The six posters have been designed to successfully promote movies within the supernatural sub-genre. Through carrying out an investigation of them and then comparing them to each other, it is possible to identify shared features within them and to then go further and establish repeated patterns.
Typical poster conventions are featured within all six of these film posters. We as an audience expect the general conventions to appear such as the title in the largest font across the main image and therefore dominate the frame through the significant large text. By doing this, it is implied to the audience that there is something intriguing in the films narrative, which is helped by the choice of typography. A slogan can also add to suspense building within the target audience, each of these six posters have used this technique to their advantage and have included a slogan, working in their favour to build to a successful supernatural film. Therefore fulfilling the genre's iconography by portraying all horror film features.
In addition to this we see other repeated patterns. In fact 4/6 of the above posters include a female main character, who is generally suffering from some kid of evil torment or force, and is under threat in some way. In 'The Possession' the mise en scene reveals to the audience a young child who is in no control of her own body, is under the spell of an evil force as there is a demonic hand forcing itself out of her body through her mouth leaving her with no control. The posture of this young child is displayed as vulnerable as her hair is down and the decomposing hand is in clear control of the face as her neck is pushed back through the demonic force. This character representation is further reinforced as innocent as the narrative that appears on the poster alongside the main image 'darkness lives within' applies directly to the narrative, as the young girl is overcome by an ancient spirit who is visibly trying to take her soul, hence the hand forcing itself out. The font used for this particular tag line is slightly sophisticated which is ironic, due to the main image being far from. By using this font an image of the overall family has been formed, as the audience would automatically assume that the family of this victim are sophisticated. Making the disruption even more painful.
Similarly in 'The Conjuring' we see a long shot of another young child who is clearly a victim of an evil force, which is proven through the use of the doll as a prop, who is giving the audience direct address confirming that she is the one in control. Suggesting that perhaps the child is possessed and unable to turn around at this moment in time whilst also leaving us guessing as to what she looks like, leaving the audience wondering 'is she definitely a child?, and what could she be possessed by?'. The implication is that the narrative of these films focus on the female protagonist on a journey of trying to get away from the evil, or demonic presence that has faced her within the film. She does not however follow the characteristics of the females within the slasher horror films who tend to be killed off as 'bimbo's' as the females within the supernatural sub genre have the intelligence to attempt to fight or escape from the dangerous threat. The use of children within this sub genre is common due to the fact that children themselves connoting innocence, and purity but this being challenged every time within horrors creates thoughts of terror and is in essence timelessly frightening. The young child within the 'Insidious' poster has evidently got some sort of possession which is visible through the eyes, leaving the audience weary of how far they should look within his eyes. destroying the idea of innocence and replacing it with the fear of nobody being safe.
This same idea is reconfirmed within 'The Devil Inside' poster, which again plays upon usual conventions within supernatural films and that is to involve some form of religious imagery. Which is a feature which appears in most of the six horror films. This is effective as a nun is someone who connotes purity, and everlasting safety by being a strict believer of God. So by a nun being possessed created the idea within our minds that if a nun, the most purest individual is not safe no one will be. It also plays on the fears of the audience as a nun is someone who is there to offer help, but if an evil force has over taken them then there is no sign of help or reassurance.
The images presented in the eight posters are horrific and designed to scare as well as clearly signal that these films are belonging to the horror genre. For example, in the poster for 'Carrie' we see a female protagonist in a long red dress (indicating that an unspeakable event had happened on an evening that had great importance to the victim) the red also connotes images of danger, fear and feistiness' all characteristics we aim to see within the main character. A stock location is not present within this film poster, allowing the audience to let their imagination run and guess where the film takes place. However the fact that the background is pure black examines the idea that there is in fact no escape. Although this poster is the only one that involves one of the most significant horror film convention of blood. But each poster is equally as disturbing by a clear fight between pure and evil, significantly displayed correctly for the audience.
There is a consistent patterns which regards to colour too, depending mainly of the storyline. Four of the six posters include warm colours, particularly red and blacks which are used to help create a devious and tormented mood. In the case of the posters for 'The Devil Inside' and 'Carrie' the protagonist is also surrounded by such as dark and devious colour, implying they are unable to escape, or that there will be a big fight between the victim and unwanted force. Thus proving that their whole existence is in fact revolving around the battle that they must fight defining and characterising themselves. This in fact is a convention of the genre, as well as many other features that i have covered such as religious imagery, institutional information and the composition each poster takes. These conventions are present for the main reason to appeal to the target audience. They are also present as they signal to the audience what genre these films belong to.
In each poster, the title of the film is placed in a deliberate position, as expected and is the largest text on the page. On all six posters the title is placed on the bottom of the poster with the idea that once the audience are enticed by the film poster they will then want to know the name and this will be the last thing that sticks with them. Due to this being carried out within each film poster suggests it is a layout convention. Upper case is chosen for each poster, with a font that is bold yet simple indicating that the narrative of the movie is not a joking matter. Text effects are not an extreme common feature, only one of the six film posters convey this, 'The Possession' includes the religious cross symbol behind the title itself, again playing on the religious fears of the target audience, adapting to film well whilst giving the audience a tiny hint of what may be involved within the narrative.
Five of the six posters introduce institutional information positioned at the base of the poster, but all six of these six posters feature a tagline which aids some sort of reinforcement of the meaning and reason for the main image. 'The Possession' poster reveals that 'Darkness lives within' which complements the main image of the decomposing hand revealing itself from the young child's mouth. Other film posters include the tagline 'Based on a true story' to plainly draw the audience in, and leave them with the impression that if something demonic and un natural has occurred in someone else's lives, why can it not happen to theirs . This text is clear, and in a medium sized font of sans serif, allowing it to not be eye catching for the audience but still worrying once it has caught their eye.
All the poster in the selection are effective. Simplicity is a common feature as minimal text can give the poster that natural and non edited effect. Whilst the bold image being the dominant feature and creating most of the fright for us the audience which is exclusively prominent within The Possession poster, as the minimalism is what creates the effectiveness for the target audience. If these elements were not apparent within this poster then it would not come across as well within the supernatural genre, for example if the main image was not as terrifying then the typography would not complement the graphic image which all collaborate together in order to fulfil the objective of persuading the target audience into watching the film.
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