Paranormal Activity Poster Analysis - Lauren

Prior to the filming process of our film and to help with the producution stages I have decided to evaluate a movie that demonstrates the conventions of a phychological horror alike ours- Paranormal Activity. The use of framing captures the young couple edging away from the open door presenting the fear of unknown; also the open door could symbolise the vunerability and innocence as it is approaching. It establishes their surroundings particularly the bedroom accompanied with the time in the right hand corner, siginfying the high levels or fear to the audience as we can see it is 3am in the morning ideally the time they would be sleeping. This is also conveyed in the use of shaded lighting and the greyed effect of the night vision photography, it creates an uneasiness as we realise the couple's actions are being closely watched despite the hour of the day. The lack of clarity that is shown within the effect used portrays the characters emotions as they are unsure what is lurking just metres away from them outside the door.

Furthermore the cropping of the image captures the young couple in the bed whilst the door is still in focus, allowing the focal point to be the connection of the couple edging away and the door opening to the darkness. It has been carefully cropped to ensure the main objects (bed and door) are central in the poster as well as presenting their surroundings as a bedroom. The mise-en-scene also emphasises the uneasiness as the audience witness its early hours of the morning and the image has been captured from a camera recording them throughout the day. The use of the time have been displayed is important as it allows us to realise the lack of normality of the couple being awake at that hour shifting the fear between the characters and the audience. The setting of the bedroom accompanied with the two-shot of the couple establishes the relationship in their environment with their positioning in the bed which would ideally be a content and empowered by love; yet contrastingly in the scene the prominent emotion is fear particularly radiating from the open door. 

The use of the colour used for the font could conveys danger, the deep shade of red closely links to blood provoking a sense of unknown fear as well as the use of capital letters which enforces the terror of the statements and quote. The clarity of the font contrasts the lighting and effect of the night vision which is unclear- ensuring the audience can establish the difference and realise the importance of the text stating the horror the film. The slogan 'DONT SEE IT ALONE' stirs the fear within its target audience capturing their attention however not revealing too much of the plot. 

SAW III Poster Analysis - Shondell

This is a poster for the film 'Saw III'. I chose to look closely at this poster because it links to the ideas that we have for our film poster. The lighting in the image is used well as it uses low key lighting on one the left hand side as the light is being shone on the right hand side of his face, which creates a shadow over half of his face, slightly revealing the emotionless yet sinister look on his face to make the audience wonder what he is thinking, or what he is about to do. The black and red cloak he is wearing in the image suggests he may be trying to hide his identity, which may also sugggest the darkness crossing over half of his face, and that fact that he is positioned in the way that his shoulder is facing the audience, signifies that he is not being completely open and honest, he may be trying to keep his identity a secret from certain people, but he's letting the audience know who he his for the purpose of the film itself by partially revealing his identity. The title text on this poster seems almost 'fire-lit', it could signify danger, as does the font used for the title, it is very uneven and seems to use an 'old paper' effect on it, to make it look dirty or rusty, as if it has been scored into a surface of some sort with a knife or sharp object, these effects link to the genre of the film as a gore-filled horror.

The rest of the font on this poster is also quite rough looking, and uneven, this also could signify the cutting or scoring with a sharp knife or object as the text gives that look/effect. All the text on the poster is in red and the inside of his cloak is red, which again, could signify danger, blood or death as there is a lot of this in the Saw films, this gives away the genre of the film to the audience as the colours, lighting, framing and mise-en-scene all conform to the typical conventions of a horror movie. This poster is very plain, but effective, it would appeal to the audience because of the fact it gives nothing away, it makes the audience want to know more, the simple phrase 'Legends Never Die' and the title 'SAW III' tells you nothing about what the film involves, which leaves the audience wanting more, so therefore they will fulfill their need to know more by going to watch the film in the cinema.

The positioning of the character on the poster is in the middle of the frame, so this shows the importance of the character as he is the main, and only, focus on the poster. This could suggest to the audience that he is, or is one of the main characters in the movie. The text is smaller and less significant than the character himself, which also suggests that he is more important than the title of the film itself. The fact that the text 'Legends Never Die' is positioned over the character, suggests that it is referring to him, and represents him in a form of death itself, as he is wearing a black cloak that signifies the form of the master of death 'the Grim Reaper'. This could send a message to the audience that even when he is dead, he will still live in spirit, and find a way to get through to his enemies or victims. These techniques are used to appeal to a wider audience, the poster is simple yet effective to leave the storyline open for questioning to lead the audience to want to know more.

Analysis of The Shining - Charlie

This is a film Poster from 'The Shining' which is a famous psychological horror from 1980 directed by Stanley Kubrick. 

