Film Poster Analysis #3

For my third analysis I’ve chosen the official poster for the supernatural movie ‘Sinister’. It is a new supernatural/satanic cult horror movie which is excellent to analyse in relation to my research and planning as the promotion package for this movie greatly influenced me with regards to my own horror movie narrative and trailer so my trailer narrative.

The main image in this poster is quite complex and tells a lot of the narrative to the audience. We see a long shot of a child who is walking and as her hand drags across a damaged wall, it leaks blood. The red blood has connotations of evil, danger, and murder and this is why the antagonist’s frightful face appears in the blood. As only a face is outlined the audience do not know if this figure is human or another being. Most of the lighting seems to be emanating from the right hand side of the poster, highlighting the unpleasant face. The lighting dims on the child, to show that her life is now in darkness and lacks hope because of this ‘sinister’ being. The background is a dark and grey wall which is full of cracks and badly worn. This may be trying to parallel the characters life in the movie which is also ‘cracked’ and ‘damaged’ due to this menacing face. The child is facing away from the camera and so we cannot see her facial expressions however her costume seems to be pyjamas which emphasises her innocence and so amplifies the audience’s empathy for her. Furthermore her body seems limp as if she has no control over it which implies the idea of some sort of possession as her behaviour is not deemed ‘normal’ but the poster does not tell us the reasons behind the possession and so leaves the audience on a cliff hanger and eager to go find out the rest of the story. The characters hair and costume colour combines with the background colour to give an impression that they have been taken over by the evil around them and that all soul and spirit has been stolen from them.

Usually the main image occupies the majority of the top half of the poster, however in this case the image dominates the bottom which means that the title has to be placed on the top so it does not distract from the image. The title of the poster is ‘Sinister’ which mirrors the personality of the blooded figure.  It is the largest piece of text in the frame and the letters are in a serif font. Following conventions, they seem to be distorted; the letters are dripping similarly to how blood may drip from the ‘sinister’ victims or how the soul was dragged and drained from the child after possession. The dripping of blood from the title also mirrors the dripping of blood from the face on the wall, creating a link between them and suggesting that they are one and the same, both sinister. The colour black connotes with an evil soul and inhumane being and so it is used to reinforce the idea that the audience do not know what ‘Sinister’ is.

The tagline ‘once you see him, nothing can save’, makes the target audience hiver to the bone as it implies that there is no escape from ‘sinister’. Also the ‘once you see him’ will make the audience wonder and question, where they would see this menace and why do they have to particularly ‘see’ him to be in danger; it explains the narrative whilst also leaving the audience wanting to know more and so hopefully encouraging them to see the movie. The tagline also successfully anchors the main image, as we can see ‘sinister’ and so fear begins to develop as subconsciously the target audience will now think they too are in danger. The main image is extremely dominant and so the tagline is in a small font in order to keep the attention on the image. The aesthetics of the tagline are extremely simple to again ensure that it does not steal focus from the main image.

A popular convention that the poster has chosen to follow is to have ‘From the director of Paranormal Activity and Insidious’ at the top of the page. This is a great technique which is used to widen the target audience as along with the general supernatural horror fans, fans of that director will also be lured into watching the movie as they would have enjoyed the other movies which that director has made. This information also gives the audience a clue to what type of film this is. Interestingly this is the only piece of text which is in the colour white; this is to ensure that it will stand out and catch the audience’s eye. The last piece of text which features on the poster is the institutional information and following conventions it is placed at the bottom of the page because it is the section of the poster which the audience would not focus on that much.

The mood of the poster is sinister, evil and menacing, which is created by the pale pallid colours of white, grey and black. The red is used to create a striking contrast and so therefore enhancing the terror crated by the menacing face.  

Overall I think this poster masters the balance of scaring the target audience and opening up their curiosity as it does not give too much away. The face in the blood is a brilliant way to start up conversations between the target audiences about what the narrative could entail and so promoting the movie further.