Textual Analysis: Horror Poster O.J

Nightmare on Elm Street is an American Slasher Horror movie released in 2010 and directed by Samuel Bayer.    

Film posters are one form of advertising movies when they are soon to be shown in cinemas they are put on billboards, the side of buses, film theatres and magazines, and the reason why they are shown in all these places is to sell the movie to the audience to notify the audience that this film is coming out and to make them watch it.                  

Denotation: This is picture of a monster in a human form using a ‘Mid Shot.’ With him wearing a jumper, a cowboy hat, and a metal claw on his right hand.

Connotation: The main colours in the poster are a low-key Red and Brown with shades of black, with red and black text at the bottom. This connotes death and horror themed synopsis. The main colour in this poster is Red which represents lots of sins, passion and anger which in turn links to what ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ is all about. The shades of black could connote death, emptiness and mystery gives you a sense of you are searching for something but is not found. And lastly, brown which Is a strange colour for a horror movie connotates warmth and natural things on earth but is a clever colour to use as the main character kills his enemies by catching them in there dreams.

Props: There are only three props used in this Horror Poster which are a cowboy hat, a metal claw and a tampered jumper. The hat is used to hide his face which has been burned and has scars so the hat is an element of surprise to scare his victims as he reveals his face when he is in touching distance with them. I believe his metal claw is a weapon he uses to kill his victims, and lastly his jumper as you can see from the poster is old and has holes to show he is an expert at what he does as these are holes from his victims trying to get away or holes that have been burnt into his jumper when his face got burnt.

The setting of the poster is really hard to decide but I believe that it was meant to be in a dark place to show that he is an evil person and he is in his own element.   

Non – Verbal Communication (NVC): His face expression if you look closely he has a sly smirk as he has a clever idea to catch his victims, he also has his hands fixed together to show he is not approachable and that he is confiding within himself.

Lighting: The lighting in this horror poster is a low key lighting as it is a horror poster so it gives the audience a sense of mystery and suspicion. The centre of his body is mainly dark with high key lighting on both sides of body. And the reason why his body is dark is to emphasise that he evil and probably thinking evil thoughts.

Anchorage: The font used for this horror film poster is Sans Serif Font which is very modern as it has no flick up and no traits of tradition so the font is very modern in the 21^st century, but is done in block capitals so it stands out and grabs the attention of the audience.

Image Analysis: By using the Rule Of Thirds theory I have acknowledged that in the second square the have put his face perfectly in the middle which creates energy as that is what most of the audience would concentrate on as the lighting makes his face the focal point of the magazine and catches peoples interest.

Overall as a horror poster it accomplishes the job of getting its target audience intrigued to go an watch the movie through various techniques that where thought out which I have elaborated above. But through the poster it doesn’t give away to much so it keeps the audience guessing which is clever.

Textual Analysis Magazine Cover By O.J

Denotation: The colours used in this magazine are Red, White, Black and Grey four colours. Then there is a Young man in the centre of the magazine cover wearing casual wear which is a coat, t- shirt and jeans. This is a issue for the second to last in the Harry Potter series with Harry Potter 7 at the bottom in bold. With sentences and phrases on the left and right relationg to another adventure Harry Potter goes on in this movie.

Connotation: The colour Red connotates lots of sins, passion and anger which is interlinked with the film if you have watched Harry Potter, Black Connotates death and horror which is also in the film so these colours where picked specifically to interlink with what is involved in the film.

Props: The props is a  sword in this magazine cover which may be part of the fim but the prop used in Harry Potter films is a wand as he is a wizard. And casual clothes which are worn to not seperate him from normal people as he is specail as he has powers he is a wizard.

Barcode: A barcode is issued on magazines which is a common standard either put on the left or right bottom hand corner of a magazine so when purchaed the cashier will know the price of the magazine.

Masthead: The masthead is normally in the centre at the top of the magazine which is the visual branding of the magazine this one in particualar is done in bold which. The masthead is normally put on the front page and contents page and can also be used for branding purposes. This type face is sans seriff each magazine tries to make their masthead unique to seperatthem from different magazines.

Main Image: The main image is a classic picture if the main star of all the movies in the Harry Potter Series which is Harry Potter using a long shot to show is whole body.

Selling Line: The selling line or unique lesson for this magazine is placed at the top " The Mordern Guide To Movies."

Coverlines: For this issue film used alot of coverlines which are disrtibuted all around the magazine especially the left and ri=ght hand sides of the magazine and at the bottom.

