We are studying the strangers trailer and so studying the advertisement poster would help us to see how they link both aspects together and therefore help us link our main product to our ancillary texts. We have decided to study 'The Strangers', as it is focused on true events that are dark and unexpected which is similar to the trailer we would like to create. Personally we feel its one of the strongest forms of horror, which leaves the audience intruiged and wanting more. The events in the film have no reason as to why they happened, it was simply 'because they were home.'
The poster advertising 'The Strangers' gives off no real signs as to what the film is about. It's a non dramatic image, but leaves you with so many questions. This is in some ways is more affective then seeing an image of a murder or actual danger. Films and posters have developed over the years and it is in someways more effective to not actually use a scary image to capture the audiences attention. The fact the 'strangers' are simply standing and their body language isn't particularly threatening makes the audience question the scenario . This is because it seems like 'the strangers' feel it is acceptable and normal to wear masks to hide their identity and over power the actors which they are standing over representing their status and their power in this situation. The poster altogether is portraying a strange situation which the audience wouldn't be familiar with which also links to the title of the film itself. Not only are they wearing odd masks, there clothing also makes them seem normal and, on its own, non threatening.
Having the actors back to the camera in a medium close up, again leaves you the viewer with so many questions and, more importantly, ideas of what this film could be about. There is no way of knowing what the actors are experiencing as we cannot see their faces. This is effective as facial expressions are vitally important to express emotion in a still image and to have them hidden has the audience guessing what they are experiencing. Again this applies to 'the strangers'. Cleverly, the producers have used masks so that their identity is hidden. This gives you, the audience, an idea that they have a reason as to why they want to hide their identity, most likely due to the fact they are about to do something criminal. It also makes it seem that 'the strangers' have no human emotions, we're not exactly sure which lies under the masks and what they may go ahead and do will be seen as acceptable to them. By having no clear emotion expressed in a film poster, this is effective as the audience don't know what they are to expect. Also, playing with hidden idenitity is something we may look at doing in our poster as it helps create intrugue.
The font used for the heading and anchorage text links well with the image, as it portrays mystery, and with mystery comes distortion, which the multiple printed heading is. They have used a glow on the text which connotes a piercing, high pitched sound in your mind when reading it. This is built into our ideology, we don't even need to hear sound to picture where it should be, and with what type of text or image. That highlights how we are formed around the world of media. The anchorage text links to the heading as it is in the same colour and using the same typography. The typography used for all the text on the page is again plain and basic, it gives no clues to what you are going to expect in the film and so is very powerful, leaving the reader wanting to know the answers to the unanswered questions they have for this film.
After analysing this poster we can point out it is very powerful and achieves its purpose. At a glance from a non academic view you will not see the careful detail and precise thought put into the makings of this poster. As we have analysed it, we have noticed how much attention to detail they have used to leave questions within the minds of the audience. Every item on the page gives nothing away about what to expect when watching the film apart from the fact it involves those characters. I feel this poster is a huge success and from viewing it myself it made me want to watch the film, which i did. From something that looks so simple and basic, has an powerful affect on you, the audience. This has allowed us to identify that when creating our poster, it is important to leave the audience asking questions as this seems to be a common code and convention of the horror genre.
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