Textual Analysis of movie poster (Cyprian)

 

The image above is the advertising poster for the 2011 psychological horror movie ‘Insidious’, directed by James Wan and distributed by multiple subsidiaries of media conglomerate, Sony. The denotation of this poster is a young boy possibly aged 11-12,  who is the subject standing in front of a house , low key lighting is also used. The young boy is dressed in red and blue chequered pyjamas and has what appears to be a code in his right eye. He is stood in front of a quite large suburban house in a clean, tidy suburban street and his non verbal communication is one of vacancy.  The weather in the poster is dark and cloudy as if a storm were brewing. The writing on the poster says the name of the film ‘Insidious’ and also states that it is from the makers of ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘SAW’ two very well known horror films. From the text on the poster we, the audience, also gage that the slogan for this film may possibly be “It’s not the house that’s haunted”. 

The young boy in the poster wearing pyjamas connotes childhood innocence as pyjamas are generally thought to be worn by young children, who know no wrong. The combination of low key lighting on his face, a vacant stare and a code in his right eye also suggests that he holds a dark secret or that something evil has inhibited him. We, the audience are further given this impression by the statement “It’s not the house that’s haunted”. This leaves the audience wanting to understand how an innocent young boy could become so troubled.  The boy being positioned in the centre of the poster also suggests that he will be the centre of attention; however, what is not made clear to the audience is whether he will be the protagonist or antagonist.  The weather looks dark and cloudy, as if a storm were brewing; this could represent horrific events set to unfold.  

On this poster, the main anchorage is “From the makers of Paranormal Activity and SAW”. These are two horror films that are hugely popular and have a large fan base, which almost makes the phrase above a marketing message telling horror fans that they can expect another movie set for box office success. The shape and positioning of the text is a cross on the young boy’s chest, this hints to the audience that it will take divine intervention to save him, as the cross is a religious symbol in Christianity.