The Cabin in the Woods

Horror, Mystery, Thriller | 13 April 2012

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Solid, reliable brown is the colour of earth and is abundant in nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Men are more apt to say brown is one of their favourite colours.White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the colour of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation.Grey is a cool, neutral, and balanced colour. The colour grey is an emotionless, moody colour that is typically associated with meanings of dull, dirty, and dingy, as well as formal, conservative, and sophisticated. The colour grey is a timeless and practical colour that is often associated with loss or depression.

The main image in this poster doesn’t look like one for a horror film but it does have reference to the films plot. The main feature of this poster is the cabin floating in the middle, the floating aspect of this poster could suggest that this is a horror film as these are typical features of the genre. The image of the woods in the background gives the impression that this film will be a horror. The woods in this poster don’t look to be a safe place, they are blurred and look misty which could connote danger in the film.

There are no symbols used in this poster that people will need foreknowledge to decode. This film was not based on a book, it was written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard. There wouldn't be any foreknowledge for a person to have unless they read the synopsis of the film before they watched it.

The messages in this poster are mainly visual, the cabin in the middle gives the audience an idea about the plot of the film and the trees in the background show where the cabin. The title of the film doesn’t give any extra information about the film, the features are just what the title of the film is.

The age certificate for this film is 15 which means that it is not suitable for people under that age to watch unless with an adult. I have seen this movie and I think that the age certificate is suitable for the film. The film does contain strong language and the death scenes contain a lot of blood, so young people will find this film very scary. I think that anyone who likes the sort of horror films with mythical creatures, gory death scenes or just horror films in general will watch this film.

The cabin is placed in the middle but it is also placed to make it seem like were looking up at it. This low angle shot makes the cabin look strong and powerful. The cabin floating also shows this power, the cabin looks mystical and magical since it is in the middle of the poster, nothing is supporting it, its just floating. The trees are also placed to look like a low angle shot, this suggests that trees having something to do with the cabins power and support.

The main actors in this film are:

Kristen Connolly … Dana Chris Hemsworth … Curt Anna Hutchison … Jules Fran Kranz … MartyJesse Williams … Holden

There are no stars used on the poster and their names aren't on it either, the names of the actors are at the bottom of the poster but you have to look close to see it.

Some of the gratifications promised are enjoyment, shock, gore and danger. When you watch a horror film you are expected to jump and be scared when something bad happens, this poster does show signs of being scary, the colours used and the way the cabin is floating help to show this.

Attention is gained through the mystery of the poster, even though the title and the poster itself explains what the film is about, it still doesn’t explain why the cabin shaped in the way that it is. The shape of the cabin is a mystery, this is why someone might watch this film.

There are 6 different taglines for this film but the one chosen to be on the poster was “You think you know the story.” since this film wasn’t based on a book you cant really tell why the tagline is what it is, this might intrigue the audience because no one really knows what this story is and what it has to do with the plot of the film. This is a very good poster, the layout is

typical of any main poster but the colours and features used are very different. This poster does show what genre the film, will be, the mystery of why there is a cabin just floating in the middle of the poster, the horror is shown through the way the cabin is made to look, with the roof on the top of the building and on the bottom of it. The title and the objects in the poster both explain each other, this helps the audience to know what the film is about