Assignment 10: Two Horror Poster Analysis

GelsominaKelly Tayla

Chelsea

Film 1: The Woman in Black (2012)

Film 2: Amityville Horror (2005)

Film 1

The Woman In Black (2012)Gelsomina & Kelly

Denotations and Connotations

The authority which the women in black projects is that she may have been the mother of these children as in Victorian society, there was many death of children and therefore she could be looking at their ghosts.

Women dressed in black looking towards faded children.

Standing in the middle of no where.

Stereotypically, a horror is based in a haunted house in the middle of nowhere and as there are ghosts in the middle of no where, this hints towards that there may be a haunted house in the movie.

Language of Film Title & Catchphrase

• The Woman in Black has many interpretations. For example, by calling it ‘The Woman’ it means that it is a specific women. However, it can be gathered that this is because she has no name and therefore is referred to her gender and costume. • The ‘Black’ can either mean she is a women in mourning or she is a women of evil intentions.• The tone is harsh and straight to the point.•The mode of address is direct to The Women in Black. It is a descriptive basic imagery of her.

• “She’ll never let go”.• It gives the sense of possessiveness, attachment, forever a curse or evilness.• On the other hand, it should be a sense of loving or mourning.• The tone is echoing and eerie which fit into the genre of horror.• The mode of address gives the impression as if someone is directing telling us the catchphrase from their personal experience.

Text Analysis

•The Women in Black is in large Victorian font which fits in with the time period in which the movie is based in.• The effect on the font seems ghostly as it is faded white which fits into the story line of the film.• ‘Women’ and ‘Black’ are bigger than the other two words which shows emphasis on her. This could be because it is a form of identification towards her and how she is referred too.

• The main actors name is at the top of the poster.• This is a way of marketing the movie as Daniel Radcliffe naturally has a big fan base due to Harry Potter and therefore, by mentioning his name in a big font, creates a larger audience and large profit.

Framing and CAM SAMC

• She is placed in the middle of the frame which means that out attention goes straight to her.• Furthermore, she is isolated which adds to how our attention draws to her immediately.• From this we can gather that she may be the women in black.• The long shot is used to show her costume more which also links to the audience realising that she may be the women in black.

• There seems to be ghost children in the background and she seems to be looking at them. This shows a sense a dominance towards them and a sense of importance.

Character Representation

This character has been represented as a Victorian lady through her costume. There's a wide shot of the women in black in front of little children suggesting how she's has control.

The children are faded showing that they could be ghosts. It also demeans them and makes them seem less important unlike the woman. We are then able to understand that the woman is the main character

Setting/Location

The setting is not clear as it is in black and grey. However, it seems as if the location is in the middle of nowhere which fits into the horror stereotype.

Even though the location is not clear, it is obvious that she is outside as there is a lake behind the ghost children.

Misty and mysterious which adds to the layer of horror as it makes the setting unclear.

Colour Symbolism

The colour black of the woman's dress suggest how• She's evil • Heartless/unhappyIt can also symbolise the anger and fear of the character

The colour white symbolises the children’s purity.

The poster is mostly in black symbolising death of the place.

Stereotypes

• What are the stereotypes in your genre?The stereotypes in our genre usually involves an abandoned house or a house situated

in the middle of no where being haunted by one or multiple ghosts.

• Are they reinforced or challenged in your poster?

• This stereotype is reinforced as we see ghost children in the background looking towards ‘the Women in Black’ and the setting/location looks disserted which fits into the ghost/horror conventions.

Film 2

The Amityville HorrorTayla & Chelsea

Denotation/ConnotationA house This is perhaps the house

that the family are living and experiencing strange occurrences in

A catchphrase

This based on a true story catchphrase causes the audience to be more on edge and nervous about watching the film

A man walking towards the house

This could either represent a man being protective or intentionally trying to cause harmA shotgun

This could either show someone attempting to intrude or the male trying to protect his family

Amityville Horror

The film is based on a true story that occurred in Amityville which is a village in the town of Babylon in New York. Using ‘The’ gives the title purpose and emphasises the reality of this Horror.

The title evidently gives the genre of the film by using Horror in the title.

The catchphrase: “Almighty God , Bless and Sanctify this House’’ this is typically what you would find happening in a exorcism suggesting that the storyline is supernatural.

Language of Film Title & Catchphrase

Text Analysis

Gothic font creates the sense of horror and also the religious aspect to the supernatural. The colour red connotes blood

Amityville is texted much larger than the rest of the title which allocates the setting.

Dark colours of black are used to generate the Horror genre. By making the text large and red it makes the title stand out and suggests blood and gore.

Framing & CAM SAMC

By placing a long shot of a character in the middle without detail perhaps portrays and un identified character and creates more mystery to the plot. It also shows that the darkness of the character indicates that the paranormal have possessed this character. This is re enforced through his posture of slouching.

The house is made the largest object in the poster which suggests its daunting allocation especially as it is the main setting based on the true story.

The size of the character and house perhaps shows the intense supernatural activity happening in the house compared to the character who is portrayed small and vulnerable when compared.

Character representation

The character in this poster appears to be holding a shotgun whilst heading in the direction of the house. This shows that he is trying to protect his family from what is inside the house. However due to his posture you are able to tell that he is weak, perhaps due to the strength of what is in the house.

His ‘slouchy’ posture could suggest the possession of the demonic figure is controlling his movements.

Colour symbolisation

The greenish tint in this section of the poster is often used to identify the paranormal, an example of this would be the exorcist

The title of the poster is written in red symbolising bloodshed, this also links to the shotgun that the man holds.

The black symbolises darkness which is associated with most horror films

The characters white t-shirt symbolises innocence but as it is tarnished with blood it suggests his innocence has been taken from him.

Setting/location

The poster is set just outside the family home, this indicates that the family home is the bases of the film. An association with homes in horror films usually tends to lead to the family becoming victims either through hauntings or trespassers.

The woodland is a stereotypical aspect of horror films, along with paranormal. The poster combines the two to create a fusion of stereotypes, perhaps trying to contrast being trapped with escape

Stereotypes

• What are the stereotypes in your genre?• The stereotypes in our genre are usually involving people running through woods,

becoming possessed or a masked murderer.

• Are they reinforced or challenged in your poster?

• These stereotypes are reinforced in the poster as the colour symbolisation represents paranormal activity and the trees suggest there is a forest involved