Poster Overview

Poster Overview

I will be discussing the poster below to find out what they have in common and to see what I can learn from these posters so that I may use these methods in my own creations.  These posters are from (in order): The Possession, The Rite, Insidious, The Last Exorcism Part 2, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Devil Inside.

Conventions

Each poster features a number of conventions from the Horror genre, the sub-genre of Possession and general poster conventions as well.  They all use these conventions effectively to draw the audience in and entices them into seeing the film.

They all contain numerous Horror and Possession sub-genre conventions such as isolated locations, contortion-ed bodies, odd eye colours, religious imagery and horrific imagery (e.g. the hand emerging from the girl's mouth in The Possession poster).  These are used to signify the genre, allowing fans of the particular genre to identify the typical features, thus drawing them into the poster to learn more about the film.  

The posters use typical features and conventions of posters as well through the use of layout and the information being displayed.  The all feature a main image which is the most important way of drawing in the intended audience, a tag line to give more information about the film but without giving too much away, enticing the audience further, institutional information telling us important people who created the film and this is used to entice the audience even more if they see a popular or like-able director, writer or cinematographer.  Half of the trailers picked above feature direct address; this is something that occasionally happens within Possession films and largely depends on what the message the main image needs to put across.  When it is used, it makes the audience feel that everything in the poster is being directly addressed to them and that they should watch the film.  It draws the attention of the audience to the poster, allowing more people to see it which in turn leads to more people going to watch the film.  The posters that use these are The Rite, Insidious and The Devil Inside.

Image

Characters

The characters in these poster vary quite substantially since there is a wide variety of narratives in the Possession sub-genre.  All posters feature one sole character and this is to make the audience focus on that character and to understand the meaning behind the main image.  Most of the characters are female, which ties into the "final girl" idea of the narrative, in which one girl stops the evil that is harassing her and the people around her.  This is a convention of the Horror genre so it allows the audience to quickly recognise what type of the film that the posters promote.  The two posters that break this convention is The Rite and Insidious.  A reason for why the posters break conventions is to make the film unique, attracting more attention from their target audience.  Evil is mostly represented as male in Possession films, connoting the idea that the men in the main image of the poster are evil and are looking right at you through direct address.  This representation is very stereotypical, that men are controlling and evil. Gender is represented stereotypically for females as well, showing that they are weak and cannot fight back against the evil.  Using very stereotypical portrayals of men and women make it easier for audiences to identify what type of character they are, since they can only see an image of them from the poster.  It helps to establish the character, the narrative, the mood and the views of the film.

Types of shot

Four of the posters feature close-up/medium close-up shots (The Possession, The Rite, Insidious and The Devil Inside) and this is so we can see the facial expression of the characters in the poster.  It makes the characters look bigger, more powerful and more intimidating, especially the male characters.  It represent the evil that is controlling them, linking in with stereotypical views of males, telling us that they are evil and intimidating.  The Last Exorcism Part 2 features a long shot and this allows us to see the female's whole body.  Her body is positioned in the shape of the number "2", symbolizing that the film is the second film in a series.  The Exorcism of Emily rose features an extreme long shot, showing her walking towards a tree out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fog and mist.  This represents the fact that she is weak and insignificant because she is so small in the main image.  It shows her vulnerability and allows the audience to sympathize with the character.

Settings

The settings vary  across the posters but all feature typical setting conventions of the Horror genre.  All of the posters feature isolated locations, surrounded by darkness or fog.  It represents that the characters within the poster have no where to escape from the evil of the film and that no one can help them.  The darkness connotes the idea that something evil is lurking about the area.  The corners of the poster tend to be darkened and this can tell the audience that the evil is creeping in, ready to take over the character in the main image.

Mise-en-scene

Three of the posters share similarities in terms of facial expression (The Rite, Insidious and The Devil Inside).  The characters are looking directly looking into the camera, giving direct address, while holding an angry facial expression.  This represents the anger that the evil in the film holds, telling us that the evil is already inside of the characters.

In The Possession, The Last Exorcism Part 2 and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the costume design is very similar.  We see the female characters dressed in a dirty, white gown that covers most of their body.  The white gown represents the innocence that the characters have, which ties into the fact that they are female, since females are sterotypically seen as innocent and weak.  However, the dirt on the white gown shows that her innocence and purity have been taken away by the evil being that is possessing her.  In The Devil Inside the character is wearing a nun outfit, tying into the religious imagery that is used quite often in Possession films. Insidious shows a boy wearing a red jacket.  Red often represents blood and evil in the Horror genre and through the costume, the audience can identify what genre the film falls into.

The body language seen in the poster varies a lot and there are not many similarities to discuss.  We can then conclude that the evil that possesses the characters takes many forms, and the way that it controls the person's body differs from possession to possession.  One similarity that can been seen is within The Possession and The Last Exorcism Part 2.  Here we see the possessed character bending backwards in an unnatural position.  It tells the audience that the character cannot fight back against the evil being since it is dominating and controlling her actions.

Positioning within these posters are very similar with just one exception which is The Exorcism of Emily Rose.  Each poster shows the character in the centre of the frame, drawing the attention of the audience most effectively.  The characters also fill the frame of the poster, making the audience more likely to be drawn into the poster.  The Exorcism of Emily Rose breaks this rule by placing the main character to the left of the frame and having a tree placed the right of the poster, leaving nothing but fog and mist in the centre.

Colours

The colours used in the posters are very similar, with each using the conventional colours associated with the Horror genre, white, black and red.  These colours are used not just in the Possession sub-genre, but in the Horror genre as a whole.  White represents the innocence the purity that the characters have.  It can also represent the light that is fighting the darkness and the good which is fighting the evil.  Black is used for a number of reasons, one of which is to represent the darkness that lives inside of the characters.  The lighting helps to show the darkness, often surrounding the character and the borders of the poster, telling the audience that the evil is creeping in, taking over the characters and the film itself.  Black contrasts with white, connoting the idea that there is a battle light and dark, good and evil, and purity against impurity.  Red is a typical colour used in Horror films because it is associated with blood. Blood is Horror iconography so it allows the audience to clearly recognise the film is part of the Horror genre.  Important information like the release date for the film is also shown in red and this is to attract our attention, making us remember the important information.

Text / Layout

In every poster, the title of the film is placed at the bottom of the frame, this is to allow the audience to be drawn in by the main image, and then to the title, making it more memorable for the audience.  The tagline is placed either just above the title or at the very top of the frame because this is where the eye goes first, from top to bottom.  Having the title placed at the bottom of the frame means that it will be the last thing that the audience sees, making them remember it more.  Some of the posters also have the phrase "Based on a true story".  This is to make the audience believe that the events in the film could happen to them at any time, meaning that the audience become scared.  It also helps with the immersion that the audience will have when watching the film, because they believe that everything in the film is real and can happen.

Conclusion

These posters are very effective in conveying the genre that they represent while also drawing the attention of the audience, giving them key information about the film but also enticing them to see the full movie.  I would like to use the same conventions and representations that these posters show for my own work, since the posters are very effective and influential.