"How Conventional of the Thriller Genre are the posters?"
"Shutter Island" Thriller Poster Analysis (1 of 3)
The first thing that draws the attention of the reader is the face of the man in the upper left corner of the poster [Leonardo DiCaprio]. The close up of the mans face reveals his facial expression as very stern, with an emphasis on his right eye appearing a very bright blue. This blue seems to pierce through the reader in comparison to the rest of his face, which is a much darker shade. The effect of the light coming from the match bears great significance here as it causes the light to appear brighter on half of his face than the other, perhaps connoting a split personality. This would conform to the thriller genre as it proposes a perhaps unstable character, and this notion could be further enhanced by the expression on his face, which although stern, reveals very little about himself. The partial darkness could also imply that the character prefers to remain hidden and is comfortable surrounded by darkness. The prominence of shadows and darkness in the poster mean it strongly conforms to the thriller genre, as this can be seen in many other thriller posters such as "Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight" and provides a potential theme. There also seems to be a lot of smoke surrounding the man and the island, connoting mystery, secrecy and concealment, which is very typical of thriller conventions. It enhances the shroud of darkness that covers this mans' identity further and builds on the idea that he is to remain hidden and unknown, strongly conforming to thriller conventions.
The name of the film itself has direct connotations with the thriller genre. The word "Island" would immediately be associated with isolation, a common theme amongst thriller films - we can further see this in the poster, the establishing shot here allows us to see that there appears to be some form of man-made structure serving as or on an island in the centre of the poster, and it is surrounded by water, and may be where the film is set - this location, linking with the first word of the film title, "Shutter" creates a sense of entrapment along with this isolation; anyone on this island would find it difficult to or would be unable to escape, they would be 'shut' in the island - perhaps this isolation is the reason for the lack of expression on the mans face. The island itself appears similarly to the famous prison "Alcatraz" which has many connotations, such as death, violence and retribution but most importantly fear. The island almost protrudes from the poster itself due to it's positioning and, aided by the smoke, appears very menacing and unwelcoming.
Another key aspect of this poster is the mise-en-scene: the light itself. Directly in the centre of the poster, suggesting importance, and contrasting the dark colour scheme that dominates the poster, the bright orange of the match stands out attracting the attention of the reader. The significance the light bears is that a light amongst darkness would have connotations of hope and of saviour; that they could perhaps be saved from this isolation. This light also coincides with the caption on the right hand side that reads, "Someone is missing" - when someone is lost, often a light is used to find them. The text is in the same colour as the light enhancing this idea that they are connected. It could also be noted that the text is in a very small font, perhaps suggesting that this hope of finding someone is very faint - a possible plot from the poster. Likewise, the film title's font is not particularly large as it is in most thriller film posters, it takes up a very small portion of the poster.
Overall, the film poster for "Shutter Island" seems to contain many aspects that would be typical of a thriller film and it's conventions through effective use of lighting to create mystery and uncertainty and effective use of location, colour and mise-en-scene to create an atmosphere of isolation, entrapment and even fear. The combination of the uneasy look on the man's face, the mysterious smoke, the contrasting light and the unwelcoming appearance of the island itself, the reader almost feels uneasy just looking at the poster, as very little is revealed. When something is "creepy" it is often because it is de-associated with something that is familiar to us, such as a mask on a persons face - this same effect is created here as the eeriness of the smoke and surroundings and the mans' facial expression combined is almost unknown to us, creating this strong sense of ambiguity, confusion and fear. Fear is a prominent emotion amongst all thrillers and the effects that are a result of or combine to create fear, such as a mysterious villain, victims, danger, deception, and the unknown all conform to thriller conventions - therefore, to conclude, the film poster for "Shutter Island" is very conventional of the thriller genre for the above reasons detailed.
"The Dark Knight" Thriller Poster Analysis (2 of 3)
One of the most recognised thriller films of present is The Dark Knight, and the poster is very typical of the thriller genre and it's conventions throughout.
Upon looking at this poster for a long period of time, although it is entirely different to "Shutter Island" which was analysed above and deemed to very typical of the thriller genre, they bear many similarities. Firstly, take the first word of the title: "Dark". Darkness and shades of black are very common amongst thriller posters, with other examples being "The Number 23" and "Inception". The darkness itself has connotations with evil and wrongdoing, and amongst the poster we can see that darkness plays a very dominant role; most of the poster is an eerie grey, with large clouds looming in the background, hinting at potential turmoil to come in the plot. By contrast, the second word of the title, "Knight" - a knight is often associated with nobility and heroism, so to have these two contrasting words in the title is confusing. The font is in bright white and capitals and clearly stands out against the dark background, further enhancing this notion of heroism as white is typically associated with righteousness, and the capitals may have been used to present an idea of firmness and power.
