Codes and Conventions of Horror posters

I felt that I should establish the typical codes and conventions of horror posters which I will carry over to my own poster.
Black background: it has the connotation of death, it gives the impression of fear closing in around the main focus picture.
Shadows: to give the impression of being followed and to give a general spooky feeling.
Blood or red colours: To give the impression that blood will be shed in the film.
Scared emotions: To give the impression that they are the main character as they are in the main focus and to tell the audience that they will be a victim.
A close up face or body part (e.g. hand or eye): The evil/horror/fear/killer is always close and, depending on what it is that is close up, that will give a certain message. If it is an eye for example, this could mean that they are watching and stalking and waiting.


Posters have the main purpose of giving the audience a reason to want to see the film and to draw in viewers. They also have the purpose of letting us know what the film will be about and as the audience, it is a subconscious thing to get quite a lot out of a poster without realising it. This is where the film makers are able to attract the people they want to and to give them an idea of what the film is going to be about. This is where the conventions above are used to give these messages and to let the audience interpret that the film is of a horror/thriller genre.


But what message do I want to give to my audience without giving everything away?
My tagline, as said in the trailer and for more impact being the only part with a voice over, was 'He's Watching'. Therefore, I think it appropriate to have an eye of a woman. To establish this, they will have smudged make-up on. In her eye, she will have a reflection of a hand holding a knife with blood on it. This blood I am hoping to have running out of her eye as if he is inside her. This way, I will give the impression he is in her mind and her head and there will be no escape. He maybe has even possessed her mind with worrying thoughts of him , constantly waiting for him to attack.The blood running out shows that blood will be shed and, as it is coming down out of her eye like a tear, it will give the impression of sadness, panic, fear and emotion that will be expressed by that character.

There are a couple of other ideas I have for posters which will give other impressions although they will still be relevant to the film.