I will be analysing the theatrical film poster for "Paranormal Activity 3" - it's purpose is to promote the film's release. The film was released in 2011 following an extensive promotional campaign involving trailers, websites and social media (and social media competitions), like Twitter and Facebook. The trilogy has developed from being an independent film ("Paranormal Activity") to a blockbuster series ("Paranormal Activity 2" and "Paranormal Activity 3") with production and promotion being acquired by Paramount. The poster itself is in portrait format and follows the standard dimensions of a theatrical poster, 27 by 41 inches and will have been printed on the standard photographic paper that film posters typically are.
"Paranormal Activity 3" is a horror and the genre of the film is reflected in the poster through use of house style, colour, effects and layout. To begin with, the poster's background is black which already has a connotation of evil or something lurking in the dark, one of the films running themes. The dark also contrasts with the bright white text used to promote the film, especially the text "coming soon" and the tag lines, "Discover how the activity began" and "It runs in the family". I also think that the white reflects the events that occur within the film as it's "in your face", much like the jumps and the paranormal activity that you see on screen. The red title also contains connotations of evil and blood but a blur effect that makes the title seem slightly distorted has connotations of evil and something quick occurring. There is use of blue text for the credit block and the "3" on the poster which could suggest the cool temperature that occurs when bad spirits are near. The poster follows the house style of the promotional trail that the film had in it's trailers, other posters and the website, www.paranormalmovie.com. The typewriter font style is used across the promotions for the film and reflects the fonts used on old video cameras, another running theme in the film. The text alignment is disturbed, especially on the line on the top third, "Discover how the... action began". Not only is the sentence split over two lines and aligned differently, but there is an overlap of the words "the" and "action", which could be designed to make you feel uncomfortable. The producers of the poster also assume that an audience would have at least seen the previous film, if not, both of the prequels. This text also reflects the events in the film as a typewriter effect marks the changes in the time within the movie, and the style in which the line is written is identical to how it is presented in the movie - simplistic. The poster also follows a rule of thirds with the middle and bottom third containing most of the action. The poster is simple and this reflects the simplicity of the filming techniques used in the movie.
The suspicious and enigmatic messages put forward in the poster are mainly visual through the use of the image in the middle third of the poster. The main image on the poster is a picture that suggests something to come in the movie. The image features two young girls in bed with the shadow of what could possibly be a spirit haunting them. It's likely that a target audience wouldn't need foreknowledge to understand the message meant by the shadow, but a target audience would recognise the suspicious theme in the image and therefore, this could be used as a means to lure in customers and generate revenue. The image also suggests and symbolises a sinister motive within the movie with the connotation of, as said before with the colour scheme, something lurking in the dark, a common convention of the horror genre.
The credit block on the poster is small which helps the minimalist feel of the poster. This, in conjunction with the large margins of the poster help to uphold the simplicity of the promotion. Unlike the common convention of non-animated films, the poster doesn't feature the stars of the movie as a unique selling point. The enigmatic image is used to lure in customers. The "Paranormal Activity" franchise does not use famous movie stars throughout the films as a means of keeping the narratives natural and real. Because of this, the unknown actors aren't flaunted in their publicity and promotional trail, and are not used as a unique selling point. Equally, the promotional trail and especially the theatrical poster does not use it's own hype to promote the film, something that's not usual in the advertising process of the production. The evidence of this is the fact that no critic or newspaper quotes are published on the poster. The fact that the movie doesn't rely upon quotes and stars shows that the franchise has become an institution.
I think the main attention drawn to the poster would be from the disturbing image and the blurry, blood red title of the movie and that the target audience the poster is inviting to watch the film to is young people, both male and female, who are around the age range of 15-24 and are typically fans of the horror and thriller genre.
I feel that the poster works appropriately and completes exactly what it sets out to achieve. By just looking at the poster, I would want to see the trailer or movie to make up my mind. The fact that the poster explains other action has occurred not only lures me into the movie but the whole franchise.
The suspicious and enigmatic messages put forward in the poster are mainly visual through the use of the image in the middle third of the poster. The main image on the poster is a picture that suggests something to come in the movie. The image features two young girls in bed with the shadow of what could possibly be a spirit haunting them. It's likely that a target audience wouldn't need foreknowledge to understand the message meant by the shadow, but a target audience would recognise the suspicious theme in the image and therefore, this could be used as a means to lure in customers and generate revenue. The image also suggests and symbolises a sinister motive within the movie with the connotation of, as said before with the colour scheme, something lurking in the dark, a common convention of the horror genre.
The credit block on the poster is small which helps the minimalist feel of the poster. This, in conjunction with the large margins of the poster help to uphold the simplicity of the promotion. Unlike the common convention of non-animated films, the poster doesn't feature the stars of the movie as a unique selling point. The enigmatic image is used to lure in customers. The "Paranormal Activity" franchise does not use famous movie stars throughout the films as a means of keeping the narratives natural and real. Because of this, the unknown actors aren't flaunted in their publicity and promotional trail, and are not used as a unique selling point. Equally, the promotional trail and especially the theatrical poster does not use it's own hype to promote the film, something that's not usual in the advertising process of the production. The evidence of this is the fact that no critic or newspaper quotes are published on the poster. The fact that the movie doesn't rely upon quotes and stars shows that the franchise has become an institution.
I think the main attention drawn to the poster would be from the disturbing image and the blurry, blood red title of the movie and that the target audience the poster is inviting to watch the film to is young people, both male and female, who are around the age range of 15-24 and are typically fans of the horror and thriller genre.
I feel that the poster works appropriately and completes exactly what it sets out to achieve. By just looking at the poster, I would want to see the trailer or movie to make up my mind. The fact that the poster explains other action has occurred not only lures me into the movie but the whole franchise.
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