Textual analysis of horror film poster (Christina)

-Director of Saw: James Wan

-Release Date: 1st October 2004

-Genre: Horror

The poster appears to be simple with the way it has been laid out with this particular photography as the background. The colour scheme of the poster is quite dull, creating a clinical effect with the use of high key lighting and gray scale colours. In many conventional horror film posters, the colour red is used a lot and usually there is blood or some type of gore. This represents the horror genre, as such elements are typically found in these kinds of films. The use of gray scale colours is as equally effective as the use of colour red because it also makes the audience feel uncomfortable. This is especially effective towards people who have phobias of hospitals, clinics, dentistry etc. This look was made to make the audience feel more uneasy.

The poster conveys an image of a bruised and scarred hand, which is also quite swollen. This connotes the horror genre with the fact that the hand looks very dirty aswell. It is also implying the narrative of the film which are the deaths and tortures of people.

There is also a convention of a horror film poster where an image of the victim or villain is put on the poster, or, this could sometimes be both. As the image on the poster is of a brutally damaged hand, it is possible to tell that the photo is the hand of the victim. It can be said that the fact that it is not possible to see who this person is, makes the audience feel distanced away from the character and  the situation he or she is in. This reinforces the feeling of being uncomfortable. Also, this is a way of getting the audience to wonder and think of the possible scenarios to suggest what might have happened to this person. And, most importantly, who this hand belongs to.

The font used for the film name stands out because of the shadowy effect created. It is very dark with a colour combination of red and black which relates to the horror genre, adding to the spooky effect of the poster. The way the font is presented here appeals to people who like this genre because it is simple and is similarly used in other horror film posters in terms of colour and simplicity of the font. Sans serif fonts are used here, which generally gives a more modern feel to the poster.  Horror films tend to attract more male audiences because they usually enjoy this genre more than women as they are stereotypically said to be quite “sensitive.” With this idea, in my opinion, I believe that this poster is more appealing to men. With the use of blood in the corner of the poster and on the hand, dark colours and grunge, the poster creators are right to appeal mainly to men. This is due to the specific techniques used, conveying a sense of masculinity. Also, simply because this is stereotypically some of the things that males are interested in.

At the bottom of the poster are a list of names such as directors, actors etc. There are also logos of the sponsors for this film. This gives additional information to the audiences willing to see the film. Also, there are websites located above the logos, giving the audience a chance to refer to it for any other additional information they may want to find about the movie.

Finally the overall layout of the poster is mainly centre aligned. This makes it very easy for the audience to look at. It looks very neat and allows them to read down the page with ease. In comparison to the other saw posters they are all similar. They maintain the dull colour scheme with a simple layout that gives away very little information about the films narrative. This is very good on the poster creators’ and film makers’ part as this technique allows Saw fans to recognise the poster. They are used to seeing the same elements used in the posters having the same sort of imagery and colours; therefore, the outcome of this would be successfully maintaining and drawing in fans of Saw.