Treatment Written by Parris

Production Name: Opaque
Trailer Title: The Plague
Format: Teaser Trailer
Genre and Sub-genre: Horror, Zombie
Length: 26 seconds


Synopsis:
Dr Morphius is a well known, trusted scientist among his community, but some how things changed. One night in his lab, he tried to create a solution which would cure a common illness which had currently spread around the little village but it went wrong. While drinking the solution to test the side effects, it changed him in the most unexplainable way in which the whole town will discover sooner than they think...

Intended audience:
Assuming our teaser trailer would be a type of product, our target audience would be young people between the ages of 15-25 both male or female, however it would not matter if the audience watching our trailer would be over 25 years old as long as they enjoy horror movies. They would presumably enjoy watching most sub-genres on horror especially the genre 'Zombies'. The type of clothing and appearance our audience we would have is a goth style. for example wearing all black clothing, skinny jeans or over baggy and long trousers, long tops and possibly ripped jackets. They would have a lot of facial piercings and black make up (e.g. lipstick, eye shadow etc) and their hair would be died black with it covering a section or the majority of their face.

What we intend to do? how will we do it? why is it worth doing?
We intend to create a zombie teaser trailer that will draw the audience into watching the up coming film (if there was going to be one) however it will not scare them. it should be get the audience excited and to continuously talk about it to their family/friends. This would then promote the our trailer to get more people to watch it so we are able to evaluate the feedback we receive. In order to draw the audience into our trailer, our group have decided to keep all shots short. for the soundtrack, we will have the sound of a slow heartbeat and a flat line at the end to show what 'The plague' has actually done to the scientist. It is worth doing because we feel that if we create one of the best trailers in the class and put all the work and effort into it then all of our grades will benefit. Also in the process of preparing and creating the trailer we will be learning the different things to know about film making, the preparation to do so and we will have a good opportunity to work with professionals who could help us decides what type of path we should take in life after sixth form college.

Software we have used

During this project, the main software we have and will use throughout this year is Blogger. Blogger is an online diary where people can document their work. As a group we will use blogger to track our progress throughout the course of this project, also as a way of letting our peers and teachers see what we have done.






Firefox is one of the main internet providers we used to help us find the necessary resources for our project. Firefox enables us to access blogger, also to get images off the internet and relevant information for other posts in our blog such as the textual analysis.




During the editing process, we learned how to edit a short trailer we filmed as a class. At this stage, we used Final Cut Pro to edit the trailer and we learned basic techniques which allowed us to successfully edit the trailer that was shot in the class over two lessons.
One of the important techniques we learned, was 'rendering' which allows the computer to recognize whatever changes we have made to a shot.

Also, while practicing our editing, we had taken pictures to produce a clip that is 5 tenths of a second which contains one of our group members (Parris) shaking their head at maximum speed. In order to do that we had to take multiple pictures of Parris sitting in the same position only moving her head. This then lead us to use Photoshop to change the image size so we are able to change the photos into a clip.

Textual analysis of a poster - Jeffrey

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.

Textual analysis of a movie magazine front cover - Jeffrey

The denotation of the magazine shows Jack Sparrow posing with a gun while staring at what could be considered the audience. There are a lot of coverlines that shows that the magazine has behind the scenes information about pirates of the Caribbean as well as other movies like Sherlock Holmes. It also shows that there is information on some actors. The magazine is Empire, Empire is a well known film magazine publisher, it is very well known amongst British people in particular as it is a British magazine. It is the best selling film magazine in Britain beating competitors like Uncut and Total film.

The main image on the front cover is of Jack Sparrow as mentioned before and he is the main character of Pirates of the Caribbean. A medium longshot is used and Jack Sparrow is shown to be leaning more towards his left which leaves more spaces for coverlines on the right. His pose connotes that he is ready for action (as cliché as it may sound) because he has a gun on him and the look on his eyes shows that he is a little tense. His NVC shows that he isn’t a light hearted character but is a lot closer to somebody who is serious about achieving their goals. A colour that is featured prominently in the magazine front cover is blue which is very interesting as it Jack Sparrow is wearing a blue cardigan and blue connotes loyalty which conflicts with Jack Sparrows character. White sleeves are also seen on Jack Sparrow and white connotes purity and innocence which is also contradictory as he is a pirate and they are known to possess none of those qualities.

The masthead of the magazine is red which completely goes against the background of the front cover as red causes feelings that opposes what blue connotes. This may be done intentionally in an attempt to get most of the audience to think about why something like that would be done. It is also worth noting that of all the colours used in the magazine front cover red is the one that relates to Jack Sparrow the most yet he isn’t wearing anything of that colour. Part of the masthead is hidden behind Jack Sparrows head which is used to bring him out more because the colours that he is wearing don’t make him stand out from the background that much. This is also something that may have been done intentionally because in bringing out Jack Sparrow they have also advertised the new pirates of the Caribbean which will make the audience consider watching it.

