Film Poster Research

This is an effective film poster because you get a sense of what the story will entail. The women is going to be haunted by a masked character. The lighting is really simple but effective; it makes the presence of the women obvious. Then you see the masked character in the darkness behind which sets your imagination off as to what is going to happen next. It creates an ominous scene that would be eye catching to a horror audience. The key for a film poster like this is to make the audience want to see what is going to happen to the women and how the masked character got in to a comfortable homely setting.

The writing at the top of the page is typical of a horror film it goes against what we normally think when we are scared or frightened, telling us we shouldn't fear things and not ignore the unexpected. A clever slogan that we should look to include in our poster. The font of “the strangers” looks effective because it has a distorted look and ties in with the lighting from the lamp well.

This poster uses an obvious marketing technique and that is Daniel Radcliffe but aside from that it is quite a good poster. The greeney blue filter colour they have used makes it look supernatural and mysterious but also gives the image a lot of contrast which is effective because of the horror genre. We could use a, high contrast image and a filter to give it a spooky effect like this one. Having the black figure behind him makes him look like he is being haunted. It tells the audience that this mysterious “Women in Black” figure is going to play a big part. The haunted house is also effective as it sets the scene but here is also something ominous about a grave yard and a mysterious looking tree. The way the light shines across his face and the moody expression makes him look like a hero; it is trying to attract the majority of the Harry Potter audience, teenage girls who love the main characters. The bright distorted lighting ties in with the Gothic setting and makes it stand out.

This poster uses a scary scene with a blue filter to attract your attention, as well as the title and captions in the bottom half in bold lettering. The picture of the lady pointing at the shadow on the door makes the audience think that they are being haunted by a ghost. It is a wide shot to reveal the whole room and make the audience think that they could be attacked from any angle, quite a clever shot to include on a poster. The scene looks very jumpy and this would attract a horror audience who liked to be spooked and scared. “What happens when you sleep” applies to the image making the audience inquisitive about what happens at night in this scene and film. “Don’t see it alone” makes a horror audience want to go see it with friends and find out what it is all about. The review comments at the top of the page are a great marketing technique; we could use this and make some up if we were allowed.

The layout of the poster is very simple but effective, if it was complicated it wouldn't stand out, there is a balance between messy and too simplistic that we need to find. The home made video technique is clever it adds realism to the scene and adds to the scary affect.