Research into Similar Films

In order to further develop my knowledge of the thriller/horror genre I have researched into some similar films to the one me and my group will produce. For example ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ is a film where in the dreams of his victims, a child murderer stalks the children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him. I have looked at this film as ours will involve the use of dreams widely throughout.

There are various different posters that were made to advertise the film. One common thriller conventions seen in this poster is chiaroscuro lighting. This creates a dramatic atmosphere within the picture which makes the audience feel scared.  The red in the poster could connote blood or danger while the white may suggest good and purity.  The darkness in the image also creates mystery which is a common convention of the thriller/horror convention.

The title uses a simple white serif font.  This highlights the fact the film is targeted at an older audience.  The word 'NIGHTMARE' is much larger in comparison to the rest of the title.  This is because it is the most frightening and significant word.  The character on the poster has his face masked by a hat and darkness.  This creates mystery and intensity when looking at it as the audience has no idea who or what he is.

There are many other variations of this poster which hold more information such as the release date and characters which are possibly more suitable for advertising.  These versions are from 2010 however there was an earlier making of the film in 1984.  This cover uses similar conventions though such as the dark and red colour scheme connoting danger an violence.  This poster holds the slogan, 'If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming she won't wake up at all'.  This instantly grips viewers and makes them want to know more.  I feel it would be beneficial and extremely effective if we included a statement like this.

                        

2010

1984

Another film similar to our ideas is 'In Dreams' directed by Neil Jordan starring Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr. about a woman who dreams of distressing future events. This poster uses extreme chiaroscuro lighting over a woman, slightly covering her pale white face creating an intense feeling as you see the fright in her eyes.  This again uses capitalised red serif titles which look as if they have been scratched into the black background.  Many thrillers use this technique as it adds a sense of violence and danger.


The colour scheme within the poster also suggests a binary opposition of possibly good vs. evil or danger.  The snow white face against the jet black background highlights connotations of good/purity and evil/death/danger which act as a binary opposition.  This idea was developed by Claude Levi Strauss and is a commonly used thriller convention where the narrative is arranged around the conflict of binary oppositions for example good and evil, day and night, male and female, antagonist and protagonist, etc.