The coverlines shown on the magazine show that there is a lot to look forward to as the main coverline says: ‘Movies’ biggest year ever’. It is also done smartly because yellow is a colour that can attract attention and two middle words in the main coverline are yellow and it causes the target reader to want to read it and when the two middle words are read the reader will notice that there’s more and when the main coverline is read it causes the reader to see if the main coverline can live up to it’s claim. When it comes to how the coverline can attract the target audience the main coverline has more or less done the job which is why the coverlines are in yellow and white which don’t really stand out. The coverlines just simply state the names of well known franchises like Sherlock Holmes and Captain America and by reading these names it will automatically make the reader interest in reading what the magazine has to offer. There are two coverlines on the bottom left which talk about Matt Damon and Christian Bale who are well known actors. The coverlines from this magazine don’t heavily rely on colour connotations to grab the audience attention but more on what is actually being said and that ties in with the main coverline as it shows why this year could be the biggest year ever for movies.

This particular photo can tell the audience a few things about Jack Sparrow. Those who are familiar with him will know his character and that he witty and sometimes portrayed as a traitor. The colours that he is wearing would indicate otherwise because white indicates purity and innocence and since part of his attire is white it would show that while he is a pirate part of him is pure and innocent and will be a hero when need be. Blue connotes loyalty and this contradicts his character as mentioned earlier but it would show he may be loyal which means that he isn’t as bad a person as he is portrayed to be. These things are important as it shows that the magazine engages the audience because of all the connotations, it also means that someone who has never seen pirates of the Caribbean can learn about Jack Sparrow before watching it.

This magazine front cover shows that the main point is to advertise the movies that the coverlines mention. This can be noticed if the front cover is closely looked at because there is no dateline so it would show that if somebody wants to find out more about the magazine they would have to search for the website. The price on the magazine is very small which means that if the magazine is eye catching the target reader will not pay attention to the price and end up buying the magazine due to how interesting it looks.

To conclude the magazine has done a good job making use of connotations and attracting an audience that would want to buy it. Empire is also a very good example of a skeleton when it comes to designing a magazine front cover because when they don’t make use of all the conventions of a front cover they have still got effective methods which will ensure sales and this is something that will be taken into deep consideration when my group is designing their front cover. Even though I pointed out that Johnny Depp’s character doesn’t stand out it doesn’t take away from the fact that this front cover was carefully thought out and it would involve the reader engaging their mind to understand why it looks the way that it does.

Jennifer: Textual Analysis- 30 Days of Night Poster

                                        30 days of Night was released on the 1st November 2007

The poster has a colour scheme of red, black and grey. This colour scheme was used all throughout the promotion of the film, this shows that the producers of this poster tried to keep the colour scheme consistent throughout the time of promotion, as it makes it easier for the audience to recognise the film advertisements.

The colours used in the poster are conventions of horror, as it links to death, darkness evil and a negative environment.

The image on the poster has been printed in blue/grey and white, this adds to the mysterious atmosphere. the use of low key lighting shows that this film has dangerous footage in it, this is a time when the audience know something bad is about to happen it’s a typical time for drama in a horror film. It adds tension and eagerness to the audience and creates a mystery as they know something is about to happen.

The two main people on the poster are placed central so we know they are important in the film. They are both holding weapons, typical horror protagonist.The use of high key lighting emphasises the fear on their faces, so we get the concept of the theory  "good vs evil". 

The poster looks as though it’s been splattered with red blood at the bottom of the page, this colour connotes violence typical of the horror genre. On the red there is a small image in the bottom corner of a deformed human/creature which because we know is linked to the red colour (blood) is the antagonist. 

In the background of the poster there is a group of people, they immediately become dominant as there is more of them than the other two even though there is a close up of the protagonist, it may connote weakness at this stage, and also the other two have weapons for defence so we get the feeling that this group are what they are scared of.

Something that caught my eye in the poster, was In the background of the image there are no buildings in site, this this connotes that the two main protagonist in the image are isolated from the others.

There is a review printed at the top of the page from the "EMPIRE" in the only white typography, this stands out and is a good technique of advertising as people know what the film is like and whether its good showing from the star rating.

The release dates and other information has been printed at the bottom of the page in a sans serif font as it may be informal, this use of font is very popular in the horror promotions as it creates a sense of the unknown.

The title of the film has been written in the same sans serrif font as the release date, the font is used throughout the other promotions keeping the advertising consistent. It’s written in a clear black font so it contrasts with the red background so it can’t be missed.

Overall the poster tells the audience enough of what they need to know about the movie, this is a good way of promoting and adversing the film, making it popular in the cinemas.