The poster for ‘The Village’ sticks to the codes and conventions of a traditional horror film poster, which is essential when marketing to an audience who are cognizant of the traditional aspects of horror.
The main image on this poster is an over the shoulder image of a person looking towards a village. Aspects such as clothing and lighting are important when establishing what type of characters are being portrayed, in this case, a villain. As the shot of the person is over the shoulder, it adds to the mystery and enigma, which is typical of horror. The persons clothing adds more to the mystery, as they are wearing a hood, which hides their identity further, raising the question in the target audiences’ mind of who the person is, and why their identity is being hidden. Lighting in this case is very important in adding to the mystery, as the person is being hidden by a shadow, however we can see a slight outline of them showing they have a red coat. The lighting used here is very important, as the shadow cast on them shows they have something to hide, and possibly conveying they have a dark secret. The fact that the only things clear enough to see on this person is a red coat emphasizes how this person is suggested to be a sinister character, as the colour red denotes an image of blood, death and violence, all typical conventions of the horror genre.
Overall the colours used in the film poster are very dark and bleak. Dark colours are very typical of horror films as they denote an image of something sinister and evil, which are typical aspects to expect in the horror genre. Therefore the colour black is used extensively in this poster as it creates a perfect atmosphere which conveys the horror genre. Also the colour surrounding the village is an almost fiery yellow. Fire generally denotes an image of danger, which is a key theme which can be tied into the horror genre, and the audience will suspect the characters to be in some form of danger. Fire can also be linked with hell and evil, which could reflect the villain in the film: an evil, devilish individual.
The typeface used a key aspect of this poster which is able to represent the horror genre successfully. The lettering is conventional of the genre as it is somewhat distorted. The typeface is distorted as there the flame like colour spills over the edges of letters, which conveys an effect of the title being on fire. The designer of the poster was well aware that the typeface would have to reflect certain aspects of the film, as it shows that the village in the film may be a dangerous and sinister place, as the title appears to be as if it’s on fire. Although there are features of the typeface which are distorted and make is seem on fire, other parts of it appear have very sharp lettering. Sharp lettering is an appropriate style of writing to use on a horror poster, as sharp objects generally represent danger, violence and knives, which are key aspects to expect in a horror film. Also, there appears to be a small scratch in the typeface, which suggests a lot about the nature of the film. The scratch signifies violence and barbaric behavior, elements which are to be expected in a horror film.
Mise en scene must be taken into consideration when analyzing the horror aspects of this poster. The image shows tree branches distorting the image of the village, and this was used cleverly by the designer of the poster to convey a feeling of danger. The tree branches shown are all long and sharp, and it can be argued that these can resemble a long sharp sword, which has connotations associated with it such as violence, death and blood, which are all feelings in harmony with the horror genre.
The writing at the top of the image creates a scary and sinster atmosphere through the use of particular word choices. There is constant referral to ‘them’ which adds enigma and mystery amongst the target audience, as it raises the question in one’s mind as to who ‘they’ are. The mystery and built through word choices is effective as it creates the appropriate atmosphere for the horror genre.
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