Poster Analysis; The Last Exorcism

     The main colours used in the above film poster for the movie “The Last Exorcism” are black and white (Grey scale). The black and white make the poster look hard, old and scary. This presents the genre to the audience through the scary feeling the poster gives. The person in the poster looks like a little girl which gives you a sense of emotion and pity towards the girl in the poster. The red text above and below the image reminds me of blood. Again this helps the audience understand the genre of the film. The title “The Last Exorcism” is bigger than the rest of the text and is eye-catching. It makes the viewer think why is it the last one? Also the words makes us understand that the film is going to be about the devil. Finally, the words “Believe In Him” is written in black and is just above the crucifix which again relates to religion and suggests that the caption is referring to the devil rather than God, as to be exorcised involves having the devil within you. 

     The crucifix on the wall above the girl also makes us think that there is some form of religion in the film which creates a very startling image. Her body is twisted and awkwardly shaped and the crucifix is directly above her heart, suggesting she is going to be killed by God or some religious figure. What you read from this image suggests an unholy alliance between the girl and the devil.

The crucifix looks like a dagger with the handle. The crucifix used in the poster is more pointier so looks more like a dagger. The dagger blade reminds me of the end of the crucifix that is pointing down towards the girl's heart.    

     The main objects that have been used in the poster are the crucifix and the girl. The girl being in the centre suggests to the audience that she is the main character in the film and the crucifix makes the audience understand that the film has a religious theme. The crucifix is directly above the girls heart like the crucifix is trying to enter the girls body due to the sharp edges on the ends of the cross. The viewers eyes look at the crucifix and follow the shape and look at the girls body at the same time. This links the two objects together. 

     The messages in the poster are both visual and verbal for example the crucifix and the tagline etc. There is a tagline just above the crucifix of the poster “Believe In Him” This suggests (with the title) that religion has something to do with the film and the girl. This hints to the audience that the film has religious content. 

         I think that the intended audience for this poster is both males and females (mainly males) aged between 15-25. This is because horror and thriller films are normally aimed at this specific audience, but looking at the people what went to see it, we can see that in fact females went to see the film more that males did. This shows that the a posters target audience isn’t always necessarily the target audience for the film.                   

     None of the actor’s names are used in the poster to create a USP, because none of the actors staring in the film are particularly big stars, but there is a slight USP which is “Eli Roth” who is  known for Hostel(2002) and Cabin Fever(2005). I think that the poster has his name on it in order to attract more people to come and see the film including his already existing fans.

     There are no critic's quotes used in the poster, and I think this is not necessarily because there was not any good reviews, I feel this was because the editor of the poster wanted it to be plain, simplistic but very eye-catching this is because the audience do not know much about the film and have to go and watch the film to find out what actually happens. 

     There are two gratifications promised on this poster. One is the girl that is bent over in the middle of the poster; this tells the audience that she is the main character of the film. This is going to make people want to see the film so they can find out what happens to girl and why religion is involved. The other gratification on this poster is, again, the image of the girl but also the rest of the poster too. The fact that it is dark and dull and there is blood on the girl tells the audience that this is a horror film and promises the audience that they are likely to be scared and feel uncomfortable.

     The attention is gained through shock and surprise, this is through the girl in the poster. This is intended to shock the audience into thinking will the girl survive or will she die, and also the horror of the fact that the devil may have possessed an innocent young girl.

     The tagline works effectively because we are given a little clue towards the film being about religion. But still not giving too much away so that the storyline has not been revealed.  “Believe in Him” only tells the audience that religion may be involved in the film, which is a good borderline between telling the audience too much and not telling them enough, as the clues they have will make them want to go and see the film and the clues they do not know will be the reasons for them going to see it.

     There are not many examples of information given in the poster, except the main one being the image of the girl bent over. This is important as it automatically gives the audience a sense of the storyline which is vital for the audience as they will know some of the information in the film. Also having the title of the film on the poster means that the audience will know that the film has a religious side to it, this gives the audience another piece if vital information. The most important piece of information (the image of the girl) takes up half of the space where as the other important piece of information the title (The Last Exorcism) takes up most if the bottom space of the poster.        

          

       This poster is very important for the advertising of the film. The poster and trailer and the two and only main forms of advertising for this film. This is very important to the film makers because they need to advertise their film so that people will go and see it. The main places the poster would have been advertised would have been for example bus shelters, busses, telephone boxes, billboards, on television and on the internet, spreading to as many different audiences and people as possible.

     I don’t think that the poster was very expensive to make as the simple shot of the girl bent over has no specials effects used which would suggest that the poster did not cost a lot to make. This suggests that the marketing did not have much money to spend and this might also suggest why there are no names on the poster, although again the poster editor may have wanted the poster to be plain and simplistic in order to keep the audience's attention on the main features of the poster. 

  

     I feel that the poster is extremely effective because the poster does everything needed; it suggests to the audience what the film may be about, it helps the audience understand the genre of the film is a horror and also that the film has religious content. From the poster we know the film title. It communicates effectively with the audience because the information that is not on the poster is the information that the audience wants to find out. We are not given a general outline of the film or who is in it as this is the information the audience will want to find out, but we know the director, writer and the name of the film. The information that is not on the film poster is what the audience want to know the most. This is what makes the audience want to come and watch the film, as they want to find out this information; if they knew this before they watched them film they are more likely to not want to watch the film.       

     

     There are no examples of any readings harming the message of the marketing campaign for this film poster, there is nothing on the poster distracting the audience  from the main and sub messages of the poster, keeping all of the audience's attention on the main features of the poster.

     The poster if offensive because in a religious sense because some Catholics may see this as stereotyping Catholics, causing them to be annoyed at the film. Also, the poster is quite horrifying for people who are easy to scare i.e.: children because of the demented and contorted girl on the front of the poster would be seen as scary and nightmarish.