Film Poster Analysis- Insidious (June 2010-Present)

Title of the film- Insidious

Director- James Wan

Institution- Momentum Pictures

Year of Release- September 14th 2010

'Insidious' is a psychological horror film. Below, is the film poster that was used to help with the promotion of the film before it was released. 

The insidious film poster follows, challenges and conforms the codes and conventions of all other horror film posters. The main image shows a young boy, which takes up most of the page, allowing it to catch the audience’s attention. In addition to this, direct address is used as the boy is looking directly into the camera to catch the audience’s attention to make it seem like they are talking directly to the audience. Due to the fact the boy is the only character shown in the film poster, suggests that he is the main character and most important character within the film. In addition to this, behind the boy in the image, is a house, which allows the audience to understand that this is the setting for the film, without giving too much away, allowing the boy to stand out. They follow the conventions of other horror film posters because a young boy is used so you wouldn't expect him to be evil at such a young age. In the main image, the boy is wearing pyjamas to represent his child hood, but his dark hair and the shadows behind him show him turning from innocent to evil although still showing that he is a child through his clothing in the poster. At the top of the poster it says "made from the film makers of paranormal activity and saw" which will further appeal to the audience because they will have previously enjoyed watching these movies in the past and will therefore want to see this one. The writing of this masthead is in capital letter, to make it seem scarier, like it is almost being shouted at the audience and the White writing of the text allows it to stand out from the background. The one thing that stands out most on the poster is the boys scratched out eyes as it cuts away his personality and makes him seem evil. If this was shows on a billboard or bus stop the scratched out eyes could look unintentional making the film seem scarier.
 
There is a quote from somebody who has seen the movie reviewing it, which gives the audience more of a reason to see the film as it is a good review. The colour scheme follows the generic conventions of a horror genre; red, green and black. The dark colours are the most effective to give it a sense of realism and black is associated with danger. Furthermore, the title of the film stands out to the audience and allows the audience to remember it as the eye flow makes sure that it is one of the last things that the audience see on the poster. The title is in a white and red bold font and is the biggest piece of text on the page, allowing it to stand out for the audience. Red is used as the connotations of blood are hell, blood and danger. The strap line “it’s not the house that’s haunted” links to the image as it infers that it is the child that is haunted rather than the house behind him, creating a code of enigma. This will further encourage the audience to see the film because if the house isn’t haunted, what is? At the bottom of the poster, there are credits showing all of the actors names which would encourage the audience to see the film if they’re popular. In addition to this, the film institution company is shown at the bottom of the poster, which helps the audience to identify the genre of the film if they have heard of the institution company before.
 
The classification of the film is stated on the poster, which is a “15”, which gives us an idea of the target audience. Also, because the main character is a boy, the film may be predominantly aimed at boys as they can put themselves in the situation. Whereas, if it was a girl, girls may be more likely to watch the film because you don’t really expect a girl to be the main character as they are associated as being more innocent and pure.