The shining does not show many conventions of a sterotypical film poster but becasue of the way that it presents themes of a psycological horror it makes it a affective and eye catching advertisement. I have chosen to analyse this film poster becuase it is from a famous film so it is very well known. Althought this certain film poster looks simple, it give the audience a sense of what is to come in the film.

The face in the poster looks crazy which is what we hope to portray when we make our film poster becuase the genre of the film can be shown to the audience without having to have too much actual text. The main part of the film poster is a well known iconic part of the shining which draws the audience in and makes them interested in what is going to happen.

The writing is bold which draws in the audience. Having the text at the bottom works well because it makes the title and director clear and noticeable. Part of the text is in red which represents danger and blood. 

overall this film poster for "the shining" is well made and has some good features that conform to the horror genre. 

by Charlie Herbert

Analysis of Our Poster for 'Parallel Minds' - By Cameron

This is our created poster for our 'Parallel Minds' production. As you can see, the use of the red slightly faded reflected text located at the top of the poster poses as something significant which the audience is supposed to notice. In terms of framing, the text is located towards the top of the poster, suggesting it is one of the more prominent features of the poster. The fact that the text is a devilish red colour suggests that this film will include conventions of a typical Psychological/Horror genre movie as the colour red is commonly linked to gore, horror, uneasyness of the situation, fear ect.

The fact that the text is reflected also links to the title of the film 'Parallel Minds' as the text is mirrored 'Parallel' to the title, which conveys the idea that this film will include an almost alter ego of a character, another side or way in which they are viewed. And due to the fact it is faded as it is reflected suggests that this alter ego of this character in the film is rather siniter, psychotic and something to be feared, which meets many conventions of a typical Pyschological/Horror genre movie. The main focus of the poster however are the two halves of the faces of either side of the poster in the middle, but rather large and prominent suggesting this is the main focus of the poster which the audience should otice first.

The fact that it is framed so the images are located in the centre of the poster but towards the sides rather largely also suggests that this is clearly the main focus of the poster. The fact that the half of the face on the left, is presented in black and white and the other half is presented in colour with clear blood splatters across the face also once again suggests the alter ego of the character presented in the poster. It also suggests to the audience that this characters alter ego is sinister and psychotic once again due to the fact that the half with the blood on the face is in colour, as the caharcter pulls a crazy expresssion, suggesting this is truley who he is as if he has 'come to life' when he is this ego, it also suggests he perhaps has a history of mental illness or pschizophrenia as he has these two alter egos in the first place.

 The half of the face in black and white clearly suggests his rather boring ego, with no emotion or care as there is no facial expression pulled and is presented in black and white. This suggests that this side of his alter ego is boring due to the fact it is presented in the boring colour of black and white. Due to these factors, the use of the two halves of the faces as alter egos, one being psychotic while the other bland and emotionless, conveys a sense of mystery, fearfullness and conforms to conventions once again, of a typical Pysychological/Horror movie. The use of the blood splatter across the face of the crazy alter ego side suggests this film being advertised to the audience will include gore, and will be horrific, and the audience can convey the idea that this character clearly has a past of psychological illness.

Overall, in terms of mise en scene, the use of the different features of this poster i.e, the sinister faded text in red, the black background with the two different halves of the faces representing different egos, 'Parallel' to each other, convey the typical conventions of a horror genre film. This overall suggests that when the audience view this poster, they will convey the idea that this film will be horrific due to these conventions, which will attract the different target audiences of teens and above.

Film Age Rating - By Charlie

This film is going to be rated 15

These are the official reasons for our film being rated a 15 and not a 12 or 12A

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

In parallel minds there is a lot of violence and death through out the whole film which puts it into the category of a 15. Another factor from the film  that brings the film into the 15 certificate is the strong language. Although not all of the criteria is in our film it still has areas of a 15 that are not suitable for a lower aged audience. 

The film is not going to be an 18 rated film because it does not contain extremely strong language towards other people and also their are no scenes of sex or sexual violence which are common in most 18's. 

By Charlie Herbert

Chosen Music For Production - By Shondell

After listening to different chilling samples of music, we came to the conclusion that we would use this one for our production. We decided to choose this due to the fact in terms of mise en scene it fits our production perfectly, as it sets an atmosphere of mystery, suspense and underlying fear of the situation. As our chosen genre of the production is horror, it is only right that this example of chilling music is used for our production, as it amplifies all senses of fear, grittiness and adds tension to the atmosphere. In terms of viewing, this would add suspense to the audience when they watch it, as the music almost makes the audience want to know what is about to happen, it feels as if a horrific event is about to take place which the audience is anticipating, and wishes to see.