Horror Production Poster Analysis and Research

Within all supernatural horror posters they contain a character, whether it is the protagonist or supernatural entity. The common shots used are close-ups, mid-shots for profiles and characters or long shots when including the location/setting within the poster. Through creating a direct address with the audience in having the character's eyes facing forward the audience are more likely to feel uneasy as their expression commonly evokes fear. The colour scheme used within each horror poster is also very significant; black, red, white and dark/pale blues are frequently used. Red symbolises death, danger and the devil, black symbolises mystery, the unknown and also death, white contrasts well with these colours to keep the posters simplistic and clear. Light blues and dark blues gives the poster a cold feel but can also represent heaven which is in contrast to the demonic supernatural themes within the films.

Within my own poster, I edited on Pixlr, I used dark shadows, black white and a dark red. The colours I used are important to the representation of the film as the title and image do not reveal a great deal about the film at first glance; as red symbolises danger, death and the devil individuals are more likely to see the text's colour to signify to the genre of film. Red can also be said to represent violence and blood thus representing a gory horror. The use of white breaks up the posters structure as there are a lot of dark elements included; the white grabs the audience's attention and draws further attention to the dark red.
I used an image of the female protagonist staring directly into the camera; by doing this the intensity of the direct address and stare of the character evokes to the audience a sense of intrigue yet uncertainty. I edited the image to make her face and eye brighter than the rest of the image, and having her hair dark enough that it fades into the background of the poster; this places emphasis on the protagonists face. I did this because I wanted the audience's attention to be drawn towards the reflection of the pendant, which is a major symbol within the film itself, to also evoke intrigue for the audience as well as the fear of the unknown as they are unaware of what the pendant symbolises. The tag line 'you'll never be the same' was chosen to foreshadow the content of the film in that the pendant's power/the acknowledgment of the demon is all consuming and will change a person, whoever they are. The audience are left to question exactly what this means provoking a sense of mystery, encouraging them to watch the film.