The horror film poster that I have decided to do a textual analysis of is quarantine which is an American remake of the successful Spanish zombie horror film REC.
When looking at the poster it is easy to see that one convention is clearly being followed and this is the use of green in the poster. This is a very interesting device because green connotes tranquillity which is another word for peace and this contrasts with the nature of horror films, especially zombie horror’s which is what quarantine is. It has been established that in horror films there’s never really a sense of peace which makes it even more interesting that green is convention of a horror teaser trailer. The second colour used is black which isn’t too unusual because black is used to represent fear and evil which makes the audience aware that there is definitely something ominous in the film and it is waiting to be discovered. Black and green go very well together because another connotation of the colour black is power and this means that whatever the antagonist in the film may be it has the power to cause fear even in a situation that you should be calm.
Something that is really obvious in this teaser trailer is the main character looking at the screen and screaming in fear. This is a form of direct address and from this the audience can see that it feels as if she is calling out to them for help. It can be assumed that this lady screaming is the main character of the film as she takes up most of the poster which really asserts her importance to the film. Her NVC shows that she is frightened and wants to be saved by somebody from the impending danger and she is all alone. It is also apparent that there is no trace of an antagonist in the poster which may lead some people to question what the woman is scared of; this is a good device because it makes people who view the poster more curious as to why she’s screaming because an antagonist is only inferred.
The title ‘Quarantine’ isn’t over expressed in the poster but the audience can see that it’s there and it’s written in white with bits of green at the top and bottom of the letters. This works well because white connotes purity whist green connotes safety and this would show that in the movie there is nothing to worry about which contrasts with the poster as the woman’s face shows that there is something to be worried about. Some text can also be seen on the poster and it says:
On March 11, 2008 the government sealed off an apartment complex in Los Angeles.
The residents were never seen again
No details.
No witnesses.
No evidence.
Until now.
All of this is written in white and this would show that the apartment may have been purged to make it pure as white connotes purity. It also lets the audience know that whatever the problem was, it wasn’t dealt with properly.
In conclusion this is a good poster as it manages to stick to the conventions as well as making good use of what colours are shown in comparison to the nature of horror films. It also doesn’t give away too much about the movie but the writing on the poster is enough to allow the audience to imagine the a plot for the film which is good because it will mean that viewers will want to see the film to see if the plot matches their thoughts.
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