Wrong Turn Poster Analysis

The title of the poster is positioned at the bottom left of the page, in order to not take the viewers attention away from the main image. The text itself is seemingly eerie, since the letters are not equally spaced from one another, and are positioned at various levels. These effects, however, are only minimal, but make the audience aware that not all is right. Since the title is written in red, in a horror aspect, this could represent blood, death and warnings, rather than love or lust, which may be used for a romantic film. Under the title, we see the tag line ‘It’s the last one you’ll ever take!’ which immediately addresses the reader, and therefore engages them. The works as a hook to make audience curious of what the wrong turn may behold. Thought this tag line is only small, it is noticeable due to the lack of text on the entire poster.

The colour on the poster includes warm tones such as orange, yellow and red, with the addition of black too. The orange and red connote a sense of warning and panic, referring back to the title, whereas the black could relate back to the mystery of the poster, since the audience is unaware as to what the wrong turn beholds. The black also contributes to the fear of the unknown, since the heavy shadow around the female figures makes the audience wary of her surroundings. In addition to this, black is stereotypically associated with death and evil.

The poster displays two characters, the first of which being the vulnerable female, who is obviously the victim within the film. By dressing her in a simple vest, she is displayed as a ‘normal’ day to day woman, though we are subconsciously aware that she is the protagonist by the choice of a white vest, which symbolizes the hero. It could also be argued that the choice of a vest is seemingly a stereotypical masculine item of clothing, and therefore can be related back to Clover’s final girl theory, since she is looking ‘rough and ready’ for the wrong turn. Behind her we see the second character, who is blurred, which suggests that the antagonists of the film are hiding, and that the protagonist is unaware of his whereabouts. Although his image is not focuses, details such as burns, his muddy face, pointed teeth and black gums, prove that he is some kind of abnormal human. His expression supports this since he is pleased with the girls lack of knowledge of her own whereabouts, proving that he is thriving off oh her fear.

The background gives the audience knowledge that the film is set in a forest, which is a typical horror setting, due to its repetitive imagery. This suggests that it is easy to get lost, especially within the dark. We are also aware of this environment due to the subtle shadow of the leaves on the woman’s body, which once again suggests that she is hiding.

Poltergeist Poster Analysis

The title of the poster is positioned at the top of the page, which draws the viewers’ attention in. Since it is highlighted by a light blue glow and edging, it is difficult to miss and therefore it stands out. This is used in order to make the title look scientific, and perhaps from a different planet. This therefore represents Strauss’ idea that within horror films you have a binary opposition, and this effect gives the audience the impression that it is science/aliens vs humans, or in fact the known vs the unknown. It also creates a technological atmosphere, which is supported by the main focus of the poster; the television. The lettering if full capitals, which are evenly spaced; creating a seemingly bold appearance. The word ‘poltergeist’ means an evil spirit, and is seemingly much most intense than just the word ‘ghost’. The choice of words, therefore also draws the viewer in once more. The word itself creates mystery, and also gives a huge indication into what the film is seemingly about. In addition to this, since the title it so simple, it means the audience will have no confusion about what they are going to see. This can be seen as a positive, since many posters are very misleading, and can lead to huge disappointments. At the bottom of the page there is the tag line ‘it knows what scares you’ which, itself is a daunting thought to prosper on. This gives the audience a greater insight into what the title actually means, and therefore then may interest them in then seeing the film.

The colour scheme for this poster is very simple. The title itself only consists of 3 colours; mainly electric blue, black outlines and then hints of white. This is then evident throughout the rest of the poster itself. This creates a supernatural vibe to the poster, hence the blue. The black, however, creates a shadowing, and may make the audience wonder what may be lurking in the shadows. The blue lighting also may suggest that the only lighting around, is in fact coming from the television. This is a clue to the audience that the television is a key prop in the film, and therefore gives them an indication to look out for this.

There is only one character on the poster of this film, and although the audience cannot see her face, they are aware that she is a young child. This is due to the use of the props surrounding her. The subtle use of the teddy bear lying helplessly next to her, proves that she is only young, and highlights her vulnerability and innocence, which makes the viewer more fearful for her. In addition to this, the TV which she places her hands on seems extremely large, in comparison to her small, fragile body. This suggests that the television holds the control and power within the film and the poster itself. Since it is the only source of light, we are aware that the TV itself is not normal and therefore it can be perceived as the antagonist. 

Audience for My Film

Similar to all horror films, my film is targeted towards the age of 16-24 year olds, since this is the most popular age group who watch horror films. With this in mind, I chose to use a full teenage cast, in order to relate to the audience itself, since the cast age group ranged from 17-19. This enabled us to seemingly act normally, in order to be understood by the audience themselves.

There is no real specification between a female or male audience within this film, since aspects of it will appeal to both sexes. Since there is a male, stalking a female, in some senses, the male audience may enjoy this, as the camera in some senses will take a male gaze; especially when killing Jess, and attempting to kill Kelly. Although this is the case, there will be no use of nudity or suchlike, since these features often dismiss the female audience. In order to attract females, the idea that Kelly is fighting back against a male, will empower women, and therefore could be more popular for the female audience.

Since targeting a similar age group to the characters involved within the film, I feel that it is best to have a target audience of both male and female teenagers, aged 16 – 24, since they are most likely to relate with the character’s, and would therefore feel the most fear within the character’s situations.

