Connotations and denotations:
Once these psychological horror film posters hit the box offices it will be evident to its consumers that this comes from a certain hybrid genre. Immediately we are struck by the both of these posters containing hand held cameras and having dark enigmatic colours surrounding the majority of the film posters. Through having the horror poster institutions deliberately including hand held cameras within their posters it creates a sense of audience interactivity as it connotes to the consumers that these films will be shot through a hand held camera therefore creating a fast paced, real life event horror movie. In addition by having the hand held camera in use it creates an unnatural angle for the consumers to view the poster, this therefore makes the audience want to find out why the angle of the camera is of a low one (the poster on the left) for example therefore creating a sense of suspense and enigma thus resulting in demand for the movie upon its release. Lastly, the hand held camera also gets the consumers from the target audience being able to relate to the movie through owning this type of technology therefore creating a sense of real life which therefore will result in further revenue for the box office institutions as having a sense of real life elements within the movie will create demand in relation to Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications theory. In relation to the media theorist; audiences will want to see a movie to escape and relate from a personal view. This is further enhanced by having a hand held camera on the front of these posters as the target audience nowadays are in use of hand held technology and are constantly in contact with web 2.0 technologies. Therefore by the media institutions involving the hand held camera within the horror posters, it’ll result in demand being created for the movie as consumers wish to have some sort of interactivity with the horror movie in order to escape and relate it with their everyday lives and this can be shown by involving a hand held device on the front of the posters.
Conventions on the posters:
Both of these horror posters contain many conventions which are commonly associated with their psychological and paranormal hybrid genre. For example;
- The common convention which can be seen by the target audience is the uses of the colour black. The media institutions have deliberately used the dark primary colours in order to connote the common conventions which are seen within this genre type of film. The colour black connotes to the target audience; darkness, enigma, paranormal events, death and mystery therefore by having heavy uses of this colour on the front cover of the posters, it will appeal to the target audience as they wish to know why the colour black features so heavily and if the common conventions associated with the colour black will be evident within the movie itself. Furthermore, the colour black is also a constant code with many horror films as it heavily endorses and creates and enigmatic atmosphere along with being a consistently used convention by many media institutions.
- A conventional camera shot and angle has been used on both posters to appeal to the target audiences. For example, one poster has used an extreme close up shot in which the consumers are instantly hit with the facial expressions of the actor being used on the front cover. By having this extreme close up in use on the poster it conveys the common conventions seen within horror movies such as fear and danger. The sense of fear is being enhanced by the body language and facial expressions. By having the low angle of the camera looking directly up at the actor, it represents the actor as being in control however by having the mis-en-scene set in darkness around him and the sense of fear being represented within his eyes, the target audience can see and feel a sense of danger. In addition, by using this type of camera shot it makes the audience and consumers feel highly uncomfortable as being this close to someone’s face is unnatural and unconventional in everyday life. This therefore makes the consumers create demand for the movie as they wish to see why this individual is in such an unnatural pose and feeling uncomfortable. Furthermore, these types of facial expressions and body languages being represented are common conventions within a horror movie.
Non verbal language being created to the audience/camera angles:
Due to the position of some props and body language being represented to the consumers by the iconic figures used on the posters it creates demand for the horror movies and also connotes the common codes and conventions seen within this genre of movies.
- By having the camera angle shot from a low angle within the Blair Witch Project poster it represents to the audience that this iconic figure is an protagonist that could possibly be in danger
- The low camera angle represents a sense of uneasiness for viewers of the poster as they wish to find out why the camera is in such an unconventional position
- The low camera angle shows the sense of fear within the protagonist’s eyes therefore creating suspense and enigma for the audience who wish to find out why he is feeling uncomfortable and possibly in danger. By having the majority of the primary colours used as dark and black it further extends the fact that this protagonist may be in danger due to something peering out from the dark woods within the film poster.
