What have i found out through research into horror movie posters

Using my research into existing media products (posters) i can conclude the following things about horror movie posters.


Key similarities between movie posters

• Horror movie posters can generally be more inventive and different than other genres. Unconventional styles are adopted more often than not which helps distinguish the movie as being in the horror genre.
• Another thing i have discovered through my research is that horror movies can often use the release date of the movie as a significant point of interest in the poster. This could be done as the date has particular significance e.g Halloween. This also helps build a marketing campaign as the dates importance would be present on all of the marketing materials.
• Most posters seem to use a 'drawn on style' which gives the impression somebody (perhaps the killer) drawn the name of the film on themselves . This adds suspense and can also scare an audience.
• Two of the posters i analysed actually went against the common code and convention of a black background and adopted a white one. The white background can give the monster a clinical effect and and make the film suggest a surgery/torture narrative. This suggest that horror movie posters are able to get away with breaking common codes and conventions.
• All posters adopt a similar layout . The majority of posters I have researched have the film title in the bottom third , tag line at the top of the poster and the main image in the centre if the film poster.

Key differences between movie posters

• The colour pallet for a horror movie poster can be of a wide range. some chose to go for dark colours to set the scene and also symbolise mystery within the poster whereas others also adopt bright colours with contrasting text to stand out and make a statement.
• One difference between movie posters is that they all use a different USP to attract and audience and to market there movie. Already established names like 'Friday the 13th' can use the number 13 to simply apply another movie in the already well known franchise whereas film like 'One missed call' have to establish their movie from scratch. as a result of this the 'Friday the 13th' poster can afford to be more minimalistic whereas 'One missed call' have to include more detail.
• Another difference between the three posters that i analysed is that the position of the film title changes withe very poster. Each poster adopts a different position for maximize effectiveness. This shows me that in horror poster's common codes and conventions can be challenged.