Under the Skin Website Deconstruction

Under the Skin Website

Under the Skin is a 2013 Science Fiction-Horror film directed by Jonathan Glazer. The darkness and psychological disruption of this film was a prominent inspiration for our teaser trailer. 

Within the narrative of this film one of the most important aspects is the ambiguity and mystery behind the protagonist, mystery is a common convention within Psychological Thrillers, therefore it can be argued that Under the Skin has elements of a Psychological Thriller, along side Science Fiction-Thriller. We took inspiration from this ambiguity for our teaser trailer.

This website is very minimal, with only part of Scarlett Johansson's face showing, as you scroll down the website the typography moves and changes, but the picture remains still. The colour lit onto the protagonist's face slowly shifts through several bright colours, such as red, pink, and blue - these colours are very bright and are the most prominent feature of the website. The stars in the background are very slowly, almost unnoticeably moving. Due to the film's Science Fiction side it can be suggested that the protagonist's face is presented in the middle of the dark night's sky in order to suggest the vast expanse of the universe, which leads to the idea of extraterrestrial life. 

However, although the dark sky indicates the infinite nature of the universe, the pivotal aspect of the website is the protagonist's face, due to its central framing and large scale, demonstrating that she is the most significant aspect of the film. However her face is partially shadowed, suggesting a duplicitous nature. Additionally, the vividity of the red lighting on Johannson's face contrasts the stark black sky behind her, this connotes danger, and causes her to stand out against the mundane nature of humanity. 

When on the website, once the audience has scrolled down, there are very clear media links to purchase the product. This is explicit advertisement, and allows easy access for the audience.

There is a common typography seen throughout the website, this is a very clear and easy to read font. It can be suggested that this font contrasts the abstract nature of the film.

The pastel blue colour scheme of the typography contrasts the black background, making it stand out.

Once the audience scrolls down further, reviews are presented on-screen. Unlike the media links, these take up the majority of the page, becoming the central focus, additionally, use of contrasting colours of the green typography against the red light on the protagonist's face makes the reviews stand out further.

This follows the conventions of a website, as its aim is to entice and persuade the audience, so by displaying all of the positive reviews and feedback across the whole of the screen, this reiterates to the reader just how good the film is, persuading them to watch it themselves.