Film Poster Analysis - 'Before I Go To Sleep'

 

Before I Go To Sleep (2014) - Rowan Joffe

•  The close up shots featured on the poster make it appear more intimidating, personal and uncomfortable for the audience to view. This is reinforced by the fact that all 3 of the actors featured are looking directly into the camera, again making it more uneasy for the audience to look at.

 

• The use of mixed mediums, both coloured image and black and white image, may have been used for two main reasons. One of these reasons being to highlight the status of the main actress featured in the middle of the page and the other being to perhaps highlight a key point in the storyline of the film that she is the only one she can trust and that she cannot trust the other two males.

 

• Furthermore, the use of black and white on the two males makes them appear more mysterious and dark, conveying the overall tone and genre of the film. The contrast between the light and dark lighting used is also a typical convention for psychological thrillers.

 

• To make the poster seem more disorientating to the eye and more uneasy for the audience to view, they have used vertical lines running through the characters faces. This also follows typical conventions by not fully allowing the audience to see what is there.

 

• In addition, the poster also doesn't display the characters full figured faces, as the two men are only shown with half their face. This could connote the storyline in which the female doesn't know which of the men she can trust. Also, the main women's face is shown the most, again promoting the fact that she is the lead role.

 

• Each characters facial expression convey their characters personalities within the film, for example the woman is shown to be looking alert and frightened, whereas the other two males are shown to look more menacing and mysterious.

 

• The contrasting colour scheme of white and red used within the font make the writing stand out against the darker colours of the background. Furthermore, red is typically used in thriller/horror films to create a sense of danger and violence as this colour typically connotes blood, therefore displaying typical genre conventions.

 

• The positioning of the tagline "Who do you trust?" being on different levels added with the vertical lines make the poster seem more jaunting and disorienting for the audience to look at. Also, the use of a bold font further reiterates the purpose of making it stand out against the background.