The Blair Witch Project - Poster Analysis

This low budget film of only $60,000 was a huge success with audiences all over the world, indicating that it is not always about how much money you put into the film, but the way in which you promote it. The title of this film is unusual, and longer than a typical short film, leaving audiences wanting to know more about the 'project' as it is said to be based on a true story.

The main image of the woman is blended into the dark forest, connoting where the film is set, in the woods. The composition of the poster places the woods higher up, suggesting that it is the more powerful force with the woman laying below, inferior to it. The low key lighting helps reinforce the typical horror conventions seen in feature length films, generating enigmatic shadows. The fearful facial expressions are illuminated by a torch, and could represent that she is hiding from something. The restricted narration used in the poster leaves audiences wanting more, and desperate to find out what is happening to her.  The almost greyscale effect of the image is typical of Horror films, using a red, back and white colour scheme. These colours can represent many different meanings. Red often suggests blood, black connotes darkness or death and white implies ghosts or paranormal activity. The use of these elements could be to draw in audiences of higher budget productions, as it matches the conventions they have come to expect.

This poster includes many conventional elements of a standard Horror feature film, such as a focal image, tag line/plot line, film title and billing block. The small text that surrounds the image helps to emphasise the important picture which has become famous and representative of the whole Horror genre.

The target audience for this film seems to be all genders 15+ who enjoy Horror. The producers were looking for people to be excited about this new technique in filmmaking, where the film revolves around 'found footage'. The Blair Witch Project has set the pace for these kinds of films, despite starting out as a small independent production. The poster helped to generate these new and fresh ideas about a new direction for Horror films as it shows the woman at an unflattering, unprofessional, and badly lit angle. This suggests authenticity, which was used to generate a more thrilling response from spectators in the film itself, as it feels like a more realistic POV as the terrifying events unfold.

This poster influences me to create a more powerful and enticing poster for On The Brink through the use of minimal key pieces of imagery which have significant meanings within the film. I must ensure to stick to short film poster conventions in the creation of the piece, therefore staying away from some of the feature film techniques used above.