Assignment
2: Essay
Introduction And Institution
The Poltergeist 2015 horror film rated PG
13 has shocked people in there thousands. The film has a huge cast including
Jared Harris and Sam Rockwell and involves a very successful film writer, Steven
Spielberg who wrote legendary films such as Indiana Jones and the BFG. The film
poltergeist probably has a target audience from the age of 13 to the age of 50
and is probably targeting their film at both males and females. The BBFC have
rated this film PG 13 probably due to the fact, the less age restricted the
film is the wider the ranges of audience the film could be shown to. The film institution
is FOX 2000 pictures that helped to make a legendary 1900s film an even better
2015 movie. The film Poltergeists has use lots of promotional including:
billboards, Buses, Clothing merchandise and other items.
Poster
The poster of the 2015 Poltergeist film is obviously a horror because of
the fact that the poster itself connotes to; fear, horror, ghosts and children mainly due to the fact that there there is a clown on the front. The poster is represented as a horror, which
is quite easy to tell because in it follows all the genre conventions of a
horror film. E.G; the darkened image on the front, the white title, how they
have included red in the image with the hair and make up of the clown doll, hat there is a clown on the front staring at the viewer which uses direct
address and also the title itself. The mid-close up shot of the clown is the
only image the viewer is seeing, this could be because clowns have a bad
representation is the world of horror, people commanly fear clowns likely because of film IT. The layout of the poster is quite empty and filled with the black dark space;
I think they’ve done this on porpoise because it is the unknown and if you
cannot see what’s there for half the image that makes for a very uncomfortable
and edgy start when you first look at the poster. The clown if you look closely
is muddy and battered which makes the viewer want to know why and hooks the
audience in as dirt and/or mud coyotes to old, used and forgotten. It also is a significant feature to the poster as a whole because
it gives off an edgy and uncertain vibe throughout the whole poster. All the
text is at the bottom of the page. This is because when the public look at the
poster their eyes will instantly go to the middle or the top of the page, they
would have to at least scan though the whole poster to get the name of the film
and date. The only piece of text that is not the title or the credits is the
“#WhatAreYouAfraidOf” tagline which is at the bottom of the page. This is a
rememberable tagline to have, also to have it as a hashtag is a creative way to
promote the film on social media. It tells us that the film and their creators are capable to keep up with the trends and will involve a whole other population. They use the red colour for the date only because it is made to stand
out from the black background and draws peoples attention straight to the main buck of the writing. It is key information about the film so
they have highlighted it for the viewer to read with ease. The colour pallet follows the genre conventions
of most horrors; black, white and red. They used/included red in the doll
clowns hair and makeup and also at the bottom of the poster, the release date.
White is used in the credit block and the title and the colour black is used to
cover up half of the clown doll in the image. Picking the colours apart, red
connotes to; danger, blood, fire and destruction. Black has connotations of:
mystery, unknown and fear. And I think the white is used purely to stand out
from the black background but also has conations of: faith, purity
and light. So maybe white is used in this case to give the reader hope or a
light at the end of the tunnel. There are no props other than what looks like a red rope around the clown’s
neck, which may link again to death. The clown doll also looks sinisterly happy on the
front, which makes the viewer uncomfortable and fearful. The expression has a negative effect on the viewer as the direct eye contact They have used a
mid-close up shot on the clown’s face they also use direct address to reach out
to the reader. Its eye level and has a fearful effect on the audience. The
lighting is used in contrast between the dark shadow on the right hand side and
the pale lifeless face on the clown. I think the audience is meant to focus on
the face of the clown because that is where the contrast is between the dark
background and pale face. The title of the film itself, “Poltergeist”, tells
the viewer that the film is a horror about the unnatural and unknown which
links back to the fear of unknown again. It is a wide stretched title that
gives you the horror element and vibe.
Trailer
The trailer as a whole presents the film, as the poster would suggest.
The main differences are that the clown shown on the front of the poster isn’t
shown in the trailer anywhere. Also the fact that the film looks quite si-fi,
which is not represented in the poster what so ever. Some similarities include
the darkness which is shown to a common factor and genre convention of any
horror films and also the #WhatAreYouAfraidOf which is a good way to openly
invite and strengthen your audience.
The opening scene depicts
a young boy lying in his bed with his eyes wide open with what the viewer is
led to presume, a face full of fear. This would link to the doll seen on the
poster, which connotes to children. This also seems to be set at night, which
holds true to connotations of fear and the unknown. The high angle shot indicates
that the boy is powerless and hopeless.
