Analysis of 2 Thriller Posters

We can tell this film is a thriller by the colour scheme; the red signifies blood and violence and the dark purple and black colours connote negative activity such as crime, both of these things are typical of thriller films. Una Thurman lying seductively, with her face dead centre, appeals very much to a male audience as she is seen as a sex symbol. The fact she’s wearing black connotes she’s involved in some criminal activity and the idea of her being bad is reinforced by her cigarette. Her red lipstick connotes passion and sex, but matched with her black hair and clothes suggest violence. Her hair is short, sleek and black, which insinuates she’s a concise character who does her job neatly and efficiently, similar to a gang who plan their crime in order to perfectly execute it. The gun in the centre of the poster very obviously tell us there’s lots violence and gun crime involved in the film which often occurs in thrillers. This is another aspect of the poster which is heavily aimed at men. The way her hand is splayed over the magazine suggests she’s hiding something which again signifies crime but also looks very seductive, which appeals to a male audience. The look on her face is like her poker face, she doesn’t give much away however she’s clearly not smiling which tells us she’s a seductive character who’s hiding something which creates curiosity. We can tell from her expression the film is a thriller because conspiracy is often a major role in this genre of film. As she’s lying on a bed in a dimly lit room with the blinds closed, we get the impression she’s not meant to be there. Also, the dark lighting connotes romance, but not the romance we’d see in a happy love film, so we know she’s a seductive, sexual character who is possibly using herself to distract from whatever she’s hiding under the magazine.




From the 28 Days Later poster we can see it’s a thriller, firstly due to the heavy use of which signifies blood, death and violence. The sketchy black cityscape suggests something sinister is going on in the location, London, and the sketchy effect suggests the city is breaking down and society is falling. The centre of the poster is a man walking alone and he is the only character we see in the whole poster, suggesting he’ll be the only person we see for a lot of the film; he’s completely alone and has been left to unravel the mystery of what happened to the city. This idea of discovering a mystery and of being deserted is a classic characteristic of a thriller. The symbol placed in the centre above the man’s head is the international symbol for a blood-borne biohazard which very clearly tells us there is some sort of epidemic involved and this idea of ‘something which could happen’ is often used in thrillers. Also, the symbol is shown in the same sketchy design as the city which links the two together, insinuating some biohazard has infected the city. The large eyes placed on two of the hotspots are tinted red insinuating blood and the pupil has the biohazard symbol in the centre suggesting the man is being watched by a much bigger force than himself which has been infected by the biohazard. This idea of being watched often occurs in thriller films so this is another way we can tell the genre of the film. The film appears to be aimed at a male audience due to the heavy insinuation that blood and gore plays a large role in this film. Unlike the Pulp Fiction poster there’s no sex appeal, however the connotations of violence are much more prominent so the audience this film is aimed at still remains male, although I think it’s aimed at younger males as the plot seems less complicated and more focused on the violence.