what is happening in the film, but also because it's an easy way to get the to know as they don't have to watch reels of the film to understand, instead they can just be told.

Non-diegetic music is a feature of trailers of this genre as it creates a certain atmosphere, depending on what atmosphere the producers are trying to create. The use of non-diegetic music can be used for other reason as well, such as introducing a place or character which may have ties with the music being played, or it could also be played to introduce a new scene, where that particular music is being played in the diegetic world.

Non-diegetic sounds are also used to help create the atmosphere in certain situations. For example, when there is a tense or anxious moment, some types of instruments such as strings, or the beating of a drum could be used to make the audience feel what emotion is suitable for the atmosphere which is being attempted to be made.

Mise-en-scene

Usually the setting is a dark and spooky place, for a horror, or somewhere 'normal looking' for a thriller, which has the potential so easily turn into some where spooky at certain times of the day i.e. night time. The reason this is, is because most people associate scary or bad things happening when it's dark, and so using this in films allows them to quickly link certain situations together.

The costume of most of the people in thrillers/horrors is usually just normal clothing that you see people wearing everyday. As in, different stereotypical groups of people's clothing as well as people just wearing clothing which you can't really group. This is done to make the audience think the film is closer to reality then to any made up world, by putting people from all walks of life into it.