The Boy Film Poster

The poster for 'The Boy' both challenges and conforms to the 'typical' horror movie poster. 

Image - The image is photographic, adding a sense of realism to the poster, but the photo is of a doll. This conveys the horror genre as it portrays what would usually be seen as a play toy to be a real life 'boy'; this also in keeps with Luke Strauss's thesis of normal/strange. The image is also very dark, using a vignette effect which darkens the edges and draws more focus onto the centre of the poster - the boy himself. This shadowing over the central character is conventional, as it helps create a feeling of the unknown, darkness and as if the audience should be fearful of what they can't see. It also contrasts with 'the boy's' face, making him appear more white which is again conventional of the horror genre, as characters with this skin tone are often related to the dead (making the title even more chilling, as he is supposed to be a real 'boy'). The shadowing over the eyes in particular is effective as this is the area of the face most people look at first; the in ability to see this clearly is un-nerving and creates a sense of ‘horror’. In a way, the poster challenges the conventions in the sense that the central character is ‘perfect’; his hair is neat, his outfit formal, and with even a slight smirk on his face. This contradicts the chaos, ruggedness we often expect to see in horror movie posters, but again this only goes to enhance the ‘horror’ as it almost ironic that such a perfect character is evil. 

Rule of Thirds - 
This image fits the 'rule of thirds', as the boy is positioned centrally with the two slightly darker 'strips' along both side surrounding. The shot type is also in keeping with these rules, as using a medium close up, it allows the top of this shoulders and chest to be included, while keeping the main focus on his face (which is what allows the audience to see it is a doll rather than a 'real boy'). These shoulders fill the bottom thirds, while the title and tag line are aligned along the centre as they are of most significance. Spacing out the image and text in this way creates a good balance among the poster. 

Colour - Following this, the title is written in red which is a common shade used in horror film texts as they often contain words written in blood (or at least given the impression they are). This colour is typically associated with danger, gore, violence, also helps convey to the audience the horror genre as the audience then expect these kind of themes in the movie.The background of the image is black, in keeping with the dark themes in the movie, and the lighting just allows the suit he is wearing to be seen. This suit is a dark navy, almost tweed material which is a much older style than an outfit you would expect to see a young boy in. By dressing him in this, it gives another hint that this is not the usual type of child you would expect, and perhaps even that he has much more advanced, mature (and frightful) capabilities. 

Text/tag line

The title is positioned central on the product, which is conventional as in keeping with the rule of thirds as that is where an audience’s eye is naturally drawn. It also has a short, simple tag line which doesn't reveal too much about the film, but infers that 'the boy' is in control, which fits the horror genre as movies of this kind often have an element of fear and 'commandments'. The tag line also presents the idea that this boy is not the usual, innocent, young child, as it is giving the audience an instruction - 'follow his rules'. By personifying him, it not only adds a sense of realism to this character, and thus making him more scary, but also implies that it is not the boy himself giving these commands, but from the 'film makers' or other characters. This creates a further sense of fear as it is as if the audience are being pre-warned by someone who already knows what this person is about - and also adds to the 'creepiness' of his almost smirking face, as the audience knows he is not as innocent as he may look. 

Font
Both the title and tag line are in the same font which adds a sense of continuity and makes it clear the two are related, but the font itself is also in a 'scratchy' font, typical of a horror poster as they are conveying the sense of raggedness and lack of control/the norm which the movie will contain. The serif font is one of the oldest in print, and is associated with being formal, classical, and the past – this is often used in horror posters to create an eerie, spooky feeling that cannot be understood (when compared to the trend in sans-serif used for technology products, and sci-fi films etc.). The font of the title is almost scratchy yet still readable, allowing it to still be easily seen by the audience but also creating the impression that it was either written by a child (i.e. the boy himself) or etched in to something. 

Billing block - 
The billing block fits with convention by being placed at the bottom of the poster, as it is not of as big of importance as say the title or the main image which will attract the audience to actually spend money seeing the film. It is also in a white, yet slightly translucent colour, again showing that it is not as vital for every word to be read, and also allows the background of the suit to be seen. The release date is positioned underneath the majority of the block and is in red, as are the title and tag line. This means it stands out more against the white text above it, and the audiences eyes are attracts to it and knows it is some important information. 

Genre -
The darkness of the film is immediately a clue that the film will have a dark genre, as leading from pathetic imagery audiences are subconsciously see darkness as feared, and where dangerous activities take place. The 'scratchy' font of the title helps project the horror genre, as this is common of the genre as words and instructions are often written unexpectedly in walls, trees etc. The boys perfect presentation, with neat hair and outfit, contrast's with what we expect to find the main feature of a horror; this only goes to enhance the shock of the film, as the audience knows he is not as innocent as his exterior may make out. 

Demographic - 
The dark navy/grey colour of his outfit helps reveal the demographic of the film, as in entertainment aimed at younger audiences, the main colours/outfits tend to be more bright (to reflect the ‘happy’ film subject). When looking at the title/tag line, red is also often used to portray blood and a sense of danger again this helps show what the film is about as the audience can infer that this danger and violence will be present in the film. Again, this shows that is it not intended for younger audiences as it is likely to contain these graphic themes.