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.