White Noise Poster Analysis

• White Noise the title is written in a similar font to what the picture is showing. This font with the colours used gives a cold atmosphere to the film, which prepares the audience for what the film is going to be like.
  
• The main image consists of an electrical pulse, where the shadows created are made by people, presumably the ghosts. Becasue the image is meant to be its own sourse of light, this is the only light along with the title on the poster, this shows the dark nature of the film.


• 'Micheal Keaton' is the main box office draw, his name has been put right above the title, although it is small, the font used is very clear and simple making it easy to read to ensure it is seen so it can influence the audiences positive response.


• This Poster has two taglines. The one at the top of the poster explains the title, however it doesnt give away too much of the film, it leaves the audience questioning, a portal to what? The second tagline follows on from the first, it answers the initial question, however lease the audience with another, why are they trying to contact us? What do they want? These taglines are effective becasue they give the audience a better idea of what the film is about without revealing too much and making it pointless to go and see the film.


• The Production company and director names along with other actors and actresses are featured on the poster, however not heavily, the font used to show them is very thin and quite dark, this could be becasue the director isn't that well known so although they want it featured no emphasis is put on it as it probably wouldn't be that much of an influence on the audience.
  
• The release date is written in the same font but a contrasting colour to the background unlike the billing block. This is obviously one of the main features on the poster as this lets people know when they are able to experience the film.

Supernatural Thrillers

Combining the edge-of-your-seat tension of the classic thriller with such basic horror oriented ingredients as ghosts, the occult and psychic phenomenon, the supernatural thriller combines the best of both worlds in creating a frightening but often restrained film that will have audiences hearts pounding and palms sweating. Generally staying away from the more graphic elements of the horror film in favor of sustaining a mood of menace and unpredictability, supernatural thrillers often find the protagonists either battling a malevolent paranormal force or trapped in a situation seemingly influenced or controlled by an otherworldly entity beyond their comprehension.

Awake (2007), The Box (2009), Dark Water (2005), Devil (2010), Don't Look Now (1973), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), The Others (2001), Paranormal Activity (2007), Premonition (2007), The Skeleton Key (2005), The Unborn (2009), What Lies Beneath (2000), White Noise (2005).

Psychological Thrillers

Sometimes the suspense comes from within one character, where they must resolve conflicts with their own minds. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more vivid with physical expressions of the conflict in the means of physical manifestations.


Characters are no longer reliant on physical strength to overcome their brutish enemies (which is often the case in typical action-thrillers), but rather are reliant on their mental resources, whether it be by battling wits with a formidable opponent or by battling for equilibrium in the character's own mind. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state.


Strangers on a Train (1951) , Donnie Darko (2001), Unbreakable (2000), When a Stranger Calls (1979), Psycho (1960), Phone Booth (2003), Secret Window (2004), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Jacob’s Ladder (1990), The Sixth Sense (1999), Basic Instinct (1992)

Thriller Questionnaire

I have written a questionnaire to get an idea of what the audience will want to see in our groups trailer, poster and magazine front cover. Hopefully these results will help us make decisions on what to include in our trailer, poster and cover.

This is the questionnaire that I gave to 25 people to fill out, I mostly gave them to what we expect our target audience to be, however I also gave about 5 to the older generation 31 - 35 to find out if there ideas were any different from the younger target markets.

These are the results of the questionnaire, I have put them into a table for each question. Question 1 doesn't give us much information but it does show the range of people i gave my questionnaire to. Question 2 is much the same as question one, however i chose to five the questionnaire to more boys as they are the gender who are most likely to go and see a thriller. Question 3 shows that thriller is a very popular genre, this may be because of the amount of boys in the survey, however this is a good thing as they will be able to help us when it comes to the conventions of the thriller film promotion trio. Question 4 shows that the most popular of the thriller sub genres is Supernatural, this is films like white noise and paranormal activity. Question 5 will help us when it comes to planning our trailer, the majority of people said that it is best to use a mixture of bright and dark colours as well as a mixture of low and fast paced sections, and the majority said that they expect some typography flashing up in the trailer. Question 6 asked the people taking the questionnaire what they expect and thinks works on a promotional poster, the results show that dark colours work best on a thriller poster, and its pretty even but most people thought that a simple poster works better than a busy one, and the majority preferred poster that made the genre obvious rather than displayed it subtly. Question 7 asked the participants which sold a film to them most, a poster, trailer and magazine feature, the majority of people by a large way said a trailer.

New Genre Research

A genuine, thriller is a film that provides thrills and keeps the audience at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The tension usually arises when the character is placed in a menacing situation, mystery, or a dangerous situation from which escaping seems impossible. Life is threatened, usually because the principal character is unsuspecting or unknowingly involved in a potentially deadly situation.

Sub-genres consist of Conspiracy, Crime, Disaster, Legal, Mystery, Psychological, Religious, Supernatural.

As a group we are at this point unsure of what we definitely want to do so I have decided to research Supernatural Thrillers and Psychological Thrillers, this will help me build ideas and decide which would be best to continue with.

Genre Change

Unfortunately at the start of year 13 and my A2 Media course my new teacher has requested that we don't do our coursework on the horror genre, due to personal preferences.

This has lead to me changing to a similar but acceptable genre of Thriller. In doing this change i have come together in a group with two other girls. We have all decided to independant research on the thriller gnre so that when we come together we can make a more informed choice in making our trailer, posters and magazine covers.

Horror Movie Mood Board

I have created this mood board of horror movie posters to get an idea of the main colour scheme used in horror films.

From this mood board I found the colours used are either reds and oranges (hot colours) or blues, whites and soft grey/greens (cold colours). However the main colours are blacks and reds.

The darkness from a young age is always seen as a scary concept, this is why the blacks are used, and the reds are either representing blood or fire, both scary concepts.

The colour schemes used are supposed to set the scene for the whole film. Colours and the brightness of a film can completely change the mood, e.g. if you were watching a girl getting chased by a man with an axe in the day this although scary would have a far lesser impact than if it was in the dark. This may be because of the fear of the unknown, not being able to see every detail of a situation causes the audience to be more on edge as they can't be sure of whats likely to happen.