Horror Poster 1: Unfriended (2014)
The first poster that I'm going to analyse is for the film Unfriended (2014). Immediately after looking at the poster you can tell that it is a horror film with several conventions standing out. The first is that the films tag line is the only coloured text on the poster which makes it stand out and the colour red is also associated with with the horror genre as it can have connotations with blood, violence, death, etc. What I can also see is the main part of the poster is the screaming face which has been edited to look like its glitching out making it impossible to tell who it is which prevents it from spoiling the story to the audience.
Another, notable thing that appears on the poster is the search bar appearing under the face as by looking closely at the search results we can see some very sinister results revolving around a person called Laura Barns with results such as suicide and possession. However, on closer inspection it is possible to piece together what the plot could be about which would be that a video/photos of Laura appears on the Internet (Party photos and passed out video results) which lead to her being bullied this ultimately ended with her committing suicide and the film is about her returning as a spirit (possession result) and taking revenge on whoever uploaded the video/photos which from the results is possibly her boyfriend. Now while this is done to peak audiences interests in the film it could possibly limit audiences as they could feel that the film has been spoiled for them as it removes the sense of mystery on the killers motives in the film where it would be more entertaining for the audience to find out as the film goes on.
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| A close-up on the search bar |
Horror Poster 2: Jaws (1975)
The next poster that I'm going to analyse is from the classic Spielberg film Jaws (1975) and with its iconic film poster is easy to see what made this film terrifying. So the most notable thing about the poster is the giant shark taking up most of poster this was done to terrify the audiences as back then the cause of it being the first major motion picture to be shot on the ocean no one really knew how truly monstrous a shark could be, so when seeing the sharp knife like teeth and emotionless black eyes it truly scared of how realistic the shark looks in the poster with he art done by Roger Kastel who also created the artwork for poster of The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
The other thing that the audience would also notice is the big, bold, red text that the titles name is in as it contrasts from the rest of the poster because everything else is a either dark blue or white so the
red title stands out and attracts more audiences as they will want to go and see the film. Another, feature of the poster that I like is that the scale of size between the shark and the swimmer is the shark could literally swallow her in one go which makes the shark much more menacing.
Action Poster 1: The Expendables 2 (2012)
My first action poster that I will be looking at is for the film The Expendables 2 (2012). Now what I like about this poster is that you can clearly tell that it is part of the action genre without having to deeply analyse it which is good as this tells me that the mass audience will also be able to recognise the genre as well attracting more people to it. Looking in depth at the poster, I can see many conventions of the action genre with the most notable being that every character is holding a gun which is a very conventional weapon of the action genre which will also help audiences recognise the genre.
The next thing that I see in the poster is the clear contrast between the top and bottom halves of the poster. The top half is a icy blue colour and with the moon and the helicopters in the background I believe that its implying part of the film could be about infiltration as many films that involve this are set during the night as it would be more stealthy than trying to infiltrate some where in broad daylight. Another thin that I noticed in the top half of the poster is the positioning of the characters as Sylvester Stallone's character is in the centre with the moon shining behind him and then under him our Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger's characters which could suggest the hierarchy of the characters in the film. Now the bottom half of the poster gives off a completely different effect using fiery red colours to connote with the explosion and action that is happening this is to show the audience a glimpse of the action that will appear in the film. What I also like about the bottom half of the poster is that we also see stronger artillery such as a tank and a plane to show us tat the action is at its peak.
Action Poster 2: Rambo First Blood (1982)
The next action poster that I will be analysing is from Rambo First Blood (1982). On first glance this poster may look extremely basic to the audience as the only real thing they will notice is Sylvester Stallone in his army attire which is still very conventional to the action genre as many action films usually are about or have solders in them with them commonly being portrayed as brave fearless heroes. However, there are other things that the audience may not notice at first.
