Film Poster Research - The Conjuring

Connotation - The significance of the Rope hanging from the shrivelled tree in front of the large 'haunted' looking house introduces the horror/thriller genre. The rope connotes death, which will obviously play a major part in the film and links together the idea of death and haunting, which again is a major theme of this horror movie. The black block letters spelling out 'The Conjuring' placed against the mirky white background of the sky also connotes this idea of good vs evil as shown through the contrasting Black and White. Death is the major theme present on this movie poster and this is backed up by the image of the shrivelled tree, which represents the loss of life and hope, which are again major themes of the film itself.  After looking at the poster, we as the audience, undoubtedly understand the message of the people who created it through connotation.

Anchorage - "Based on the true case files of the Warrens" - This certainly effects the way the poster is viewed as an audience member and is often used in Horror Movies to attract the audience and cause them to feel more scared of the events in the film itself. This causes the audience to be more likely to believe the events in the film and thus feel terrified when watching it. It is important to put this on the film poster itself as it will attract more people to watch the film at the cinema when it is released. "If it is based on a true story, the film instantly becomes more scary" - This is the idea behind why this line is placed on the movie poster.

Tone and Register - The tone of the poster is clearly one of death and decay as shown by the shrivelled tree and the old wooden built house in the background. You know straight away that this is a poster promoting a horror movie due to the dark undertone, as shown by the central hanging rope representing death.

Intertextual references - "From the Director of Saw and Insidious" - lets the audience know what type of film they are likely to be going to see as they can base their opinions on these previous films mentioned. This certainly attracts the audience to watch a certain film, because if they enjoyed either, 'Saw or Insidious', then they are more likely visit the cinema and watch the film. The institutions are also referenced, which is also important as the audience will familiarise themselves with these well known institutions and perhaps be more likely to go and watch the film. 

Target audience - The intended audience for this movie would undoubtedly be horror movie fanatics or people who are looking for a thrill. It is mostly aimed at an audience between the ages of 15-23, who are more likely to travel to the cinema with a group of friends or even a date to watch a scary movie. Judging from the poster, the target audience would be more likely to be a male audience between the ages of 15-23 as they follow the stereotype of, 'Being harder to scare'. Having said this, a female audience is still targeted, but the focus for most horror movies is usually placed on the larger male audience as they will often bring a woman with them to watch a horror movie.

Representation - the poster clearly plays on the stereotypes of most horror movies, with the large bedraggled house in the background representing this idea of a haunted house and a family being haunted by an unknown presence as represented through the image of a shadowed figure in the foreground of the poster. Despite the clear representation of death on the movie poster, the small glimmer of light appearing over the top of the house could be seen to represent this idea of hope and that good will prevail.

Effect and Effectiveness - This movie poster is undoubtedly successful in getting across the genre of film through the images it presents the audience with. It is evident that it is a poster promoting a horror movie almost as soon as you glance at it, due to the choice of images (large house, rope, tree) and the dark, almost gloomy colour chosen for the background. The poster could possibly be more successful if their was a phrase or line inserted to attract the audience to think in more depth about the poster and in turn create a wider audience for the film. However, in terms of attracting an audience, this poster is certainly effective as it attracted me to want to travel to watch the film.


MT