Poster Genre Analysis

I will be analysing the poster for the film 'Cloverfield'.

Genre Conventions:

• Green/blue colour scheme (sci-fi)
• Typical sci-fi font - white text on dark background
• Special effects - scene of destruction
• Gloomy sky
• Short tagline (to the point)
• Taking something familiar and changing it
• Blurred/distorted imagery
• Signs of danger/destruction rather than showing the thing causing it - mystery/suspense.

Connotations/Iconography:

• Gloomy sky - danger/something bad is happening/going to happen.
• "Some thing" suggests something other than human
• "Has found us" - hunted us down from our hiding place
• Disturbance in water - something is under there? Something unsettling
• Smoke in the distance - fire, chaos, destruction.
• Green/blue colour scheme connotes science fiction - looks cold, unnatural.
• Statue of Liberty - New York

Audience Pleasures:

• Escapism - what would happen if there was an alien attack?
• Suspense and tension - thrilling, adrenaline pumping