- By having the iconic figures within the Paranormal Activity poster sitting in an unnatural manner within the bed’s it connotes to the audience that they have been awoken by something which could possibly be of some danger towards them
- The body language represents to the audience that something unnatural and or paranormal is about to happen to the couple within the bed. The audience can easily extract this information from the finger pointing gesture being symbolised by the female actress.
- The damsel in distress theme is also being portrayed within the horror film poster as the male actor is trying to comfort the female actress by having his arm close to her. The proximity between the two actors shows to the consumers that these two iconic figures are clearly distressed and staying very close to each other for protection.
Mis-en-scene and colours:
- By having both posters containing dark colours such as black being the primary colour it connotes to the audience a sense of enigma as the uses of the colour are being used to cover up some iconic symbolisers which may connote to the audience of any hints about the movie itself
- A great example of this can be seen within the Blair Witch Project film poster as the black is used to cover up the protagonist’s mouth therefore hiding any immediate facial expressions which may show to the audience what mood he is feeling or if he is in any immediate danger. This therefore creates demand for the movie as the target audience wish to find out why exactly his mouth is hidden out of view and if he is in any danger.
- By having the setting of the poster taking place within the woods it also arises further enigma and also connotes to the audience that this horror film may have significant links to psychological/slasher elements within it as many consumers of horror movies today associate the woods or forest with murder scenes and/or paranormal events
- The fact that one main colour consisting of dark primary colours connotes to the audience the elements and codes which may be evident within the horror films
- For example; the dark blue used within the Paranormal Activity is significant as it connotes to the audience that the film is being shot through a hand held device which is heavily endorsed through the lines across the screen creating realism and in relation to Blumler and Katz’ theory on uses and gratifications, will create demand from the target audience
- The black used within the Blair Witch Project is significant as it connotes to the audience enigma and darkness which are common themes which occur within the film
- In relation to the Paranormal Activity poster, the type of colour used for the text connotes the common themes which may be portrayed within the film itself. For example red connotes to the audience that themes such as; blood, death and danger may be shown within the movie which is again another convention within horror movies therefore creating demand for the movie upon release. In addition, due to the intertidal being luminous in the colour red it immediately catches the consumer’s eyes and draws them in to see the movie. The fact that the words ‘Paranormal Activity’ are in an luminous effect it shows to the audience that something big and bright is about to occur within the movie therefore creating demand and revenue for the media institutions.
As a promotional package, these film posters released by the media institutions immediately appeal to the target audiences due to the common uses of the codes and conventions of a typical horror genre poster, the USP’s and the elements used to connote a sense of realism. The typical uses of the dark primary colours, representations of the actors and actresses used on the covers, the camera angle and shot types all connote to the audiences themes which will not only be shown within the films itself, but are also portraying the conventions of a horror genre. The dark colours connote enigma and fear, whilst the uses of the colour red promote a sense of danger and blood, all of which help to successfully promote a horror film as these conventions appeal heavily to the target audience therefore by having the posters further enhancing these elements will result in a huge revenue for the media institutions and demand created for the movie once its released. In addition, by having one of the horror posters containing an unconventional camera angle (The Blair Witch Project) it has resulted in the film having a unique selling point as this type of shot is uncommon among many horror genre’s therefore by having this single poster portraying this camera angle it makes it unique in comparison to the other conventional hybrid genre horror movies identical to this therefore appealing to a wider target audience and creating demand for the movie. The camera angle makes the consumers feel uncomfortable and makes them want to know why the camera is positioned in the way that it is. Lastly, both horror posters share almost identical target audiences in the sense that it’ll appeal vastly to older teenagers, however due to the Blair Witch Project poster containing a hand held camera it may appeal to an older audience and consumers of who are wealthy enough to own hand held devices as they will be the ones most likely to be able to relate to the movie through being able to actually afford and own this type of technology. In relation to the audience demographic scale, I believe that the group most likely to view both movies will be from the C2-D category.
