Textual Analysis of a Film Poster

I chose this poster to analyse because when seen, it straight away looks weird, unusual and frightening. I like this poster as they used a woman’s nose/ mouth as eyes to represent what may be the killer in the film. This is a clever idea as it demonstrates what horror is about (e.g. screaming, last girl). The juxtaposition between the antagonist’s expression and the woman’s fear create an odd expression on the antagonists face and gives the poster a sinister feel.

The mise-en-scene represented in this poster includes:

·         Lighting: The low-key lighting produces a grim atmosphere about the film and the blacked out background may leave someone wondering what lurks behind. The lighting on the face of the main image, shows lighting that could be from the mobile phone. Overall, I think the lighting works well on this poster as it creates an evil feel and somewhat of an optical illusion.

·         NVC (Non-verbal communication): The expression on the antagonists face is quite sly and conniving which shows the characters pleasure from wreaking havoc or fear upon her victims. The antagonists’ lip is slightly curved into a smirk which represents arrogance or sadism which illustrates her enjoyment of the weak.

·         Setting: The setting is unknown but perhaps she may be in a dark room, waiting or watching out for her victims.

·         Props: The prop used in the poster is a mobile phone which links the title of the film “One Missed Call”. This prop is obviously linked to the film and plays an important part in the film. The phone is to the antagonist’s ear and the tag line: “What will it sound like when you die?” shows that she listens to her victims die through the phone, which links back to the NVC and how she revels in pleasure of the weak.

The anchorage of the poster is of red and serif font, which is slightly, fades into the background to create a dreadful atmosphere. The tag line is also in red and serif font. The red font works well with the dark background and both colours complement well with the horror genre. The font isn’t too scary but still creates a good impact on horror poster. The fading letters on the title may suggest the dying victims slowly fading into the darkness.

The composition of the main image is positioned right in the middle to scare the audience, also due to the main image being in the centre, this allows the poster to be eye-catching towards the audience.

Shanice Redwood