Film Poster Analysis

By Lucy Stafford

There is only one image seen on this poster. The image is a close up shot of a young girls face which may suggest she is a key character in the film. The image clearly portrays strong gesture codes through the facial expression of the woman. The direct address from the person allows the audience to read into her facial expression. The eyes look very plain with not much emotion being shown which may relate to her role as a character. She seems to be simply staring at the camera with no fear being conveyed which I think will provide a sense of mystery among the audience as stereotypically fear is a common emotion seen on horror film posters. The image also features a butterfly which is an unusual element to see on horror film poster. Straying form the norm with this element will entice the audience because it is something new that hasn’t been seen before. The butterfly is an animal the symbolises growth and transformation which could correlate to the plot of the film. The symbolism of this can be interpreted in different ways and is not clear making the audience more likely to see the film to discover its relevance.

I think the use of colour in this film poster is key. Black and white is used as a base colour palette. This provides the idea of a contrast in the film between good and evil, the shadowing and lighting also resembles this. Light is clearly coming from the top left which create shadow in the opposite corner which can indicate the development of the film plot moving form light to dark and good to bad.

Unusually there is a clear pop of colour on the poster in the woman’s eyes, the butterfly over her mouth and the title of the film. All of these use the same warm colours of red with some yellow and orange. Red is an instant indication of danger which enables the audience to build an idea about the narrative of the film. The composition of these colours is evenly spread throughout the centre of the poster creating a balance of colour which can suggest there is a constant theme of danger running throughout the film.

Link to a book that has been previously published. Fans of the book are likely to see the film and people who haven't read the book are likely to read it before watching the film so it is a good use of convergence. This typography also stands out well as although it is small it is a different font with a black background making it easy to read.

Only lower case lettering is used making the text have a different impact. Often capitals are used to reinforce a message and make text stand out. Although only lower case is used the text still stands out because of the simplicity of the poster. The composition of it being centred also makes it easy to read and follow. All text is white connoting a pure element also standing out form the image. The title being the only red text makes it more noticeable and provides a contrast to the other text in colour and meaning.

The main actors names appear hear in the same font as the title. This allows audiences to recognise names of their favourite actors which may make them see the film.

The actual title of the film provides an enigma with the audience for those who have not read the book. It is unclear how this relates to this image ion the poster. It is difficult for audiences to interpret the meaning of the title without seeing the film so I think this will make them more likely to watch it.

Only one image is featured on this film poster keeping it simple and more ye catching as the audience doesn’t need to focus on much leaving more to their imagination. The image shows a glowing ring that circles the title. This has a lot of meaning and relevance to the film as it clearly corresponds with the literal title and in the film references are continuously made to ‘the ring’. The link between the title and image indicates further links in the film. The ring also seems to be distorted as though it is possibly being shown on an old TV which references elements of the film narrative. The distortion also links to a possible theme in the film of distortion or change.

The entire poster is black and white with only few uses of grey tones. The harsh black and white contrast focuses the audiences attention on the image and text. Black is a mysterious colour and strongly suggests darkness, bad things, evil and mystery. These are elements that will probably feature in the film, this is indicated to the audience. The white has a very different meaning. It suggest the idea of purity, light and cleanliness; a clear juxtaposition with the black.

The title, in the composition of the poster, is centred with the image around it highlighting it’s importance. The eye is instantly drawn to the title as it is the only thing to really stand out form the poster. The audience do not know what ‘the ring’ is or what is relevance is so the simplicity of this title clearly creates an enigma for the audience. The typography is in lower case lettering and looks to be in a handwritten font type. This might reference a childish theme in the film or characters as this lettering is typical of a child.

The tag line features at the top of the poster which is a very common place for tag lines. It’s in white, bold, capital lettering which is very different to the title of the film contrasting the childish element with a more structured font. However the size is small so it doesn’t take away focus from the title. There is shadowing of the text shown behind it that is still readable establishing the words even more so. The words give a slight indication to the narrative of the film as it clearly involves death and the audience can interpret what object is ‘seen’, this can be linked to ‘the ring’ as possible idea. The use of a comma and staggering the text makes the audience pause while reading it which creates a sense of suspense just through reading the tag line. If this can be created just from a poster it will make the audience expect the film to leave a feeling of suspense also.

The colours used are mainly black and white. This has shown to be a very common theme in horror film posters due to darkness and mystery created from black and the strong contrast of the white. There some red used in the symbol which appears to have links to the narrative of the film and the theme of witches. The red links death and danger with witches and the film. The official website for the film is also in red text at the bottom which draws the ye towards the text at the bottom making the audience consume the entire poster.

This poster strays form the conventions of film posters as it is very common for only one image to be used. Here there are two images split up by text. At the top we can see a forest which indicates a setting for the film. It appears very dark and eerie, so the audience know to expect something sinister. The lower image is an extreme close up of one of the characters. It has bad lighting and a bad angle which suggests a hand held camera and the panicked look seen from the characters gesture codes suggests that he is hiding form something or trying to get away from something. This can be linked by the audience back to the forest .

There is a tag line splitting the two images in the centre of the poster. This is longer that short, snappy tag lines that are usually seen which I think will interest the audience more because it strays from conventions. This offers a clear insight to the narrative of the film and correlates with the idea of a handheld camera and the fear seen from the direct address in the image. The audience can gage a strong idea of the plot of the film and I think this will be appealing. Suspense is added by the ellipses and the idea of a documentary style to the film is unusual.

The title is in bold, capital lettering which does make it stand out and the white font makes it clear to read but I thin this title has a lower impact than most film posters because it is located at the bottom and the lettering Is quite small for a title. The reference to the ‘Blair witch’ myth in the title will be eye catching to those who already know about it, making them likely to see the film. Making reference to something already known in society is a clever feature of a film as it can be used to gain views.

The bottom of the poster is filled with promotion and other elements. There is a website shown and other institutes that will be promoting the film. Although smaller lettering is used it is still readable and the red colour of the website will draw the eye towards it.