Analysis Of Psycho Film Poster

The photo used in this poster, makes the poster look more like horror film than any other genre. We can see that there is a female in the shower and she looks trapped because she is behind the glass. Also as the audience it makes us feel that there is just one thing stopping us from helping the girl which is the glass. The girl in the poster behind the glass has her hands up linking to the fact that she is trapped and that she needs help. Running down the shower looks like blood which could mean that the girl is either going to get killed or someone wants to harm her. The black borders on each side of the shower makes the audience feel that the girl is trapped and can't get out. 

The title of the film is created out of the dripping blood, I think this is a creative idea and it's different from many other film posters. Also the word psycho is split into two, this could be representing one of the characters in the film and it could mean any character has a split personality. 

The text at the bottom of the poster is written in white so it can stand out against the black and background, and the release date of the film is presented in bold red text. This makes the date stand out from the other text and it draws peoples eyes to that  section first. 

The pull quote at the top of the poster reads 'Check In, Relax, Take a Shower' this gives the audience a clue. The words 'Take a shower' tells the audience that something is going to happen in the shower and keeps the audience at the edge of their seats during the whole film. 

Why People Watch Horror Films?

Scary eye in Photoshop

I was experimenting in Photoshop to create a scary eye photo. The ideas that I am creating can be either used in the film poster or magazine front cover. I used a macro lens to photograph to eye and then  opened the photo in Photoshop where I added a tree texture to the eye, then erased the pupil area. Once this was done I turned the whole photo to black and white, which in my opinion made the photo dark and created a scary feel to it.

Comparing The Exorcist 1973, Jaws 1975 and Halloween 1978

In each of the opening scenes in the horror trailers, each of them opened with a voice over explaining the background of what the film is about and also the voice over sets the scene. For example in the trailer for Jaws the opening scene is a camera panning through the water and the voice over is describing the beast, which was unknown and only now it is starting to rise to the surface. In the trailers for The Exorcist and Halloween the voice-overs sets the scene and introduce the audience to their worst nightmare. In both trailers the voice-overs are used on an establishing shot, this shot introduces the audience again to where the film is going to be set.

The main convection I noticed in each of the trailers was that they never showed the villain in the film. For example at the beginning of The Exorcist trailer the mother walked into the girls room and displayed a shocked face but the cameras never turned to the girl revealing who she is. Also in the Jaws trailer the voice over talked about the beast and still it was never shown in the trailer, the attacks in the trailers were shown from above the water not revealing the identity of the beast. Halloween used the same technique during the whole trailer, the victim was always running away or being chased by the villain but again the identity was not revealed, the villain was mostly lurking in the darkness. The technique being used in horror trailers I think is very effective because by not revealing who the villain is it makes the audience more curious about who it is and makes the want to watch the whole film to find out. Also if in the trailers it showed who the villain was then it will be giving the main story away and the film wouldn’t be as scary as not knowing who it is. 

Music played a big part in each of the trailers; the music started off calm at the beginning and built up towards the end. Also when something bad was going to happen the music started to get louder which gets your heart racing because the music becomes intense and the audience knows that something is going to happen but they don’t know what. I think if trailers and films didn’t have music it wouldn’t be as scary, because for example if something jumped out at you it wouldn’t be as scary as if someone jumped out at you but music was played with it. 

The Fourth Kind Review

The first kind sighting,

The second kind evidence,

The third kind contact,

The fourth kind abduction 

It all started in a small town in Alaska where abductions were becoming more common. The fourth kind switches between re-enactment of the found footage, and the actual footage of interviews where each of the patients have the first, second, third and fourth kind. The screen is split so you can see both the re-enactment and the raw footage. All patients have one thing in common an owl. Never look into the eyes of an owl. The psychologist Dr Abigail Tyler uses hypnosis to uncover memories from her patients of their alien abductions. Also along side the main story lines of alien abductions there is the mystery of the death of the psychologist’s husband.

The thriller uses music and the found footage to make the audience feel on the edge of their seats during the whole film. The music is used to emphasis drama and frightening scenes of flashbacks. As much as the high impact scenes stunned the audience, the directors and producers used the tool of silence which was equally effective because it left the audience to question what they have just seen and whether they believe it or not. Whether you are a fan of science fiction thriller or not, the fourth kind raises issues and morals about whether we are really alone on earth.

As a person who is generally fascinated with conspiracy surrounding aliens and other human life forms, this film raises a lot of questions regarding human contact with the extra-terrestrial. What makes the film different to other similar films is that they leave the viewer to make up their own mind where they believe in aliens or not. Also I found that the technique of using found interview footage resembles a documentary like feel adding a sense of realness to the film.

Fear

Carrie 2013 Remake