For example, looking at the background of the poster we can see that it is set in a forest which could suggest that the film is going to be set in an isolated area with Rambo being all by himself which will mean he will have no help and need to survive on his own. This would fit with the stereotypical 80's action hero as they were always portrayed as being one man armies who can fight 100's of men at a time and still prevail. Another thing that I noticed about the background is the colour of the sky as from the looks of it, it could either be showing the night sky or a storm. I am more inclined to believe that it is showing a storm as it could be a symbolic way of saying the phrase 'a storm is coming' with he storm actually referring to Rambo who is in front of the storm who could be the harbinger for the storm.
Action Horror Poster 1: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter (2012)
Now, I'll be analysing the posters for action horror films to see what conventions they share from both genres. My first poster is from the film Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter at first glance the poster is much more horror than action with Lincoln sitting in a chair with his top hat covering his face which makes him look much more sinister and menacing and I believe this was done so that audiences do not associate him with the real world Lincoln as we also see that the moon is out and b looking at the tag line we can see that this is not Abraham Lincoln the president it is Abraham Lincoln the hunter which makes it sound like they are two entirely different people. Another thing that I notice is the unusual setting of the poster as we have Lincoln sitting on a chair that is in the middle of a forest clearing this may of been done to bewilder people as they will be given no context in why the setting making them interest in the film making them want to go see it. However, the bizarre setting may just be because the film directed by Tim Burton who creates many films with strange, unique imagery such as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).
In addition, there are still parts of this poster that conform to the action genre. This can be seen with the axe he is wielding as while not as conventional as a firearm many films use weapons like these to make them more realistic as its unlikely that ever person has several guns on them at all times like we see in action films.
Action Horror Poster 2: Army of Darkness (1992)
The next action horror poster that I will be looking at is for The Evil Dead 3 more commonly known as Army of Darkness (1992). What I like about this poster is how many conventions from both the horror and action genres are present. First off, the horror conventions I can see are that a red tint is being used on the lower half of the poster which is also showing the Deadites (antagonists of The Evil Dead franchise) rising out of the ground. This has been done to make them look more evil as the colour red in the horror genre is almost always associated with meanings such as death and suffering. Another convention I can see is the low key lighting used in the poster which makes the red tint much more stronger as it isolates it from the rest of the poster. Now if we take a closer look at the Deadites I can see that they appear to be skeletons which classic horror movie monsters and are used in many movies as about the dead returning to life as alternatives to zombies.
Onto the action conventions, most of them revolve around Ash Williams the protagonist of The Evil Dead films which can be seen in this poster through his posture as he standing tall looking down at his enemies with a smile on his face suggesting that he knows he can defeat them which is a common convention of many action heroes as they always come out of fights as the victor. Another convention I see is that his costume is torn and battered but this also shows off his muscular body which is done to show how powerful he is and could be a reference to action heroes from the 80's which were almost always portrayed by large, manly men such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Similarities between the posters
After I finished analysing all of the different film posters I compared them against each other and found several similar conventions in all of them. I will try to implement as many of these conventions as possible when I create our film poster to make it it look like part of the action horror genre. The conventions can be seen in the below list:
- Almost all of the posters use big bold red text in some way either having it show the films title or tag line. I believe this was done because the colour red is commonly associated with connotations such as blood. And this may could suggest that the text is in that colour to make peoples blood start pumping as this is commonly done in both action and horror films as it gives the audience a adrenaline rush hyping them up for the rest of the film which in action films is so the action scenes are more enjoyable and to make scares in horror films more intense.
- Low key lighting is used in many of them to make colours in the poster more vibrant so that they stand out more and attract audiences in making them want to go see the film. Low key lighting can also be used to give the photo a ominous vibe as it can be used to make colours look dull and faded and can also make the photo entirely black and white.
- Many of the posters also show the characters wielding firearms and other weapons usually as a sign of power as it makes them look more strong and dominant than the characters without weapons. The only issue with this convention is that it would be difficult for my group to be able to get a hold of props that look realistic enough especially firearm props so this may be the most unlikely convention to get onto the poster.
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