Film Poster

Textual Analysis

Genre

The audience can see the genre of the film from the poster due to the lighting. The dark shadows on the female protagonist’s face are suggestive of horror. Additionally, the fact that her whole face cannot be seen adds a mysterious, scary atmosphere to the poster which is a common convention of the genre. Furthermore, the direct mode of address and the slight smile gives the female protagonist a sinister look, which works together with the other factors, such as the shadows, to suggest to the audience that the poster is for a horror film.

Language/Narrative

‘GIRL X’The name of the film connotes an unidentified girl which will immediately cause the audience to question who she is and what the storyline of the film entails. This will therefore entice the audience and encourage them to watch the film.

‘BASED ON TRUE EVENTS’The fact that the film is ‘based on true events’ increases the fear factor as the audience will wonder what is true of the storyline in the film. This will make the film more frightening and hopefully, by writing this on the poster, the audience will be intrigued to watch it.

‘SHE’S COMING’Along with the main image of the female protagonist, these words suggest that she should be feared. It helps to begin to create a narrative already as the audience will wonder who she is coming for and why she is coming.

Audience

The poster would be eye catching for the audience as the female stands out from the black background. The poster also follows some of the conventions used on ‘The Ring’ film posters as there is not a lot of detail in the image to ensure that the storyline is not given away. Subsequently, a similar audience may find this film appealing due to the common conventions shared with ‘The Ring’. Therefore, this will hopefully be a successful marketing technique and will help the film to gain a large audience.

Representation

The young female is represented as being sinister and evil simply by the image on the poster. Her whole face cannot be seen due to her hair which immediately creates a sinister look. This is furthered by the shadows on her face and her pale skin. This connotes death and therefore, it could be inferred that she has returned from the dead. This represents her negatively as, in the horror genre, any person who returns from the dead tends to be evil. As a result, the audience can guess that she is not going to be a pleasant character in the film towards to the other characters.