Film Poster Analysis
FINAL DESTINATION
Rest In Pieces’ connotes death, even though it doesn’t say ‘RIP’, the word play suggests that death could happen in pieces as pieces is plural suggesting a plethora of deaths.
‘Pieces’ denotes broken glass or a broken mirror, which is an omen and generally related to bad luck so perhaps the film, is about misfortune.
The signifier is a skull. This signifies death and mortality as well as toxic, which is an omen that could foreshadow what the film is about.
This is a denotation of a black and dark background; this connotes negativity and no hope of anything good happening. The dark themes are used in thrillers in lighting, mis-en-scène to set the mood of the film and to make it scarier for the audience.
The signifier of the word ‘August’ is red this could signify a lot of blood in the film as well as, danger or a warning.
This is a denotation of skull. The connotation is an infused face with the skull to suggest that the film involves alive human beings that could possibly turn into skeletons.
The skull shows emotion as if the skull is screaming and suffering which is found in the genre of thriller.
The title final destination says it all. The word final connotes the end and an end to someone’s life and the word destination connotes the end of the road or journey, which foreshadows what, is going to happen in the film. Also the word ‘the’ is in the title it is made smaller to show the importance of the rest of the title.
By Nya Browne
By analysing film posters we can identify the thriller codes and conventions and use them in our short thriller film.
SHUTTER ISLAND
The actor on the poster has a cut on his forehead with a plaster covering it, signifying that he gets into a fight in the film, which could connote that he is a violent man. This fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller film, as there always seems to be a violent character or a violent storyline.
The island in the background is dark and looks mysterious. This fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller film as the setting is expected to be mysterious and dark.
The title of the film ‘Shutter Island’ connotes the actor is going to be trapped on the island. This fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller film, as it is also expected in a thriller film that at one point in the plot there is no possible escape, creating suspense.
The actor’s facial expression denotes anger and a sense of seriousness. This could signify that the actor in the film takes his life very seriously and that he is an angry person, which fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller film, as you expect at least one character to be like this.
The colour of the poster is mainly red, and red signifies danger, blood, violence, and death. By making the poster red, this portrays the film to be dangerous; connoting that there may be a lot of violence in the film. Danger, blood, violence and death can be codes and conventions of thriller films.
By Skye Smith
THE NIGHT LISTENER
In the background of the poster there is a forest with large trees. In thriller films, it is expected that there is to be a setting, which is scary or thrilling. In most thriller and even horror films, a forest is used to connote ghostly or unnatural things to happen.
The main character in the poster has a big scar on his face which makes the character look mysterious and scary at the same time, which brings a thrill to the audience.
Both of the characters have shadowing on their face which could connote that there is a dark side to them, it also gives the characters a mysterious look and could make the audience become suspicious of who they are or where their true intentions lie.
In the poster, there is an image of a skull behind an actor in the film, connoting that there will be death in the film. This fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller film, as it is expected that in thriller films someone dies or is close to death.
The main colour of the poster is dark blue and black, setting a scene of night. This fits into codes and conventions of a thriller movie as at night, everything becomes scarier, so it is expected that the scene would be night where everything is dark and scary.
By Skye Smith
REVENANT
The characters presented in the poster look very distressed and worried about something which connoate that something negative will occur in the film and leave a mystery for the audience. The Woman looks like she has very dark bags under her eyes which connotes that she has no sleep, or something/someone is causing her stress. Both of the Characters are facing something and are looking at the same, direction which also leave a mystery to the audience as the audience want to know what is causing these characters to look like that. The characters have shadowing on their face which could connotate that their is a good and bad side to them, which leaves a mystery for the audience.
The Title has a bold red colour, The red is the brightest part of the image and is used a lot in thrillers as it signifies many things. Red usually connotes blood, fire, energy, war, danger etc. There is some sort of effect around the title are the letters look like they are moving in slow motion. The white letters are very blurry and almost see through which could relate to the ghostly image of the figure.
In the right side of the poster there is a faded character which looks like s ghost next to the female character. A ghost connotate death and evil which fits into the codes and conventions of a thriller movie, as it is expected that somebody dies in the movie. It is too blurry to identify what it is but it doesn’t look too appealing or too nice. Ghosts are very common in thriller movies as they cause the audience to feel uneasy, and bring a chill and a lot of shock which is what the directors want!
In the top corner you can see dark clouds as if its gonna rain, which is known as pathetic fallacy, This interprets the mood and what will occur in the movie. storm connotes violence, breaking, pain, suffering etc
The top image shows an abandoned house, which must be the setting that the directors used for the movie. An abondoned house is an expected setting in thrillers as that is a perfect location where deadly and unexpected situations occur, usually deaths. The image is in black and white which can connotate war between evil and good. Black is usually associated with power, death, evil and mystery, usually has a negative connotation. White usually associates with innocence and purity which usually represents the innocent characters.
By Lolita Lind
CARRIE
The blood coming out of her eyes is shaped as a tear which connotes that she is in pain, is suffering, is upset, emotional etc. The tear is in blood which connotes that she is in physical pain rather than emotional,
The background is black which connotes evil, death, injury, distress etc. It also connotes no hope or faith as hope and faith are connoted with the colour white. Dark themes are used in thrillers in lighting, mis-en-scène to set the mood of the film which is scary, and could frighten the audience.
The font of the poster is also covered in dripping blood, the title is a womens name which interprets that the woman is the one that will be in pain in the movie.
This film poster uses an omen which is the broken mirror, a broken mirror usually connotes 7 years of bad luck. Thrillers usually use omens to tell the audience that something negative or evil will occur but without telling the actual storyline. The broken mirror is on the face of the main character which tells the auience that she will be suffering in the movie.
The character on the poster is covered in blood
which interprets that she will be the character suffering the most. Blood connotes pain, torture, suffering, death etc. blood denotes the colour red, and red connotes hell, the devil etc.
The female character on the poster is blonde which directors of thrillers love to use as she would be presented as the damsel in distress with a twist as she may be saved or may not. Blondes are usually presented to be dumb and are usually the reason they cant get out of a situation, while the audience feel smart and give directions as they know what the character should do in a specific deadly situation.
Overall in the image, the colours used are very dull and dark, there’s a large use of the colour black, grey and red (title)
By Lolita Lind