The build up consists of having
the young boy look down the staircase with lights flashing on and off. The
music plays a huge part as it builds until the drop. Here they have used a high
angle shot and an over the shoulder shot to let us see what he is seeing and to
exaggerate the horror and fear factor in the shot. Also the fact that its quite
hard to make out what’s at the bottom of the stairs which adds to the mystery. It also makes the viewer ask questions about it. Another frame shows when the viewer is
meant to get a thrill or a jump scare. This shot is a low angle shot and the
mother behind her is out of focus, this is because the viewer needs to be
asking questions all throughout the whole trailer, this is also because if the
background is out of focus, then your eyes are drawn on the screaming girl and
her expressions. This part, in my personal opinion, is the part that looks
si-fi to me. This is the entrance to the other dimension full of ghosts and
demons. Pair this with the font used to show off the hash tag
‘WhatAreYouAfridOf.’
The end frame leaves you
with a doll sitting on a shelf before jumping out at the boy. I suppose it
leaves you with the clown doll because that links to the poster but they are
not the same clown. This would suggest there are more than one of these dolls
and when you link in the title, “Poltergeist,” it really sets the mood and tone
of the film. It is again an over the shoulder shot to give the perspective or
view of the boy and what he is seeing, hearing and noticing. The jump scare
leaves viewers wondering what’s going on and leaves them with unanswered
questions which would then make them want to watch the film.
This frame again shows that si-fi font stating the date; it also shows
a Hash Tag. The hashtag, which is a question, shows the viewer that they want to know
some feedback on the social media. This shows that the film was made in the
modern day since social media has really blown up in the 21st
century.
Conclusion
Overall the poster and trailer relate and match together some key
information, e.g. the clown doll both shown on each platform. Also the general
darkness of them both. And the title, which matches and gives hints to show the
theme. Synergy is used in the clown because if my facts are correct then they
have made an exclusive clown doll just like the one seen in the screen shot
above and sold it. In conclusion, the trailer and poster marry together quite
well but not as effective as I think it should.
The poster of the 2015 Poltergeist film is obviously a horror because of
the fact that the poster itself connotes to; fear, horror, ghosts and children mainly due to the fact that there there is a clown on the front. The poster is represented as a horror, which
is quite easy to tell because in it follows all the genre conventions of a
horror film. E.G; the darkened image on the front, the white title, how they
have included red in the image with the hair and make up of the clown doll, hat there is a clown on the front staring at the viewer which uses direct
address and also the title itself. The mid-close up shot of the clown is the
only image the viewer is seeing, this could be because clowns have a bad
representation is the world of horror, people commanly fear clowns likely because of film IT. The layout of the poster is quite empty and filled with the black dark space;
I think they’ve done this on porpoise because it is the unknown and if you
cannot see what’s there for half the image that makes for a very uncomfortable
and edgy start when you first look at the poster. The clown if you look closely
is muddy and battered which makes the viewer want to know why and hooks the
audience in as dirt and/or mud coyotes to old, used and forgotten. It also is a significant feature to the poster as a whole because
it gives off an edgy and uncertain vibe throughout the whole poster. All the
text is at the bottom of the page. This is because when the public look at the
poster their eyes will instantly go to the middle or the top of the page, they
would have to at least scan though the whole poster to get the name of the film
and date. The only piece of text that is not the title or the credits is the
“#WhatAreYouAfraidOf” tagline which is at the bottom of the page. This is a
rememberable tagline to have, also to have it as a hashtag is a creative way to
promote the film on social media. It tells us that the film and their creators are capable to keep up with the trends and will involve a whole other population. They use the red colour for the date only because it is made to stand
out from the black background and draws peoples attention straight to the main buck of the writing. It is key information about the film so
they have highlighted it for the viewer to read with ease. The colour pallet follows the genre conventions
of most horrors; black, white and red. They used/included red in the doll
clowns hair and makeup and also at the bottom of the poster, the release date.
White is used in the credit block and the title and the colour black is used to
cover up half of the clown doll in the image. Picking the colours apart, red
connotes to; danger, blood, fire and destruction. Black has connotations of:
mystery, unknown and fear. And I think the white is used purely to stand out
from the black background but also has conations of: faith, purity
and light. So maybe white is used in this case to give the reader hope or a
light at the end of the tunnel. There are no props other than what looks like a red rope around the clown’s
neck, which may link again to death. The clown doll also looks sinisterly happy on the
front, which makes the viewer uncomfortable and fearful. The expression has a negative effect on the viewer as the direct eye contact They have used a
mid-close up shot on the clown’s face they also use direct address to reach out
to the reader. Its eye level and has a fearful effect on the audience. The
lighting is used in contrast between the dark shadow on the right hand side and
the pale lifeless face on the clown. I think the audience is meant to focus on
the face of the clown because that is where the contrast is between the dark
background and pale face. The title of the film itself, “Poltergeist”, tells
the viewer that the film is a horror about the unnatural and unknown which
links back to the fear of unknown again. It is a wide stretched title that
gives you the horror element and vibe.
The opening scene depicts
a young boy lying in his bed with his eyes wide open with what the viewer is
led to presume, a face full of fear. This would link to the doll seen on the
poster, which connotes to children. This also seems to be set at night, which
holds true to connotations of fear and the unknown. The high angle shot indicates
that the boy is powerless and hopeless.
