1. Psychological thriller Film
posters analysis
By Pablo Ortiz

2. Layout:
Memento film poster
analysis
The composition of the
Tagline:
Memento film poster sees the
On the second Polaroid there is the
two main protagonists, Leonard
tagline 'some memories are best
Shelby played by Guy Pearce and
forgotten' this increases the enigma
Natalie played by Carrie-Anne,
of the film because it makes the
placed in the centre of the
intended target audience ask
poster. This indicates to the
rhetorical questions about the
audience that the narrative will
predicament that the two main
mainly focus on their
protagonists might be in.
relationship in the film. However
unlike many typical film posters,
This text may also suggest that there
this poster appears to be tilted to
is some type of conflict between
the left cutting some of the
Leonard and Natalie which is yet to
picture out of the frame. It also
be resolved in the film.
seems to create an optical
illusion by playing around with a
Polaroid image inside of another
Polaroid image, this unorthodox
approach not only hints to the
audience that this film has
psychological themes but it will
also fascinate film critics and
fans because they are being
Colour scheme:
introduced to a new and
The contrasting orange and white colour scheme combined with the
immersive experience.
low key lighting makes the Polaroid's appear as though they're
flashbacks suggesting that Leonard and Natalie might already have a
history/relationship with each other. This could suggest that
Memento will either continue with more character development or it
will sacrifice character development for actions sequences, although
this isn't likely since there isn't many action film poster conventions
present in this poster (e.g. A weapon or explosion) to suggest this.

3. Institution:
My opinion:
Memento is a 2002 American
neo-noir psychological thriller
directed by Christopher Nolan,
the film's budget was $5 million
but it grossed an impressive $40
million in the box office.
Memento was also critically
acclaimed by the indie
community as well as the
mainstream community
contributing to the films
massive successful. The leading
stars Carrie-Anne and Guy
Pearce both acted in Memento
after acting in successful films
including The Matrix and La
Confidential.
I am both impressed and inspired by this
film poster, for example the use of low
key lighting to hint that the Polaroid
may be a flashback is a great idea. I will
definitely discuss with my group about
the possibility of incorporating this
effect in our film poster, the use of the
optical illusion of the Polaroid inside of
another Polaroid is also a great idea. I
would like to use the effect of an optical
illusion in my film poster however due to
the limited resources that I have at my
disposal, this may be a difficult task,
nevertheless this poster has placed a
great emphasis on originality which has
convinced me that breaking conventions
could be beneficial.
During the time period of 2002
both actors would have been
popular and known for their
roles in the films mentioned
above. So by including them on
the front of Memento's film
poster it would have helped to
create some buzz surrounding
the release of Memento which
may have also contributed to
the films success.
If executed well an unorthodox
approach to making my film poster
could set me apart from other students
work however my aim is to create a film
poster that appears credible with a level
of professionalism and if the unorthodox
approach isn't executed well then both of
these elements may be sacrificed. In
conclusion I will definitely be
researching more film posters to find
some more inspiration but at the
moment I am swaying towards making a
film poster that breaks the conventions
of a psychological thriller film poster.

4. The Machinist film
poster analysis.
Layout:
A tiny postnote of an unfinished
game of hangman with two letters
at the end is placed in the centre
of the poster next to the tagline
'Trevour Reznik is four letters
away from the truth'. The
hangman theme is also used again
in the films title. This continues to
tease the audience by hinting that
the main protagonist is being
shielded from the truth suggesting
that The Machinist may also have
themes of a thriller.
The composition of The Machinist poster sees the
films main protagonist, Trevor Reznik played by
Christian Bale, scattered along the top half of the
poster. This not only suggests that the narrative will
focus solely on him but it also suggest that this film
might explore the different sides to Trevor's fragile
personality, this is reinforced by his facial
expressions which vary from bewildered (the first
face on the left) to vulnerable (the third face on the
right). This unorthodox approach of showcasing
four images of the same character hints that this
film might have some psychological themes because
a convention of psychological films is to be
unorthodox and abstract in order to distort the
audiences perception of reality.
Institution:
Colour scheme:
The colour scheme of light blue contrasting
against the white background provides the
poster with the low key lighting effect, this
might suggest that the images of Trevor
Reznik might be flashbacks which is
another convention used in the typical
psychological film. These unorthodox
elements contribute in creating an enigma
around this character leaving the audience
with rhetorical questions, especially
Christian Bale fans who will be intrigued by
his choice to star in The Machinist. By
analysing this film poster I've learnt that
lighting is important because it can provide
the audience with hints of what themes
might be present in the film. I will
definitely try to incorporate this in my film
poster.
Tagline:
Target audience:
The target audience for this film would
have been the art house/ mature film
critic community because although
Christian Bale would have been a familiar
face to a wide variety of audiences (due to
his performance in American Psycho) this
poster doesn’t have any aesthetically
pleasing conventions (e.g. warm bright
colour schemes) instead it places more
emphasis on the theme of a distorted
reality by using a dark and mysterious
colour scheme.
The Machinist is a 2004 English
psychological thriller, the film's
budget was $5 million and it
performed poorly in the box office
making just $8 million, despite the
film being well received by critics. The
film's leading actor Christian Bale has
been critically acclaimed for his
performance in 2002's American
Psycho and by placing him on the
front of the poster, it would have
helped to create some buzz
surrounding the release of The
Machinist. Despite the film's poor box
office performance Christian bale's
performance in the Machinist was
critically praised.

