Research into Genre: Poster Analysis

THRILLER: When a Stranger Calls

In this poster we see the main image is a woman pictured in the centre left third showing us a common code and convention of the thriller genre. She appears to be fearful and desperate which enhances her vulnerability and suggests she is in trouble. This indicates to the audience she is the victim in the film. This creates an enigma for the audience as we want to know why she appears this way and what will happen to her throughout the film. We see the female characters face is holding a phone as if to call someone for help. Her facial expression also suggests she could be in danger. The secondary image shows a shadow lurking behind the main image and we want to know what role it plays and due to the secondary images outline we automatically assume the shadow is a man which could be due to the stereotypes we make as in most thriller/horror films the man plays the killer and the woman plays the victim, therefore this is what we expect to see in every thriller and horror film as they seem to play on these stereotypes. Typically women are stereotyped to be the victim to a dominant male character due to them being dependant to the more powerful sex. She is pictured staring straight into the camera connecting all her emotions with the audience and we therefore feel her fear. A thrillers intention is to play with the audience’s mind, to keep them guessing and in suspense. Another convention of the thriller genre found in this poster is the shadow in the background as it emphasises the unknown and shows the cross genre between action and Sci-fi. He creates a sense of mystery as we are unaware of his intentions and suggests the female character is in danger.

The colouring of the titles starts light and catches the audience’s attention as it contrasts with the black background. The titling then starts to darken in colour which could signify the journey the female character is going to go on as at the start of the film she is unaware of her fate as she will become the victim. This film poster follows the repertoire of elements as we see identifable characters such as the last girl standing who usually throughout the film battles through every challenge she meets, shown in the main image. This film would interest mostly adults and older teenagers due to their being an intellectual element, as there is a certain amount of individual thought needed as a thrillers aim is to make the audience unravel a certain mystery. These kind of films can be classed as intellectual puzzles as they strive to keep as much of the plot as possible with an unexpected twist at the end of the film. The poster shows binary opposites that can be found in genre, this one for example shows a killer and a victim. Other genres such as teen comedy shows the nerd and the popular kids. Iconography is used in the poster as we see a shadow which immediately tells the audience the genre of the film, other iconic features in this poster could include the main image which shows the woman looking scared, useless and vulnerable. A narrative device is used in this poster, something that every film does, it is the narrative problem that is eventually overcome by the end of the film, in this case it suggests it is something to do with the main and secondary image as it is suggests the problem in the woman's life is the shadow like figure which must be overcome by the end of the film.   

Panic Room

The first thing that catches the audience’s attention is the main image which is the women’s face pictured in the bottom centre third of poster where she seems to be dead. This is a shocking image making the audience feel intense and confused. This is a strange but striking layout as it is unusual to have the main image placed at the bottom of the poster as the layout of a poster normally follows the same rules or structure, this therefore stands out to the audience. It draws the audience and also creates an enigma as we we want to watch it to find out what happened to the female character and if the male character in the background has anything to do with her death. The male character pictured in the background is dressed entirely in black suggesting to the audience he wants his identity to remain unknown as he may have been the one that killed the female character, creating an evil and mysterious feel to the character. As he is pictured looking at the women it creates an enigma as we wonder if he had something to do with her death or even murdered her.

The title ‘Panic Room’ is coloured in red and acts as a signifier of danger which contrasts with the actresses name ‘Jodie Foster’ which is coloured in white to suggest her vulnerability and innocence. The effect of having the famous actresses name on the poster is to attract fans of her previous projects, but also influence other people to watch it as she is a well known actress so audience expectation of the film is high. This is the films unique selling point (USP) as it uses the well known actress to advertise and promote the film so more people will pay to watch it in the cinema. This poster plays on the codes and conventions of the thriller/genre horror as women are stereotypically the victims as they represented to be weak and vulnerable as we see the female character is pictured looking like shes been killed. This plays on another rule of the thriller/horror genre, that female characters or victims get killed off before the end of the film. This poster represents the world as scary and intimidating place to live in as the man in the background makes us feel immediately threathened and the fact that we cannot see his identity gives off a mysterious feel. It doesnt give much away about the narrative but tells us that evil defeats good as it looks as if in the poster that Jodie Foster's character is dead and we assume this was carried out by the man who we cannot idenitify in the background. By not giving away any parts of the storyline it makes us want to go and see the film, which could be any advertising technique used to draw the audience.