Horror Iconography and Ideology

1) What visual and written codes are being used?

Saw

• Extreme close up of the mouth suggests that the person is being tortured,
• The title is in white and is against a black background to catch people's attention,

• At first glance, the poster creates a scary atmosphere drawing the audience,
• The tongs used to keep the mouth opened suggests that the person is trapped and it could also show vulnerability as the person is unable to move,
• The fact that he has no teeth suggests that the theme of the film is gruesome,
• The tag-line shows when the film will be released, in this case Halloween,

Dracula

• The statue in the image shows us the period of time that the film is set in,
• The name of the film is 'Dracula' which is easily known to the audience because it is the biggest and in the centre of the poster,
• The text used in the poster anchors the idea that it is a horror film as it is written in blood which suggests that the film is bloody,

• The colour scheme of the posters is beige and red. The red is a common convention used in horror movies,
• The tag-line suggests that the sub-genre of the film is also romance,

2) What information do they provide about the films?

Dracula

Saw

• They provide the production company, 'Columbia Pictures'
• The name of the director (to promote)
• The author of 'Dracula' (Bram Stoker)
• The release date

3) What other information might you have expected but is missing?

• For both posters, I expected a certificate to indicate the appropriate age for viewing,
• The names of actors or actresses who star in the film such as the poster below,

4) In what ways do these posters create a sense of enigma?

Saw

• Doesn't show the full face of the character on the poster, this leads us to question who the person is,
• Makes us wonder why the person is being tortured,

Dracula

• Even though the full face is shown, it doesn't show the proper face of Dracula, again this leads us to question what his appearance looks like.

5) How are the film producers trying to create a sense of danger and equilibrium?

• For saw, they use a close up of graphic images to catch peoples attention. The close up enables us to put ourselves in that persons shoes giving us a sense of danger.
• As for Dracula, the font of Dracula already creates an eerie atmosphere and the fact that the statue is staring directly at us also adds to the feeling.

6) What genre to these films belong to?

• Horror

However, within films there are subcategories within particular genres. For example:

Saw

• Crime
• Thriller
• Mystery

Dracula

• Thriller
• Romance

7) What are the generic conventions that are at work in these posters?

Saw

• Low key lighting,
• Graphic image,
• Font type of the title,
• close up image,

Dracula

• Bloody title,
• mid shot of the character,
• Colour scheme of red,