3 Magazine analysis

Mama poster analysis

This is the poster for the horror movie Mama. The main colours are black and brown. Most of the poster is brown except the key image of a young child who looks innocent and is holding a very wrinkles and dirty arm of a women who is very think and long. This suggests that the woman is evil as she has very creepy and inhuman features. Due to the child hiding behind the women the audience can see that perhaps the child believes the women to be her mama even though she is perceived to be the antagonist. This creates and enigma and the audience would want to find out about the relationship between the women and the child.

The header says that this movie is ‘presented by Guillermo Del Toro’ who is the creator of Pan's Labyrinth. This may have been included to attract fans of Pan's Labyrinth. May be due to the similarities between the movies but may be also due to the success of Pan's Labyrinth as it made  $83,258,226 in the box office. It also suggests that this movie will be as successful to the audience.

The title of the movie is in the biggest size and also in white which stands out due to the key image being dark. On top of the title the name of one of the main actors' name is written. This may have done this because she is the most popular actor from the movie and probably has the most fans; this is to attract her fans.

Under the title the slogan "A mother's love is forever" is written, this is usually thought to be a very comforting message for children but in this context it has a more dark meaning, as the mother is a supernatural creature that is probably evil.

In the bottom we can see the release date of the movie. The text is bigger than the slogan and does stand out. The release date is supposed to be very eye catchy so the audience remember when the movie is being released so they can go and watch it. Under the release date is the Facebook and YouTube link. This is a great way for the audience to find out more about the movie and also to watch the trailer. The Facebook link probably is more aimed at the younger audience such as the teen and young adults as they are more into social networks.

Mama trailer analysis

Sinister poster analysis

The main colours of this poster are grey, black and dark red. These are conventional colours for a horror movie, which is how the audience will recognise the genre of the movie. The background seems to be a old cracked wall which suggests to the audience that maybe the movie includes a haunted house.  At the top of the poster in white text it states that the movie is from the producer of 'Paranormal activity' and 'insidious' which were very popular horror/thriller movies. This also suggests that this movie may have similar aspects and techniques to 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Insidious'. Neither of these movies have 'happy' and resolved endings where the good beats the evil. This would be the conventional movie ending even for a horror movie so the endings of these movies are boundary oppositions.

The title of the movie is in what seems to be leaking black ink. This contrasts to the header colour, which makes both texts stand out. The title is also bigger and bolder than all the other texts to make sure that the title of the film stands out to the audience and stays in their minds. In the bottom of the page instead of the date of the movie it says 'Coming Soon' which suggests that this poster had been released and marketed quite a while before the release date of the movie. They may have done this to make sure that as much as their target market was aware of this movie. Under the title the text says in small black text "Once you see him, nothing can save you." this may be referring to the 'demon' drawn with blood in the key image. By having his image in the key image and the audience seeing it the director is suggesting that nothing can save the audience as they've seen him. This may have been done to scare the audience and want them to watch the movie. In the bottom there are also logos of social networks and the address of the movies pages in the social networks. This is an effective way to attract teens and young adults as they mostly use social networks.

In the key image we see a young girl with blond hair and wearing white. This appearance may have been carefully chosen to show her innocence. White is associated with innocence and so is young children but by having the ‘innocent’ character draw the demon on the wall suggests that she is in the dark side. This is also a boundary opposition as the character that is usually seen as innocent is actually part of the evil.  The young girl also seems to be wearing pyjamas which suggest that whatever evil doings happen will happen at night.  

Analysis of Sinister trailer

Analysis of Silent Hill trailer

Analysis of Silent Hill poster

The background colour of this poster is black, which represents evil and fear. Black is used in many thriller and horror films due to what it represents. It is a conventional colour for my trailer's genres.  The poster also has the main characters images as well as some of the monsters. This shows the audience what to expect from the movie and the scary effects and villains. This will attract the audience and make them want to watch the movie. Under the title in a smaller size but same colour they have written '3D'. This may have been purposely done to attract the audiences that like 3D movies. The makers of this movie obviously may have conducted research to create their specific audience profile even though this is a sequel. This may be because they want to reach out to a wider audience or maybe because they feel as though ever since the first movie (Silent Hill) which was made in 2006 their audience have become more sophisticated and for example now enjoy 3D movies more than 2D movies.

The images of the characters in the poster seem to be paintings rather than photos, this may attract the audience as it seems more mysterious and may seem post modern as old horror movies such as 'scars of Dracula' which was produced in the 1970s had painted posters (see below).

 In the Silent Hill poster there is an image of an eye in a red tone. The directors' ideology behind this may be that the eye symbol is evil, as most people also believe. So this may be why he has included it. The eye symbol may be a part of the narrative, which may also why it has been included. Similarly our product is called 'The Blind Eye' and in our trailer we have close ups of the character's eye. This is because we are type casting 'the eye' to be linked with evil and almost demonic as Michael J.Basset seems also to do. An advantage of this is that a lot of people believe that the eye symbol is the symbol of the devil and so follow that ideology. By including this in the Silent Hill poster they are able to attract the audience that follow that ideology and beliefs. This symbol also links to the representation of the movie as the audience may think that the movie has included a demonic feature in the narrative or characters and so due to curiosity may want to watch the movie.  Behind the main character (I know this due to her image being the biggest in size) there are flames, which is directly linked to hell and evil. Fire is also one of the typical codes and conventions of the genre horror.