Textual Analysis Of A Horror Film Poster. - My Bloody Valentine.

The overall colours used for the entire poster are dull. Colours such as red, grey and black are often assoiciated with fear. As human beings, we tend tend to be afraid of things which are unable to be seen. Prime example – Darkness. So it’s no wonder that the designers and producers of this film poster used these colours, as one of their aims were perhaps to create a sense of fear, that might even be experienced in the film.

The centre of attention in this poster appears to be the three masked characters. There are dressed in black jumpsuits holding axes. Highlighting the point that was stated about fear originating from things that cannot be seen, the characters here are a prime example of this. Additionally, the characters are holding a weapon which seems to resemble an axe. It can be assumed that this is the weapon that the characters will use to inflict pain, injure and kill their victims.

The actual title of the film is written in red : MY BLOODY VALENTINE – This was done, to create an image of blood, once again highlighting and creating a sense of fear. The font of the title is quiet a straight forward writing, very bold and can be easily read. The last part of the title says ‘3D’ – it is written in white, so it stands out. This connotes the nature of the film, and the fact that it is a three dimensional film.

The text that can be located underneath the title, reads ‘Get Your Heart Broken’ – this statement has a double meaning. The usual definition of this statement would refer to being ‘hurt’ emotionally. However, the designers of the poster used this statement to their advantage. Scientifically speaking, if your heart was to ‘break’ this would conclude in the heart not being to supply the blood needed in order for you to survive, resulting in your death. But the actual meaning here, in this poster is that if you were to get your heart broken then that would mean that you would actually killed. The word phrase additionally links with the title. A ‘heart’ connotes love, and love is commonly classed as the overall theme for ‘Valentine’s Day’.

The fact that non verbal communication is not visible in the poster connotes a sense of suspense. We are unable to see the facial expressions of the characters in the poster, so naturally we will question what their motives are or what they are meant to be doing. The idea of suspence will eventually lead to fear. The idea of fear is immediately heightened by the characters holding weapons.

The main props used in the poster are the axes. Seeing as the film is a horror film, it is likely that this film in particular will fall into the ‘Slasher’ cateogry. It can additionally be imagined that the axes will be used to inflict pain on people. This also adds to the formation of fear.

The text at the bottom, presumably will be the credicts of the film, for example the director and the producers. The fact that the text is located at the bottom of the poster conveys the idea that that piece of text in particular is not all that important. A way to prove this would be to look at the font that the release date is written. It is written in bold red font, stating clearly the release date of the film. – ‘January 16’. This suggests that the producers of the posters intended to get certain points across; the release date, the name of the film, and the tag line of the film title.