Analysis of Saw Poster

Colour and Meaning: The prominent colours used are red, black and white. Black is usually associated with the midnight and the unknown. This is vital as it reflects the genre of the movie, which is horror. Also white has connotations of purity and cleanliness. On the title, black is mixed with the white. This could be, because it signifys the plot of what seems innocent.ie. The white, will eventually turn in to something gruesome and horrific i.e. the black. Red generally resembles danger, violence, and emergency and usually is associated with the devil. It’s used on the image of the puppet figure, on places such as, its eye, on the figure’s cheek, the lips and its clothes. This is important as it demonstrates that this figure is representing danger or can be some source of violence within the movie. This is true as the killer in the movie is only seen as some sort of puppet which is featured on the poster. Also red is used below the title ‘saw 2’ and it’s contrasted with white writing that says ‘oh yes…There will be blood’. This is significant as blood is actually red therefore the colour compliments the writing.

Media Language:
The writing on the poster is formal, this is could be due to the idea that the film want to attract an older generation. This is because of the age restrictions on this movie, which is 18 and above.

Layout and Conventions:The layout of the poster includes a large image of a puppet figure that takes up the left and side of the page. However the right hand side of the poster has a black background on the top half. This is because usually the audience reads from the left therefore automatically looks at the image straight away. This could be used as the first thing the audience sees, because this is the main character in the film and plays a prominent role in it. The title of the film is then place right underneath the image of the puppet. This could be because the mage is more important than the name of the film. This could be due to the fact it’s the second sequel of the film therefore the film has already gained an audience from the 1st movie. Also once the image is seen, the audience should know straight away what the film it is, because of the first movie gaining an audience. Although the title is still written largely at the bottom for those who may have not seen the first movie. All the other details of the movie such as the credits, actors, and website are all place underneath the title. This could be because it is less significant than the image and the title.

Typeface: The typeface is small in areas where it is not significant .i.e. actor’s names, credits. Although the typeface for the title is much bigger and the letters are quite separate from each other signifying the importance of the name of the film. This is done so that the audience reads the main features of the film .i.e. the title as opposed to other features of the film that may not be as important to the audience. The writing is all in white except the website that’s in red. This points out the website so that if the audience wishes to find out more information about the movie then they are able to do this through going on the website.

Connotation and Denotation: On the poster there is a picture of a large image of a puppet figure that takes up the left hand side of the page. It has a spiral on the puppet’s cheek that’s in red. Red usually is a sign of danger, this could demonstrate that the puppet is dangerous n the movie. Also the puppet being placed on the left hand side suggests that the puppet is significant in the movie as people usually read from left to right. Red is contrasted with white on the puppets face. However the white looks tainted with a hint of yellow, indicating the puppet is old or has lost its colour. Also white usually symbolises purity and cleanliness, however without the puppet having pure white painted on it, it demonstrates that the puppet is the opposite of all these things. Then on the right hand side of the puppets face, the poster gets darker and it’s all black until it gets to the masthead (title of the movie) at the bottom. The masthead at the bottom is in white writing that looks jagged and looks like it is sketched. This could be because white usually symbolises purity and cleanliness. However the jagged and sketchy font makes the white on the font look broken, therefore symbolises the fact that movie actually does not have themes of purity. Below the title of the movie, there is another sentence that says ‘oh yes….there will be blood’. This demonstrates the obvious conventions of a horror movie.ie blood and violence. Underneath this are the actors’ names, logos, Production Company, director and producer names and all the people behind the scenes and the date of the movie in which it’s released. The date is written in capitals to emphasise when the movie is released therefore knowing when to be at the cinemas.