Deconstruction of The Silence of the Lambs Poster

This was the first official poster released for the film directed by Johnathan Demme, when it came in 1991.

The poster shows the protagonists (Jodie Foster's) face with a butterfly covering her mouth. Her eyes, usually blue are red.  The faux skull markings on the moths head, show that the skulls are made up of 7 naked women, which is believed to be homage to Salvador Dali.

The poster shows a contrast of light and dark; the protagonists face being white, and the background around he fading to black. This use of colour suggests the presence of both good and evil in the film. This use of colouring conforms to the Psychological Thriller genre. On top of this, the use of the deaths-head Hawkmoth across the protagonists mouth, and the high contrast of her face matches the dark tone of the film, allowing the audience to immediately be aware of the genre.


The title "The Silence of the Lambs" is interpreted in visual form on the poster. The Protagonist is displayed to represent the lamb, and the high key lighting of her face connote some sort of innocence about the character.The moth across her mouth represents her being silenced. The red colouring of her eyes, and the dark colouring of the moth could represent the danger she will face in the film, as well as adding to the mysterious and sinister atmosphere of the poster.

The film is shown to challenge the classic thriller conventions by having a female protagonist, which is the only character displayed on the poster. This can be considered unusual for the Psychological Thriller genre, as the protagonists are usually all male. By challenging these conventions the poster could potentially appeal to a wider audience.

The use of the typography in the red font is used to connote the danger the protagonist will face in the film. The colour also conforms to the Psychological Thriller genre.

Whiplash Poster Deconstruction

Whiplash is a 2014 Drama directed by Damien Chazelle which follows the story of an aspiring young jazz drummer.                                               Interestingly, unlike most film posters, the majority of the page is taken up by large bold reviews. The typography is very clear to read and is a large font. The text at the top and the bottom is a vivid red, and the middle is a very pale blue, these colours both contrast against the black background, causing them to really stand out on the page, drawing the eye straight to them.                                                                        The colour red could be used in order to draw immediate attention to this information, which tells the reader which awards the film has one, the title of the film and the main actors playing in it. This follow the conventions of a film poster, by attempting to persuade the reader, the awards suggest that the film is unmissable, the named actors draw in fans of these celebrities, and the title is bold and red so it is  more memorable.

The pale blue tint of the rest of the typography is also seen on the small image of Miles Teller, it can be suggested that, because of the negative connotations of the colour blue, this represents the protagonist's disappointment and disheartened nature throughout the film. It can be depicted that the contrast between the red and blue typography mirrors the narrative, as the red connotes the protagonist's passion for drumming, this is the brightest and most vivid aspect of both the page and his life. Whereas the blue connotes the constant disappointment he feels and the negativity he receives from his drum teacher (J.K. Simmons). This is the most prominent aspect of the page, covering the majority of it, mirroring how he allows his teacher's discouragement to over take his whole life, including his passion.

Additionally, the contrast between the small scale of the image of Miles Teller and large bold reviews demonstrates how the protagonist values praise over his own self. Within the plot of the film the protagonist injures himself and makes himself unwell in order to please his drum teacher, therefore the overwhelming size of the reviews suggest that this are more important to him that his own life and health. 

Furthermore, throughout the film the protagonist strives for praise and encouragement, yet receives near to none, therefore this poster displays what he has always desired and never achieved, as he is surrounded by positivity an praise.

The simplicity of this poster demonstrates his focus on drumming, and the spotlight both highlights his desire to perform and both literally and figuratively be in the spotlight, and it suggests the pressure he feels to be one of the greatest jazz drummers. 

Gone Girl Poster Deconstruction

This is the first official poster for David Fincher's 2014 thriller based on the novel Gone Girl written by Gillian Flynn.

As we can see the majority of the poster is taken up by the image of the sky, and Amy's eyes in it. Nick Dunne, her husband is placed at the bottom of the image, looking small and vulnerable compared to Amy's huge eyes above him. The poster is predominantly a blue/grey shade, with a white cloud shadowing parts of the title. The film focuses on lies and deceit which is likely why the cloud was placed in the centre. The top of the poster is the darkest- a navy blue- which may represent Amy's dark plans and twisted ways. The figure of Nick has been slightly distorted- the top half of his body moved slightly left. His life has been torn apart by someone he would never have expected. The truth has been distorted like the image.

The line across the bottom of the image depicts the typical 'Breaking News' bar, that is present on News channels. Although part of the news story title is missing, any one who has read the book, will know what it says and anyone who hasn't can get some sort of understanding from the words 'search' and 'continues'. It would seem that the only word missing is in fact 'Amy' which is probably intentional, as the film (and novel) revolves around Amy, who has gone missing. To fit in with the theme of the media, the sky appears to be more yellow around Nick, which may represent the eyes of the media on him, as the main suspect in his wife's disappearance.

At the top of the poster, small, minimal typography is used, as to not distract from the image. It mentions two other films David Fincher has directed, which automatically attracts fans of those films. In slightly bigger writing, are the names of the two stars playing Nick and Amy Dunne. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are famous actors, which draws attention. If they weren't so well known, it would be unlikely that their names would be so noticeable.

The text at the bottom is all quite minimal also. The names of the cast and producers are in a pale grey colour as is the website and hashtag used to promote the movie. The release date is bolder and darker than the rest of the text as this is a vital piece of information people need to know.

A series of other posters was also created to further promote the film. These have an almost comical tone that those who know the plot will understand. The 'Happy Anniversary' is of course ironic. Each of the posters depicts a prop from the film, while giving away more clues about the narrative.

Whereas the colour scheme of the first poster is full of cold tones- these posters are the opposite. The colour red is used on the evidence bags as well as the lingerie which signifies the sexual explicitness of the film- it is rated 18. The dark wood that each item is placed on as well as the photo which is predominantly black, give a sinister tone that is also present in the original poster. These posters are more conventional of a sexually explicit thriller. This makes it apparent that movie posters can be completely different but be just as effective.

Potential Movie Poster Images

These are some of the shots from our trailer that could be used for our movie poster. Due to the shape and size of these images, this would mean having a landscape poster. If we decide to have a portrait poster, we will need to do a photo shoot with Bethan. The first image- although from the opening montage- is of the protagonist facing away from the camera which initially creates a sense of mystery and something to hide. The normality of the shot rejects the main theme of the Teaser Trailer, so it may not be the best choice- as we ideally want to display the theme of addiction and distortion in all our ancillary texts, including our Poster.

The second image is the last shot of our Teaser Trailer. It is at the peak of the protagonist's insanity which suggests it would be a good shot to use. However it is quite different to the rest of the Teaser, and it used at the end of the trailer in order to shock the audience and subvert their expectations. While it is an effective photo, using it as the photo on our poster might take away some of the mystery behind the plot.

The last option from the shots of our Teaser Trailer is probably most likely to be featured on our poster. Red lighting is a leitmotif in our trailer and signifies danger and addiction. The technique of layering is also used here, to represent the idea that the protagonist becomes someone else when she takes the drugs. Even if we don't use this shot as our poster, it is likely that we will use more than one image of the protagonist to depict this idea.

Most movie posters are portrait, so if we wanted to follow convention we would need to reshoot Bethan.

However, some movies use horizontal posters.

We have decided to do something similar to Before I Go To Sleep, and use three images of our protagonist before, when and after she takes the drug for the first time. This is a rough first idea of our poster made simply by combining the three images. If we decide to pursue this idea, we will reshoot the protagonist and use Photoshop to edit it.