Arlington Road Poster

By Georgia St. Louis

TYPOGRAPHY

The scratched effect of the title could link in with this idea of a fragmented psychological state of mind; hence the genre of the psychological thriller.
The fact the title is larger than the other fonts allows the audiences attention to be drawn toward it. Moreover, the white colour is usually connoted with the conventional innocence yet from the dark colours surrounding it and the sombre attitude of the characters suggests the embracing of evil or that one of the characters is synonymous with evil.

Fear thy neighbour the tagline of the film has religious connotations as usually it is love thy neighbour this alteration stresses the attitude that each character possesses.

Furthermore, the incorrect spelling of neighbour (without the u) could relate to the Americanised style of the road sign Arlington Road.

The characters are in a smaller font than the title but are white as well which highlights that this evil is going to embrace one of the characters and it makes it stand out on the white background.

The fact that the in theatres soon is in red not only makes the audience more aware of the writing but it connotes danger and endangerment.

LIGHTING
Then the lighter lighting around the characters suggests that they are the central protagonists of the film, additionally implying that the impending doom is destined for one of the focal characters in the poster. Furthermore, the fact that the house is in the light suggests that this is the house that becomes synonymous with evil, linking to the thrilling aspect of the psychological thriller. The dark lighting around the majority of the poster accentuates this indication of jeopardy and impending doom that is apparent in the story chiaroscuro only one light source is used around the characters creating shadow on the house and creating confusion. The sign is also in the light suggesting that this is a significant and prominent part of the plot accentuating the modernized and colloquial style similar to the typography.

CHARACTERS
The characters in the poster seem to have a sombre attitude suggesting that the forthcoming catastrophe has a big impact on all of their lives. Furthermore, the characters on the left and the right are looking towards the camera whereas the protagonist seems to be looking away into the distance and this intrigues the audience to find out what is confusing the character. The character that is positioned in the middle suggests that this is the central protagonist and that the characters either side of the protagonist has power over him contributing to this downward spiral into calamity and misfortune.

THE CAMERA DISTANCE

Furthermore the audience are able to get a firm grip on the feeling of the film as they have a sombre attitude on their face suggesting the idea of depression and devastation. The close up of the characters highlights their inner psychological turmoil and the battle between the characters psyche.

The long shot of the house suggests that characters need to keep their distance from the house as it seems to be synonymous with evil and it seems to embrace dark forces emphasised by the dark lighting surrounding it.

TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for the film would probably be adults as it seems to create the impression of rationalisation and reasoning rather than a straightforward psychological thriller a complicated plot.

The target audience is conveyed through the older characters used in the film and theyre quite old actors too so it seems as if the film would attract older people.

THE NARRATIVE
The positioning of the characters suggests a hierarchy the two either side being the dominant ones suggesting that they are the ones that embrace the evil manifested within the house. This image of the house looking isolated and abandoned suggests that this house is synonymous in evil and gives this narrative enigma of why the house is significant to the plot.

Dark lighting implies that there is impending doom and the audience will probably be intrigued to know what this doom will consist of.

INSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION

The institutional information is placed at the bottom of the screen in smaller writing suggesting that it is not the main focal point of the poster maybe not a popular director.

Screen gems is the production company of the film it has done other films such as the Exorcism of Emily Rose and the Bogeyman horror genre. This is the distribution company and it is a well known company who have paired with other companies to distribute films such as Notting Hill and Trainspotting.