Saw 3 film poster analysis

Why did I choose this poster?

I have used this poster for my analysis because I like how it does not follow some of the usual conventions, I will be explaining this in more detail later on. When I first saw this poster I found it to be quite plain and dull. However coming back to the poster at a later date I found that this poster is very affective as it informs the viewer about things which will be a significance to the plot but It does not over inform us, meaning it still leaves the audience with questions about the film. Which will in turn make them want to watch the film. The simplistic of this poster reminds me of the poster for cabin in the woods, which is one of my other posters that I have analysed. I have also chosen this poster as it is the same format I want to use to create for my own film poster.

Main imageMasthead

Background image

Anchor text/ tag line

Film companywebsite

Cast and crew

Anchor text

The anchor text on this poster is “this Halloween, he’s pulling out all the stops”, my first reaction to this is that it informs us as the viewer that this new film will be out on Halloween which connotes that it is a horror film which keeps with the typical conventions of a horror film. The use of the word “he’s” denotes that it is a male pulling out the stops. This connotes that the main evil/character is a male. This also connotes that he is strong and vicious. We often link the anchor line with the main image and in this case it connotes that this “male” is pulling out the teeth that we as the viewer see in the main image. The type of font used is Serif we know this as the text has extra strokes on the end of each letter. This is the most used font for the horror genre and therefore this poster has followed a key convention of the horror genre. The writing is also in capital letters which connotes that this is a key point and is important to the poster also the film company want there audience to see and read this as it will inform them about when they can see it in the cinema.

Masthead

The masthead is placed in the lower left hand intersection, as the masthead is placed on a intersection it connotes that the title is important to the poster as it is the way in which the audience will be able to identify it as part of the saw collection. This title is set out in a decorative font style which connotes that they are trying to set themselves apart from the other films and make the font recognizable to the saw films and this film collection only. Also using the same style font in the prior films connotes that they are all linked.

Main body text

This text in centered at the bottom of this poster which connotes that they have ordered this poster and they want people to read it however this block of writing isn't as important as the masthead or image. This body text is also the smallest font on the poster which fits in with what I preciously said about it not being as important, the cast and crew writing are in normal Serif font which connotes that the anchor text and the crew are linked as that they are the characters featured. However the Website and film company names are in different style fonts as that they are trying to sell each brand. They have used the font of each companies iconic logos so that the audience can recognize the company for the style of the font.

Images

The images featured on this page are quite different and usual, using three teeth Is very symbolic to the film as it connotes mainly different meanings the first two I came to the conclusion are, the three teeth represent the idea that this is the third film and this is there way showing the number three. Another concept is that the three teeth represent the fact that there will be three victims and these are a teeth from each one to also warn the public. Another denotation of the main image is that the teeth are tied to some rope and are hanging down, the connotations of this are that the people in which the teeth belong to are trapped and are tied up so they cannot get away which follows the normal convention of a horror film. The background image for this poster is simply to and decoration to the film poster.

Colour palette

The colour palette for this film poster are black, white and drown. There is only a small hit of brown which adds depth and shading to the teeth. The writing on this poster is black, black connotes that the “saw” is evil and holds a form of evil. Black also connotes death, which shows that someone is going to die. When using black on a white background it makes the writing standout the most. White is a neutral colour that can connote innocence which suggests that some of the people is this film and good pure people.

What I will take away from this poster

I like how they have used custom style font which allows the film to be recognize simply by the font. I also like how they have kept this poster simple as it informs the viewer on most things, however I have noticed that they have not included an age rating the same as the cabin in the woods poster, in my own poster I will include an age rating.