Horror Poster Research

By Roisin & Wai

- Wai
- Roisin

 Simple title, all in block capitals, the title being the largest
font size over the credits, the tag line and release date,
however not overpowering the main image.
The design of each of these posters has a genre appropriate
font such as Mirrors the way the title is portrayed by one of
the Rs reflecting the other which illustrates the film.
The other two posters have a distorted font for example, the
Final Destination poster they have a classic font but with the
addition of a glow to make it look spooky as well as this Silent
Scream where the font is deconstructed which creates
mystery within the title.

 During the research on horror posters we noticed that the

mise en scene of the majority of horror posters contains a
simples image of the victims face however photoshopped
with effects to give it a scary aspect for example, Mirrors
uses effects to blur out and blend in the bottom half of the
face with the darkness of the poster, however the last two
posters use layering for example, Final Destination layers
glass on top of a skull to illustrate pain which is the basic
meaning of the film. As well as this in Silent Scream the
designers represent the meaning of the film through
placing a chain on top of a face to suggest the restriction of
the victims ability to be heard, in addition to this, they
have edited the original image of the face by super
imposing scratches.

Within these posters the colours are continuous. All these posters
are dark followed by hints of red to portray fear and danger. With
a dash of White contrasting with a shadow effect this shows the
conflict between the pure victim and the evil.
From our research we have noticed that all the horror posters are
framed by black shadows. The main image of the face is always
the brightest part of the poster however in individual ways for
example, in Mirrors the head at the top of the poster starts with
high key lighting which gradually fades to low key lighting.
Alternatively Final destination has a slight glow on the face
which is a different way to enlighten the main image and draw
attention to the audience. Lastly with Silent Scream the
designer has altered the saturation from a normal skin colour to a
more unnatural colour adding to the effect of the poster.

 All of the posters selected fit the expectations of a

horror film. In our research we have also identified
that the camera angles used are similar by using a
close up shot however with different camera angles
such as in Mirrors its a close up shot but with a
low camera angle which intimidates the audience.
Secondly, with Final destination its a close up shot
with a basic camera angle suiting this simple
poster. Finally, with Silent scream the designer has
decided to emphasise the features of the face by
using an extreme close up shot; this differentiates
this poster making it stand out from all the others.