Analysis Of A Real Film Poster: Insidious

The iconography of the whole poster is quite dark and dull. This is conventional the horror genre as they connote aspects such as death and mystery. This allows the film to associate to themes such as possession and evil. Other themes may include childhood issues which is signified by the key image of the boy positioned in the centre of the poster. This subverts the stereotypical connotations of young children as they are seen to be innocent and pure. However, the boy is presented to look very unhealthy and dull. This is due to the make up and effects and it causes the boy to seem dangerous. Ontop of one of his eyes there is text stating ‘insidious’ and the other ‘is’. This feature is quite hard to see from a far however it may freak the audience out as they get closer. It is a small but effective detail.  Furthermore, the lighting is low key which causes the child to seem more under the influence of evil due to the darkness.

The boy is wearing what seems to be pyjamas which further symbolises childhood. However, the way his clothing was darkened causes the initial innocence and vulnerability associated with the boy to be lost. In turn this increases the fear and tension for the audience.

The background consists of a single house which seems to be isolated.  There is a dark shadow that covers the house which may foreshadow that sinister things happen there. Furthermore, the sky is made to look very gloomy which further carries on the theme of darkness.

Above the film title we can see the stereotypical line stating ‘From the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw’. This causes the viewer to be interested in the film if they enjoyed the two films listed. The biggest font is of the movie ‘Saw’. This may be due to the fact that it is more well-known than paranormal activity and it is also a franchise. The font style of the text is san-serif and this makes it clearer to read. The title of the film is written down vertically and it is written in 2 colours;red and white. The letters ‘is’ are written in red which connotes danger and blood. This further relates to the main image in which the words ‘insidious’ and ‘is’ are present in the boys eyes. This adds an element of mystery into the film as the audience are most likely wondering what is insidious?Who is insidious? Underneath the title, the tagline states ‘its not the house that is haunted’. This further relates back to the key image as except for the house the only other visible aspect is the boy. This also subvert the stereotype as conventionally in the horror genre the house is portrayed to be the sinister and mysterious place.

At the bottom of the poster the companies that helped o produce the film are credited. If any individuals from the target audience recognise the companies and associate them with other films they enjoy they may be more drawn to watch this one. The text is in a light grey colour which contrasts the dark background allowing the text to be recognisable. Lastly, the biggest text within that writing is the coming out date marked April 1^st . This will cause the audience to look forward to seeing the film and get them more excited for its release.