Full Film Idea

With a horror genre, it is obvious that the film idea that I propose will have some typical conventions of a horror. Within horror, however, there are also many sub genres including, gore, psychological, thriller and supernatural, thought with my concept, it would be best to go with a psychological horror.
The idea is based around a group of teenagers, and mainly focuses on a girl called Kelly. She is unaware that she is in fact being stalked, by a quiet character, James. It is not until he gets hold of her number after constantly stalking her and waiting outside her house day and night, that she becomes aware of his presence and alerts her friend, Jess. The two girls think that it would be a good idea to lead the stalker on, and text him, asking him to come to Kelly’s house, though, to their surprise, he is already there. In order to then scare him off, the girls call him various names, and soon slam the door in his face, which, of course was the wrong move. This angers him further, and drives him to get his revenge to illuminate what he thinks is corrupting Kelly from seeing that he is her true love.
James sets out plans to kill off Jess, first, since she proposed that he is a stalker. He successfully does this, though to his surprise this does not bring Kelly any closer to him; which drives his anger further. Whilst this is occurring, Kelly looks for comfort in her boyfriend, after the traumatic events of finding out that she has a stalker, though to her surprise, Nathan isn’t the most understanding. After finding texts on her phone where she tells James to come over, Nathan feels that he has been cheated, and goes out to find James himself. This of course, is the perfect opportunity for James to illuminate another of Kelly’s corruptors.
This then leads Kelly to being totally isolated, and therefore seeks comfort in the only person possible; James. Although she is unaware that he is the murdered, the clues finally start to piece together and she starts piecing the puzzle together. After finding a shrine devoted to her along with several of Jess, Nathan and her own belongings, it is up to Kelly to kill James before he in fact kills her.
This film idea uses the idea within Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions, and focuses mainly on good vs evil.

Representation Of Women

It has been proven that the majority of horror film audiences include a male audience, meaning that the roles of women within these films are extremely important. Traditionally, it could be argued that women are typically seen as the ‘damsels in distress’ in many horror films, and seemingly are looking to be saved, normally by the male hero in the piece. Though, nowadays, these stereotypes are being challenged, with various roles that women play within these films, including the heroin, the sinner and in some cases, the villain.

The film House of Wax displays the role of women in various ways; the first and arguably most prominent character is Paige Edwards, played by Paris Hilton. Within the film, Paige is the girlfriend of Blake, the captain of the football team, and seeming ‘bad boy’. With this in mind, it is no shock that he is soon killed by the villain, by a spear through his face. Though unlike Paige, Blake’s death is only 15 seconds long, with him fully clothed, whereas Paige’s death includes her running round a car garage in her underwear for at least 2 minutes. This idea therefore supports Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze. This theory states that the camera is from a male perception, and therefore sexualises women, and focuses more on their deaths than the male deaths. In the case of House of Wax, this is seemingly the case, especially between Blake and Paige. By limiting Paige’s clothing to only her underwear, this may cause the male audience to fantasize over her death, since it is portrayed in such a sexual way. This may appeal to the male audience, and therefore encourages them to see other horrors. Although an element of Paige’s character appears within Mulvey’s theory, the reason behind her death is explained within Carol Clover’s theory ‘Final Girl Theory’. This theory suggests that since the film shows that Paige is sexual and drinking alcohol, seemingly known as ‘sinful’ act’, then through these actions, she must be killed. This represents the fact that if a sinful act is committed, the person committing the acts must therefore be punished and die. This is evident within many horror films, most obviously in the ‘Saw’ films.

Another character within House of Wax is Carly Jones, the final girl within this movie. Carly Jones, best friend of Paige, is more caution than some of the other characters, including her boyfriend, Wade, and is particularly aware of the strange goings on within the woods, and abandoned town. According to Carol Clover’s theory, in order for Carly to be the final girl, she must be virginal, have an androgynous name, and embodies some masculine features when killing the villain. The name Carly can be used as both a male and a female name, so in these terms, Carly does support Clover’s theory. In addition to this, at the end of the film, it is in fact Carly who tries to fight to monster in order to save her brother, which could support the idea of her character embodying some masculine features. Although this is the case, at the beginning of the film it is made aware that Carly does have a boyfriend, and it could be argued that she is not entirely virginal, since she is seen kissing him and sitting on his lap. Along with this, Carly also drinks alcohol with her friends, which could be argued as a sinful act, and therefore goes against Clover’s theory.  Although she is not portrayed as provocatively as Paige in this film, she still has elements within it which could be seen as sinful, and therefore, does not fit into Clover’s theory perfectly.

Paranormal Activity 2 is a film which focuses on the suspicious events which occur in a house, due to a poltergeist; a follow up from the original ‘Paranormal Activity’. Within this film there are 2 women involved, the first of which being the mother, Kristi Rey. The mother is seen to be the protector of her child ‘hunter’ who is most susceptible to the haunting’s from the poltergeist. In this sense, Kristi lives up to Clover’s theory, since the name is androgynous, and her attempts to save her child could be seen as brave; a typical characteristic of a male role. In addition to this, there is no evidence of Kristi drinking alcohol, doing drugs or having sex; meaning that she can be seen as angelic and pure.   Although this is the case, Kristi does in fact die, so, even though she may possess some characteristics of the final girl, she still does not live, meaning that the theory does not always apply to characters, even if they possess the characteristics.  The second female within the film is Ali Rey, Kristi’s step daughter. Unlike her Step Mum, Ali believes more in the poltergeist, and is determined to find out what it is trying to do. Ali is seen to be more rebellious, since she is younger; she is seen to invite her boyfriend over secretly, without her parent’s permission. Although this is the case, unlike Kristi, Ali is the only main character who survives. This therefore shows that Clover’s theory is not representative within this film at all.

Overall it could be argued that in some cases, these theories are extremely representative of the women involved, proven in the film House of Wax, though in some cases, especially within Clover’s theory, some of her judgements of the final girl are extremely old fashioned, and are therefore not evident within modern day films.

Magazine Cover Analysis

Magazine Cover Analysis

Magazine Cover Analysis