Deconstruction of horror film posters

To get ideas for our own film poster for our trailer, we firstly had to analyse existing horror film posters. Below are some of the recent horror film posters that we deconstructed. 

The Uninvited

This poster is simple but effective. The  picture of the window with an unknown girl looking In suggests that they are trying to get in but may not be wanted therefore relates to the plot of the film and the title ‘the uninvited’. The positioning of the frame is significant as  the girl is in in the middle and takes up the majority of the space to show importance and to draw the viewer in. Also by placing the viewer in the house looking out it makes it more personal and inclusive and creates fear as if this girl is trying to get them. Mystery is created by  the use of a misty background which gives it a blurry and unknown feel . In addition the anonymity of the person creates a sense of fear in the viewer. The dramatic contrast between the dark person and the lighter background creates an effective silhouette  effect which again creates suspense and fits in well with the horror genre. The trees in the back implies that they are in a wood and therefore secluded and alone  showing that help is nowhere near and scares the viewer. A scrawny font is used for the title to give a handwriting effect and looks like it has been drawn onto a misty window by the person trying to get in. It is placed in the lower right hand corner so not to take away attention from the figure and is written in white to show a deep contrast with the black shadow to stand out. The tagline ‘fear moves in’ is  written which is short and to the point giving a vague description of the plot. This is a conventional aspect of most film porters. As well as this there's  also ‘form the producers of the ring and disturbia’ displayed to advertise to the audience that if they liked these other films then they will most likely enjoy this film to. It also shows the credits/productions at the bottom as it is a necessity on film posters. 

Final Destination

 This poster is also simple but successfully shows the horror genre of the film. The main image is of a close up of a face in pain which looks more like a skull as  the skin has been stretched and the bones are more prominent around the mouth and eyes. This implies that there will  be death, pain and agony in the film. The eyes have also been blackened out to show that the victim is unknown or that their life will end. Overlaid over this face, there is the image of a smashed up mirror which is superstitiously  supposed to bring bad luck which again implies that bad things will happen. The glasses are also piercing into the persons face to show that they are a victim. This is also reflected by the tagline ‘Rest in pieces’ which is a play on words on ‘rest in peace’ which indicates that there will be death but is a pleasant way of saying it, however is changed to ‘pieces’ which signifies that the deaths in the film may be brutal and is  further shown by the sharp shards of glass. Whilst the background is black to show darkness and evil, the face, mirror and title is much lighter to show a contrast and highlight it and draw extra attention to the important parts. The title is in a plain rigid font to show that the end is unavoidable and is also slightly blurred to show suspense. Underneath this ‘August’ is written to show when the film is coming out and is shown in a bright red colour to give connotations of blood. 

The Possession

   The main image of this poster is bold and disturbing to draw the attention of the viewer and advertise the horror genre of the film. The image is of a girl throwing her head back in a struggle, with a demented hand coming out of her mouth showing that there is something inside of her that is trying to get out and grips her head showing that whatever it is, is taking control of her mind. This image relates well to the plot of the story as she has been possessed which is again indicated in the tagline ‘darkness lives inside’. It also covers her eyes to mask her identity and  implies that she has lost it whilst concealing a main part of the plot.  The hand is wrinkled and horrible looking to show that the thing inside of her is evil and dark. The girl also appears to be fairly young which goes against the stereotype that children are innocent and sweet. The title is simple looking however the word ‘possession’ is in a bigger font size to emphasizes and highlights that this is what the film is about. At the top there is ‘based on true story’ written to create more fear and suspense to the viewer as they are disturbed by the fact that this horror story is real. 


From this we found that there were many similarities between these horror film posters which we could incorporate into our own poster including:

• Keeping it simple- sometimes the most simple and single images with less detail are more effective
• Contrast between black and white- especially using a lot of dark and shadow
• Position the main image so that it is large and straight in the middle to show importance and draw attention
• Include a tagline- keeping it concise
• Mask the identity of the victim- making sure that not too much of the plot is given away
• Show credits and productions at the bottom

Research of film websites

By researching other film websites, that fit into our horror- slasher genre it showed that the use of black and contrast was important to reflect the darkness and fear in the film. We also found that the website background design was very similar, and sometimes the same as the the film poster. We thought we could use this element, so there was a clear connection between our poster and the film.

We also decided that these film websites gave an obvious indication of the genre, so we decided we needed to adapt our ideas for the film poster to be more horror based, to attract our chosen target audience. 

Certification

We had to decide on the certification of our film as it is a necessity when marketing the film so that viewers know what age range the film is directed at. To do this we researched into the certain issues of the film that can be shown at each age certification. After doing this we found that our film trailer would be best suited for over 18's. This is some of the research we found on 18 certification. 

What does the 18 symbol mean?

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children. 

Are there any limits on what sort of theme a work can have at 18?

No theme is prohibited at 18. Adults are free to pick their own entertainment within the law, so it is possible some themes shown may be offensive even to some adult viewers.

What sort of issues may be found in an 18 film? 

Includes issues such as:

• Very strong violence
• Frequent strong language (eg. f*** or even c*** )
• Strong portrayals of sexual activity
• Scenes of sexual violence
• Strong horror 
• Strong blood and gore
• Real sex (in some cases)
• Discriminatory language 

Full information is on http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/18

The part of the BBFC classification directly linked to our trailer is the section regarding "horror works".

What about horror works?

The strongest horror works are passed at 18, they may contain strong horror, gore or sustained threat and menace which exceeds the boundaries of 15.

Other films in the horror-slasher genre with certificate 18

Why our film will be an 18:

Our target audience is males ages 18-24 years old and by rating our teaser trailer as an 18, it is more likely to appeal to this sector of the target audience as through market research we found that the majority of males in this age range are more likely to see a horror slasher of this rating would be more appealing as there would be a better expectation of gore and language that is more associated with 18-24 year olds.