5. Colour scheme:
Tagline:
This film poster for the Butterfly Effect
uses the colour scheme of a bright blue
tint contrasting against a white
background. By combining these two
colours, the faces of the main protagonists
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher) and
Kayleigh Miller (Amy Smart) look pale
and overexposed to a flash of light. By
looking pale it connotes that Evan is
either in shock or scared, his blank
expression also suggests that he is either
day dreaming or in deep thought.
Kayleigh’s expression is also blank
suggesting that she may also be day
dreaming or in deep thought.
These elements contribute to making
Evan and Kayleigh appear enigmatic
because although the audience are being
fed clues hinting at what type of
characters they might be, the truth is not
revealed. The effect of this colour scheme
also hints that this film may have
psychological themes because it's purpose
is to distort the audience's perception of
reality.
In a typical thriller film, the main
plotline focuses on a mystery that
must be solved.
The tag lines ‘change one thing’
and ‘change everything’ hints to
the audience that The Butterfly
Effect’s main plotline may also
focus on a mystery that must be
solved.
The words chosen in the tag line
reinforce this idea. The word
‘change’ is used twice to suggest a
feeling of urgency, the taglines are
also in capital letters which
reinforce the feeling of urgency.
Institution:
The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American science fiction psychological thriller
film that was written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber, starring
Ashton Kutcher and Amy Smart. The film’s budget was $13 million but it
grossed an impressive $96 million worldwide making it a box office success.
However the film was not universally acclaimed with a mix of poor reviews
among critics and fans.
After starring in the comedy cult classic ‘Dude, Where’s my car’ and the
successful rom-com ‘Just Married’, Ashton Kutcher’s performance and
popularity contributed to the films success. Amy Smart’s performance was also
well received and it helped to establish her career.

6. Target audience:
The target audience of this film would
have been mature film critics and fans
who enjoy films that have psych0logical
themes that explore the nature of the
mind and reality. However with Ashton
Kutcher as the star, The Butterfly Effect
would have had some mainstream
appeal since Kutcher was a popular
figure during 2004. The films box office
success suggests that it did in fact reach
a wide mainstream audience.
Layout:
The composition of The Butterfly
Effect poster sees the two main
protagonists, Evan Treborn (Ashton
Kutcher) and Kayleigh Miller (Amy
Smart), placed in the centre of the
poster. This indicates to the audience
that the narrative will mainly focus
on their relationship in the film.
My opinion:
Through the use of the colour
scheme this film poster does a
good job of presenting two
enigmatic characters teasing
the audience. The concept of
this poster appears to be pretty
simplistic and I'm sure that I
could emulate some of the
elements present in this
poster. The next time I have a
group discussion, I will talk
about possibly using two of
our main protagonists on our
poster (using a gloomy colour
scheme to reflect the themes
in our teaser).

7. Seven film poster analysis
Layout:
Tagline and text colour:
The composition of this poster
for Seven sees the main
protagonists , Detective
William Somerset (Morgan
Freeman) and Detective David
Mills (Brad Pitt), faces next to
each other which indicates that
the narrative will focus solely on
them. However Detective
William Somerset is placed
higher up the poster in
comparison to David Mills,
which suggests that Somerset
might have more control/power
in their relationship because he
is placed physically above Mills
showing some type of hierarchy.
This has been included in the
poster to give audiences a
glimpse into what type of
relationship these two
characters have.
The tag line 'Seven deadly sins.
Seven ways to dies' adds some
enigma surrounding the plot, it
hints to the audience that these
two characters might be
investigating a murder or might
have caused the murder. The title
Seven is in dark red reinforcing the
idea that the plot will revolve
around a murder; since the colour
red is associated with blood and
death. The names of both the
starring actors is in a different font
compared to the rest of the text in
this poster, this has been done to
make it clear to the audience that
this film has two high profile
actors. This demonstrates that the
unique selling point in this film
poster is the high profile actors
Brad Pitt and Morgan freeman who
both have big fan bases.
Review:
This film poster has a short review 'A
nerve-jangling thriller with a gutwrenching climax!' letting the audience
know two things, the first is that Seven is
a thriller and the second is that Rolling
Stone ( a successful mainstream
magazine) enjoyed the film; this would
have helped to created some buzz for
Seven since Rolling Stone has a big
reading base/following. Some additional
text in the middle hints at some themes
that might be explored in Seven.

8. Colour scheme:
The colour scheme of the black
background contrasting against
the orange lighting of their faces
sets a serious tone/mood
because aesthetically it isn't
meant to be jolly/happy or
funny, this serious mood is
reinforced with the blank facial
expressions of both Somerset
and Mills. This demonstrates
that Seven is not targeting a
young audience, instead it is
trying to target the adult/mature
film community.
My opinion:
It is highly unlikely that I can use high profile actors in
my film poster since my budget is pretty low however I
can definitely use other elements present in this poster.
For example I can use my main protagonists in the
poster and use the composition to suggest that there is
some conflict between them. Since my teaser trailer will
be a psychological thriller, I could use a dark colour
scheme to convey to my audience the feeling of
paranoia.
Institution:
Seven is a 1995 American thriller film
directed by David Fincher. It stars Brad
Pitt and Morgan Freeman,
with Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey,
and Kevin Spacey in supporting roles.
Seven was both critically acclaimed and
commercially successful making $327
million worldwide. The talented cast
has contributed to Sevens’ success , for
example both Brad Pitt and Morgan
Freeman were recognizable by
audiences for their performances in
films including The Shawshank
Redemption and Interview with the
Vampire. This demonstrates that both
Pit and Freeman were showcased in this
poster for Seven because it would have
presented audiences with some
familiarity.
By using these two high profile actors it
demonstrates to audiences that this
film has a big budget, since both Brad
Pitt and Morgan Freeman were in high
demand during the 1995.