Textual Analysis of a ‘MOVIE POSTER’
Hideo Nakata’s movie ‘Ringu’ was the original movie that inspired The Ring. The Ring series are very popular horror movies as it entails a gripping storyline and a scary monster. Ringu being the first out of the series, showed viewers how great Japanese horrors really were. Ring was first brought to the Japanese public's attention by a TV series which featured many of the actors which went on to appear in the rest of the trilogy.
This textual analysis will concentrate on the horror movie poster for Ringu also known as Ring, which was published in the United Kingdom. There were many different versions of the poster which were published worldwide, so I chose the more known and common one.
The poster consists of a colour photograph of an Asian woman look directly at the camera. It is an extreme close-up shot showing her left eye and revealing a few strands of hair which is dangled in front of her face; enhancing only the eye to be captured by viewers. What makes this picture stand out and relate to horror is the eye colour of the woman. Her eyeball and pupil are fully black which connotes darkness and maybe hidden secrets. As this is the only thing we really see, it does make viewers wonder what exactly this film could be about. The poster gives a sense of mystery which may attract many audiences. What also enhanced the genre on this horror poster are the veins showing on her eyelid. They show stress and tension which could be the cause of a certain situation in the film. Her black thin hair drops in front of her face, making only her eye and a bit of her eyebrow visible. Lines and bags under her eyes are also noticeable which may either mean she’s an older woman or that something at that point may be worrying or causing distress upon her. The photo covers the whole of the poster. In front of the woman is the movie title ‘Ring’ which is written at the top right hand corner in red. Putting the film title in the top right hand corner, rather than in the centre (like most posters/magazine covers) gives the viewers a better chance of seeing the picture and making some judgement on it. It gives us a better and wider intake on the genre and what the film entails.
On the top left hand corner next to the film title, a review of the movie is said by someone with 4 stars shown underneath their sentence. It is written in white bold capital letters, which stand out from the complexion of the female. The person/company whom said “SEE IT IF YOU DARE” name is written in red. This grabs viewer’s attention as it teases them, and makes them want to see it more. It questions their ability, and braveness. Another review is written at the bottom of the poster in white, bold capitals which read “MAKES THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT SEEM LIKE A STROLL IN THE WOODS”. Once again the company name of who said it is written in small red capitals below. This sentence promotes the horror in the movie by sarcastically comparing it to another horror movie (The Blair Witch Project) and saying it was something easy to watch, whereas in fact the movie was really scary. The age 15 certificate sign is placed at the bottom left corner.
When looking at all of these points, I would suggest that the most likely target audience would be people (male and female) aged 18 and over from an Asian and maybe white background.
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