The prominent figure in the centre of the poster, without prior knowledge, we would assume to be the protagonist due to his positioning. His stance is a very controlling and powerful one, with his fists clenched and his head raised high to really portray power - this is enhanced by the low-angle shot here, to convey to the audience that this character is superior. However, the poster doesn't entirely fit to thriller conventions in this aspect. The protagonist is dressed in all black, which, as mentioned, we would normally connote with the villain, yet he seems to appear heroic - this representation is quite confusing. Assuming we do not know anything of the plot or characters, we could look further into this and relate it to the only bright image in the poster, the burning bat on the tall building.
The character's mask has two spike-like attachments on the top, which match that of the bat's ears in the blazing inferno behind him. You could interpret this in two ways: the use of contrasting colour here, from mainly darkness to one bright image, similarly to the "Shutter Island" poster, could convey the bringing of hope and salvation - we can see a lot of damage and debris in the poster and perhaps this figure is the one to bring this hope in the film. On the flip side, and possibly more strongly, maybe this figure is the one who is responsible; it is what the poster strongly suggests as the character is standing strong in front of this destruction. This character is an enigma; he is very mysterious as to what his motives are. We get the impression that this figure is seen as evil, yet there are undertones of heroic motives.
The location we see is very typical of thriller films: it is a city setting, and the lighting makes it seem like a very dark, mysterious place, with plenty of shadows. The mise-en-scene here is conventional of thrillers, and combined with the burning building and the debris that we can see in the foreground of the poster, there are connotations of violence and death, also very typical of thriller films.
The tag line of the "The Dark Knight", which in itself is a typical feature of thrillers, i.e. "Live or die on this day" in "The Grey" and "The time for revenge has come" in "Taken", really enhances this confusion and unknown aspect of this poster. "Welcome to a world without rules": this sentence summarises why the character perhaps challenges thriller conventions - there is "[no] rules", no convention to comply to in this film, which is why the character may be such an enigma and the general composition of the poster may mislead the reader if they haven't seen the film. The tagline also relates to the location of the film, that wherever this film is set, chaos and turmoil will reign. The mystery that is created within the poster as the reader tries to interpret it to produce a potential plot means it does conform to thriller conventions and contains many key aspects of thriller films that would be expected to be seen, and is hence recognised as well-known thriller film.
"The Silence of the Lambs" Thriller Poster Analysis (3 of 3)
The previous two posters were relatively modern thriller films so now I will look at a more "classic" thriller poster to see if it matches the codes and conventions of the thriller genre: "The Silence of the Lambs".
The first thing we notice in this poster is the composition; the close up of the face that takes up the majority of the available space. They appear young and feminine, presenting vulnerability, a strong aspect of thriller conventions. We also notice the colour scheme: the skin tone of the face is very pale, it appears white, even more so in comparison to the dark colours in the background. Dark colours have been seen in all 3 of my posters that I have researched showing a strong theme amongst thriller films. Once again this could connote mystery, evil and uncertainty.
Re-focusing on the face, the paleness makes her appear almost inhuman. We do not know who she is or what her motives are as there is no facial expression that can be interpreted, just a blank look - perhaps this anonymity is enhanced because we cannot see her mouth as it is covered by what appears to be a butterfly. Mise-en-scene is used to great effect here to make the audience question the significance of what is seen in the poster. It is a very simple poster regarding it's composition, there is very little to focus on, which enhances the effect of what it is in the poster. The butterfly is in the centre of the poster, hinting at importance, and there is some form of semiology here: what does the butterfly represent?, why is it there? It relates to the part of the title, "Silence" as the butterfly is covering her mouth; she cannot speak - silence is something that is very typical of the thriller genre, the word itself even if it bears no resemblance to the plot connotes mystery, as with silence there is an absence a key form of communication to detail what might be happening, speech. Combined with the darkness, silence seems almost threatening. Furthermore, the butterfly is the only thing in colour in the poster, signifying it's importance to the plot.
Another notable aspect of this poster is the red in the colour scheme: her eyes appear very red, combined with the pale face she appears almost albino. She appears to be looking right at you in the poster, which is very off-putting considering the abnormality in the rest of her appearance. The red eyes connote evil, violence and blood, and the text is also in a similar shade of red further enhancing this notion. Along these lines, the word "Silence" could also be related to murder, therefore whoever the "lambs" are/represent, they could be murdered - although little detail is revealed about the film from the poster we can create a potential plot from the title and different aspects of the poster. This narrative of pre-determined death or murder is a very common aspect of thriller conventions, and from the two prior posters we can see how this has developed over time.
There is no apparent location or setting of the film from the poster, adding to the mystery created by the anonymity and non-human look of the face, the surrounding darkness and the significance of the butterfly. Knowing very little is something that intrigues the reader, to find out what will actually occur in the film - what little is included in the poster does conform to thriller conventions and hence we would expect the rest of the film to too.
I am pleased to see you have responded to my initial feedback and improved your work, well done.
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