Film Poster Analysis- Silent House (June 2010-Present)

Title of the film- Silent House 

Director- Chris Kentis

Institution- Open Road Films

Year of Release- January 21st 2011

The film poster for silent house can be seen below:

Silent House is a psychological horror film which was released in 2012. This movie is about Sarah as she and her dad go to their lakeside retreat to pack things up inside because it is being sold. While there, her uncle also helps get the place up to scratch so they can sell it. The uncle has to leave to get an electrician to check the wiring, but after he goes she starts hearing noises and seeing what she thinks are people inside the house. Soon she and her dad are attacked by someone or something and they end up in a fight for their lives. But there's something more going on here than she thinks. The main image used on the poster takes up the majority of the poster space with the writing to inform the audience about the film is at the bottom of the page. The main image denotes a close up of the main characters face with her eyes closed and her mouth wide open so that it looks like she is screaming. In addition to this, the lighting in the image is focused on her face which is more eyes catching and ensures she stands to to the audience. Due to the fact that she is the only person featured in the main image of the poster, it suggests that she is one of the main characters within the film and also gives the audience more of an understanding of the roles of the characters within the film.The main image of this poster is of the main character Sophie screaming, but by the looks of it, it looks like a silent scream, this creates a code of enigma and makes us wonder what it is that’s making her scream, is there a killer or something supernatural. This poster employs the iconography of a particular type of genre; psychological horror as we cannot here Sophie scream which suggests that it is something in her head causing her to scream but the audience have to watch the film to find out what it is. Although it doesn't show any of Sophie's clothing, her facial expressions suggest that she is scared and is screaming for somebody to help her.

In addition to this, the title of the film 'silent house' is situated underneath the women's face, neared the bottom of the page. Silence has connotations of loneliness, death and quiet. The fact that it is called 'silent house' suggests to the audience that there is no one there other than the people living there, but this might not be the case in the real film. Furthermore, this font is red and looks like it is dripping with blood, giving away a further story line as well as allowing the font to stand out from the black background. This makes us as an audience wonder if somebody is going to be killed in the house. This is an important aspect of a horror film because the girl looks innocent but this is juxtaposed by the blood dripping from the film title. The tag line "Inspired by true events" gives the film poster a sense of realism as it suggests that the audience can put themselves in the situation which will give them a better understanding of the film and the events that take place within the film. Furthermore, there is a credits block at the bottom of the poster which gives details about the director and actors within the film and therefore if the audience like the actors and they are popular, they are going to be more likely to see the film. Finally, the date that the film is released is displayed at the bottom of the screen "on the 7th March the silence will kill you" this is also in white writing which builds up tension for the audience.

The low key lighting is focused on Sophie's pale face which makes her look innocent and the fact that there is no light and it is all black around her suggests that the evil is around her and she is in the centre of it as it chases her and she is trying to escape. The target audience for this poster appears to be 15-35 and mainly males, because this is who horror films are stereotypically aimed at. However, the film could also be aimed at women due to the female main character as they want to find out what happens to her. Also, the female male character is used rather than a male character as women seem to get more scared and on the "edge of their seat" whereas it would be harder to film a male as he might not be as scared by the events that take place within the film. The film appears to have something that differs from other films, and that is the realism it carries as it emphasises that this is based on a true story when it quotes ‘Inspired by true events’ which is the films unique selling point. This will make the audience want to see the film as this film poster conforms and challenges the codes and conventions of other film posters.