Malcolm, Nick and Rosie

HORROR FILM POSTERS

Conventions of a Horror Poster?

Horror posters can go against the conventions of a basic film poster.

They will sometimes not include main characters or a specific event.

The main focus point will be the creature that is causing the disruption.

The main colour theme is dark tones with fading occurring to create mystery.

The Devil InsideThe film poster for The Devil Inside follows most of the conventions of a horror film poster because it includes:•The film title•A tagline•Picture of the unnatural•Release date•Official movie website•The words True Events/Story

However it does not include any actors names or a credit block so these two conventions will be shown in the trailer.

The importance of this poster is to create a sense of the unknown within the audience because of the picture used shows a nun what has unnatural eyes.The D in inside is backwards which shows that something is wrong. The colours used are reds and blacks which have the connotations of mystery and death. The tagline is crucial because it leaves a cliff hanger that can relate to any body who views this poster.

Chernobyl DiariesThe film poster for the Chernobyl Diaries follows the conventions of a horror film poster because it includes:•The film title•A tagline•Credit block•Release date•Directors name•Picture of the location•Production company

However it does not include a website for the film and any main actors.

The importance of this poster is to make the audience question what might happen at the location shown and the tagline relates to any viewer of the poster because of the word experience. The picture has the radiation symbol which relates to the film title and the colour theme used is a murky turquoise which relates to the idea of mystery.Reds and whites are used for the text which follows the same typography as a majority of horror film posters.

V/H/SThe film poster for V/H/S follows most of the conventions of a horror film poster because it includes:•The film title•A tagline•Credit block•Picture that relates to plot

However this film poster does not include a release date, official website, production company and the name of the director and main actors.

The importance of this poster is to make the audience want to find out more about this film because of the conventions it has excluded.The typography is red and white with the credit block at the bottom. The layout of the background picture is important because some of the tapes are facing the other way to create an image of a skull which also relates to the horror genre. This raises another question of whether the tapes are linked to death.

The PossessionThe film poster for The Possession follows the conventions of a horror film poster because it includes:•The film title•A tagline•Release date•Credit block•Picture of the unnatural•Official website•The words True Events/Story

However the only conventions that this poster did not follow are the name of the director and the names of main cast.

The importance of this poster is to disturb the audience due to the picture used which shows a hand coming out of the mouth. The main colours used for the text are whites and reds which stand out from the background which uses dull tones of grey’s and black’s. The typography suggests that something is wrong because of the way there are smudge marks all across it. The tagline creates mystery by using the word inside which relates to the background image.

Our Poster

By looking at the conventions shown within a horror poster, we have decided to follow these conventions by making are poster include:Picture of the locationFilm titleA taglineCredit blockRelease dateOfficial websiteMain characters and Director’s nameProduction company

The reason for why we will not include the words True story/events is because by looking at example horror posters we found that it could make the film feel less real because the audience might think that it is only on there to make the film seem more realistic and believable.